New Mountain Bike Course at Parkwood Springs

[mogwai84 10]

the track is now finished the builders have now left the site, more info on the track.

 

its aroundabout a 2km loop consisting of 2 single track climbs in the trees one quite flat one not so easy and then there is the down hill section which starts in the trees but is wider with several lines including chicken runs around most jumps (all of which are rollable) one you come out of the trees you need to cross a foot path so pay attention for walkers then once out of the trees you get on to another downhill half way down there is a split on the left you have a small drop jump with a rocky landing to the right its more like a bmx track, cross a footpath again onto a more "proper downhill section" but this is only short then its back up to the top.

 

the best place to park is on cookswood road in the layby accross fro the flats enter the woods from the layby and you will see the trail on the left a few yards up from the layby.

 

for the more adventuras there is a actual "downhill" track within the grounds of the ski vilage this is the one steve peat was riding on the cycle show. here is a helmit cam video from the downhill on the ski village. http://mpora.com/videos/v8bX5T7AQ

 

I play football up there (and train there midweek) and there are some interesting 'characters' in those flats who like to shout abuse at people parking in the layby. They seem to think it's there own private parking spot.

 

Just thought I'd warn people! There are some other parking places relatively closely. It'd be good if the council would do something with the carpark, although the occupants of the flats would probably take these over too!

[meshuga 10]

Great to see more cycling facilities in accessible areas, the majority of legal trails in the peak are a fair ride on an MTB without a car.

 

A note of relative caution though, the attraction to certain members of society the thought of potentially thousands of pounds worth of kit being ridden there, warrants some caution from SCC and the MTB fraternity. On Tuesday a man was mugged at knife point in broad daylight in Rother Valley park by three lads, one on a dirt bike. Took his bike worth over 2k and some other personal possessions.

 

Certainly not something you see out of the cities, and to put into perspective as well, not at present a common incident at all thank goodness. Remember there is safety in numbers, and certainly make sure your kit is insured away from the home. It's up to the owners/volunteers of the Parkwood track to decide whether CCTV may be some deterrent,

 

Links here

 

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/robbery-at-knife-point-on-trans-pennine-trail-rother-valley-country-park

 

and here

 

http://www.worksopguardian.co.uk/news/local-news/man-robbed-at-knife-point-near-rother-valley-country-park-1-4898840

[lilypiglet 10]

Have to agree with Meshuga here. I know the guy who built the track and he had 2 bikes stolen from the back of his van while up there. Luckily after a little bit of investigation they were 'found' but then held to 'ransom' by the thieves wanting £300 for their return, and yes they were local lads...they are regularly seen up in Greno and Wharney too. Keep yourselves and your gear safe, TBH it can happen anywhere. maybe the nosey neighbours in the flats opposite could keep their eyes out for shifty looking characters, but as a previous poster stated...they just prefer to hurl abuse at people parking up..

[Bonjon 10]

I give it till the end of the year till the trail is trashed, maybe the end of the month. As soon as the local scroates get wind they will all be up there on their illegal crossers.

 

One can only hope they only injure themselves.

[ndegwa 10]

The Parkwood track i must admit didn't impress me much.... too much climbing for very little DH, Im not a massive DH rider either and prefer greno (which has incidently just been worked on)

the crossing of paths is an accident waiting to happen, signposted or not. you can stop people but dogs are not on a leash and i came across a dog walker at the crossing where the dog was so small i hardly saw it. I slowed to give the walker time to pass and all i got was an earfull.

[bobgirlsnake 10]

Have to agree with Meshuga here. I know the guy who built the track and he had 2 bikes stolen from the back of his van while up there. Luckily after a little bit of investigation they were 'found' but then held to 'ransom' by the thieves wanting £300 for their return, and yes they were local lads...they are regularly seen up in Greno and Wharney too. Keep yourselves and your gear safe, TBH it can happen anywhere. maybe the nosey neighbours in the flats opposite could keep their eyes out for shifty looking characters, but as a previous poster stated...they just prefer to hurl abuse at people parking up..

 

I live local to parkwood and must say the number of dodgy looking chavs hanging around on what look like £5k downhill bikes in the s5 area half hartadly sprayed black dose worry me like mad for my safety at least i can hope they recognise me and know mugging a local guy is a bad idea, they did try muggin in me when i 1st moved in to the area several years ago for my phone but it didn't go well for them and never had any trouble from them since

[Mr Pops 10]

been up there today,just for a look around. I must say i was quite impressed.

Next time im taking the bike up there.

 

Thanks for the warning of the local scroats though.

[dialled 10]

i personally think this is an asset to sheffield ,fantastic little loop that replicates the best bits of trail centre type rides. sustainable surface to help it through the winter and allows all types of riders to flow round however fast or slow they want .

 

for the record the track builders are also the guys doing the awesome stuff in grenoside , lets be thankful the council are doing something to help us and just enjoy what we have on the doorstep .

[Mr Pops 10]

Well i went up with my bike as suggested,but i must say its not as good as it looks.

i went twice around,must have taken all of 1 hour to do it!

 

nice to see it being used though.

[dialled 10]

That's sort of the point . Nip in quick blast and home .

Do it as slow or fast as you want just enjoy the views , enjoy the outdoors .

On a final note I witnessed a few good mtbers bang out ten laps of it in an hr and love the place .

[adelecrookes 10]

can't wait to go here. just worried about parking up nearby and being followed! Theres alot of bike crime in sheffield as it is.

 

ride sheffields links to the track looks ace!

[The Manager 12]

Well i went up with my bike as suggested,but i must say its not as good as it looks.

i went twice around,must have taken all of 1 hour to do it!

 

nice to see it being used though.

 

I been thought it looks great , Tempted to get my old bike out n do a few laps round .

its a nice walk round too, and then theres the local football games to watch once you done a few laps etc