Calendar

Jul
25
Tue
Tuesday Night Ride – The Sugar Hill Gang @ The Bayberry
Jul 25 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Tuesday Night Ride - The Sugar Hill Gang @ The Bayberry | Swindon | England | United Kingdom

Leaving the Bayberry we will head up through Coate and Chisie via the flying club to sample the delights of the Sugar Hill climb. Back around Liddington Castle and home via the Old ridgeway and Ladder lane.

There are 2 tough climbs on this ride. Pushing up is of course permitted. 33km distance and 400m of climbing on the route, so a reasonable level of fitness is required. The route may be altered (made easier, not harder!) to suit the riders and weather conditions.

LIGHTS are now a must and as always a helmet.

Jul
26
Wed
Wednesdays After Work at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trail
Jul 26 @ 5:45 pm – 8:00 pm
Wednesdays After Work at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trail | England | United Kingdom

Our usual Wednesday visit to Croft will incorporate some skills practice this week.

After a warm up lap, we will do a development lap. This will involve doing a lap of the trail stopping at certain obstacles to practice our skills: rock gardens, cornering & small jumps. There is also an option to practice drops if anyone fancies that too.
After that we will finish with a quick lap to blend all the practice together.

Meet in the car park at 5.45pm

You will need a helmet, but not lights.

Aug
2
Wed
Wednesdays After Work at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trail
Aug 2 @ 5:45 pm – 8:00 pm
Wednesdays After Work at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trail | England | United Kingdom

Our usual Wednesday visit to Croft will incorporate some skills practice this week.

After a warm up lap, we will do a development lap. This will involve doing a lap of the trail stopping at certain obstacles to practice our skills: rock gardens, cornering & small jumps. There is also an option to practice drops if anyone fancies that too.
After that we will finish with a quick lap to blend all the practice together.

Meet in the car park at 5.45pm

You will need a helmet, but not lights.

Sep
30
Sat
SMTBE Ladies XC rides – Barbury Bound @ Croft Cycle Trail
Sep 30 @ 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
SMTBE Ladies XC rides - Barbury Bound @ Croft Cycle Trail | England | United Kingdom
This is our first Ladies Ridegway Ride! I’m so excited to introduce our ride leader for the day, one of our regular riders, Lindsay!
She will begin the ride at Croft cycle trail, though if any ladies are from the West Swindon area she is riding from home, so you can always join her along the way!
We will then ride up to Barbury via Ladder Lane (riding up is possible, but optional – walking up will be fine!!)
The ride then takes us down Smeathe’s Ridge, via the Three Trees Cafe, where we will stop for refreshments (all important tea, coffee and cake!!) We will then head back to Croft via Chiseldon, and Coate Water.
If the weather is on our side and we all feel like an extra few miles, then we can add in an additional loop from Ogbourne St George, taking a detour up the Earthline Hill, along the ridge and then back down onto the railway path again.
This ride is approximately 20 miles with the extra detour loop.
It is not a technical ride, however it does have a few hills and will require a little bit of stamina! 
Please note, it is only suitable for mountain bikes.
Sep
1
Sat
SMTBE gives you Hope (MTB Marathon) @ Hope Valley College
Sep 1 @ 10:00 am – Sep 2 @ 5:00 pm
SMTBE gives you Hope (MTB Marathon) @ Hope Valley College | Hope | England | United Kingdom
The final MTB Marathon event of 2018 is in the fabulous Peak District, centred around the Hope Valley.
These are excellent events for all, with 3 distances available – 25km, 50km and 70km, with a shared start, so we can all ride out together, before splitting off if people want to do different distances.
There is free camping at the Hope Valley College, so lets make a weekend of it.
The marathon is on the Sunday, but there are 2 events on the Saturday too: a Hopetech Women’s social ride in the morning (normally 15km at a gentle pace) and a night Marathon event in the evening, with 2 distances: 20km or 40km.
We will be camping the whole weekend and are happy to take people off for a play at Lady Canning’s or somewhere else near by on the saturday for a warm up, if the other events don’t take your fancy.
 
You can get more information and sign up for the marathon here at: www.mtb-marathon.co.uk 
Nov
11
Sun
Sunday Scenic @ 3 Trees Cafe
Nov 11 @ 10:30 am – 1:30 pm
Sunday Scenic @ 3 Trees Cafe | United Kingdom
This is steady XC ride taking in some of the cracking scenery on the Ridgeway.
 
Starting at the 3 Trees cafe, we will head along the Ridgeway, up the side of Barbury Castle (the gentlest side!), continuing along the Ridgeway past Hackpen Hill, before the descent across Rockley Downs to Ogbourne St Andrew.
From there we will take the old Railway line back to the 3 Trees cafe.
 
So uphill first (gets most of it out the way!), a nice down and steady return for coffee and cake.
 
This will be 24km in length and 275m of climbing – rather like the short route Tuesday night rides, but at the weekend.
 
We will be taking it at a relaxed pace, so this is suitable for those looking for a starter ride on the Ridgeway.
You must wear a helmet and a suitable coat is advised (showers are currently forecast).
 
Meet in the 3 Trees car park for a 10.30am set off.  
We will also be stopping briefly at 11am to observe 2 minutes silence for Remembrance Sunday.
Dec
5
Wed
CANCELLED – Wednesdays After Work at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trail
Dec 5 @ 5:45 pm – 7:00 pm
CANCELLED - Wednesdays After Work at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trail | England | United Kingdom
APOLOGIES EVERYONE, BUT TONIGHTS EVENT IS CANCELLED
Sorry, but due to ride leader unavailability (due to sick child!), I’ve had to cancel tonight’s ride. 
=========================================

We’re back for a Wednesday Night session at Croft.
The trail takes on a different vibe in the dark – loads of fun still with a bit of extra spice that comes from riding with lights 🙂
The tight nature of the trail keeps you on your toes too!
 
We’ll be taking easy as usual for Wednesday nights, so perfect if you’ve not been night riding before and going round as a group boosts the available light too.
 
Needless to say you’ll need lights for this ride, a helmet as always and current forecast suggests waterproofs as well.
 
Meet in the car park at 5.45pm
Dec
28
Fri
Xmas Motivator @ The Three Trees Cafe
Dec 28 @ 9:30 am – 12:00 pm
We haven’t done a midweek motivator ride for ages, so, this isn’t one either!
But it’s close – a fairly short XC ride to release those endorphins and get you from Christmas to New Year.
 
Starting and ending at the Three Trees Cafe, we’ll head out on the Ridgeway, up the gentler climbs to the top of Barbury Castle. Then over the top, down Smeathes Ridge, back along Smeathe’s Bottom and back home via Gypsy Lane and the old railway line.
Nothing too taxing – 19km and 195m of climbing, a couple of fun descents in there too. 
 
You’ll need a helmet and appropriate clothing for the weather.
 
We’ll set off from Three Trees at 9.30am
Jan
6
Sun
White-Horsing Around Scenic Ride @ Foxhill Car Park
Jan 6 @ 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
The first of my scenic rides for 2019 will be a round trip along the Ridgeway to the Uffington White Horse and back.
 
Along the way we’ll take in the stunning descent through the Hinton Parva coombes, a beautiful climb (honest!) from Bishopstone to the Ridgeway and the delights of Weathercock Hill.
We’ll be taking it easy to appreciate the scenery, covering about 27km in distance and 400m of climbing.
 
Meet at the Foxhill car park, just past The Ruji Restaurant.
 
You must bring a helmet and appropriate clothing, as well as snacks/food for the duration, as we will be out past lunchtime.
May
24
Fri
The Peaks Weekender @ The Peak District
May 24 @ 8:00 pm – May 27 @ 12:00 pm
The Peaks Weekender @ The Peak District | England | United Kingdom

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.