Sherwood Pines

[Cubist]

Took Cubester to Sherwood Pines yesterday. It gets a bit of a pasting in some of the comix for being boggy in places, but it was dry and fine yesterday. We did the 10 mile red route twice, second time was an absolute blast, shame we forgot the Muvi.
Recommended for beginners/improvers/intermediates, as the climbs are short, the singletrack is swoopy with some features dug in. One or two of the berms are a bit naff but overall it's fun without being stupidly difficult.

Considering yesterday was a sunday in the school hols the trail was virtually empty. Loads of families out on bikes on the other routes as well, but we had the red vitually to ourselves.

 

[Mark82]

i only live 10 min from there its a good all-round course, with the different skill levels, you wait till theres been a few hours rain though.... then its ''fun''...Mark

 

[Cubist]

We went to Sherwood again today, and I tell you what, the place is really growing on me.
We went with another family, and I took Cubette, who to be fair isn't the most comitted MTBer in the world. She ended up grinning from ear to ear and really enjoyed herself. She's never done anything technical before, and is asking about when we can go again.

There has been some rain since last time I went, and there was some fun mudsurfing to do on one or two of the open forest bits. Other than that some of the red route was closed with diversions up and running on Kitchener Trail, so it was all a bit confusing at times. Still a great day out until Cubester decided to hurl himself off the Northshore above the wall ride on the Downhill Section. The drop off at the end of the Northshore was steeper than he expected, he ended up flailing in mid air and parted company sidewaysHe was so bruised and shaken he struggled to finish the ride. Bless.

I've fitted a riser bar to the Cube Ltd, and the more relaxed position has changed the character of the bike (and my confidence) I was really flying. Awesome fun. Cubester had rthe Muvi on his helmet, so I'll see what footage we got!

 

[cubby]

Often thought about going to Sherwood Pines, but ive read mixed reports .....

Really should go an see what its like for myself ....

 

[mrsbaggins]

how easy is the easy route? I know its hard to say but I have never been on any trails yet and want an easy one to start with. Dont mind if its hilly or not just not sure about the 'technical' bits (whatever they are!)

 

[Cubist]

how easy is the easy route? I know its hard to say but I have never been on any trails yet and want an easy one to start with. Dont mind if its hilly or not just not sure about the 'technical' bits (whatever they are!)

The family routes are very easy, with little or no technical features, three miles long with a solid surface, the blue route is six miles with limestone chipping style hardpack surface, the red "Kitchener Trail" is about ten miles with singletrack almost all the way. There is then an entire network of singletrack to explore and some "skills areas" for jumping, wall riding, drop-offs and so on.

Set yourself a challenge. The red route criss-crosses the blue route so you could try a bit of the singletrack and if necessary rejoin the blue route.

Even the Red is not intimidating. It's fast and smooth with a few steep decents, but I have seen a couple of families with youngish kids making their way round them.

Have fun, no one is making notes on what you're doing on the day!

 

[mrsbaggins]

sounds just the job! the last thing I want is a queue of people behind me waiting for me to get a move on!

 

[Cubist]

Here's young cubester and his mate Aaron on a section of the red.

To be fair it doesn't get much more technical than this section, so you can tell it's open to reasonably fit family use.

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uj9GbPXWHs

 

[Mark82]

Often thought about going to Sherwood Pines, but ive read mixed reports .....

Really should go an see what its like for myself ....

go have a play you wont be dissapointed

how easy is the easy route? I know its hard to say but I have never been on any trails yet and want an easy one to start with. Dont mind if its hilly or not just not sure about the 'technical' bits (whatever they are!)

as below..... easy, medium, hard routes, they are all good fun,

The family routes are very easy, with little or no technical features, three miles long with a solid surface, the blue route is six miles with limestone chipping style hardpack surface, the red "Kitchener Trail" is about ten miles with singletrack almost all the way. There is then an entire network of singletrack to explore and some "skills areas" for jumping, wall riding, drop-offs and so on.

Set yourself a challenge. The red route criss-crosses the blue route so you could try a bit of the singletrack and if necessary rejoin the blue route.

Even the Red is not intimidating. It's fast and smooth with a few steep decents, but I have seen a couple of families with youngish kids making their way round them.

Have fun, no one is making notes on what you're doing on the day!

 

[Leah]

I must have got lost... when I did the blue intermediate route I thought the down sections were pretty technical. One bit, although fun, was a bit scary with some speed and the amount of tree roots and dips in the path.

 

[homercles]

The red (kitchener?) trail is pretty good. Its not particularly technical and in this part of the world you aren't going to find many steep hills but it is almost all single track and there are some nice fast and flowing sections just after the start and towards the end. The blue trail has a couple of long and fast sections and is great for beginners. The green trail is perfect for families and those wanting a gentle ride in a quiet forest. Something for everyone I think.

 

[benb]

The red (kitchener?) trail is pretty good. Its not particularly technical and in this part of the world you aren't going to find many steep hills but it is almost all single track and there are some nice fast and flowing sections just after the start and towards the end. The blue trail has a couple of long and fast sections and is great for beginners. The green trail is perfect for families and those wanting a gentle ride in a quiet forest. Something for everyone I think.

I'm going to Center Parcs this weekend - 11 adults 7 children!! let's hope the weather lets me have a decent ride. I've got a few routes in my head, depending if I manage to get away on my own for a couple of hours.

 

[BigmechUK]

Sherwood pines is great to race round but i find it just to flat and boring on a normal ride. Never go in the wet though!