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How
to get there:
Take the A4 from Bristol to
Bath, at the roundabout for the Globe pub take the second right and
follow the road into Odd Down, when you get to the top of the hill by
the shops take a left, first about 500yds down takes you on tp the road
adjacent to the rugby pitch, park up there than follow the path to the
left behind the line of trees.
Whats There:
A national level BMX track
complete with starting gate.
How Much:
£2 parking, and the price a bacon butty. Only £1 for the bike wash.
Whats it Like:
Free to ride, but don’t
forget your etiquette and if there’s work going on then pitch in and
lend a hand.
Well when Norco Nick sent me
the details it looked a bit like a building site so it was a pleasant
surprise to see the track finished when we rolled up on a clear and
sunny Saturday morning, though not as much of a surprise as the new ride
Nick was rocking, a sweet GT 24 incher, full rigid, single speed and the
total opposite of his usual beast, that being a team issue Norco DH. Now
for those of you who can’t remember the BMX craze in the 80’s you’ll be
surprised to know that a lot of councils spent money creating loads of
tracks dotted around the council estates in those days but most of them
have either been bulldozed for housing or roads (like Grove Park &
Duffryn in Newport) or have fallen into disrepair like this one. However
with a fair bit of pressure and tons of hard work have the local riders
have managed to get this one rebuilt and what a fine job they’ve done!
First up is the start ramp,8
lanes and a proper gate sending you over a sizeable pump jump into the
first big step up. We were hitting this pretty quick but coming up a bit
short so had a little session taking different lines in to try to clear
it, then into a big smooth berm which spits you into another smaller
step up followed by some doubles and another big berm. We were trying to
take a high line into this section to gain speed for the next long and
low table which led into another two doubles then a real nice step down.
The last berm sent you back towards the start line with another table
then some whoops which could be pumped or cleared in sets if speed and
technique allowed. All the track is built with compacted shale type
stuff so was super fast and grippy, no worries about sliding out on the
bends.
We did a few laps and
started to realise just how hard it was physically to keep the momentum
up all the way round, I’d been rushing to get off that morning so hadn’t
swapped my Dh tyres for some holy rollers so was suffering a bit from
drag but even on the 24incher it was a real effort to keep the pace up,
especially with an unforgiving front fork making you pay on any bump
hit.
A few of the local lads
arrived after a while and showed us how to do it properly, clearing the
first big step up and manualling or clearing the double sets, we just
sessioned it in sections trying to keep rolling and generally having a
mint time though it was nice to see Nick having an off for a change
when a manual attempt ending with him on the deck and a pair of jeans
trashed in the front chain ring!!
Worth a trip:
A superb track, I’m
definitely going back for more and toying with the idea of a BMW/Cruiser
myself!! They are hoping to have races next year which would be awesome
and the locals were super friendly. All in all it was a great way to
spend a few hours on a weekend, there was much talk of floodlights also
so who knows!!
What's Around:
There's some happy shopper
type outlet just down the road and everything you could want in the
centre of Bath just a few minutes drive away
Links:
http://www.bathbmx.com |
