Introduction
The Aston Hill Bike Park is situated just outside Wendover in the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Beauty. The park features five graded downhill tracks, a 4X track and two-part XC loop: it is a great venue for riders of all ages and abilities with something to challenge everyone, but it is more suited to competent riders during the winter months.
Here's a quick run through of the trails and a collection of videos shot on Aston Hill, to give you an idea of what to expect. If you've shot some video footage on your visit to Aston Hill we'd love to see it. Send a link (no files please – that's what video sharing sites are for) to info@rideastonhill.co.uk
The Trails
The Red Run doubles as the downhill for the XC loop. However, don't be fooled into thinking that it's easy. It's not as steep as the other tracks, but it does contain a few surprises to keep riders on their toes, with off-camber rooty sections and technical switchbacks. This run is used by riders getting used to the steeper, tighter riding of Aston Hill and is a great trail to build skills in an environment where you can ride safely and as fast as your confidence allows. There are changes afoot here: keep and eye on www.rideastonhill.co.uk for details.
The Black Run is the oldest and probably the most popular trail at Aston Hill, and for good reason: it's the steepest trail of the park. While DH3 and 4 have steep sections, the Black Run stays steep from the moment it starts right down to the drop into the bus stop at the bottom. On the way down you'll encounter bermed switchbacks, roots, drops and steep off-camber sections, before merging with DH4 for the final 30 metres.
DH3 is probably the fastest of the five runs with bigger, sweeping turns interspersed with rooty sections. The top section is a gentle slope through the woods with a few small table-tops, before some big bermed turns into the steeper section of the course. While not as sheer as the Black Run, it still has plenty of challenge with fast off-camber sections and rooty drops, before a set of tighter switchbacks at the end.
DH4 uses the same start as the Black, Red and XC runs, but gets down to business a lot early - it branches off almost immediately and heads down from there. As a course it's somewhere between the Black and DH3 in terms of its technicality and speed, and features a large drop halfway down.
DH5 (4-2-3) Built in summer 2009 by World Cup rider John Holbrook, it was the course used for the 2009 Southern Downhill Championships. Keep an eye on the website for developments.
The 4X course, with a mix of doubles and table tops, and the infamous road gap two thirds near the bottom is still a regular venue for riders with cameras capturing their mates boosting off the head-high lip. The 4X is high on the list of projects to undertake in the future - with funds and some hard work it will be restored to its former glory.
The XC loop is separated into two distinct halves with a combined length of approximately six miles. The first half starts off with a singletrack loop which is rooty, swooping, undulating and testing, before the second half which consists of the Red Run downhill followed by a steep, switchback climb back up before some more swooping, undulating singletrack to finish off. It's currently in a state of change – expect some serious improvements over the winter of 2010.
Both XC and DH-based beginners can improve here very quickly under supervision using the lower graded runs and the top section of the XC loop, especially on one of the many MTB training courses run by Firecrest Mountain Biking. Work has been completed on all of the tracks since the committee took over in 2008; nearly every track has been tuned to add interest and reduce permanent damage to the Hill.
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