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Okehampton North Shore
28th September 2005 - Jamie @ okefreeriders
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Abbeyford Woods, near Okehampton in Devon was until recently your typical small Forestry Commission woods, with plenty of dog walkers, horse riders and the odd cyclist pottering about. That was until a group of local mountain bikers decided to have a go at building some northshore trails they had seen in the freeride videos. A small section of shore was built, and the local riders were happy, until the unauthorised contruction caught the attention of Forestry workers, who went to work with a chainsaw and destroyed the lot. They did however, leave a note at the site asking the people responsible for building the trails to come forward.
Got wood?
So the riders contacted the Forestry, and were suprised to discover that they were happy to let them build trails, and even northshore, provided it was done in a controlled fashion as agreed by them. Top of their list of conditions for trail building to continue was forming an IMBA affiliated club and getting some trail building insurance. So Okefreeriders was formed, and work commenced on the northshore at Goldburnhill Covet in Abbeyford Woods in January 2005.
Stylin' it up
Work started with some small platforms, no bigger than 3 foot, nice and simple. All the wood for the constructions had to be made of tanalised (treated)timber, so the handful of membership fees we had at the start went on getting the biggest pile of wood we could afford. After this first section was completed, the Forestry decided they were happy with our work, and granted permission to carry on building, at a maximum height of 5 foot. So more trails were built including see-saws, drop offs, a rollercoaster, a small wallride and a kicker, taking around 5 months to build, with lots of hard work being put in at weekends. The club also grew, giving us more money to buy more wood.
Since then, the Forestry Commission have extended the area in which we are allowed to build down over the hillside, giving us more scope for trails. We've just started work on the new section, which will have two lines down the hillside, one fast and flowing, the other more technical. Once completed, Goldburnhill Covet should have some of the best non-commercial northshore in the country. The trails are open all the time, and can be ridden by all. For more information check out www.okefreeriders.co.uk
Big thanks to Lucy @ strawberrywater.co.uk for the great pics, and Jamie @ okefreeriders for his time & effort. Want to write something about your riding spot? Get in touch!
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