Matt Wadsworth will be guiding a cross country ride from Watlington car park (OX49 5AB), all welcome.
Great XC route, steady pace (I’ll be having a good crack at the climbs though) no one left behind. The more the merrier. Hope you can join us.
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.
As I’m going to be at Swinley, I thought it would be a good opportunity to re-run the popular “Swinley’s Best Bits” ride. This is an action packed 10 miles & it really does pack in lots. Starting on the Blue trail we follow that till the point it gets dull, then go off piste on a section of the Enduro course, before picking up the best of Red to the downhill trails. Our highlight there is the old full Labrynth, but scope to do a few of the other DH trails in that corner too.
The we hit Red 25 on the way to back via the Tank Traps and the final ace descent of Blue.
If you want a bit more info on the route, check out our report
here, otherwise come and see for yourself 🙂
Meet at the entrance to the trails at Swinley for a 10.30 start.
This a re-runaid our popular “Swinley’s Best Bits” ride. This is an action packed 10 miles & it really does pack in lots. Starting on the Blue trail we follow that till the point it gets dull, then go off piste on a section of the Enduro course, before picking up the best of Red to the downhill trails. Our highlight there is the old full Labrynth, but scope to do a few of the other DH trails in that corner too.
The we hit Red 25 on the way to back via the Tank Traps and the final ace descent of Blue.
If you want a bit more info on the route, check out our report
here, otherwise come and see for yourself 🙂
Meet at the entrance to the trails at Swinley for a 10am start.
Our usual Wednesday visit to Croft will incorporate some skills practice this week.
After a warm up lap, we will do a development lap. This will involve doing a lap of the trail stopping at certain obstacles to practice our skills: rock gardens, cornering & small jumps. There is also an option to practice drops if anyone fancies that too.
After that we will finish with a quick lap to blend all the practice together.
Meet in the car park at 5.45pm
You will need a helmet, but not lights.
Our usual Wednesday visit to Croft will incorporate some skills practice this week.
After a warm up lap, we will do a development lap. This will involve doing a lap of the trail stopping at certain obstacles to practice our skills: rock gardens, cornering & small jumps. There is also an option to practice drops if anyone fancies that too.
After that we will finish with a quick lap to blend all the practice together.
Meet in the car park at 5.45pm
You will need a helmet, but not lights.
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.