We will head out through Clouts Wood, west of the airfield and up onto Barbury.
Then Smithies and across to Earthline. A ridge ride and descent by the flying club before Chiseldon to coate and back to the Bayberry.
The route will be adjusted to suit a riders and weather conditions.
Estimate 30k distance and 400m ascent.
You will need lights and a helmet.
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.
Leaving the Bayberry we will head up through Coate and Chisie via the flying club to sample the delights of the Sugar Hill climb. Back around Liddington Castle and home via the Old ridgeway and Ladder lane.
There are 2 tough climbs on this ride. Pushing up is of course permitted. 33km distance and 400m of climbing on the route, so a reasonable level of fitness is required. The route may be altered (made easier, not harder!) to suit the riders and weather conditions.
LIGHTS are now a must and as always a helmet.
Dave returns from holidays with some calories to burn off.
The ride will be about 30km going out from the Bayberry up to the Ridgeway – final route to be decided once the weather forecast has settled (fingers crossed though, it looks ok at the moment!)
You will need a helmet and lights.
This is a bringing your kids somewhere fun trip!
The 417 Project is only half an hour from Swindon and has some great trails and features for developing skills for all ages, although you need to be confident riding off stabilisers and over small obstacles.
There is a small outdoor trail aimed specifically at kids, with bermed corners and small ramps to go over, which is a great place to start.
That is right next to the bottom section of the Blue trail, which is great for progressing further – the more you progress, the further up the hill you go basically.
Inside one of the barns is a Velosolutions pump track too, which is great for everyone in all weathers.
Above that is also a Leisure Lakes bike shop, which does an excellent range of kids specific clothing and protection.
Oh and the cafe does amazing food, coffee and milkshakes!
Children are welcome on this event, but you will be responsible for your own children at all times, including making sure they are capable of riding whichever trail they decide to tackle.
It costs £8 entry for adults, or £5 for under 12s. You can book in advance online at https://417bikepark.co.uk
Helmets are compulsory at the bike park – they will not let you ride without one.
We will meet at 10am in the car park.
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.
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
Following on from the success of the previous Get Into Mountain Biking events we’re heading to Afan in Wales!
This will still be aimed at improvers/intermediate riders but will be a progression from the previous trail centres we’ve visited.
Meeting at Afan Lodge at 11am we will take a short ride to the start of the trails and begin our day on the blue-graded Blue Scar. At the top of the Blue Scar climb we can then decide whether to climb a bit more and do the first part of the red-graded trail Penhydd or continue straight to the Blue Scar descent. There is a fair amount of climbing at Afan but most of it is on fire roads and there will be plenty of opportunity to stop and admire the stunning views.
After lunch those with the energy can climb back up and do more of Penhydd or Blue Scar again, and there is also a small skills area and lovely scenic route with short section of blue-graded trail along the valley.
Those that are really feeling energetic and brave may be tempted to give the red-graded trail Y-Wal a go, but be warned, Wales trail gradings are harder than English ones.
Afan is roughly two hours drive away from Swindon so we will meet at Afan Lodge at 11am. Afan Lodge is further up the road past Afan trail centre, you’ll see the trail centre on your right and Afan Lodge is on the left. There is plenty of free parking here and a lovely cafe, and an old railway line cycle path links the two.
Since we’ll be in Wales it would seem rude not to stay a bit longer and go to Bike Park Wales on the Sunday! This won’t be an official club trip as such but there is a bike-friendly Premier Inn 5 minutes away from BPW which I may well find myself in that night 😀