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Hi,

Getting back into riding and was wondering where would be better to ride on a hardtail out of Chicksands and Aston Hill. I have ridden Epping and Thetford several times but wanted to try somewhere different. Are both Aston Hill and Chicksands suitable for a group of intermediate riders? Also don't own a full face and read some reviews where people have said you need to wear one at Aston.

Thanks
Rob

I was talking about this yesterday to Damo at Danbury.

I ride a hardtail and I would definitely say Chicksands is great for learning.

Everything is rollable, wide and with good visibility. Theres normally someone nearby in case you have a mishap too.

It's also fairly short so you can easily blast down something and then have an easy push back up, and able to reflect on what you did without forgetting it all by the time it's time to go again.

Chicksands is also sandy and forgiving.

You don't have to wear a ff helmet at Aston Hill - I used to ride there in an open face before I owned a ff. However, faceplanting at Aston Hill would be extremely painful as the flint is sharp and the roots are hard.

I'd recommend chicksands for the reasons that dan said, although AH is great fun on a hardtail.

I personally also recommend a full face if you're planning on doing some exciting riding.

You're most likely to crash when your new, and that's when you need it right?

As you get faster, you also need a full face as the impact for when things go wrong is greater.

You can pick up cheap full face MX helmets for £30 (like I have and use), and nowadays you can even get cheap bike specific full faces.

Every accident I've had in past and the big one yesterday has always happened with "this is going to hurt" thought until it's all over and you realise it was nowhere as bad as it could've been.

The way I look at it is that times move on, and we've moved on from leather padded helmets circa 1950's to polysterene stuff first in the 70-80's and now the every day Joe can get a full face- so why not?

You live once.

Id say chicksands too that was the first trail centre I went to on my hardtail and agree with Dan on getting a full face but I wouldn't get a mx one tho there is a big weight difference in mx and mtb helmets you can pick a mtb full face for about £50 a small price to pay for something that can save you life.

Aston is great and there is a good red run and xc loop. The black runs require a bit of commitment and a speed is your friend mentality. But it is very easy to stop and look at sections before you run them.

Chicksands is much more progression friendly and agree with the previous comments. The dual and 4x track are good for progression and there is more if you are feeling adventurous.

Definitely get a full facer, my slam at Danbury last weekend left me bruising through the full facer and some dodgy vision for an hour or so. I wasn't going very fast, you will be going a lot faster at chicksands or Aston.

Well my MX lid weighs the same as some 661 helmets.....

661 MX helmets?

Lol, no.