Reviews for Kielder Mountain Bike Trail Centre

Summary:
very poor sighnage very dissapointing

Review:
all i can say is i didnt have a clue where i was supposed to be going the sighnage is terrible ended up on long road section didnt even know if i was going in the right direction didnt get to any black section no black arrows turned round and gave up absolute shit ill never go back im back off to whinlatter for a truely exellent ride

Summary:
Shockingly bad trail

Review:
Lack of berms from start to finish which basicly made the fast sections slow. A quite long boardwalk section that had nothing to interest me at all. 3 jumps and one small drop at the start of the trail and apart from that nothing. The trail took huge ammounts of finding as its quite a distance away from the trail center and there are very little signs pointing you in the right direction. I got the impression whoever designed this trail must be at least 40 years old loves xc riding with little in the way of a challange apart from keeping myself from going fast on any of the downhill sections because there are no berms! I like the old red and black graded trails but this is just a waste of time unless you want to do a lot of climbing with no reward

Summary:
Painful ups, enjoyable downs - Good mixture

Review:
Rode this yesterday (04/04/09) after a weekend of DIY. Sods law showed me right on the weather - as soon as we got in the car it started to rain and the drizzle/mist stayed with us all day.

Had a couple of plays on the skills loop first of all - nice fun and a good thrash, but not as good as the skills loop at Hamsterley. Quickly moved on up the hill to start taking on the Red trail, past the new trials/freeride/northshore park that's being built... It soon became apparent that only 4 weeks back on my bike, and carrying 17 stone around was going to be uncomfortable... Nobody to blame but myself on that one though.

The trail is nicely demanding, without being overly harsh; it became a bit of a formula after a while: Uphill singletrack, uphill fireroad, downhill singletrack, repeat... That's not a criticism - I think it's good that the ride is broken up like that - it certainly stopped me from being complacent anyhow.

The weather meant that we kept cracking on at our "best" pace (i.e. - I was slowing us down!), but it still wasn't too horrible. I'm on a fully rigid bike and that, plus a broken finger, plus being overweight stopped me getting full enjoyment out of the ride. I've never been the most adventurous or technical of riders, so I chickened some of the bigger rocks... Reckon the more I go back and ride this, the more fun it'll get.

The ride is enjoyable and mixed enough to be fun for a range of riders - less confident people like me can still chicken run (or roll) the bigger rocks, while more advanced people can properly hammer the twisty singletrack sections. After reaching the summit, we were so glad to turn back downhill and start the descent again - really enjoyable twisty, rocky descent, bermy with some drops. The one thing that properly spoiled my enjoyment was my old, faithful, rigid bike. Halfway down the descents I was slowing down because my wrists were starting to destroy me.

It's largely singletrack all the way back to the car park - mostly downhill with some ups, nice, rocky and technical again. I chickened on a lot still, but still enjoyed it, and I'm sure that I'll enjoy it more as I go back and learn the trail a bit better (and ride it in better weather). All in all it's a good enjoyable ride, but one that'll be enjoyed most by people with a decent fitness base and something to soak up the bumps. I'll definitely be back again soon!

Summary:
NOT TOO PLEASED

Review:
LACK OF THOUGHT GONE INTO THIS TRAIL REALLY, NO BERMS, NOT MUCH ANY THING, NOT MUCH TOO KEEP THE RIDER INTERESTED, YES THE SCENERY IS GOOD WHEN YOU GET TO THE TOP BUT I GO TO THESE TRAILS TO RIDE AND THE DEADWATER TRAIL IS MUCH BETTER DESIGNED AND FLOWS MUCH BETTER. WONT BE RIDING HERE AGAIN

Summary:
A mixture of single track and forest road with long climbs and some steep technical sections.

Review:
Firstly the facilities. The car park is £3. There are toilets, tea rooms and a pub which offers food.

At the beginning of the trail there is a chance to warm up on the small skills area before you head out. The route uses the roads/tracks to take you from one section to the next. Sign posts indicate the direction of the route and the move to single track action but are often confusing which is a shame.

Early on you get a taste of how serious the people who built the trail are about getting the feel just right. The initial section is smooth and flowing with berms, bridges and small rocky obstacles. it feels well made and well thought out.
You move on to a fairly long road/track climb which breaks the mood a bit. It'd be great if they could make the climb more interesting using winding single track rather than wide forest road. Just as your'e getting bored you find the beginning of the next section of single track round a left hand bend. Be careful not to take the path on the right. You'll be coming down that bit later on. It could do with a no entry sign and a warning really. This section has a much bumpier feel and kind of feels a bit dark and spooky. The ground is loose in places and there are a few very steep technical bits here which will be a bit much for inexperienced riders. The ride then begins to climb after a point called some thing like "Sharon's Stone" which is also a opportunity to return to the car park (left to the car park. Right continues.) , You zig zag up the side of a steep slope in the eery shade with the dead looking trees for company until eventually you come out into the sunshine faced with another road/trail ascent. This one is open to the elements and takes you to the highest point of the route with outstanding views on a clear day. You'll wonder if it was worth it. The descent is a lot quicker. Although the track is wide at this point, the ground is loose, some times littered with large stones. There are jumps too, but be careful they're not the nice smooth type. It's exillerating for sure. It's back to single track after that, with a sprinkling of berms, rocks and drops and a chance to take the black graded "up and over" trail or continue onwards to the car park.

The only reason I don't give this trail a ten is due to some poor signage and the boring road/track ascents. It's hard work, challenging and exillerating and well worth checking out.