Adventure Bike Festival 2022
Discussion
I went Thursday to Sunday and really enjoyed it but surprised myself that the bit I enjoyed the most last year - The Adventure Trail and test rides - wasn't the best bit this year
I listened to a couple of the talks (Austin Vince and Lyndon Poskitt) and wish I'd listened to more but I was out with the TRF (which paid for my ticket)
The highlight was probably meeting a really nice guy, on a battered little Honda in the campsite and hearing his stories
The problem is that much as I was inspired to ride the vast wilderness, I was uncomfortable & cold in my van in the English summer
I was also shocked at the cost of some of the Events (£5k for 2 weeks) and £3k+ to just ship your bike to various places
The show was much bigger this year - I'm surprised I haven't seen any threads on it
I listened to a couple of the talks (Austin Vince and Lyndon Poskitt) and wish I'd listened to more but I was out with the TRF (which paid for my ticket)
The highlight was probably meeting a really nice guy, on a battered little Honda in the campsite and hearing his stories
The problem is that much as I was inspired to ride the vast wilderness, I was uncomfortable & cold in my van in the English summer
I was also shocked at the cost of some of the Events (£5k for 2 weeks) and £3k+ to just ship your bike to various places
The show was much bigger this year - I'm surprised I haven't seen any threads on it
modellista said:
£89 for three days of superb festivalling, including free test rides, skills training, off road riding, countless excellent speakers and loads of decent live music is not expensive IMHO.
Except that's the discounted loyalty, early bird price if you arrive on a motorbikeThe standard price including a van, VIP Thursday arrival (so that you can book anything on Friday as the bookings start at 8 and the gates don't open until 9) and trail pass was over £220 IIRC
BlackG7R said:
Yeh I quite fancied just popping in for the day to have a look, but £75 seemed a bit steep to me + the fuel there and back.
Maybe next year I'll just go the whole hog and camp for the whole weekend.
Absolutely, its exactly the same as I wanted to do. Having never been before I wanted to dip in for the day and see what it was all about, maybe next year I'll jump in with 2 feet and go for the weekends as it seems to get rave reviews from everyone.Maybe next year I'll just go the whole hog and camp for the whole weekend.
KTMsm said:
modellista said:
£89 for three days of superb festivalling, including free test rides, skills training, off road riding, countless excellent speakers and loads of decent live music is not expensive IMHO.
Except that's the discounted loyalty, early bird price if you arrive on a motorbikeThe standard price including a van, VIP Thursday arrival (so that you can book anything on Friday as the bookings start at 8 and the gates don't open until 9) and trail pass was over £220 IIRC
Looks like a bargain to me ..
The test driver said:
Absolutely, its exactly the same as I wanted to do. Having never been before I wanted to dip in for the day and see what it was all about, maybe next year I'll jump in with 2 feet and go for the weekends as it seems to get rave reviews from everyone.
Same with me. Would like to go for one day but it’s a bit too costly. Not fussed about the camping and with work it’s not always easy to get the full time off anyway. Last time I went was 2018, I missed 2019 despite having two tickets. I was on holiday this year so couldn’t go else I would have tried to go.
Really enjoyed it last time I went, as the OP said the ‘adventure trail’ was a highlight then, wonder why it was less of a feature this year despite being huge (25km?)
Really enjoyed it last time I went, as the OP said the ‘adventure trail’ was a highlight then, wonder why it was less of a feature this year despite being huge (25km?)
KTMsm said:
Except that's the discounted loyalty, early bird price if you arrive on a motorbike
The standard price including a van, VIP Thursday arrival (so that you can book anything on Friday as the bookings start at 8 and the gates don't open until 9) and trail pass was over £220 IIRC
Ok. And if you only drink champagne it'll cost a lot more than that.The standard price including a van, VIP Thursday arrival (so that you can book anything on Friday as the bookings start at 8 and the gates don't open until 9) and trail pass was over £220 IIRC
But on the positive side, if you ride down on an adventure bike (which is the whole point), don't mind not having a test ride until Friday afternoon (they only book slots for the morning at 8am), and don't want to drop your own bike on the trail, and book it now for next year (if you know someone who has been before who will go with you) the cost is £89.
Hungrymc said:
the OP said the ‘adventure trail’ was a highlight then, wonder why it was less of a feature this year despite being huge (25km?)
Oh there was absolutely nothing wrong with the Trail - on an Enduro I'm slow, in the TRF I'm average, on the ABR Trail I'm a superstar !
So many clearly hadn't been off road before and are on Adventure bikes, I completely understand why they moan about idiots on Enduro bikes flying past them so I tried to be reasonable but there were some big groups and a lot of dust to contend with
It was more that I realised that I can get off road any time but there are very few opportunities to hear the speakers or meet travellers that I wish I'd done more of that
They do make a lot of the trail being "big bike friendly" but there's a lot of this sort of thing going on with first-timers on big bikes:
(6 mins in)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxd8-lC83JU
He couldn't ride for the rest of the weekend which would have really ruined things for me, not to mention make it difficult to get home!
If I go on the trail I make sure I do it on a borrowed CRF300 or Himalayan. Not the bike that got me there and has to get me back.
(6 mins in)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxd8-lC83JU
He couldn't ride for the rest of the weekend which would have really ruined things for me, not to mention make it difficult to get home!
If I go on the trail I make sure I do it on a borrowed CRF300 or Himalayan. Not the bike that got me there and has to get me back.
modellista said:
They do make a lot of the trail being "big bike friendly" but there's a lot of this sort of thing going on with first-timers on big bikes:
(6 mins in)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxd8-lC83JU
He couldn't ride for the rest of the weekend which would have really ruined things for me, not to mention make it difficult to get home!
Look at his tyres ! (6 mins in)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxd8-lC83JU
He couldn't ride for the rest of the weekend which would have really ruined things for me, not to mention make it difficult to get home!
Watching that clip makes me think that the TRF would be better served giving basic advice on riding on the Trail rather than leading Green Lane rideouts
He could have got around on them by going straight through the mud - by trying to avoid it he made it worse
I took a 690 on 80:20 tyres to see what it was like and it was absolutely fine until I took an offcamber, uphill, grassy corner too fast and lost the back, which cost me a rear brake lever but I knew I was taking liberties and the extra punch of the 690 was great for overtaking compared to my 450
I think they may ban / restrict enduro bikes in future years as the show grows, whilst there are a few fast guys on Adventures they are very much in the minority
There's definitely two camps on the trail, the fast enduros and the slow adventures, as you say a fast big adventure is a rarity.
However you only have to look at the bikes on the driveway/road leading to the trail entrance to see how many enduros there are - sometimes it seems like that's all there is, very much contrary to the bikes in the camping field. I assume most enduros arrive in vans instead of doing the journey by bike?
It would be a massive loss of income for them if they stopped them. Surely the speed difference is so great that the enduros don't really hinder the adventures in any practical way?
However you only have to look at the bikes on the driveway/road leading to the trail entrance to see how many enduros there are - sometimes it seems like that's all there is, very much contrary to the bikes in the camping field. I assume most enduros arrive in vans instead of doing the journey by bike?
It would be a massive loss of income for them if they stopped them. Surely the speed difference is so great that the enduros don't really hinder the adventures in any practical way?
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