Llandegla Black Run

[sikora]

Well, i did it. Decided to go up after work today.
Dunno why i hadn't done it before, was really good.......untill i got a little carried away and bailed

Took one of the jumps a little to fast and lost control. Managed to stop myself going over the handlebars and fell to the side and slid along the ground.
Luckily, Llandegla has quite soft ground, so not really any cuts, other than a grazed knee - banged my other knee, which i'm expecting to be swollen up tomorrow.

Bike didn't quite come off so well though:





My own fault really. didn't put my seat down before i set off on the Black Run.

Just ordered an Easton EA50 seatpost for my replacement

[Oggy]

Is that a thompson lay back seat post ;D. Nice 1 Sikora glad to here ya didnt bust yaself up. Theres nothing wrong with a good fall mate-e, it shows that you were pusing yourself and thats the way we improve our riding. Which section did ya crash on? Its them moments that make ya realise why we where helmets

The black run is great init. Which was ya fav section, I love the jump section after the bridge

PS. Is the rest of the bike okay?

[xybadog]

Didn't you have a spare seat post with ya?

[ftasb]

Let's see some photos in the 'War Wounds' section then ;D

(hope you're ok)

[sikora]

It was on the 2nd bit of the black, just a little bit past the smaller North Shore ramp. I basically just got a little over confident, as i found the Black alot easier than i thought it would be - Was expecting Doubles and 4ft Drop offs!
Rest of the bike is fine thankfully, although i always see damaged parts in a crash as an excuse to upgrade bits ;D

Wounds aren't bad enough (or should that be good enough?) for the Wounds sections unfortunatley.
Only a slight graze on my knee - looked far worse when it was still covered in mud

Xybadog: Stupidly, i'd left my spare seatposts in my other Hydrapak, along with my spare wheel and handlebars

[xybadog]

I'm defo gonna have to do the Black next time

[sikora]

Get your flats on first!

[xybadog]

Jul 6, 2008 21:57:31 GMT sikora said:

Get your flats on first!

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[dyls]

How is the black run compared to others, say Marin/Penmachno/CYB? - me being a Llandegla virgin.

I'm thinking of possibly going for this on Sunday but need to justify the 1:15 commute each way.

From what I've seen it looks more flowing with less technical sections?!

[martinw]

If you want to go and bag it, go. But if your not bothered I wouldnt drive all that way. I wouldnt say its a black run, Its just full of jumps and if your into that sort of thing well you'll have a field day.

I need to go again to make my mind up about the place, but I wont go that far unless I have a real urge to!

The only thing I remember liking about the trail was the burms, they have got that right there, no need to slow down for corners and dips, you just fly straight through.

Someone on here that rides it more often should be able to paint you a better picture.

[sikora]

I've only ridden Llandegla, so cant compare it to the likes of CYB. but from what i've been told, Llandegla Black Run is alot easier than the other trail centres in North Wales.

Everything is rollable at Llandegla, although i've not done the final Black section there - JJ's Jumps, so i don't know what thats like.

I found the second Black section very flowing, but i'd imagine it being quite trecherous in the wet. Although that can be said about the rest of the Red route too.

[Rob]

To me Llandegla fails in a few areas, one of them is the natural feeling and its not everyday i agree with MBUK but i think they got that bit right there just isnt any to me exept right at the end but ts way to short but then again what do you expect for a trail centre.

As for it being a Black to me its not technical enough its all rolable with a few 'run offs' there is some good bits like Martin said the burms are good and JJ's Jumps is a nice little section where you can generate a lot of speed in a short space of time with a fair few jumps etc but again its just to short and just for me to really enjoy it i have to do it 5-6 times but that slog back upto the bridge gets frustrating sometimes.

My overall feeling of Lalndegla is there are many good bits but just not long enough to really make you go 'wow' somethig which the Marin and Penmachno do with really tight singletrack and some great downhill sections something again Llandegla lacks.

[Doug]

I find Llandegla to be pretty dumbed down compared to other trail centers, especially the Scottish ones. It is however a private commercial forest and so they have to protect themselves from litigation a bit more than a FC forest does.

When I stay in the forest I tend to take most of the steep shortcuts at Llandegla to make it a little more interesting. Most of the time when I ride there it's just to use the trail center as a convenient meeting place before heading out over the hills to Llangollen.

[Laurence-CE]

Jul 17, 2008 21:06:44 GMT Doug said:

I find Llandegla to be pretty dumbed down compared to other trail centers, especially the Scottish ones. It is however a private commercial forest and so they have to protect themselves from litigation a bit more than a FC forest does.

When I stay in the forest I tend to take most of the steep shortcuts at Llandegla to make it a little more interesting. Most of the time when I ride there it's just to use the trail center as a convenient meeting place before heading out over the hills to Llangollen.

Agreed, I found it not too challenging for a Black Run, there wasnt anything on the trail that i went WOW abaout. But it is very challenging for unexperienced riders, but i dont see many unexperiencied riders riding it. But i also thought there was too many uphills for an eledged DH trail, I dont do hills

[kay2]

i really enjoyed it, i found it had a good balance between climbing and downhill, i like fast muddy trails and swooping between trees and muddy climbs rather than fire tracks and pedaling flat out over rocky sections (marin) i think it depends on what you like. I definately think though marin-fitness, llandegla-fun, but at the end of the day its all good. One thing i do like about llandeg isthat you dont find walkers or cars in your path and theres a full english and a brew waitng at the end