Calendar

Aug
23
Wed
Wednesdays After Work at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trail
Aug 23 @ 5:45 pm – 8:00 pm
Wednesdays After Work at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trail | England | United Kingdom
We will be at Croft on Wednesday as usual, doing some laps of the trail and practice on the features along the way.
This week we will have another feature on corners – hopefully how to go round them quicker!
 
Meet in the car park at 5.45pm
 
You will need a helmet, but not lights.
Sep
6
Wed
Wednesdays After Work at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trail
Sep 6 @ 5:45 pm – 7:45 pm
Wednesdays After Work at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trail | England | United Kingdom
We will be at Croft on Wednesday as usual, doing some laps of the trail and practice on the features along the way.
This week we will have another feature on corners – hopefully how to go round them quicker!
 
Meet in the car park at 5.45pm
 
You will need a helmet, but not lights (not this week anyway, but not sure about next week unfortunately!) 
Sep
12
Tue
Ridges, Ruts n Rockley @ The Bayberry
Sep 12 @ 7:00 pm – 9:45 pm
Ridges, Ruts n Rockley @ The Bayberry | Swindon | England | United Kingdom

Up through Wroughton and over Hackpen. Ruts to Rockley. Half 4 mile, Ogbournes to either Seathe’s Ridge or Gypsy Lane (time and legs dependent) Ladder Lane back to the Bayberry.

We will change the route if the weather turns out bad, but  waterproof jacket is very strongly advised anyway – it’s not exactly been predictable recently.

You will need a helmet and lights too.

Sep
26
Tue
Tuesday Night Ride: Downs and out @ The Bayberry
Sep 26 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Tuesday Night Ride: Downs and out @ The Bayberry | Swindon | England | United Kingdom

Keeping an eye on the weather and ground conditions. Heading out onto the Downs, possibly via Kings/Clouts Wood for some messing about. Expect around 500m of climbing and 30k over 2.5 hours (think Verderers x 2 without the exciting descents). Lights, lids and Jackets!

Sep
26
Wed
Wednesdays at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trail
Sep 26 @ 5:45 pm – 7:30 pm
Wednesdays at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trail | England | United Kingdom

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.

This week we’re going to do some skills demonstrations and practice, using the features of the trail. We’ll cover the basics you’ll need for tackling technical terrain – front wheel lifts, unweighting the back well, climbing and descending safely.

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

Meet in the Croft car park at 5.30pm for a 5.45pm start

Oct
10
Wed
Wednesdays After Work at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trails
Oct 10 @ 5:45 pm – 7:15 pm
Wednesdays After Work at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trails | England | United Kingdom
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.
 
We will do some skills demonstrations and practice, using the features of the trail. We’ll cover the basics you’ll need for tackling technical terrain – front wheel lifts, unweighting the back wheel, climbing and descending safely.
We may also venture up Ladder Lane for a bit of root and faster descending practice.
 
You must bring a helmet, but you don’t need lights, just yet.
 
Meet in the Croft car park for a 5.45pm start.
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
Apr
3
Wed
Wednesdays GetintoMTB @ Croft Cycle Trail
Apr 3 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Wednesdays GetintoMTB @ Croft Cycle Trail
Wednesday rides are back with a new format.

The evening will be split into two parts:

6-6.45pm will be a Croft trail ride, laps of the trail (when it gets lighter we will also be sessioning some of the features). This week this bit shouldn’t need lights 😀

6.45-8.15pm will be a local, fairly flat route, less than 10km in total.
PLEASE LET US KNOW BY POSTING BELOW IF YOU INTEND ONLY ATTENDING THE 6.45PM RIDE, so that we know to wait for you, as we leave promptly.

These rides are part of our GetintoMTB series, designed for anyone just starting mountain biking, coming back after a break or just wanting a shorter, flatter ride 😊

Helmets are compulsory and you will also need lights for the ride out at 6.45pm.

Meet in the Croft Trail car park for both rides

Aug
21
Wed
Wednesday GetintoMTB @ Croft Cycle Trail
Aug 21 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Wednesday GetintoMTB @ Croft Cycle Trail

Wednesdays are one of our #getintoMTB events, designed to help people get started, get back into MTB or anyone wanting a shorter, flatter ride. But there’s plenty of fun for all abilities.

The evening will be split into two parts:

6-7pm will be a Croft trail ride, laps of the trail (sessioning some of the features along the way)

7pm-8pm will be a local, fairly flat route, less than 10km in total.
PLEASE LET US KNOW BY POSTING BELOW IF YOU INTEND ONLY ATTENDING THE 7PM RIDE, so that we know to wait for you, as we leave promptly.

Under 18’s are allowed on this ride unaccompanied, as long as you have been out with us before. If you haven’t and wish to come, please drop an email to welfare@swindonmtbenthusiasts.co.uk so we can let you know the process for signing up to these rides.

As with all our rides, Helmets are compulsory.

Meet in the Croft Trail car park for both rides

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.