Ed on The Ginnel. Photo by Sim Mainey
Just had an email from Tony Lund, the Countrtyside Officer for Lancashire Council. New trails and skills training features are going ahead at Lee Quarry and other venues in the area. Great Rock will be the main mountain bike skills company working in these areas. It’s going to be massive.
We have been successful with our various funding bids and have over £500k to send on new mtb trails within the Rossendale area over the next 18months or so. The bulk of the funding £350K is coming from Aggregates Levy.
Planned at the moment for within Lee Quarry are
A new section of red graded xc singletrack with some black options/features this will be between 1km and 1.5km long depending on the final route used which will depend on what can be fitted in with the budget available.
New skills areas/sections which will include
The Drop line 150m long 3m wide will have three ability levels side by side enabling riders to learn how to ride drops of different sizes and difficulty.
The Berm Track 180m long 1m wide eleven consecutive berms (and nothing else!)
The Pump Track 120m long 0.7m wide pump line on a gradient
Black graded progressive skills line 250m long 1 to 2 m wide rock drops, table tops, rollers, berms all on the same track (i.e. putting everything learnt on the above three tracks in to practice)
Black graded expert line 250m long 1m wide similar to the line above but with even more challenges.
Pump track figure of eight pump track built on flat section start finish at the same point.
The above should all be finished by April/may this year. This means we will have quite a few extra features to use at the weekender event in July.
Also happening this year should be the work at Cragg Quarry, Rowan Sorrell has put the initial designs together for us and he says “Cragg Quarry deserves to be the jewel in the crown of the whole trail centre project. It has fantastic rolling shapes, ideal to adapt to mountain bikes and its location affords stunning views out over Rossendale and up into the Lakes on a clear day. The new wind farm located on the moor to the back of the quarry actually adds to the character of the ride and provides an interesting backdrop to the trail. The loop in Cragg Quarry will be a packed 4.5km with plenty of contoured bench cuts and sudden feature sections seamlessly linked together into one exciting ride. The trail climbs gently through the quarry just off the route of the Pennine Bridleway. This extra elevation gives riders great views and still throws in a few technical rock features en route, but it is on the return leg, with the overall gradient now working to the rider’s advantage, that the thrills are cranked up a notch. The trail flows, rolling, dipping and rising with berms along its route; it can be tackled gently or attacked head on, making for a physical, but ultimately very rewarding ride due to the views and great features found throughout the quarry site. There are old buildings, inclines and cart tracks all taken in along the route so the rider not only has a great ride but also really gets a feel for the heritage of this site. Rock gardens, rock rolls and slab paving are all incorporated into the trail to make the most of the natural resources and features on site.”
Next financial year we are planning on constructing a bridleway link from Lee Quarry up to Rooley Moor Road, a link over to Facit Quarry and then some mtb trails down through Facit Quarry. Once we have this lot in place that quick half day blast round Lee Quarry can be turned in to a full day out. The idea is to keep it technically challenging with plenty of red/black options.
We are also planning an off road link between Lee Quarry and Gisburn Forest any one fancy a quick lap round Lee Quarry.
Only 3,429 to go
Looking down “The Slab”
There’s a right nice cafe there
Swaledale is a “climbers valley” and only an idiot would ride singlespeed there
Every village has one and here is the singlespeeder and boss man of the centre – Stu
Ragley Ti on the moon
