James Vincent reckons he’s found the best single legit descent in the Lake District, if not the whole of the UK. Dare you disagree?

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY JAMES VINCENT

Best. Funny old word isn’t it. Best Bitter. George Best. Simply the best, better than all the rest. Best friends. Best buds.

But what actually is The Best, and how do you go about defining it? That really depends on what we’re talking about. Best camera? Well, as everyone knows, it’s the one you’ve got with you. Best bike? Also, most likely, the one you’re riding right now, or at least the one in the best state of repair. It’s not necessarily the lightest, fastest or the one with the most travel as these can be mutually exclusive. Anyway, it depends where you’re riding. After all, the best enduro bike isn’t going to be the best bike for popping to the shops. There’s no basket for starters.

And while adults tend to overcomplicate things, kids are great at deciding what’s best – it’s usually whatever’s the biggest, fastest, strongest or longest. That’s obviously the best. End of discussion.

So what makes the best trail? Is it flow, technicality, accessibility? It’d be hard to argue against a brilliant trail setting off right from your front door being your personal best. But then maybe, perversely, the most accessible trail can’t be the best because of the need to work for your reward? It could even be that your best trail ever is a prime slice of singletrack in some far-flung riding destination that you last rode in 2015, back when we could travel (remember those heady times?). Your recollection of how good that trail was has become so intrinsically linked with all the other memories of the holiday/beer/weather/company that it’s now impossible to separate the actual quality of the trail from everything else.

Or perhaps I’m thinking about this too much (see what I mean?) and the best trail is simply one that flatters your riding and makes you feel immortal. That trail you revisit time and time again, but never get bored of.

On top of all this, our own perceptions of best depend on what we actually enjoy riding. A huge jump line is never going to feature anywhere near my top ten ‘best’ trails. Neither will a loamy track in the woods, because it just doesn’t satisfy my riding desires. As far as I’m concerned, mountain biking is about going somewhere – stick me on a big loop in the mountains and I’m much more likely to get excited. The more picturesque the trail, the better. For me, the best trail has to have the right mix of flowing singletrack, an occasional barely rideable rocky section for added spice, and big views. Chuck a group of best friends into the mix and you’ve got yourself a heady combination.