We have a fantastic Peak District trip coming up on the last May Bank Holiday weekend (25th-27th May). 3 days of fantastic views and riding on offer, with routes for all.
Continue reading Peak District may tripCategory Archives: Rides
This Weeks Rides
We’ve got a busy week and even, dare we say it, the possibility of some nice weather too!
First Dave will take the lead on Tuesday 17th @ 19:00 from the Bayberry. The plan is to head into the hills in search of a dry trail…..
On Wednesday evening Davinia will host the Evening Session @ The Croft Trail from 17:45
Thursday sees two events.
First up is Claire with a Morning Motivator ride @ Tidworth Freeride from 10am
On Thursday evening we have the SMTBE Thursday Night Social, this is an all abilities relaxed urban ride from the Tawny Owl @ 19:00
See you on the trails!
Don’t forget our Trail a Trail ride
Don’t forget our “Try a Trail” event at Croft on Sunday. This is perfect if you’ve not tried mountain biking or a trail before. We will be taking groups around (mixed and ladies only) and our club coach will be on hand to demonstrate a bike check and offer riding advice.
Club Ride Grading
As you may have noticed we have now added gradings to all our club events. The Idea is to provide members information on the type of ride based on fitness and technical difficulty.
A weekend of riding for everyone
We’ve got lots of events going on this weekend, covering all sorts:
- Friday 27th October, 9.30am – Breeze Ladies & under 16’s ride round Lydiard Park – half term special!
- Saturday 28th October, 10am – FoD Training day – club coach Gaz is on hand to give pointers on how to improve your riding
- Sunday 29th October, 10am – Swinley Monster Mash up – halloween ride round Swinley Forest, taking in everything: Blue, Red, Singletrack, DH and Enduro stages!
Click the links for full details – see you on the trails!
This weekend’s rides
It’s Fri-yaaayyyy!!!!!
Got lots of club activities for you:
- Saturday – Davinia is leading a Breeze ride (ladies only) from Mouldon Hill along route 45 old railway line to Cerney and back
- Sunday – we’re at the Forest of Dean with mixed and Ladies groups. We will be doing a bit of skills work as part of the Swinley preparations, using a bit of Freeminers and the skills areas, as well as at least one Verderers lap and some downhill runs too.
- Tuesday – we’re off to Bike Park Wales! This is a PAYG trip, so don’t worry about not having booked – we will be using the pay as you go uplift and maybe 1 pedal up if people are feeling like it.
Happy Trails 🚵♀️
Upcoming rides
We’ve 2 rides coming up with Sunday and the usual evening rides next week too.
- First up is our first club trip to Tidworth on Sunday. This is the postponed opening weekend and our practice visit for those doing the Root1 race at the end of April – 10am at Tidworth.
- And at the same time on Sunday we have our weekly Ladies Leisure Ride, this time going from Chiseldon to Croft and back. Join Davinia at the Three Trees cafe for a 10am start.
- Wednesday evening is our regular club trip to Croft – suitable for all levels and we should get 2-3 laps in daylight too. Meet at 5.30pm in the Croft car park.
- There will also be Tuesday and Thursday night rides – details will be posted soon.
Ladies Rides Calendar
We have added an additional category to our events calendar – Ladies Rides. This means you can filter or subscribe to a calendar of just Ladies Rides should you want to.
Jul
19
Fri
This year’s ladies away trip sees us heading to Exmoor for a fun weekend of fantastic views, great riding and bags of fun!
We will be based in the town of Porlock, near Minehead and we will head down there after work on the Friday, where most of us will be setting up camp at Sparkhayes campsite (details further down). For those that don’t wish to camp, there are a variety of B&Bs and pubs to stay in – comment below if you want that option and I can suggest some places for you.
Friday night we will be getting settled in and have a few welcome drinks in one of the excellent local pubs.
Saturday is the big ride – our Seaside big one! Don’t worry, it’s not huge, 28km in fact, but with a fair bit of climbing that will gives us some amazing views of the sea and surrounding hills. We head out up Bossington Hill, which you can see from the campsite, before taking the ridge to Bratton. The return takes us via Selworth Combe, after which there will be an opportunity to visit the fantastic tea rooms at Horner and we will finish at Porlock Weir for a drink by the seaside.
Sunday we have two shorter rides on offer. The first is our Dunkery Dabble. Just under 10km, it does have a couple of steep bits in it, but we will take these at a gentle pace. The rewards though are some amazing views back towards the sea and some really fun descents in an idillic setting, complete with optional water crossings!
After this ride we will stop at the Horner tea rooms for a spot of lunch. If anyone needs to head back early, they can at this point, or stay on for the afternoon ride. This will be a quick 15km route from Horner out to the woods of Wootton Common and back. The way out and back are relatively flat, with the bulk of the climb at Wootton Common itself – a great way to finish a great weekend of riding.
All of these rides will be rides will be led by myself, supported by other ride leaders from the club, who are also first aid trained.
For more information about accommodation or anything else on the weekend, send an email to admin@swindonmtbenthusiasts.co.uk .
Sparkhayes campsite costs £9 a night per person and has good facilities (real showers and toilets, even a fridge).
Please email if you want to camp at Sparkhayes, as I will be doing a group booking with all the tents together.
Let me know if you don’t have a tent and want to camp, as a few of us have big tents with spare rooms in them.
There are plenty of food options in the town and we will probably eat out both nights, but it’s entirely up to you.
It will be a fun weekend and can’t wait to see you all.
Jul
28
Sun
Debbie will be leading a gentle novice friendly ride around the Cotswold Lakes.
This is non technical and will be at the pace of the slowest rider. It is designed to suit ladies new to mountain biking and those who want a steady ride.
There will be a cafe stop 3/4 of the way round, but feel free to bring any snacks and water.
Helmets compulsory and this is not suitable for hybrid bikes, due to the possibility of mud on the tracks.
Meet in the car park to the Cricklade Leisure Centre for a 10am start.
Aug
31
Sat
We did the MTB-Marathon in Hope last year and loved it. The whole series are brilliant events, incredibly well organised and supported with fabulous routes too. And free camping as well!
So we’re going to do this excellent final round in the amazing Peak District in 2019.
Although the main event is on the Sunday, there are also a Ladies Ride on the Saturday morning and a night marathon on the Saturday night, which has a choice of distances and light hire available from Exposure Lights.
On the Sunday 3 distances are available – Mini (25km), Half (45km) and Full (65km!). Bear in mind it’s in the Peak District, and the hills are big too, as well as the distance!
We’ve got members booked on the Half, but all routes start out together.
So we’re going to do this excellent final round in the amazing Peak District in 2019.
Although the main event is on the Sunday, there are also a Ladies Ride on the Saturday morning and a night marathon on the Saturday night, which has a choice of distances and light hire available from Exposure Lights.
On the Sunday 3 distances are available – Mini (25km), Half (45km) and Full (65km!). Bear in mind it’s in the Peak District, and the hills are big too, as well as the distance!
We’ve got members booked on the Half, but all routes start out together.
Full details here:
https://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/events/1st-2nd-september-2018-hope-valley-peak-district.html
Subscribe to filtered calendar
SMTBE TV Episode 2 – Swinley Forest
For the second episode of SMTBE 2, we visited Swinley Forest near Bracknell. Continue reading SMTBE TV Episode 2 – Swinley Forest
Lots of rides this week
We have a great selection of rides going on this week, different start times, routes and difficulty.
A lot of the rides are also beginner focussed, our regular Ladies ride and an away day to Afan:
- Tuesday 15th November 7pm – Urban Moonlight Ride
- Wednesday 16th November 6pm – A Tail of Two Trails
- Thursday 17th November 1pm – Ladies Leisure Ride, the WWW ride
- Thursday 17th November 7pm – Thursday Evening Bimble
- Sunday 20th November 10am – Afan Bike Park
See you out there!