Calendar

Nov
15
Tue
Urban Moonlight Ride @ Coate Water Cafe
Nov 15 @ 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Urban Moonlight Ride @ Coate Water Cafe | England | United Kingdom

For the next Tuesday evening ride, we are going Urban 😉
Starting from Coate water cafe (next to the diving board), we will head to lydiard park via the cycle route 45 and do a lap once there. After that we will head to shaw forest and again do a lap around there! Then move onto moulden hill country park, do a lap and then head back to the Sun inn pub next to coate water for a nice refreshing beverage 🙂

Approx 20miles.
Please bring a helmet, NO HELMET, NO RIDE! Please also bring some lights and wrap up nice and warm.

Look forward to seeing you there folks 🙂

Nov
16
Wed
A Tail of Two Trails @ Croft Cycle Trail
Nov 16 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
A Tail of Two Trails @ Croft Cycle Trail | Swindon | England | United Kingdom

Something a little bit different this week – a lap of Croft followed by a ride out to Shaw Forest on route 45 for a lap of there, before heading back to Croft.

This is a perfect ride for beginners, with a well surfaced, largely flat route, with optional fun bits! It’s 10 miles to Shaw and back, so that’s the minimum, plus how every many laps of Croft / Shaw Forest you want to do.

It will be dark obviously, but the route to Shaw is well surfaced and lit in places – lights are essential though, as it’s very dark in other places.

Meet in the Croft car park for a 6pm set off.

Nov
17
Thu
Thursday Evening Bimble @ Tawny Owl
Nov 17 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Thursday Evening Bimble @ Tawny Owl | Swindon | England | United Kingdom

This weeks Thursday ride will be lead by me and going from the Tawny Owl.

Will be heading out towards Coate Water before looping back via Lydiard Park. Route will be about 20 miles and will be riding at leisurely pace.

Lights and helmet required.

Nov
23
Wed
Witchel-Wednesday @ Waitrose Swindon
Nov 23 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Witchel-Wednesday @ Waitrose Swindon | England | United Kingdom
You might have noticed it being a bit moist so far this week, so we’re going to do our Witchelstowe loop this week. 
Starting at the Waitrose car park we will head along the southern flyer, by the canal onto the old railway line round the bottom of Old Town, right to the top, before heading to Croft. After an optional lap there we will proceed back to Waitrose through Witchelstowe along canal and “lakes” (ok, large ponds!).
The ride will be about 9 miles (plus and laps of Croft you want to do) and is nicely suited for beginners.
Meet by the disabled parking at the front of Waitrose at 6pm – you will need lights and a helmet.
Jan
8
Sun
Bike Park Wales (BPW) Mothering Sunday @ Bike Park Wales
Jan 8 @ 6:18 pm – 7:18 pm
Bike Park Wales (BPW) Mothering Sunday @ Bike Park Wales | Merthyr Tydfil | Wales | United Kingdom

This will be an uplift day and starts at 9.30am, so be there early to get prepped, sign in etc

This is about 1 hour 30 min car drive (from swindon), so if you’re lift sharing allow time for pick ups.

Uplift ticket price is £36, but you can a pedal up ticket for £6.

You will need a helmet – they are compulsory at Bike Park Wales, and  if you are fancying the rocky reds or black runs, a full face helmet is advisable.

Tickets sell out months in advance and you will need to book your own, so get in quick on the link below.

http://www.bikeparkwales.com/uplift

Feb
18
Sun
Ladies BPW PAYG and Do As You Please @ BikePark Wales
Feb 18 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Ladies BPW PAYG and Do As You Please @ BikePark Wales | Abercanaid | Wales | United Kingdom

As the last ladies day at BPW was cancelled due to snow , we are heading back to the lovely Welsh hills for a mixture of push ups for training, pay as you go uplifts and what ever trails we fancy !!! Starting with blue and some reds, with the option for those that are completely mad (Claire!!) to try a black !!!

If anyone can offer to share lifts, then let me know and we can arrange to share the toll costs as well.

We might have a photographer travelling we us too, to take some action shots !!!

Jun
24
Sun
BikePark Wales – dreaming of summer @ Bikepark Wales
Jun 24 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
BikePark Wales - dreaming of summer @ Bikepark Wales | Abercanaid | Wales | United Kingdom
The weather has been a pretty dire this winter, so lets dream of summer and the announcement that BikePark Wales have a bunch of new trails opening this June sounds a perfect thing to look forward to.
 
We seem to have an unexpected Sunday free in June now, so what better thing to look forward to than BPW, new trails in the summer!
 
There are full day uplift tickets available at the moment (they sell quick though!) and you can also do Pay As You Go uplift if you don’t want to commit now. Details on both are at www.bikeparkwales.com
 
You will need a helmet (you cannot ride there without one) and pads are advised. A full face is advised if you have one – it’s not essential, so don’t worry if you haven’t got one, but it’s a good idea if you can.
 
We will meet at 10am in front of the cafe.
Mar
3
Sun
BPW Birthday Bash @ BikePark Wales
Mar 3 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
BPW Birthday Bash @ BikePark Wales
We are heading to BPW for a big club ride to celebrate a number of birthdays in the club!! We want as many of you to come along and join us as possible.
There will hopefully be a mixture of abilities coming so we can split up into groups to do a variety of graded rides from blues to blacks!
A huge gathering at lunch will set us up for an afternoon of yet more trail fun!
You can either choose to do pay as you go uplifts or buy a day’s uplift pass (see BPW website for details)
Please note….. Helmets are compulsory at BikePark Wales and Full face helmets are advisable.
Meet outside the cafe at 10am.
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
31
Sat
MTB-Marathon – Hope Valley @ Hope Valley College
Aug 31 @ 10:00 am – Sep 1 @ 6:00 pm
MTB-Marathon - Hope Valley @ Hope Valley College | Hope | England | United Kingdom
We did the MTB-Marathon in Hope last year and loved it. The whole series are brilliant events, incredibly well organised and supported with fabulous routes too. And free camping as well!
So we’re going to do this excellent final round in the amazing Peak District in 2019.
Although the main event is on the Sunday, there are also a Ladies Ride on the Saturday morning and a night marathon on the Saturday night, which has a choice of distances and light hire available from Exposure Lights.
On the Sunday 3 distances are available – Mini (25km), Half (45km) and Full (65km!). Bear in mind it’s in the Peak District, and the hills are big too, as well as the distance!
We’ve got members booked on the Half, but all routes start out together.

Full details here:
https://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/events/1st-2nd-september-2018-hope-valley-peak-district.html