Probably the biggest question we get asked at the moment is “When is Cooking on Gas reopening? And why wouldn’t it be? Work started in the revamp of the much loved, but rather worn trail at the end of February. Surely the work must be finished already.
The answer is yes….and no! Maybe it’s time for an explanation of where we are at with the work.
Farmer John and his crew were up on site from the end of February and had pretty much finished up the work by the end of March. With a little rain and a re-whack, we were looking good for opening for the Easter holidays. Unfortunately, the key ingredient of rain has not quite materialised. We need moisture to help the material to bond together as part of the build process, finishing this off with a whacker plate gives us a good, compacted surface that once is dried and settled gives us a good durable surface. However, as we experience one of the driest springs in 132 years, with only 15cm of rain since the end of February, it is not possible to finish the job, which means we can’t open the trail.
We can’t state enough that we would love to get it open as soon as possible, but right now that is not going to happen for a while….
But it looks finished
Yes, it certainly looks pretty finished, in fact it looks pretty amazing and really tempting to ride. In some places it may look it is pretty solid too. unfortunately, what you can see is a crust of about 10cm, but then below this is soft, dry, uncompacted ground which would erode once we have had a few riders down the trail. It is also pretty unsafe and unpredictable as the crust can break through pretty easily.
What is the impact if we open it now?
Aside from the fact the trail would be unsafe and not that fun to ride, it also has a really big impact on how much it would take to get it back up to scratch after the summer. You can look at that in a couple of ways….
Ride Sheffield is you; it’s our community of rider in the city who have donated over £40,000 to allow us to rebuild the trail and make it better than it’s ever been. It’s your money that made it possible. However, we would anticipate having to raise almost a third of that to reinstate the trail if we opened it now.
Ride Sheffield is a group that is run by volunteers. All the trail work, the admin, even keeping the socials fed is done in our own time. We do it because we love rising mountain bikes, we love the community of riders we have in the city and we want to preserve it and make it better for all. Whilst we try and be as professional in our approach as we can be, we all have day jobs. We have to find the time to do trail work, not just hop into the digger (maybe one day!)
In reality with the current dry conditions, if we were to open, it would probably only last a few days until it became totally unrideable, chich is too much of a gamble with the resources we have.
So, what next?
For now, we keep the trail closed, to give more realistic timescales, that is likely to be October at the earliest; cooler days and more rain should make it easier to finish it off. But if the drought continues, then we will push that date back.
You will be seeing new signs up on site explain what is happening, so all users of the woods understand why the fences are still up on site.
We will post up when we have the dates for the trail days, we will be having a big volunteer push to get things open.
What else can you do to help?
Keep off the trail: No riding, running, dog walking etc. down there for now. Thanks
Spread the word on the closure.
Join us on our volunteer days: We will have a big weekend dig in October to get everything open, keep an eye out for that and sign up via our Eventbrite.
Volunteer more with us: We would love to expand our core group of volunteers, so if you would like to help out with…
Comms and Social Media
Trail Crew’s
Events
Social Rides
Or would just like to get involved more generally
5. Please get in touch. We will be sharing more on this as well as some role descriptions across social media soon
Donate: Either as a one of payment or set up a monthly payment via our Trail Fund here
Sign up to our mailing list to hear more and find out when trail days are here, or follow us on social media
Feedback: Tell us what you would like us to be doing differently/more of etc. Drop us an email at info@ridesheffield.org.uk
As part of our Winter Social, we ask local bike related businesses to donate to the prize pile for the quiz and raffle and we have to say a huge thank you to everyone who dug deep to help with this.
As long-standing Ride Sheffield supporters, Cotic were super generous yet again – offering a Bfe frame for us to offer out as a prize. Not bad at all eh?!
So, we’re offering this frame as a random draw from our Trail Fund supporters. If you’re already donating monthly, you’re in the draw. If not, why not?! We’ll pick the winner at the end of February – so you’ve got this month to get yourself signed up.
Second prize gets a pair of DMR pedals and Deathgrips!
Pick £5, £10, £20 or £50 a month. Any of those gets you a variety of goodies anyhow, but also a place in this prize draw! All proceeds from your donation goes towards the work we do on trails across Sheffield. A winner all round!
the biggest question we get asked at the moment is “When is Cooking on Gas reopening? And why wouldn’t it be? Work started in the revamp of the much loved, but rather worn trail at the end of February. Surely the work must be finished already.
The answer is yes….and no!
Maybe it’s time for an explanation of where we are at with the work.
Farmer John and his crew were up on site from the end of February and had pretty much finished up the work by the end of March. With a little rain and a re-whack, we were looking good for opening for the Easter holidays. Unfortunately, the key ingredient of rain has not quite materialised. We need moisture to help the material to bond together as part of the build process, finishing this off with a whacker plate gives us a good, compacted surface that once is dried and settled gives us a good durable surface. However, as we experience one of the driest springs in 132 years, with only 15cm of rain since the end of February, it is not possible to finish the job, which means we can’t open the trail.
We can’t state enough that we would love to get it open as soon as possible, but right now that is not going to happen for a while….
Yes, it certainly looks pretty finished, in fact it looks pretty amazing and really tempting to ride. In some places it may look it is pretty solid too. unfortunately, what you can see is a crust of about 10cm, but then below this is soft, dry, uncompacted ground which would erode once we have had a few riders down the trail. It is also pretty unsafe and unpredictable as the crust can break through pretty easily.
What is the impact if we open it now?
Aside from the fact the trail would be unsafe and not that fun to ride, it also has a really big impact on how much it would take to get it back up to scratch after the summer. You can look at that in a couple of ways….
Ride Sheffield is you; it’s our community of rider in the city who have donated over £40,000 to allow us to rebuild the trail and make it better than it’s ever been. It’s your money that made it possible. However, we would anticipate having to raise almost a third of that to reinstate the trail if we opened it now.
We are a group that is run by volunteers. All the trail work, the admin, even keeping the socials fed is done in our own time. We do it because we love rising mountain bikes, we love the community of riders we have in the city and we want to preserve it and make it better for all. Whilst we try and be as professional in our approach as we can be, we all have day jobs. We have to find the time to do trail work, not just hop into the digger (maybe one day!)
In reality with the current dry conditions, if we were to open, it would probably only last a few days until it became totally unrideable, which is too much of a gamble with the resources we have.
So, what next?
For now, we keep the trail closed, to give more realistic timescales, that is likely to be October at the earliest; cooler days and more rain should make it easier to finish it off. But if the drought continues, then we will push that date back.
You will be seeing new signs up on site explain what is happening, so all users of the woods understand why the fences are still up on site.
We will post up when we have the dates for the trail days, we will be having a big volunteer push to get things open.
What else can you do to help?
Keep off the trail: No riding, running, dog walking etc. down there for now. Thanks
Spread the word on the closure.
Join us on our volunteer days: We will have a big weekend dig in October to get everything open, keep an eye out for that and sign up via our Eventbrite.
Volunteer more with us: We would love to expand our core group of volunteers, so if you would like to help out with…
Comms and Social Media
Trail Crew’s
Events
Social Rides
Or would just like to get involved more generally
Please get in touch. We will be sharing more on this as well as some role descriptions across social media soon
Donate: Either as a one of payment or set up a monthly payment via our Trail Fund here
Sign up to our mailing list to hear more and find out when trail days are here, or follow us on social media
Feedback: Tell us what you would like us to be doing differently/more of etc. Drop us an email at info@ridesheffield.org.uk
After a few false starts, we’ve launched a proper Crowdfunder to raise the funds for a long overdue revamp of “Cooking on Gas” at Lady Cannings.
Click here to view the Crowdfunder and donate, or read on for more info!
With £20,000 earmarked already, we’re looking for another £20,000 to reach our goal of £40,000.
The once smooth and swoopy berms are looking worse for wear now
The money will be used to;
– Return the trail to its learner friendly Blue grade status
– Replace the trail surface along the majority of the track
– Reshape and improve berms and other trail features
– Improve sight lines at crossing points
After opening in 2017, the “Cooking on Gas” trail in Sheffield has proven popular with a variety of mountain bikers, those new to the sport, seasoned riders and everyone in between. It’s one of two Blue Grade trails built within Lady Cannings – a plantation near Ringinglow that is managed by Sheffield City Council.
Mountain bike trail grading follows much the same pattern as for skiing, so the Blue grade sits one step above a complete beginner Green trail. Cooking on Gas was designed as a smoother rolling trail for those new to mountain biking – but with a few features that riders can use to build their skills. This has only added to its popularity, with families making regular use of the track, along with its sister trail “Blue Steel”
With both trails having seen thousands of runs across the years, they’ve suffered wear and tear along with weather damage, with the surface wearing away and now in a much rougher condition.
While Blue Steel has suited repairs by our excellent “Trail Crew” volunteer team, Cooking on Gas needs professional repairs with machinery and materials – which is why Ride Sheffield is asking for your donations to put to the cause.
Back in 2017, we launched Rad Tax as a way for riders to support us financially, paying monthly or annually for a Green, Blue, Red or Black level membership. On top of the warm, fuzzy feeling you get for supporting our group, each membership is also awarded with stickers, T shirts, hip flasks and more – depending on the level of support. Most supporters choose to pay monthly, donating £5, £10, £20 or £50 each month.
Rad Tax has been well supported over the last 5 years, bringing in around £650 a month from 70 supporters.
We think that it could be much bigger, more well supported and achieve greater things – partly with a bigger push and explanation from us, but partly that it’s been held back somewhat by its name. Feedback from local riders has been partly confusion and partly a dislike for something with Tax in the name. That’s a whole other conversation, but point taken!
For 2023, we’re renaming Rad Tax as Trail Fund!
Trail – we use the money raised to help pay towards trail maintenance, new build projects, rights of way improvements along with tools and training for our Trail Crews.
Fund – to make it clear that we’re collecting cash!
At a glance, it’s now much clearer what Trail Fund is for. We’ll also be clearer in how we spend the money and take feedback from contributors as to how it’s split between projects. Every 6 months we’ll post an update with facts and figures, along with ideas for the future. There’s lots that we’d love to be able to take on with enough budget, so we’re pretty excited for what this could bring!
On the other side of things and well worth a mention is that we’re in need of help in other ways. We’re aware that some of our supporters may be able to help in other ways, either instead or in addition to a financial contribution. We’re a small team a rather stretched, so any assistance you think might help us, we’re all ears. Practical work at trail days is brilliant, but perhaps you have skills elsewhere and some time you could spare to help? Admin, website, social media, photos, merch sales, writing funding bids, running an email list…. just a few ideas to start with.
As ever, we’re on info@ridesheffield.org.uk if you have any questions about Trail Fund (or offers of help!) Big thanks in advance!
It’s been a while, 2019 in fact, since we held our Winter Social – our chance to catch up with everyone, explain what we’ve been doing, what we have planned and to get some feedback on everything.
On Tuesday 7th February, we booked out the back room of the Greystones and invited everyone along for a chat, some drinks and of course, some prizes!
For those who couldn’t make it, here’s a quick update on the main points you missed.
Introduction
Henry kicked things off with a big warm Ride Sheffield welcome and outlined things for the evening. He reinforced our need for some extra help, so please do get in touch if you think you can help us with anything – we’re open to all ideas, not just people who can help with a spade!
Ride Sheffield is currently taking advice on our governance – namely that we’re looking at becoming a Charity or CIC and there’s likely to be significant progress on that in 2023. For that reason, we didn’t hold our usual AGM and everyone continues in their previous roles. Henry Norman as President, Steve Hardcastle as Treasurer and Simon Bowns as Secretary.
Henry then explained our approach for the Social, with brief updates from us on a range of topics followed by the chance to break out and discuss different areas directly, plus the raffle and quiz of course!
Trail Crews
Elaine Barber and Jon Edwards were up next, with details on the Trail Crew. We now have a first batch of Trail Crew basically trained up, with First Aid and equipment training and plenty of experience on Trail Days. We’ve aimed for a variety of works, including both purpose built MTB trails and other rights of way, to give the Trail Crew as much experience as possible.
That’s not to say that you can’t help out at a Trail Day if you’re not a member of the Trail Crew – more that they’re the ones to help guide people on the day, explain safe methods of working and keep everything running smoothly. We’re still very much keen for extra help, so please email if you’re interested in joining the ever-growing Trail Crew, or join in on our dig days if you’re not sure you can quite commit that much!
Elaine also runs Women only Trail days in association with Cotic Women of Steel. These are going from strength to strength, so it’s definitely something that there’ll be more of in the future too! The next one is on March 11th at Blacka Moor – more details here!
Massive thanks goes to Santa Cruz and their Paydirt project, which has paid towards training, equipment, materials and kit for the Trail Crews.
Inclusion
Back to Henry for this, explaining the work that we’ve started on Inclusion and Diversity. This is an important topic to us as a group and one that we’re glad to be making some significant steps with. We love mountain biking and the local area and would love to share that with more people, from a variety of backgrounds.
In 2022, we co-hosted a Ride with the MTB Colour Collective who are a group encouraging people of colour to try mountain biking. This ride was one of the SHAFF outreach events and was followed by a panel talk and discussion.
We also helped to host a meeting called Reframing Mountain Biking, where we invited various riders, user groups and trail associations along with cycling industry and press to the Woodland Discovery centre. Once again, things kicked off with a couple of options for a ride, followed by food and discussions around where Mountain Biking is and where it could be. This ranged from topics of Inclusion, rider behaviour, group co-operation, media responsibilities, access and much much more!
Support this time has come from Rapha, who’ve helped out with funding which has been used to book venues and food for meetings. They’ve also helped with kit for the Trail Crew as well as funding for us looking into the Charity/CIC and overall governance mentioned above.
Rad Tax and Trail Fund
Next up came Si, with an update on Rad Tax – or should that be Trail Fund?!
In late 2017, we launched Rad Tax as a way for riders to pay back into the trails and support the work Ride Sheffield does. This has gradually grown over the years, bringing in £650 a month.
It’s a great start and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who chips in, but frankly it needs to be a good chunk more to get where we can achieve more of our hopes and dreams. We’d love to be in a position where we don’t have to shake the hat every time a trail needs resurfacing, but can rely on the funds we raise each month. Perhaps we could even get to the point where we can employ someone part time to help with all things Ride Sheffield?!
Following discussions with locals, it seems that the Rad Tax name wasn’t helping – the Tax word doesn’t necessarily sit well with people. It’s also not all that clear what it means, so we’ve rebranded as Trail Fund.
Everything else remains the same, with the option to pay annually or monthly – £5, £10, £20 or £50 a month, with a variety of different goodies by way of a thank you. For more details and to sign up – please click here!
(side note – since the meeting, we’re up another £60 a month, big thanks, keep it coming everyone!)
Si then explained the excellent work being done by Peak District MTB, who have now launched Trail Pot. Along similar lines to Trail Fund, but at a national scale, the idea is that large companies and employers can kick into a pot, choosing where they want their funds to be spent. Trail associations like Ride Sheffield can then apply for funding within each region. Very exciting, but it’s early days and there’s plenty of leg work to be done. Keep an eye over on the Peak District MTB website for more details in the future.
Bolehills
Not one that Ride Sheffield is directly involved in, but we love the work the Bolehills crew do and asked Dave Camus to explain everything they’ve been up to.
Busy for sure, with more material deliveries and countless days on site revamping the track. Bolehills is a prime example of co-operation, both within the riding community, but also the wider local community and working alongside a landowner to build a truly great facility.
The Bolehills team has been revamping almost every feature, giving options to roll or jump, pick a line and progress each time you visit. Their plan is for a big opening jam around May Bank Holiday, so watch this space for that.
Check out the Bolehills site over here, give them a follow over on Instagram and send a few pennies and buy some merch to support the work they do. A recent Local Area Committee Grant means they have some money to spend on tools, but that’s no reason to not help them to top the coffers up for the future!
Trail News
Back to Si for some updates on a few of the sites we manage;
Lady Cannings has had a very successful volunteer repair to Blue Steel, which has given almost the entire trail a repair and resurface as required. It’s been a proving ground for the Trail Crew, with many other volunteers joining us at a variety of trail days – big thanks to everyone involved!
Cooking on Gas is a slightly different story, looking a little worse for wear and in need of a more professional repair job. We’ll be launching a Crowdfunder for that at some point this Spring, watch this space.
Over at Greno, it’s no doubt that Steel City’s revamp has been a real success, getting finished and open just in time for the Steel City DH race. It’s also in need of some TLC, so watch this space for a trail day there soon. With enough volunteers and time, we’ll look to give Pub Run a fettle then too.
DH3 sadly hasn’t opened yet, with the weather working against us. We’re keen to avoid the trail just getting ripped to shreds once it opens – there’s just not the funds to be able to fix any serious damage. Plans are in place for another whacker session before we get the track de-logged and open to ride. Please be patient, we’ll shout loudly once this is open!
Social
After the various talks, we then moved on to the more social side of things.
Folks were able to grab another drink, buy some raffle tickets, enter the quiz then mingle and chat about the various points raised. We had tees and other merch for sale, along with the chance to sign on to Trail Fund.
We were keen to get feedback from as many people as possible, so left feedback sheets and marker pens for people to note on a few topics – What are we doing well? What are we doing badly? What more could/should we be doing?
We received plenty of feedback via this, which we’re going through and will be including in our plans wherever possible. If you didn’t get a chance to speak to us or leave a note, or have thought of anything extra – email info@ridesheffield.org.uk and we’ll take any points on board!
It looks set to be another big exciting year for the Sheffield scene, something we’re hugely proud to be involved in – but we’d love more of you to help us out if you can. Any offers of help – info@ridesheffield.org.uk – otherwise, get signed up to Trail Fund if you can spare a few £ for the trails of Sheffield!
Dry times are good times for mountain biking and complaining about them is like refusing a free pint. But Ride Sheffield has been desperate for rain for the entire summer – weird ain’t it?
The DH3 rebuild in June was taken as far as it could be by the trail builders but for the next four months it was baked dry by the sun. As you probably know, post building we need a combination of rain and sun to bed the trail in. The driest year for centuries didn’t help us out so we had to close it. Some people rode it, ignoring the fact that it was loose and soft. There were numerous logs on it and signs pleading with everyone not to ride it. Thankfully, only a few rode it in spite of the fact that it looked stunning.
Finally, late October and early November, after numerous rain-dances by Ride Sheffield, we got a downpour. On the Saturday 26th November, the Trail Team and numerous volunteers turned up to help out and make DH3 ready to ride.
It was an incredible day. The sheer effort was remarkable and the fact that the entire trail was beaten, whackered and finessed to an exemplary standard was amazing. We used multiple whacker plates to compress the berms and the youth created some prime lips on the jumps. The age range was probably 15 to 64!
What we have to say is that our volunteers are superb. Both our Trail Team and the volunteers who mucked in were simply the best. We salute you!!
We’ll be checking the trail in December and all being well should be opening DH3 before Christmas. Watch this space!
Firstly we know this has been a long time coming and that folk are very excited to ride the trail but please remember no one wants this trail open more than we do!
Finally after a ridiculosuly dry year there’s enough moisture in the ground to be able to do some work to get DH3 ready for opening. On the day we’ll be cutting back foliage, compacting the edges of the trail, whacker plating the trail surface, doing small bits of raking filling spots where those who couldn’t wait have damaged the trail etc. After the dig it’ll need a little more time to rest and then we’ll be able to open, planned opening would be 12th December unless there are any disasters.
In order to plan for the day and control numbers etc those wishing to come and help on the day need to register via the Eventbrite link below, when the spots are gone, they’re gone and we can’t take more folk or it’s just like herding cats.
(Please note – Numbers are limited as we need to be able to manage both the quality of the work and the safety of you and other users in the area. We can’t do that if there’s hundreds of keen diggers charging about the place with barrows or waving spades about.)
Starting the winter season as we mean to go on, we’re planning to do more resurfacing work on Blue Steel at Lady Cannings on 19th November. 0930-1430. We’d love your assistance to make it happen.
We will organise some refreshments afterwards, but will make a call on exactly what when we have a better idea of the weather.
See you there!
(please note – numbers are limited as we need to be able to manage both the quality of the work and the safety of you and other users in the area, and we can’t do that if there’s hundreds of keen diggers charging about the place with barrows or waving spades about)
We know this one has been a little while coming, apologies but day jobs, riding bikes in the sun and a lack of actual concrete information to share have delayed it.
First to say that no one wants DH3 to be open more than we do, we know people are keen to ride it and excited, we are too!
The big thing that’s keeping us from opening the trail is the lack of rain this year. Since February we’ve had about two thirds of the average rainfall for that period and a lot of what has come down has been very heavy so it tends to run off not soak in. If you’ve been anywhere near Ladybower over summer you’ll have seen how low the resevoirs have been and still are now, this is all part of the same problem. Things are starting to improve as the summer ends and rain increases.
Most of the trail work is done, only final fettling is needed when conditions are right to finish, a couple of final weeks for it harden and then we’ll be good to go. We plan to hold a big day day to finish the trail as soon as conditions allow. We were hoping that would be late this month but the ground is still to dry. As soon as we get enought moisture down and forecast we’ll announce the date and get it booked in.
Sorry we can’t give a concrete date and that the trail has been closed for so long but if it had opened before the £15k we’ve invested in the work would’ve been destroyed in a few weeks and there’s no magic money tree to redo the work we’ve done this year for many years.
The good news is that Steel City is still very popular and given the conditions has held up amazingly well since it opened in May. There are some small patches that need repairs and we’ll hold a dig day to get as much of this as we can sorted after DH3 opens. We don’t want to have 2 trails closed at once so Steel City will have to wait a little while before we get to it.
Finally pub run, we’re still working on this one, we would love to give it a full rebuild too but funds are limited and we don’t currently have enough to do it. Give us some time and we hope to find a way, this wouldn’t be carried out until spring now anyway so we have a little time.
Please keep being patient folks, it’ll be worth the wait!
