 "Whinlatter Forest Park is England's only true mountain forest, rising to 790 metres above sea level, so The Altura Trail will really put the mountain back into mountain biking."
That's at best disingenuous, and at worst just plain untrue. The 790m referred to is the top of Grisedale Pike, an unrideable ridge about 350m above any trees. If you did manage to get up there (there are no bridleways), you'd be rewarded with a 600ft fall down a scree slope.
As it is, the trail uses a section of forest between 320 and 520 metres altitude, which is hardly "putting the mountain back into mountain biking". Especially in the Lakes where on a lot of rides, that'd be the height of the first climb.
Unimpressed of Whitehaven
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 You got your grumpy pants on today then 
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 I actually saw someone on a bike at the top of Grizedale pike a couple of years ago. 
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 As long as it's a bit more challenging than The North Face @ Grizedale. Not that TNF is rubbish but I have NO PROBLEM gettin 'round it easily..............twice. 'Nuff said .
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Just slightly frustrated by how crap these things often turn out, given the amount of money thrown at them. The NF Trail? £167k for about 8 miles of completely featureless flat motorway. The budget for this one is a whopping £500k, so it should be 3 times as good? Let's hope they actually put some features in it this time. I know the stock reply is "if you don't like it, don't ride it", but half a million quid could repair/improve quite a lot of shagged bridleways around the Lakes. Like the one I rode last night for example - from the bottom of Hardknott pass over into the Duddon. The top bit is basically a 400-yard trudge through a rocky bog, and almost completely ruins the ride despite the lovely bits either side of it. I reckon £5k could sort that one out, let alone £500k. But of course, that isn't near any tourist honeypots/purpose-built cafes, and isn't likely to bring wads of cash into the FC. Can't blame them for it really, but there must be some obligation on the LDNPA to actually fix up ruined paths? Ah well, I'm over it. At least it might be ok for winter night rides.
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 "I reckon £5k could sort that one out, let alone £500k." Take wages out of that Take materials from whats left Take hiring/buying machinery from that Take repairs/maint from that Take the "consultants" fee(first out) Then there is marketing etc Not a lot left is there???? "The NF Trail? £167k for about 8 miles of completely featureless flat motorway.".....depends on who the target "customer/user/visitor" is???? If it is built to a standard whereby it gets a slagging for being too difficult then the masses won`t use it. the opposite is also true. Theres plenty more to ride in the Lakes than play areas!!! These things are`nt being built for the "experienced" rider, the aim/policy even, is to get more people out on their bikes and create revenue in the general area.
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"from the bottom of Hardknott pass over into the Duddon. The top bit is basically a 400-yard trudge through a rocky bog, "... gotta agree there. Was there last yr for the first time in many and was shocked & disgusted at teh state of it. Surely whoever wrecked it(the forest owner?)should be made to re-instate it back to something resembling a track??? Report it on ctc trail repair site? http://www.clearthattrail.org.uk/
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Of course there's lots more to ride in the Lakes, but if you're going to spunk half a million bob on a trail, wouldn't it at least be nice if it's a worthwhile alternative? Rather than the sort of thing you ride once and then think "oh balls, they've done it again". "depends on who the target "customer/user/visitor" is????" It seems the target audience for most of these things is people on rigid 29er singlespeeds - that's about the only bike that would make the NF trail interesting? The guy who's building this one rides a singlespeed no less. A very telling quote from his site is about the Wall at Afan - "steep, over-fast sections removed". No doubt replaced with some flat, unflowing switchbacks. Yawn. I realise they're not being designed with the experienced rider in mind, but if that's so why are they promoted as such? The gradings of the routes are particularly hilarious. I guess it's a wasted argument really, but I wonder if the FC/LDNPA/powers-that-be will use such trail centres as an excuse to shut bridleways? We saw what happened a while ago with the NERC bill and 4x4s; might have been a different situation but they had no trouble at all getting that one through. I'm over it really, just frustrated by the whole thing. It's semi-offroad and for many, that's enough
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 If you've got that much of a downer on purpose-built trails then I suggest that you probably wouldn't like the results of any bridleway "maintenance" that came your way
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A fair point, but that's usually because ones that get "maintained" basically get tarmacced to cope with millions of ramblers and the like. Yes they often end up gash, but that doesn't have to be the case. A bit like man-made trails...
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BTW, I think you're being a bit hard on Russell Burton. While your quote "steep, over-fast sections removed" is accurate, you didn't mention the bit above under the heading "The Brief" which reads: "•Make the trail safer.
•Minimise user conflict." I'm not sure that it's entirely fair to criticise him for doing what he was being paid to do.
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 After years of campaigning by locals it is great news that dedicated bike trails are to be opened at Whinlatter. It is a credit to all involved that it ever happened at all - there was significant NIMBY opposition. The opening of the new sections of singletrack will only be good for locals and visitors to the area alike. Well done and thanks to all involved.
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