Wind farm bliss

[Ludwig]

You often find that wind farms are superb for mountain biking with a fantastic network of roads and tracks stretching for miles that are little used by the masses who tend to flock to the honeypot, purpose built, theme park type trails. The wind farm where I do a 2 or 3 hour ride, I've never encountered any other mountain bikers, just the occasional moto cross rider and Land Rover. My favourite section is a challenging rollercoaster type route taking you up to about 2000ft whith superb views. Also you have to marvel at the engineering and vast size of the turbines.

 

[andy_wrx]

Yeah, must be wonderful technical singletrack.

 

[dodgy]

All the Wind farms around here are in the sea

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I was just over in the Netherlands (not great MTB country), but it struck me how many people in the UK have bought into the anti-wind turbine propaganda. They're everywhere in Holland and 1. you can hardly hear them even when you are right underneath, especially if there is any traffic (or indeed wind in the trees); 2. birds seems to have no problem with them at all; and 3. they don't distract drivers - the Dutch have them along many major roads with no apparent increase in accidents; and 4. yes, they look great and make me feel happy and hopeful.

 

[longers]

On a ride a month or so ago I saw a someone Paragliding through a wind farm. The blades were not turning but he/she was awful close to them. I thought it seemed a little bit risky.

 

[wafflycat]

I was just over in the Netherlands (not great MTB country), but it struck me how many people in the UK have bought into the anti-wind turbine propaganda. They're everywhere in Holland and 1. you can hardly hear them even when you are right underneath, especially if there is any traffic (or indeed wind in the trees); 2. birds seems to have no problem with them at all; and 3. they don't distract drivers - the Dutch have them along many major roads with no apparent increase in accidents; and 4. yes, they look great and make me feel happy and hopeful.

Indeed, there is a huge pile of crap spouted about wind turbines. The modern direct drive ones are incredibly quiet. Standing at the foot of Swaffham II (Ecotricity), I could hear songbirds in the hedges over and above the sound of the rotating turbine blades. I think they can be magnificent structures - quite beautiful, and with checks kept on birdstrike at Swaffham - there was very, very little. Cycling past the wind farm at North Pickenham there is very little noise coming from a farm (Enertag) of 8 turbines. I can cycle by these and they are remarkable in the lack of noise from them. Certainly they aren't silent, but they are very quiet.

 

[Jaded]

The test ones up near Stornoway are noisy.

I guess if the new designs are so quiet they can be put right next to people's houses, rather than in some of the most remote and unspoilt areas left in the country?

 

[wafflycat]

Put it this way Jaded, if there was a planning application in for one in my village like the ones at Swaffham & North Pickenham, I'd not be objecting.

Edit: indeed the folk of Swaffham positively welcomed the second after the experience of the first (I've seen the planning files) and North Pickenham wanted the wind farm by that village...

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Put it this way Jaded, if there was a planning application in for one in my village like the ones at Swaffham & North Pickenham, I'd not be objecting.

No problem here either - in fact, the place I am probably moving to in Canada will have wind turbines all over it. They don't belong everywhere, but British people are going to have to grow up and stop being so NIMBYish sooner or later.

 

[wafflycat]

Indeed as they are part of the solution to getting away from being over reliant on Russian oil & gas...

 

[wafflycat]

Where I grew up there was a big coal-fired power station probably about five'ish miles away as the crow flies. One of childhood memories I have is being woken during the night on a regular basis due to the *BOOM* noises coming from the turbines of that power station... several times a night. Wind turbines are absolute bliss compared to that.

 

[snorri]

Other countries have the turbines where the power is required, the power consumers in this country demand that generation take place far away ignoring the effect of transmission losses and eyesores of countless power distribution towers.
It's no' wise.

 

[Mr Pig]

There is a big wind farm near Shotts, over the back roads from me, that has about 100 turbines. However turbines are popping up in ones and twos all over the place. There are a couple up the back of the village and you can often see them dotted around in the distance.

I've never thought about taking bikes up to the one in Shotts, not a bad idea. I've walked in it before but it's large, cycling would be good.

I remember the first time I went right up to one of the turbines, I couldn't get over how big it was! From a distance, because of the simple shape and lack landmarks to measure it against, it's hard to get an idea of their size. But when you're standing underneath them the blades are still a good fifty feet above your head.

Just before I came on here I was looking at the countryside around my village on Flash Earth looking for tracks we could ride. This is where I live, the village of Plains is in the top left corner:

http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=55.868606&lon=-3.884268&z=14.2&r=0&src=msa

We were out this morning checking out a little road/track my mate had spotted in Blackridge but there are lots of trails and routes you would never see from the ground. He's got satnav on his new phone now so there's no stopping us ;0)

 

[Jaded]

If only the government money that is being poured into the concrete bases of the wind turbines was instead directed into getting us to reduce our consumption by 50%, or into new technology that doesn't waste power so much.

Oh well.

 

[GilesM]

Must agree with Andy WRX on this one, just like riding miles of forest road, okay if that's what you like, but I prefer my MTB trails to be narrow single track. Lots of single track around, purpose built and natural which is very quiet.



Giles

PS. To a few on this thread, this is a thread about Off road riding in the Mountain Biking and Off road Section, not Politics & Life.