Hadleigh Park - sad to the Olympic 2012 legacy being neglected
Very sad to see the state of what was viewed as one of the best venues of the 2012 Olympics.
Little work has been done on the track and maintenance has steadily worsened over the last few years despite the local HADLEIGH MTB Club offering assistance to volunteer on maintenance days which has been ignored. The current track surface is dangerous to even the average rider, a lot of the features are in disrepair (see the list below) and as a MTB coach I would be concered on using it as a location to use on a regular basis. In addition, nature seems to be taking back the space as a number of the trails are now completely overgrown with brambles and stinging nettles.
Little maintenance work has been done on signage and people are now starting to use the track for walking dogs and playing with their children which could be both dangerous for them and not nice for a rider riding through uncollected dogs mess. In fact, there has been situations where people have almost been hit by riders after playing on MTB features.... I have almost run into a couple picnicing at the bottom of the Triple Trouble A line!
The current published pictures of the track on the Hadleigh Park web site are not a great representation of what the site currently looks like which I am sure is disappointing for those people visiting that have not been there before.
Personally it is not somewhere I bother riding specifically apart from as a short cut on my way home after riding the local woods.
What do you like?
The cafe is good with lovely service
What could be improved?
Deans Drop berms surface is like marbles, Gap jump B line is closed with the A line starting to rot as well, Dual Slalom surface is rubbish and nature is overgrowing it, the Bermy Loop after the dual slalom is so overgrown you can no longer ride it, Leap of Faith has been closed so almost 3 years, the rock garden is starting to fall apart and final descent is really over grown. So at least 50% of the features put in for the Olympics are now un-rideable..... almost list the local council are deliberately letting it fall into disrepair!
All this and the parking to experience a badly maintained track is very expensive!
Would you recommend?
no
Date written:
02/07//2024 - over 1 year agoWas this review helpful to you?
Check out the full trail description: Hadleigh Park Mountain Bike Trail Centre
