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May the trail be with you
Then, as luck would have it I met up with an old friend Bill, who had changed styles, sporting a black full face helmet and all over Dainese body armour. Bill and his mate 'Beef' had me seriously out-gunned: six inch travel Santa Cruz Bullits with Hope disks and Triple clamp Bombers. Bill knows the woods well and made me an offer I couldn't refuse, 'Ride with us on the dark side of the trail'. Bill's face was well hidden in his black helmet, his voice and breath rasped slightly with the sucking sound of a deep sea diver. I put it down to a free-riders lack of fitness and pushed up the hill with them.
Only a little further along on the same side is a small gap in the undergrowth (easily missed) that leads to one of the best descents I've done in years. If you like the steep part at the top of Coed y Brenin's Hermon descent, you'll love this! Take a moment to lower that saddle and get ready to abrade the seat off your shorts on this lovely buffed wall of a trail. Best advice is to be smooth and relaxed whilst a little voice in your head screams 'BRAKE NOW OR DIE!' on the day the trail condition was perfect with a little dust lying on hard as concrete packed soil. With just a little too much rear lock the back end would slide under control, without steering you in to a tree. This is one long steep descent. Small ruts have developed in places and it's essential to let go of the front brake for a split second when crossing them. Two thirds of the way down the trail rolls over a solid slab of rock about twenty feet long that really floated my boat! And there's more where this came from. Check out every trailhead you see. Along this hillside are some of the scariest and best trails you'll find in England.
Drop off or cliff?
Further around the black route is a real corker with jumps that would surely break my bike in two, woops and a wall of a berm that spits you out on to a rutted finish. Take care one of the drops on here is best skirted around if you're not good for a six foot fall. My dark and dangerous companion whiled away the tedious hill pushes tempting me with tales of downhilling in
Morzine. I felt my will slipping as Bill reasonably pointed out my predilection for the steepest trails and compromised bike geometry. By the end of the day I could tell he felt he'd won me over. 'The transformation has already begun' he cackled before popping off to meet the Emperor for tea and cakes, oh and take over the mountain bike universe for evil ends of course'
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Wharncliffe
Information
There are no facilities in the car park area at the woods.
Nearest pub and shop are turn right out of the car park, about 1
mile to Grenoside. Access
By Rail
The nearest Station is at Chapeltown some four miles to the North
East (thanks Rob). You could ride directly from Sheffield, it's
about 7 miles and would mean riding through the city. Access
By Road
See Where is Wharncliffe
Woods. OS
Map/Directions
The OS map is not much help as most of the forest singletrack is
un-marked. Follow the way-marked black route and look out for the
trails according to the advice in this feature. It's also pretty
easy to get to the downhills without using the black route
singletrack. Go right out of the car park, then take the next three
forest road right turns. Then you're on the forest road with the
downhills leading off to the left. Once you have found the first
downhill (a wide path between rocky banks) 100 yards further on is
'Steve Peat's' downhill. Another 100 yards, look for a gap on the
left brings you to a lovely singletrack with a really steep drop
part-way down. 100 yards further (see a pattern here?) be careful
not to miss the gap of the fourth and best of the singletracks.
Steep but rideable. Telegraph
road
A cool flattish singletrack runs along the side of the hill and
communicates with the final downhill you want to ride. To find it
drop down the first of the downhills (between the rocky banks
remember?) then turn left once you are under the national grid
pylons and follow what turns in to a lovely little singletrack. When
you get to the end keep going on the forest road, look to your left
and you'll see the ruts of the 'North Shore' trail on your left.
Walk up this to get a good look at it before riding down! Directions
back to the car park
From the 'Steve Peat Downhill' end, just take every left turn on the
fire roads to get back to the car park.
From the 'North Shore Trail' end, follow the Black Route markers
uphill.
From the bottom of the 'North Shore Trail' go left and take the
steeper climbing, leftmost forest road until you see black route
markers pointing right. Follow back to car park (a bit of a climb!).
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