Congratulations to british cycling/sport england.

[dan_bo]

Went down to Clayton Vale for the second time yesterday and all's I can say is that it's an excellent facility. Nothing massive but it'll save me a trip to Llandegla on occasion. Berms, whoops, jumps, rock gardens and dropoffs (sometimes on the same section as well) and a good size to do a bunch of laps if you don't fancy a trek into Saddleworth.

Best thing though was the number of new faces down there- Kids, blokes in jeans who've just dragged their old rigid MTBs out of the shed for a blast, commuters.... all sorts. And all of 'em smiling, having a good time, finding out what happens if you push yourself on an MTB. Brilliant. AND I can even include it in my commute home

I'm up for a meet if anyone fancies a quick blast after work of an evening.

 

[Peter88]

Was down there yesterday Dan really impressed with the trails and plan to be there again on Monday for the opening day,

 

[dan_bo]

Ah I see it's not even open yet! Ha!

 

[dan_bo]

Was down there yesterday Dan really impressed with the trails and plan to be there again on Monday for the opening day,

Was you on a P7 Pete?

 

[fossyant]

Could be up for a play.

 

[Peter88]

Was you on a P7 Pete?

No I have a Fuji hardtail

 

[I like Skol]

I'll have to get down there with the kids at half-term. It sounds as good or better than Phillips park.

 

[I like Skol]

I'm up for a meet if anyone fancies a quick blast after work of an evening.

Wow, took the family here today. I knew Mrs Skol probably wasn't going to like it but my 7 and 10 yr old boys are mad keen on this sort of stuff. All I can say is I wasn't disappointed. Leagues ahead of the Phillips Park trail centre near Prestwich. The drop offs and rock gardens, weaving steep descents and bermed corners are great and require real concentration to get right or you risk being launched off the corners into the higher branches of the surrounding trees.
We started out from the Velopark outside Evans (couldn't miss the chance to have a nosy and ended up with some nice cycle mitts for 10yr old Skol Jnr). Had a few minutes on the skills track behind the centre before heading for the proper trails. As predicted, Mrs Skol wasn't confident at all even on the intermediate tracks so she rode the adjacent paths along the Newton Heath side of the valley then headed back to the Velocafe along the valley floor while we continued on the trail. The orange and black tracks are the best bits and when I go back with the kids we will probably just keep looping around those bits till we're bored.

By the time we caught up with Mrs Skol back at the café she was nearly at the bottom of a large bottle of cider, sat outside in the sun so we grabbed a bit of lunch then made her wait another 3/4hr while we played on the ramps and blocks outside the Velodrome.

Defo would love to meet up with other forum folks that want to take their kids for a blast round. If we could set a Sunday Run in the next month or so it would be great.

 

[dan_bo]

Glad to hear it ILS. Let us know when you're going and i'll try and get down.

 

[fossyant]

Sounds good - would be up for it at some point soon - likely to be away each weekend as the MIL is stuck in hospital in Wales for 6 plus weeks. !