Its been 3 years since i was last there and now its time to visit again. This is an awesome place to visit with some serious trails worth riding. Some tough hill climbs, but with rewarding descents.
Current weather forecast is for showers, but this is Wales, so make sure you bring waterproofs! A helmet is also essential.
There are some great spots of riding at Swinley, but if you stick strictly to the Blue and Red trails you’ll a) miss some great off-piste stuff and b) have to churn through some really dull miles to get to the good bits!
So this ride is to show you the best bits – starting on the Blue trail, but then picking up some of the off-piste used on the recent Enduro race to connect up to the best of Red. That will take us to the bottom far east corner, where the downhill trials are as well and after a play in that area, we will take a more leisurely ride to pick up the fabulous Tank Traps section, before ending with the best of Blue to take us back to the hub. Should be 20 miles in total.
This ride contains blue and red graded trails, so bare that in mind – it’s Swinley not the Alps, but the bits of red we will be doing are definitely red grade.
See you at the entrance to the Blue trail at 10am.
The next club trip to FoD is in February. There’s loads happening in Cannop at the moment, with a new workshop, new bike shop and extended café at Pedalabikeaway. Work is also well underway on the new pump track and skills area, so loads to check.
We’re looking to venture out from the usual (although excellent) Verderers, with the downhill tracks, Dowies or Murdocks all being options.
So comment below what you’d like to and we’ll build a route for the day.
Meet outside the Pedalabikeaway at 10.30am
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
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.
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.
Place marker for your diaries for a chiltern away day, led by Robert Wine.
This will be a ride around some of the best of the Chilterns taking in Wormsley Estate (Getty owned), quaint villages like Turville, and nice, wooded singletrack. Nothing technical, but a good mix of up and down (repeat several times), a bit of Tarmac, trees, roots, horses, mud.
It’ll be about 35km/700m and when it’s dry it’s got lots of fast flowing paths; if it’s wet, well, we may just change the plan a bit.
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