Calendar

Jun
22
Thu
Ladies Intermediate Coaching with Katy Curd @ Pedalabikeaway, FoD
Jun 22 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Ladies Intermediate Coaching with Katy Curd @ Pedalabikeaway, FoD | England | United Kingdom

We have arranged an Intermediate Level ladies only course with the fabulous Katy Curd on Thursday 22nd June.

There are 5 places on the course, which consists of 3 hours of tuition with World Champion & world class coach, Katy Curd.

The cost is £60 per person, which can be paid in cash on the day or by bank transfer in advance.

Jul
19
Wed
Wednesday at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trail
Jul 19 @ 6:15 pm – 8:00 pm
Wednesday at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trail | England | United Kingdom

We will be at Croft on Wednesday, but starting at the slightly later time of 6.15pm.

We will be doing a few laps of the trail, stopping to practice anything people want to along the way.

Meet in the car park at 6.15pm

You will need a helmet, but not lights.

Sep
13
Wed
SMTBE Christmas Party @ The White Hart, Wroughton
Sep 13 @ 7:00 pm – 10:30 pm
SMTBE Christmas Party @ The White Hart, Wroughton | Wroughton | England | United Kingdom

It’s September, so we are legally allowed to talk about Christmas now! Believe it or not everywhere is booking up fast, but we have managed to book the White Hart’s function room and skittle alley for a Christmas Club Celebration.
We’ve had a fantastic year and gained lots of great new members and friends, so this is a chance to get as many of us together as we can to celebrate everything we’ve achieved this year.
This is a social event for everyone including partners and families.

On the night we will have an optional hot festive buffet, drinks, a skittles challenge and our annual club awards!
If you would like the festive buffet, the cost is £14.95 each (£7.50 for children) and we need a £5 deposit by Friday 22nd September. Alternatively you can just come for drinks and watch us eat 🙂

If you would like to come, please email us at admin@swindonmtbenthusiasts.co.uk with how many of you will be coming and whether you want the buffet or are just coming for a drink. The buffet will include a selection of festive hot and cold buffet food, including vegetarian and gluten free options.

You can give your £5 deposit to us on the next 2 wednesdays at Croft, or this weekend at Swinley. If you’re not going to any of those, please let us know in your comment and we will get in touch with payment details.

We hope you can join us and we look forward to celebrating Christmas with you all.

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 🙂
Sep
19
Wed
Wednesday After Work at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trail
Sep 19 @ 5:45 pm – 7:30 pm
Wednesday After Work 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
3
Wed
Wednesdays After Work at Croft @ Croft Cycle Trail
Oct 3 @ 5:45 pm – 7:00 pm
Wednesdays After Work 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 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 at 5.30pm for a 5.45pm start
Sep
4
Wed
Wednesday GetintoMTB @ Croft Cycle Trail
Sep 4 @ 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.