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….
Read more: Cooking on Gas Rebuild – UpdateBut 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.
- 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
You may have seen a few things around town about Cycle September that is being organised by Love to Ride? You may be wondering why you should take part? More info is below…. But basically one of the biggest problems when lobbying for better infrastructure and facilities for cyclists is a lack of data that can be used. By taking part, not only do you get a chance to take part in a fun event, you can also generate useful data that makes things better for cyclists in Sheffield. register your workplace and you will also have the bonus of being able to show your employers the number of cyclists, which is useful in sorting better facilities for those that ride, such as storage and shower. So what are you waiting for?….. 
With this seasons fashions starting off with an attractive golden orangey brown look, eventually letting the browns, blacks and greys have their moment in (out) of the sun. So we thought it was probably best that we re commence with our trail days to make sure that the trail keep running sweetly and as sustainably as possible.
As well as awesome trails and a great cycling community, Sheffield also has some pretty impressive research going on as well too. Sheffield Hallam’s Centre of Sports Engineering Research are looking for volunteers to take part in a study on body size. It does not take much time and you will get some pretty cool information about yourself at the end of it. For more information read on….. 
While it may currently be rather freezing outside; a sure sign that spring must just be around the corner is the welcome appearance of Sheffield’s much-loved adventure film festival SHAFF.
Blessed as we are by hills and cyclists, it’s a wonder that no one has come up with this idea before. Take seven (road) hills in Sheffield, sort out a route between each one and organise an escort for the riders to give them a hassle free route, then at the base of each hill unleash a mass start hill climb with points going to the top 10 riders. Then repeat another 6 times until you find the winner. Sort of an upside down roadie enduro with perhaps a little more suffering.
