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Haldon Freeride
16th March 2006 - Scott
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Haldon Woods are just on the outskirts of Exeter, and until recently were just like every other Forestry Commission site, Walkers, dogs, horse riders and even mountain bikers using the trails that had been built.
The problem was that mountain bikers were building everywhere with no plan, this was soon becoming a problem especially people building North Shore to no standard at all. So the FC at Haldon have seen the growing demand for mountain bike trails and have stepped in. First of all they sorted out the tree felling operation and took out all the old stunts that weren't built to a standard. Then it all kicked off, first things first was the XC track, this covers a huge part of the hill, stretching from one end to the other, providing around 8km of trails encompassing a wide range of ups, downs, challenging and varied terrain, stunning views, and even a separate freeride black run for the more adventurous. Armoured stream crossings and north shore dotted around the track means that it is rideable all year around.
pic www.haldonfreeride.org
Obviously you cant just have the FC building this, it needed actual riders helping as well to make it into a nice flowing trail, so a group of trail builders got together and helped build the XC track, in return, they were given two areas of wood to build a freeride area and a double black trail. At the moment in the freeride area there's a couple of big drops, 20ft and a smaller 15ft kicker, a semi built rock garden and some berms, there are plans to build lots more, including wall ride, step ups etc, but like anything it takes time.
Over on the double black run, there is a helter skelter, which is followed by some incredibly tricky skinnys, (good viewing point here watching people fall into the bog below ;) it then goes down the hill a bit, up over a small bit of north shore to get over a fallen tree, then after that you have to cope with going through a bog, until some north shore is built over that.
pic www.haldonfreeride.org
You then go up along a little bit of trail that has been cut into the hill, round a left and along a very long skinny, I would say is about 40ftish long and is a fallen tree with the top cut flat, this is extremely fun to ride, but still a good challenge. After that you cut back on yourself and go over a small seesaw, around a berm and then follow the trail down the hill until you get to the bottom. A lot more is going to be constructed on this trail, but building takes time, but it will all be there one day. There are the old trails as well which link up to the freeride area and there's the rat run as well. The trails aren't marked out at the minute, so the best way to get around if your unfamiliar with the place is speak to other riders or go to the FC headquarters at Peninsula (main area on Haldon) and speak to them. All in all though, it's a good place to go ride as it is, once it's finished, it's going to be awesome.
pic www.haldonfreeride.org
For more information check out www.haldonfreeride.org
If you would like to get involved and help build then everyone generally gets there 10am Sunday, just listen for the sound of the chainsaw ;), (directions can be found on www.haldonfreeride.org)
To keep track with what's going on check out our forums as were keep you updated with the goings on up there.
Thanks to www.strawberrywater.co.uk and www.haldonfreeride.org for the pictures.
Only Scott can pull off riding NS in wellies
pic www.strawberrywater.co.uk
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