Calendar

Sorry for the short notice, but we have a new opportunity to do a family ride at the weekend at Swinley Forest.

Swinley is a great place for all levels of cyclist, with fire roads, a great Green trail and the Blue trail, which builds up nicely.

We will start with the Green trail as an introduction, before heading out on to Blue. How much of Blue we do will depend on the ability of the group – there are some nice flatter sections, as well as nice descents, but always a fire road option as well.

There will be 2 ride leaders to guide you, but all children MUST be accompanied by an adult and remain your responsibility for the whole ride.
Children and adults must wear helmets

Need something to keep the kids entertained this half term? Then come along and join us on our family half term ride!

Starting at Waitrose, we will go along the Southern flyer and up a bit of the old railway line, before descending to Wichelstowe, where there is a playground to take break. From there we will head out to Croft, to do the final section of the trail (which is fairly flat), before heading back to Wichelstowe. We will go along the canal, round the lake and back up to Waitrose (& a cafe stop if desired).

Total route is 5.5 miles, or if 3.5 miles if you want to skip the Croft trip and stay at the playground. A great route combining cycle paths and off road riding.

The ride will be lead by our Welfare officer, Davinia, who is also a British Cycling qualified ride leader and Breeze champion.

Whilst on the ride your children must be accompanied and are your responsibility at all times.

Children and adults must wear helmets.

Meet outside the front of Waitrose at 10.30am

This is a bringing your kids somewhere fun trip!

The 417 Project is only half an hour from Swindon and has some great trails and features for developing skills for all ages, although you need to be confident riding off stabilisers and over small obstacles.

There is a small outdoor trail aimed specifically at kids, with bermed corners and small ramps to go over, which is a great place to start.

That is right next to the bottom section of the Blue trail, which is great for progressing further – the more you progress, the further up the hill you go basically.

Inside one of the barns is a Velosolutions pump track too, which is great for everyone in all weathers.

Above that is also a Leisure Lakes bike shop, which does an excellent range of kids specific clothing and protection.
Oh and the cafe does amazing food, coffee and milkshakes!

Children are welcome on this event, but you will be responsible for your own children at all times, including making sure they are capable of riding whichever trail they decide to tackle.

It costs £8 entry for adults, or £5 for under 12s. You can book in advance online at https://417bikepark.co.uk

Helmets are compulsory at the bike park – they will not let you ride without one.

We will meet at 10am in the car park.

We’ve been off on hols for a few weeks, so before things get back to normal, we’re going to make this one a bit of a bash!

We are going to be begin with a family ride, doing laps of the trail. So bring your kids (who remain your responsibility at all times) and we will be going round from 4.30 for about an hour.

After that we move on to the regular style session,  starting with a lap of the Blue trail to warm up, then sees what people want to do next.

And as it’s the end of summer, we’ll thrown on some snacks and drinks to celebrate too, so come and join us!

This a very relaxed ride, at an easy pace, with lots of opportunities to develop and practice skills. Everyone is welcome and this is a great introductory ride if you’re just starting or coming back to mountain biking.

You must bring a helmet, but you don’t need lights 😊
Also thoroughly recommend insect repellent!

Meet in the Croft car park at 4.30pm for the family laps, 5.30pm onwards for adults.

I’ve found time to squeeze in another weekend Scenic ride in January, going in a different direction along the Ridgeway.

The start is at the bottom of the Barbury steep side (see map posting) setting off along the Ridgeway away from Barbury to Broad Hinton. From there we amble along the valley and a potential pub stop. Then the climb back up to the Ridgeway and the White Horse trail to Rockley. Then it’s back along the valley and up onto the ridge back to the start.

The ride will be 27km in length with 350m of climbing and some beautiful scenery.

Please see map for the start point, although you can also park at Barbury and cycle down to there if you want.

You must wear a helmet and dressed according to the conditions – it’s pretty cold out there still!

The Peak District is simple awesome for mountain biking – stunning scenery and brilliant riding.
I’ve done lots of riding up there and am putting together some of the best in one long weekend.

We will be based in the Hope Valley, which has a great selection of campsites, B&B accommodation, cafes and bike shops. Personally I’ll be camping and will make a recommendation for a campsite after sampling a few, but there are plenty of great B&Bs for anyone that doesn’t like camping.

For the riding, we have 3 days:
A scenic starter, along the Monsal Trail. Starting at Bakewell Station up to Blackwell Mill and back. This is a former railway line that has been converted into a bridleway, using all the old features, including a number of viaducts and 4 tunnels through the Peaks. This gives us the chance to soak in the gorgeous scenery along the route, as well as a stop to enjoy them with a drink.

Day 2 is an epic XC ride starting in Hope and heading over Mam Tor out towards Derwent Water and back. The views on this route are even more stunning than the previous day, but the riding will be amazing too, with some epic descents – this one isn’t flat! 😉 We will be doing 25-30km with 1200-1500ft of climbing (depending on the weather), but the pace will be relaxed.

The final day will be a trip to the brilliant (but short) Lady Cannings trails, which we will use to end a 10km loop of the local Blacca Moor, which is another Peaks “must do”. That should see us finish at lunchtime, on the Bank Holiday Monday.

If you are planning on coming, please register either on the Facebook group event or by sending an email to adrian@swindonmtbenthusiasts.co.uk – just so we know to keep an eye out for you before setting off anywhere.

We would like to invite everyone and their families to celebrate the start of the summer.

We will meet at the children’s play area at 11am, find a good picnic spot nearby and enjoy some family time, playing games such as rounders, football, frisbee and anything else we can find in the shed!!!! We will be close to the play area, cafe, toilets and most importantly the ice cream parlour!!!

Bringing bikes is optional. We will be there to take small groups around the outside of the park, if required.

Most importantly we want everyone to come together to have some family fun.
Don’t forget to bring a picnic and a picnic blanket and/or chairs to sit on.