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05.03.16 - New Gisburn
Trails & Car Park - Grand Opening
It's been a long time coming but we've finally beaten
the weather and the opening of the new trail, car park
and skills loops is going to happen on Saturday the 23rd
of March. There's a bit of do planned with a number of
activities to mark the opening along with a super celeb
to come and officially open the trails by cutting
something (brake hose, gear cable, hazard tape).
On the Saturday the fencing will come down and you'll
be able to park in the new car park, next to the new
skills loops, connected to the existing trails by a
couple of kilometres of new singletrack. Also
opening properly will be the Forest
Den cafe based at Stephen Park and a 2 minute
walk from the new car park.....more
01.03.13
- Lee Quarry Bike Rack Controversy!
 Controversy
has been stirred up by the approval of a planning
application by Rossendale Borough Council for a new
sculptural bike rack at the entrance to Futures Park,
marking the gateway to Lee Quarry. The rack, which is
intended to complement the other sculptures in
Lee Quarry, is designed to provide safe storage of bikes
for riders using Poppies Cafe across the road. The rack
is designed to take D locks and be in full view of the
cafe so riders can keep an eye on their pride and joy.
Robin Dobson, an artist from Sheffield,
has worked with Rossendale Borough Council to come up
with the concept design for the rack. The sculpture
titled 'Bounce' is....more.
25.02.13
- PMBA Features on IBIKERide.com
 Our
fame and influence is spreading far and wide (alright we
just get around a bit), to the extent we've been
featured on the national website IBIKERide.com.
The site focusing on the trails rather than the kit, MTB
personalities and bikes is rapidly becoming a one stop
shop for trail info, helping you to get the most out of
the ever expanding riding opportunities across the UK.
When we got an email last week
asking us if we'd be up for a chat and answer a few
questions about who we are and what we do we thought it
would have been rude not to. Part of our core goal is to
gain recognition and link up with others in the MTB
world so not being shy of talking about what we do we
got stuck in. Here's a taster from the IBIKERide.com
article.....more.
07.01.13
- When's a Trail Centre not a Trail Centre? Lee Quarry
& Beyond
 About eighteen months ago an idea
started to form off the back of comments being made on
forums about riders who only ever visit trail centres,
who miss out on the joys of natural trail riding. We've
nothing against trail centres, they're great and we'd
love to see more, but there is another side to riding a
lot of people don't see. It started us wondering why
some people only ride trail centres, is it not having to
navigate from a map, is it having facilities at the start
and end of a ride, is it wanting to know the route is
rideable, is it lack of local knowledge. Well it's more
than likely a combination of all these things plus a
little bit of fear of the unknown.....more.
06.11.12 - Lee Quarry Trail
Head Hub
 Things are progressing really well with the plans for the new trail
head hub for Lee and Cragg Quarries. Ride On in Rawtenstall have come
through the initial stages of the Rossendale Borough Council selection
process submitting a top quality development bid, beating off a number of
other submissions, to secure preferred bidder status. The criteria to
determine the successful bid was varied and complex but included obvious
things such as value for money but also took into account what the bidder
was proposing to do to put something back into the trails so we didn't
just end up with a retail outlet making money off the back of all the
hard work and investment that Lancs CC and Tony Lund have put into making
the quarries such a successful venue. P.M.B.A. fully endorses the
selection of Ride On as the preferred bidder given the shop teams close
personal ties with the local riding scene as well as the continued
practical support they've put into the quarry developments.....more.
25.10.12 - Gisburn on
NorthWest Tonight
 Gisburn Forest was featured on
BBC NorthWest Tonight
and not necessarily for the right reasons. The
phenomenal success of the new trails (50,000 visitors a
year can't be wrong) has brought with it the unwelcome
side affect of people needing rescuing having crashed.
Bowland and Pennine Mountain Rescue have had 10 mountain
bike related call outs this year alone, accounting for
nearly thirty percent of their total callouts. The
latest one at the start of the 8 prompted the TV
article. This
increased workload is now putting some strain on the
team. In addition to BPMRT the Cave Rescue Organisation
has also regularly attended mountain bike incidents in
the forest and of course we've all heard the air ambulance flying in as we've
been riding.....more.
18.10.12 - New Sponsors for
P.M.B.A.
 Hopefully you'll have noticed some additional logos
down the right hand side of this page as a few more
local businesses have very generously put their hands in
their pockets and stumped up some cash to keep P.M.B.A.
on the road.
Riverdene
Group Accomodation Centre, situated in the heart of
Calderdale, provides an ideal location to explore the
famous trails and bridleways around Hebden Bridge and
further afield. Located.....more.
11.10.12
- It's been great guys , but Brownback's next year may
not happen!
 The
Brownback's organising team are seriously feeling the
strain and desperately need some new blood to keep the
race series alive in 2013. The last race of the season
is this Sunday but if we don't want it to be the last
race full stop a few more people need to step up and
take on some of the work load. The following was posted
on Singletrackworld this week.
"It’s getting to that
time of year when what’s going to happen next year
gets sorted. In our case we won’t be able to put on an
XC series in 2013. Why is this? Essentially we need a
large group to share the load and to make sure that we
can safely hold events in one of the most challenging
venues around. We are all volunteers and as such have
many higher priorities which we have been compromising
since 2009. Unfortunately in 2013 it’s clear that we
need new people (at least 3 or 4) to commit their time
and energy to keeping this going.....more.
05.10.12 - Calderdale
Mountain Bike Marathon
 Just
a quick reminder the annual Calderdale Mountain Bike
Marathon is happening on Sunday the 14th of October. The
marathon, which is run by and in aid of the 24th St
Paul's Scout Group, is a great event which whilst not a
race (it takes in many of the local bridleways and
racing on those is very naughty) is at the least testing
personal challenge, especially the final tarmac hill.
Taking in some stunning Calderdale scenery including
Hardcastle Crags and Midgley Moor the event starts and
finishes in Sowerby. The 26 mile route (it is a
marathon) encompasses 3800ft of climbing on a variety of
terrain from tarmac to wheel sucking mud and just about
everything in between. An average time for completion is
around the 3.5 hour mark.....more.
30.08.12 - Hope XC Series
Race 3 This Sunday the 2nd
After
the summer break for the series when some other
"minor" sporting events were being held the
Hope XC series is back with another edition in our 2012
series. Race 2 ran in demanding conditions at Lee Quarry
but both the course and the 135 riders held up against
the rain and wind and.....more.
29.08.12
- Up The Buttress
 The
annual 'Up the Buttress' hill climb in Hebden bridge is set for
the beginning of September. Up the Buttress, which is being
sponsored by Singletrack magazine, Orange bikes and Blazing
saddles amongst others, sounds like a road event as it is
technically on a road. It's just a very steep road (it has hand
rails) and is cobbled, four hundred yards of cobbles. It's this
that makes mountain bikes the steed of choice although any and
all bikes are acceptable if you think you can get to the top.
The event is open to beginner as well as those with a more
massochistic bent who do these things regularly. All entrants
receive a goodie bag / sick bag and the right to be heckled by
the crowd when they get off and push.....more.
05.08.12 - P.M.B.A. Needs You
 P.M.B.A. needs more members to strengthen our voice
and make sure the needs of the ever growing number of
riders locally are taken into account. We have more than
1300 unique visitors to the website each month and
nearly 700 members on the Facebook page but only a
fraction of you have signed up.
Why should you? Well the more pukka members we have
the more seriously we get taken by the powers that be,
this is the main reason behind the membership fee of £
5 per year. If someone's prepared to put their hand in
their pocket (for this rather modest membership cost) it
shows some commitment to what we're doing and requires a
little more effort than just clicking a 'Like' button.
The membership fees also helps keep the wheels
turning, our outgoings are relatively small but we do
have costs, hosting this website being one of them.....more.
23.07.12 - New Wind Farm Proposed above Lee Quarry
 A significant extension to the wind farm on to the
south west of Lee Quarry is currently going through the
consultation phase with potential for another 20
turbines being added to the already sizeable development
on Scout Moor.
The previous turbines went in before Lee and Cragg
were opened as the superb mountain biking venues that we
now have and largely had no impact on the trails
(visually impact aside but that's another argument). The
current proposal is different and will impact on the
both the Mary Townley Loop and the link between Lee and
Cragg Quarries.
As
can be seen from the map (PMBA members can
download a more detailed .pdf version of the map by
clicking on it) Rooley Moor Road which the Mary Townley
Loop runs straight through the middle of this new
development. The link between Lee Quarry and Cragg
Quarry is also likely to impacted with one of the
turbines being situated very close to it's existing
route.....more.
26.06.12 - Mountain Bike
Orienteering at Lee Quarry this Weekend
 British Mountain Bike Orienteering are holding a round of
the Mountain Bike Orienteering British Sprint Championships at Lee and Cragg
Quarry this Saturday, the 30th of June. The event is designed to test both navigational and biking
skills and can provide an enjoyable recreational ride or provide a challenging
and competitive sprint.
There's also a 'come and try it event' being held in Lee
Quarry for those who are new to mountain bike orienteering and fancy giving it a
try. Anybody can come and take part in this event and there will be experts
on hand to give first-timers some advice.
This is the first time this event has been held in the
quarries, the variety of terrai.....more.
21.06.12 - Cycle Addicts Sponsor P.M.B.A.
 Cycle
Addicts in Rochdale have become P.M.B.A.'s latest
corporate sponsor. Cycle Addicts opened their doors in
late April and have hit the ground running (or possibly
riding) and business is booming. David Brown owner and
head mechanic is keen to support the biking community
through the services and brands he offers through the
shop but also jumped at the chance to support P.M.B.A.
in a tangible way...more.
13.06.12 - Singletrack
Weekender - 1 Month To Go
 One
month to go until the Weekend(er) of the year!
A weekend of XC, Trials and Downhill racing. Three
different races. One bike (yep, each race must be completed on the same bike).
The ultimate 'all rounder' event. The weekend of July 14-15 sees the Singletrack
magazine Classic Weekender being run for the fourth time. It'll be the second
year the event will be sponsored by Shimano.....more.
31.05.12
- Hope XC Series Race 1 Report
 Coming
back for it's 5th series in four years Under clear blue
skies 108 riders lined up to take on the demanding
trails of Lee Quarry. The recent good weather had left
the quarry dry and dusty and a light breeze provided
some much needed relief in the summer heat.
Lining up on the steep start
climb the excitement was palpable as riders waiting for
the siren and the rush forward into the quarry. Standing
head and shoulders above the other riders are the
singlespeeders a breed of riders who strip away the
technology and take mountain biking back to a pure
experience where reading the trails and fighting gravity
with legs.....more.
17.05.12 - New Trail at
Hurstwood Reservoir
 Well strictly speaking the new trail at Hurstwood
reservoir has been open for a couple of months but we've
now got a trail
guide up on the site with all the key
information you need.
The trail at Hurstwood is currently very short
totalling around a kilometre of trail with a 600m fire road return to
start. If you're just starting out with your mountain bike or you've got
a younger MTBer in the family it's an ideal place to get some confidence
riding a man made trail, getting to grips with short slopes and berms. Not overly technical but flowing beautifully the
trail will put a smile on your face. Also an ideal place for those starting out
their mountain biking adventures to get a taster of what man made trails can
offer......more.
14.05.12
- Free Coaching with the Hope XC Series Thanks to
Brownbacks
Coaching
makes a difference to riders of all abilities but it has
the most impact on the less experienced riders who are
new to the sport. For these riders learning how to do
the basics right creates a great skills foundation on
which to build. The organising team of the Hope XC
Series are especially keen to attract the less
experienced rider into racing at our low key grass roots
series so we have pulled together a unique offer.
Essentially it's simple, enter the series and we will
help you to ride smoother and faster and give you the
confidence to race not just ride our courses. We have
lined up 3 qualified coaches supported by an experienced
coach educator to deliver a structured coaching package
to turn riders into racers. Up to four days of coaching
will be available and on each day a set of structured
sessions will be delivered. Do one day or do four, your
riding will improve.....more.
10.05.12
- Pennine Bridleway Guided Rides
 Bill
Brady has just sent us this years program of guided
rides taking in the the Pennine Bridleway and some of
the other great riding available in and around the
Lancashire Pennines.
Bill is the Pennine Bridleway
ranger covering the Mary Townley Loop and beyond so if
you want to ride the routes with someone who really
knows them he's you man. If that's not enough Lee &
Cragg Quarries legend Tony Lund will also supporting
some of the rides.
Five guided rides have been
planned:
- Mary Townley Loop -
Wednesday 20th June 2012
- .....more.
23.04.12
- Free Car Parking for Volunteers at Gisburn &
Beyond
 Work
is now underway on the new car park at Gisburn with the
area having been marked out and cleared of trees. The
power lines running along the road have now been buried
and the telegraph poles removed and a significant amount
of stone has been dug out up in the quarry for surfacing
the new area. The forestry team were out brashing
through the route of the new singletrack links last week
in preparation for the trail building contractors coming
on site this week.
Car parking charges will come
into force once the new car park is completed (the pay
and display machine was delivered last July!). Charges
are being set at a very reasonable rate of £3 per day
with monies raised going back into trail maintenance and.....more.
22.04.12 - Colne Valley MTB
Challenge
 The Colne Valley MTB challenge has been running since
2004 and is back again for 2012 on the 13th of May. The
30 mile route is a mixture of demanding off road
terrain, local roads and lanes, set around the
picturesque, post-industrial countryside of the Colne
Valley in Huddersfield.
The course travels through the heart of the “Last
of the Summer Wine” and “Where the Heart Is”
country.....more.
20.04.12 - Hope Cross
Country Race Series 2012: It's Back and Open For
Entries!
 The
long awaited Brownbacks 2012 XC MTB Series is now open
for entries.
Now in it's fourth year the grass roots race series
sponsored generously by Hope Technology, Leisure Lakes,
Big Bear Bikes, Cooksons Cycles and DHP11 amongst others
is has a new 4 race series in this Olympic sport. Dates
for 2012 are 27th May, 1st July, 2nd September, 14th
October.
The Hope XC Series is designed to allow riders of all
standards compete and enjoy themselves in a dramatic
venue. Lee Quarry with it's excellent Rowan Sowell
designed trails, cheeky "off piste" sections
and the presence of high exposure against the scenic
backdrop of the Rossendale Valley is....more.
10.04.12 - CTC Leads
Mountain Bike Rides
 The
CTC has been taking mountain biking much more seriously
in recent years and in particular has been campaigning on the
access issues we face. They're also running a number of
led rides locally highlighting some of the top riding
spots across the area. Burnley and Pendle CTC are aiming
to organise one mountain bike ride per month and have
three pencilled in.
14th April at Lee Quarry
19th May starting at Hurstwood
9th June at Gisburn Forest
The pace of the ride will be
tailored....more.
25.03.12 - Mary Townley
Loop Repairs
 Bill
Brady's (Pennine Bridleway Ranger) been busy up on the Mary Townley Loop carrying out repairs on some of
the sections that have been suffering as a result of the popularity of the
route. He's been working on the section above Gorple reservoir and has had
contractors in repairing the horrendous boggy section across Deerplay Moor
bufore
the road crossing. Anyone who's ridden the later section in the winter will know.....more.
25.02.12
- Gisburn Forest Car Park Is Go.....more.
23.02.12 - London 2012 hopeful to host Mountain Bike Masterclass at Lee Quarry.....more.
22.02.12 - ACCESS 101
.....more.
19.02.12 - New Lee Quarry Trailhead.....more.
16.02.12 - Temporary Gisburn
Trail Closures.....more.
14.02.12 - P.M.B.A. Update......more.
20.12.11
- Lee Quarry Dirt School - Available to Book NOW.....more.
17.12.12
- Gisburn Forest Update.....more.
12.12.11
- British XC Olympic Team Train At Lee Quarry.....more.
07.12.11 - Haglofs Open 5
at Lee Quarry Event Report.....more.
25.11.11
- Right's of Way Upgrade - Darwen.....more.
23.11.11
- Dale Trails Become PMBA Sponsor.....more.
18.11.11
- Dirt School Comes to Lee Quarry.....more.
15.11.11
- Gisburn Forest Wins MBR Readers Trail of the Year......more.
13.11.11
- Rossendale Cycle Forum Meeting Minutes.....more.
11.11.11 -
Open5 Series Comes to Lee Quarry.....more.
08.11.11 - Mountain Biking
Access E-Petition......more.
05.11.11 - Lancashire Cycling Strategy
Workshop.....more.
26.10.11 - MBR Online Trail Centre Poll.....more.
23.10.11 - Gisburn Update.....more.
22.10.11 - Rossendale Pennine Adventure Free Trail Divas Rides.....more.
18.10.11 - SingletrAction Chainless Challenge Report.....more.
16.10.11 - New Rossendale Cycle Forum.....more.
07.10.11 - HOPE XC SERIES RACE 4 (2nd October) REPORT.....more.
04.10.11 - Rossendale Pennine Adventure Opens for Business.....more.
12.09.11 - Healey Nab Update & Dig Day.....more.
07.09.11 - Tim Royle Video 'Gisburn Forest - The new Hope Trail'.....Video.
05.09.11 - Chase Trails are in the FINAL of the National Lottery Awards.....more.
29.08.11 - Hope Freeride Trail and Other Gisburn News....more.
26.08.11 - Lee Quarry Update.....more.
24.08.11 - SingletrAction Chainless Challenge.....more.
22.08.11 - HOPE XC SERIES RACE 3 (21st August) REPORT .....more.
15.08.11 - Brownbacks Donate to the Mountain Rescue.....more.
05.08.11 - RPMRT Mary Townley Loop Challenge.....more.
01.08.11 - Lee Quarry Plans Visitor Centre (online
survey).....more.
31.07.11 - HOPE
XC SERIES RACE 1 (24th July) REPORTmore.
28.07.11 -
Pennine Bike Park - A new Centre is Born?.....more.
27.07.11
- Gisburn Mid Week Digs.....more.
17.07.11 - PMBA Online
Membership is Here.....more.
12.07.11 - P.M.B.A.
at The Singletrack Weekender.....more.
06.07.11 - New Map for Lee and
Cragg Quarries.....more.
03.07.11 -
Gisburn Gets Planning Permission For Extra Facilities.....more.
02.07.11 -
Manchester Mountain Bikers Become Founder Members.....more.
01.07.11 - Hope
XC Series 4 Race Dates.....more.
29.06.11 - Billinge Hill Unauthorised Trail Building.....more.
21.06.11 -
Gisburn Facilities Expansion - Your Views Needed....more.
15.06.11 - Hope
XC Series
Race
1 (5th June) ReportT.....more
06.06.11 -
Massively Subsidised Bikeability Training.....more.
05.06.11 - Bowland Pennine
Mountain Rescue At Gisburn.....more.
31.05.11 - Lee Quarry Complex
Expansion Plans.....more.
17.05.11 - Hope / Brownbacks Free Coaching.....more.
13.05.11 - Gisburn Forest News.....more.
11.05.11 - PMBA
First Aid Training.....more.
05.05.11 - Entries for Hope XC Series
2011 Now Open.....more.
26.04.11 - Expansion
Plans for Gisburn Forest.....more.
22.04.11 - Hope XC Race Series 2011
Launches.....more.
21.04.11 - MTB Commissaire Course.....more.
19.04.11 - Lee Quarry Update.....more.
07.04.11 - Lee Quarry Repair Dig
Day.....more.
06.04.11 - Gisburn Repairs Updates.....more.
03.04.11 - PMBA First Aid Course.....more.
31.03.11 - PMBA
Founder Members.....more.
28.03.11 - Website Update - Events
Calendar.....more.
26.03.11 - Riders needed at Lee Quarry
to be on the Telly.....more.
21.03.11 - Lee
& Cragg Update.....more.
17.03.11 - Pay and Display is
Coming to Gisburn.....more.
15.03.11 -
Singletrack Weekender Entries Now Open.....more.
06.03.11 - Cyclejunkies Raffle Result.....more.
03.03.11 - Dig Day at Gisburn, New Trail Section.....more.
18.02.11 - Construction Underway in Lee
& Cragg Quarries.....more.
13.02.11 - New Trail Section Open at
Gisburn.....more.
12.02.11 - MBR Trail Review.....more.
06.02.11 - New Website......more.
05.02.11 - British Cycling at Lee Quarry..... more.
01.02.11 - New Trails Planned at Gisburn.....more.
09.01.11 - Gisburn Update.....more.
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608
miles. That's how far Phil Lenney (GWB-ACTIV) travelled
on Sunday to take part in Round 1 of the Brownbacks Hope
XC Race Series for 2013. If you're going to travel that
far you might as well win the thing. And he did an
incorrect choice at a course split meant that Alex
Peterson (Alf Jones Race Team), who had actually crossed
the line first, had to be relegated to second place. One
thing Alex Peterson did prove is that he can shift on
two wheels. A lightning fast first lap saw him lead out
the racers. Phil wasn't far behind.....
