Shop weekend away
After paying a couple of trips to Dartmoor to do a bit of XC we always
said that we would have to come back and bring our down hill bikes as
Dartmoor unlike Dorset has a lot of rocks which we do not very often get
a chance to ride.
Plus Colin had just bought a new bike and we had to go
away so he could test it.
There was 3 different tracks which we rode
which all varied in steepness and length and granite rocks which came in
sizes from babies heads to great big boulders with a couple of foot
drops behind them.
All the tracks are single track and on bridle ways
which means you are legal to ride there. (much to the annoyance of some
of the walkers who look at you like a piece of something their dogs have
just done and they haven’t cleaned up)
Although some of the corners are
blind so you do have to be careful what is around them. Most just moved
and watched in amazement thinking "why people would want to do that", we
know better thats why.
The first track we did started off flat out and wide then rocks
started appearing in the lines and then it gets quite steep down a rain
gully with more rocks in the places were you don’t generally want them
to be after this you hang a right at a track junction and it flattens
out a bit.
But the rocks start to get bigger. After a few runs we
started using the bigger rocks to leap the ones behind making it faster
every time. This was the best run and we did it plenty of times but it
is a killer push back to the top.
The next one was on the way back to the car (you push up it to the start
of the first one), this is fairly short but the rocks are bigger and it
is very tight at the bottom which makes it a bit of a challenge.
Although you do have to watch your rear mech. This track does also have a multi
choice of lines but the general consensus was to go over the largest
things possible.
At the bottom of this track it was a perfect time to go
back to the cars for a brew, which are parked 2 minutes up the road.
The third track is back up the hill in the other direction, which if you
go right to the top could take you a good 20 mins.
But it is only really worth going about halfway, as the top is fairly flat and knackering. The
bottom half though is all big rocks, which generally have to be ridden
around although you can go over the top of a few of them.
This run can really be a rear mech claimer if your not careful and getting around
some of the corners with triple clamps is very interesting (I only got
pitched over the bars the once). 180101
All in all this place is brilliant if you are after a bit of downhill
practice. Your are never really more than about 15 mins from the car and
the local hotels are pretty cheap, the only thing they need there is a
good lift from the bottom (I wish).
So whether you ride XC or DH you can
have a great day out here. We wont be waiting for Colin to buy another
new bike before we come down again, (we couldn’t get down there that
often). Not that he will replace that one soon as he likes it too much.
(Rocky Mountain Switch) I am sure there will be a long-term test soon.
Dartmoor National Park
Local info
180101
