Calendar

Feb
18
Sat
Ladies of (Cannop) Valley @ Pedalabikeaway
Feb 18 @ 10:30 am – 1:30 pm
Ladies of (Cannop) Valley @ Pedalabikeaway | England | United Kingdom

This ride is for any ladies wanting to spread their mountain bike wings a bit further and visit a truly great trail centre with a fantastic atmosphere and excellent riding.

There’s lots to do – the scenic Green family trail takes in the sights of the forest and the excellent Blue graded Verderers trail is jewel of the south west, with its showcase final descent that’s guaranteed to put a smile on anyone’s face.

A lap of Verderers will be the main event, but depending on the preferences of the group we can take in some of the family trail first, or the super fun Launchpad downhill run after.

Meet outside the Pedalabikeaway cafe at 10.30am

Mar
19
Sun
Tidworth Training (again!) @ Tidworth Freeride
Mar 19 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Tidworth Training (again!) @ Tidworth Freeride | United Kingdom

Tidworth had to rearrange their opening weekend, so we’ve done the same with our first club trip there.
A bunch of us have enter the excellent Root1 Round 1 race, which uses Sicknote as the course, so we will definitely be practicing that, along with 99 Beeches – a new trail that will be used for Round 2.
And we’ll also be trying the other excellent trails there of course.

Don’t forget, entry to Tidworth cost £7 for the day and you will need to sign up for a B1ke (free) membership in advance.
Meet in the car park/finish area at 10am

Jul
9
Sun
Cwmcarn if you can @ PS Cycles, Cwmcarn
Jul 9 @ 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Cwmcarn if you can @ PS Cycles, Cwmcarn  | Wales | United Kingdom

Time for another visit to Cwmcarn.

This is a great Welsh trail centre, with 2 XC trails and some downhill tracks, with uplift available.

The main ride is 10am on Sunday, but we’ll be there the whole weekend if you want to join in on Saturday too.

Plan is to camp over Saturday nigh, ready to do the main day ride on the Sunday.

We will meet at 10am at PS Cycles on the Sunday for the main ride.

Apr
15
Sun
Tidworth Tinker @ Tidworth Freeride
Apr 15 @ 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Tidworth Tinker @ Tidworth Freeride | United Kingdom

A timely weekend session at Tidworth, not too long before the first of the Root1 races. There have been some nice looking changes to the race track itself (Sicknote), as well as some of the other tracks, so a good opportunity to check it out.

You need to be a R1de member (this is free, but needs to be done in advance) and it costs £7 on the day for admission at the bike park. Register at www.b1ke.co.uk

Meet by the new hut at 10am.

You will need a helmet (full face is a good idea if you have one).

Apr
19
Thu
Tidworth Morning Motivator @ Tidworth Freeride
Apr 19 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Tidworth Morning Motivator @ Tidworth Freeride | United Kingdom

A relaxed morning session at Tidworth Freeride.

Meet by the hut at 10am and ride what you fancy.

You need to be a B1ke member to ride (which is free) – sign  up on their website.

You must have a helmet to ride at Tidworth, and pads are a good idea too.

Ride grading – Orange- Bike park

Entry cost – £7

Jun
9
Sat
Exmoor Explore – Lets go to the sea @ Porlock Weir
Jun 9 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Exmoor Explore - Lets go to the sea @ Porlock Weir | Porlock Weir | England | United Kingdom
This is a warm up for those coming for the weekend, and will have a choice of gentle or mental!
 
We will be starting from our base at the Sparkhayes Campsite in the centre of Porlock and making our way to Porlock Weir, the port to the west, where there is an excellent pub, refreshments and the sea!
 
The choice will be:
A gentle pootle out, relatively flat, just taking in the scenery to the pub essentially.
Or the mental option – making our way part way up Porlock Hill (which has the steepest A road in the country!) and making our way down through the technical bridleways in the woods to the weir.
 
The choice is yours 🙂
Jul
14
Sat
2018 Identiti Bikes Southern Enduro Champs – Minehead @ Minehead
Jul 14 @ 8:00 am – Jul 15 @ 5:00 pm
2018 Identiti Bikes Southern Enduro Champs – Minehead @ Minehead | Minehead | England | United Kingdom

2018 Identiti Bikes Southern Enduro Champs – Minehead, Exmoor – 14th & 15th July 2017

Tickets available here: HERE.

 

Timing:

Professionally Timed by Action Sports Timing

More info: http://www.actionsportstiming.co.uk/

 

Price: £60 Early Bird price until 20th Jan (£65 after)

 

Venue: Minehead, Exmoor

400 online entries available, no entries on the day.

  • Fantastic prizes for the top 3 riders in all categories. Plus some spot pizes
  • Identiti AKA frame for the faster Male and Female
  • Free parking for all riders, spectators, friends and family. (Please car share where possible)
  • Large race village with On site shop.
  • Full mechanical support for all riders.
  • Full medical support.
  • Food and drink on site.
  • Free Camping
  • Beer tent & Band TBC

Stages: There will be 7 timed stages, which will be added together for an aggregate time to decide the winner in each category.

On Saturday afternoon you will race one of the stages (Seeding stage)*
Your result on that stage will reflect where you start on Sunday. On Sunday you will be set off in categories in seeded order.
There will be start times for each stage.

*Seeding stage counts to your overall time.

All stages will be over a mile long and around 100m to 150m in elevation/drop. Estimated stage times are about 2 minutes to 4 minutes long.

Categories:

  • Male Elite age 18+
  • Male Senior age 18-29
  • Male Master age 30-39
  • Male Veteran age 40+
  • Male Supers Veteran age 50+
  • Male FUN age 18+
  • Male U16s age 14-15
  • Male U18s age 16-17
  • Female Elite age 18+
  • Female Senior age 18-29
  • Female Master age 30-39
  • Female Veteran age 40+
  • Female Supers Veteran age 50+
  • Female FUN age 18+
  • Female U16s age 14-15
  • Female U18s age 16-17
  • Hardtails age 18+

Elite: Riders that are sponsored or in PRO, Expert and Elite in other races or Top finisher in age categories in previous Enduro’s

Senior, Master, Veteran, Grand Veteran: Riders that are not sponsored and with medium skill level or Top finisher in Fun in previous Enduro’s

FUN: Riders 18 and over that are new to racing or new to the sport

U18: Riders under the age 18

WOMEN: Riders that are female

HARDTAILS: Riders 18 and that are racing on a Hardtail

Timings:

Saturday
Marshals briefing 9.30
Riders briefing 9.45
Practice 10.00 to 15:00

Seeding 15:00 to 18:00


Sunday
Marshals briefing 9.30
Riders briefing 9.45
Start of race (first rider) 10.00
Prize giving 16.30

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.

Aug
27
Tue
All Inclusive Tuesday Short Ride @ Croft Cycle Trail
Aug 27 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
All Inclusive Tuesday Short Ride @ Croft Cycle Trail

Next week’s Tuesday Short Ride is a special short ride and we will be leading a ride that will include parents and children under 18. This ride will be about an hour and a half and children must be capable of riding 20-25k and be confident riding up hills and off road. We will be going up onto the Ridgeway, so this is a great chance for those that have been to Croft to go for a longer ride up into the hills.

This has been a long time in the pipeline and we thank you for your patience whilst we have been trying to arrange evening rides to include kids.

The All inclusive Tuesday ride will hopefully take place every 6 weeks, so keep an eye out for the next one.
Please note: children under 16 MUST be accompanied by a parent, children aged 16/17 can be unaccompanied, but written permission and contact details must be e-mailed to :
welfare@swindonmtbenthusiasts.co.uk

As with all rides, helmets are compulsory and lights and suitable clothing are also required.

We will start and end the ride at Croft, however I will be parking at the Bayberry pub and will ride over at 6.45pm. If any others who don’t have kids with them want to join me, I will then be riding back with a slightly detoured route from Croft to the Bayberry for an after-ride beverage.

Everyone is welcome on this ride and you don’t need to borrow a child to attend!! This is the short ride for this week and it is designed to include everyone, as it has been very much requested.

Myself and Adrian will be leading the ride and we are both DBS checked and hold outdoor first aid certificates. I am also a primary school teacher and Adrian is a MIAS Level 3 Ride Leader.

May
23
Sat
May Weekender 2020 – Exmoor @ Porlock
May 23 @ 10:00 am – May 25 @ 2:00 pm
May Weekender 2020 - Exmoor @ Porlock
Our annual May Bank holiday trip will be to the fabulous Exmoor in 2020.
We have 3 days riding planned and you can do all or just some of them.
 
Day 1 – the big day out. Starting from Porlock we will do a 28km loop of some of the best hills and scenery Exmoor has to offer, including Wootton Courtenay, Ranscombe and Horner. There will be amazing views of the hills, sea and Wales, epic descents and glorious woodland. There will be options on the route as well, including a cut off near the end to remove 300m of climbing, to enable more people to have a go at the route. For the “adventurous” there will also be a chance to take in one of the tracks from the Southern Enduro champs along the way (that is optional and the alternative is still a great descent, just firewood instead).
 
Day 2 – lazy Sunday. Well sort of! We will start with a considerably shorter ride (9km) to the top of Bossington Hill, for the epic view, on our way to Horner. After a lunch at the excellent tea rooms we will then do 3 uplifted descents. First we will take in a long run from the top of Dunkery Beacon, followed by an epic singletrack run from the top of Porlock Hill. Finally we will return to Porlock Hill and take a super fast fireroad route down to Porlock Weir for a pint by the sea. Up to you if you do all 3 descents or 2 or 1, but the final one is suitable for all and takes us home, so if you’re only going to do 1, it should be that 1!
 
Day 3 – Big trees. To finish off on Monday we will decamp to the outskirts of Minehead (about 15 minute drive) to Dunster Castle. Here we will ride a nice woodland route out to England’s tallest tree and back.
 
Accommodation is DIY, but I would strongly recommend Sparkhayes campsite (which I will be at). It has excellent facilities, and lovely relaxed atmosphere and great views of the hills and sea. It’s also on a few minutes walk from the pubs and shops.
There are many B&Bs in the town if you would prefer a solid roof though.
 
Outside of your accommodation and food, the only cost will be the uplift, which will be around £10 per person in total. Exact price will be confirmed nearer the time.
 
All routes will be led by qualified ride leaders, who are also first aid trained.