Trail Centre: Dalby Forest, North Yorkshire, UK

[Tubby G]

If we are doing orbea test rides I'd be interested in seeing how it compares to my monster truck ?

I think my current monster truck (Haibike AllMtn 4) is one of the heaviest bikes on the market! 26kg

 

[The EMF]

Evening all

Here’s a little teaser video of what to expect at Dalby, went for a roll around the red route early this morning:

(If you’re going to watch it, change the settings to 720p or above as it seems to default to 360p)

It was quite damp early this morning and I still have summer tyres on, some of the rocky sections such as ‘The Gully’ & ‘Vera Lynn’ where slippy as fook, like marbles on ice. The majority of the route is running absolutely fine


I’ll do a head count on this thread and post up a list of who’s coming, looks like we have quite a posse ??

Nice ??

 

[emtbPhil]

Yes join us and don’t worry about being slow. It won’t be a Strava KOM chasing ride! I’ll probably give a little trail brief before entering the more challenging sections just to warn of certain features, and a nice sociable cruise through all the easier sections

That’s awesome I look forward to it!
There was only two bits I got stuck on last time. Worst was that downhill switch back with the rock drop on the corner.
Would love some advice!

 

[Tubby G]

That’s awesome I look forward to it!
There was only two bits I got stuck on last time. Worst was that downhill switch back with the rock drop on the corner.
Would love some advice!

Don’t worry, that section is ‘Vera Lynn’ and catches most people out. Best line advice I can offer is keeping to the left hand side and leaning back as you ‘roll’ drop off the rocks. They’re not too bad if you get it right. The right hand line involves a faster speed drop technique landing firmly on two wheels but it’s right on the edge of the trail and a higher risk of otb if it all goes wrong!

There’s a cheeky little tree stump on the trail about 50m further down from the rocks that’ll rip your rear hanger clean off if you take the rutted line that the trail entices you to take. Keep to the left of that and go over the rocks instead

 

[Tubby G]

Don’t worry, that section is ‘Vera Lynn’ and catches most people out. Best line advice I can offer is keeping to the left hand side and leaning back as you ‘roll’ drop off the rocks. They’re not too bad if you get it right. The right hand line involves a faster speed drop technique landing firmly on two wheels but it’s right on the edge of the trail and a higher risk of otb if it all goes wrong!

There’s a cheeky little tree stump on the trail about 50m further down from the rocks that’ll rip your rear hanger clean off if you take the rutted line that the trail entices you to take. Keep to the left of that and go over the rocks instead

grabbed these screenshots from my GoPro and I’ve drawn the lines I’m trying to explain:

 

[drewbirks]

Hopefully I can make the 2nd would be shame to miss catching up with a few more people at my local
Drew

 

[emtbPhil]

Don’t worry, that section is ‘Vera Lynn’ and catches most people out. Best line advice I can offer is keeping to the left hand side and leaning back as you ‘roll’ drop off the rocks. They’re not too bad if you get it right. The right hand line involves a faster speed drop technique landing firmly on two wheels but it’s right on the edge of the trail and a higher risk of otb if it all goes wrong!

There’s a cheeky little tree stump on the trail about 50m further down from the rocks that’ll rip your rear hanger clean off if you take the rutted line that the trail entices you to take. Keep to the left of that and go over the rocks instead

Nice!

I took the high line on the corners before. Took the high line on that one, stopped and thought yeah no way I'm getting down that.
Got off and walked it down the line you showed.

I'll try to put my brave pants on next time

 

[The Hodge]

Hopefully I can make the 2nd would be shame to miss catching up with a few more people at my local
Drew

It would be good to see you there Drew ..

 

[The Hodge]

Im assuming if I wanted to be a lazy git I could go around this route in emtb mode instead of the usual Tour ?
Or am I being a tad optimistic ..?
Also how far into the vid are your screen shots ..?

 

[Tubby G]

Im assuming if I wanted to be a lazy git I could go around this route in emtb mode instead of the usual Tour ?
Or am I being a tad optimistic ..?

I was a lazy git on Sunday morning and rode it all in emtb. Finished with two bars remaining. L rode it in emtb and still had four bars remaining ?

 

[Tubby G]

I was a lazy git on Sunday morning and rode it all in emtb. Finished with two bars remaining. L rode it in emtb and still had four bars remaining ?

I actually changed my Tour mode to Tour+ before we came to Kielder, thinking it’ll increase my range for a bit of extra effort

Big mistake !!

It now feels like I’m riding everywhere in eco mode and takes far more effort , with only a couple of additional miles gained on the range

 

[The Hodge]

Yep ..thats what I thought after reading a few reports ..and why I wont be changing ?
You can revert back though..

 

[emtbPhil]

I love my Tour+!

Had it on my hardtail, first thing I got done on my FS
I just like being lazy and leaving it in one dynamic mode all day
Dalby made me use emtb quite a bit though lol

 

[Tubby G]

Yep ..thats what I thought after reading a few reports ..and why I wont be changing ?
You can revert back though..

I can indeed, but I’ve just been using emtb instead ?

 

[emtbPhil]

Actually this was Dalby red route

 

[Tubby G]

Actually this was Dalby red route
View attachment 72013

View attachment 72014

ooh now I’m trying to guess where you used turbo

or was it in emtb and that data tells you when emtb mode increased to turbo ?

 

[emtbPhil]

Hahaha no it was definitely in turbo!!

I really had no idea how long it was or what it was like - turbo got abused a bit on the last 4 miles cos my legs gave in haha

 

[The Hodge]

Friday's steady lap. 1hr 50 mins, mostly left in EMTB mode.

A really slow start, and short diversion for forestry, but finished really quick.

Two bars and 12 miles indicated range remaining in EMTB mode

What are my time penalties for wussing out on Vera Lynn and one rock on Medusas Drop?
Or is it an instant disqualification?

View attachment 72050

Im all for discretion where needed..if Vera's looking a bit dodgy and it looks as if Im going to be flying over the white cliffs of Dover...I could well join you ?..but I will give the old girl a look before deciding..

 

[Tubby G]

No shame in walking Vera at all. It’s in a difficult spot to be able to take a look at before deciding whether to commit or not. You basically come around a corner which also has a drop mid-turn, then you’re straight in to committing to a series of rocks & drops, the two largest being around a foot in height at their lowest points. It’s all rollable if you take the left hand line, or you have to do two ‘pop & push’ drops (that’s what I call the technique anyway!) at speed, on the right hand side. The right line is far more intimidating as the drops are larger and you’re on the edge of the trail which has a steep slope into the trees. I’d recommend talking the rollable left hand line

As they’ll be a group of us we’ll just have to take it slowly in turn, but you have to gain momentum to clear it starting before the first turn, so you can’t really watch others do it in front of you. We’ll just have to give each rider a twenty second ish gap before committing

 

[Tubby G]

There is another rock drop half way down Medusa's drop that I am loosing confidence on too

Medusa can be a bugger too. I wasn’t going to take the black line towards the bottom as that’s just an insane steep chute with a large drop mid section. I’m guessing you might be referring to the second ‘nasty corner’ ? There’s also a tree root drop leading up to nasty corner, but that can be avoided by rolling either side of the root (the root is in the middle of the trail). Nasty corner is best broken into two stages. Take the high line for about 2/3 of the the turn, then turn sharply to the left over the rocks. It is intimidating as you’re right on the edge of the trail with a steep fall into the forest on the right hand side. At least on Medusa we can get a good view of each other taking the switchbacks ahead

 

[Tubby G]

A word of warning for Dalby first timers. By meeting at Dixons Hollow we will be starting the red trail with the techie sections, Worry Gill & Medusa. Dixons is far easier to park at on a Saturday, especially as they have a popular park run event every Saturday morning where everyone meets at the main visitor centre car park. You also easily get stuck in trail traffic when starting from the official start at the visitor centre, which is a ball ache, whereas starting at Dixons is much quieter and easier for a large group of us

If you want to get ‘trail ready’ before hitting the techie sections from the off, there’s a well worn pump track across the road and a small one & two dot orange loop ‘trail’. They’re nothing difficult and are often occupied by children, but handy for a quick warm up

 

[The Hodge]

Sometimes you can just overthink things ..I will just pack a parachute in case it is needed ?

 

[Tubby G]

Sometimes you can just overthink things ..I will just pack a parachute in case it is needed ?

I also need you to be our official photographer Hodge and have a little rocky ramp & rock roll planned from the start where you can be positioned for the perfect shot ?

 

[Tonybro]

I'll just wear 18 layers and turn up looking like this...

 

[philuk]

I hate that section, its my kryptonite, I always try the left hand drops but always loose confidence and speed which ends up with a foot down. Lad i was with last week managed to get his foot stuck inbetween his pedal and that stump, all his weight pulling down we had to try and pull the bike back up a bit.

Other than that it was all good!

Bit gutted i cant make this!

 

[j3ayy]

Bit gutted i cant make this!

Yea me to

 

[philuk]

Yea me to

Saw your van there the other week I think?
Will have to arrange something again at some point!

Might be pestering you for some vinyl work for our camper at some point anyway!

 

[j3ayy]

Saw your van there the other week I think?
Will have to arrange something again at some point!

Might be pestering you for some vinyl work for our camper at some point anyway!

Yea i am usually there Gutted not been this week so far just stacked out with work. Yea no worries i am sure i can sort for you

 

[The Hodge]

Given what I encountered yesterday evening at the fuel pumps ..there is a huge fly in the ointment with regard to me travelling down if there is going to be a shortage ..
All the great British public need to hear is that supplies could be disrupted due to a lack of drivers to cause a mass stampede..crazy !
Let's hope common sense prevails ..

 

[Tubby G]

Given what I encountered yesterday evening at the fuel pumps ..there is a huge fly in the ointment with regard to me travelling down if there is going to be a shortage ..
All the great British public need to hear is that supplies could be disrupted due to a lack of drivers to cause a mass stampede..crazy !
Let's hope common sense prevails ..

I’m optimistic that’ll the panic buying will all be over by Monday. I drove past four petrol stations yesterday afternoon and not one of them had queues . I didn’t stop to fill up as I already had half a tank. Guessing it’s affecting large towns & cities more than rural areas