1hr30 is the most I want to travel, really. I’m kinda in the smelly stuff for like Wales and Peaks stuff but I’m kinda new to MTB so is there any man-made stuff near me?

Aston hill is very near to you, though the XC course is rather lacking compared to Wales etc. To be honest every time I’ve been, we do a quick buzz round the XC course, get to the red DH and end up riding that and the 4X trail for the rest of the afternoon. 🙂

FoD?

Cannock Chase should be within you timescale

QECP
http://www.qecptrailcollective.co.uk/

Only 1 official Red trail at the moment, but already building a pump track and should get the go ahead for a Blue revamp+more.

Swinley, Woburn, and just about the Surrey Hills, are in your reach too. Not trail centres as such, but plenty of man made-ish trails.

as above both the forest of dean and cannock chase are with in that time. their the nearest man made trails, both well worth the vist.

I live just out side woodstock and ride both as often as possible.

Slight thread hijack is QECP worth a trip (I’m about the same distance away) what sort of riding is the current trail like?

Hmm I may go to Aston hill today, thanks guys.

lovely up there this morning, bit damp still

the new track is looking fantastic, huge jumps/berms/drops – cant wait for it to be finished

I’d say QECP is worth a go, but then I have been building it, singletrack and berms and roots. There should be plenty of clips on Vimeo and Youtube. Plus there is plenty more in the area on top of that like Kingley Vale and Lordswood over by Southampton.

Cannock chase from Oxford in 1h30? I must have gone the long way when I went…

FOD is a great place, thumbs up for the verderers!

Aston Hill and Woburn are great places to ride, the latter you can spend a load of time exploring the singletrack before playing on all the jumps/”freeride” stuff 🙂

A small trail (approx 7km) at Swindon Croft woods, Packed with stuff to do in a short time! Free parking at the Trail, but no Toilets, Cafe etc. Trail is made and maintained by mtb Swindon club, check out the website. Also, only a few miles from the Ridgeway. Now thats fun riding! 😆

soobalias was you at aston this morning? I was there until 12 but had other things to do or I would’ve stayed all day. I enjoyed it but don’t think my confidence is up high enough yet for the red run or DH3 at aston…perhaps the cross-country would be good for me to start with.

I sometimes head to Swinley, it can be ridden on anything at any skill level and be fun. There’s various trails but ideally you need an idea of where stuff is as there’s no signage guiding you. You can get there via train plus riding in about 90mins (I don’t have a car), or an hour drive if I remember right.

Paddington Train> Change Reading> Waterloo Train> Off at Martins Heron> 2 mile ride to the Lookout… if anyone’s wondering.

Aston hill
Woburn – apsley woods
Chicksands
Swinley
Chilterns (watlington as base)
Forest of Dean
Surrey hills-north downs

All within your range.

In town itself Shotover hill (east of city centre) and Boars Hill (west) have enough to keep you interested, esp on a night ride.

Cannock chase from Oxford in 1h30? I must have gone the long way when I went…

Thought OP must have meant he’d be travelling by car – assume you took the stagecoach and stopped mid-way for a change of horses? 😆

Cannock chase from Oxford in 1h30?

Possible. I’ve done Lichfield to Twyford(berks) in 1:30 once. And it was a Saturday afternoon. The m40 was very very quiet for some reason.

Normally just under 2 hours.

Aston hill
Woburn – apsley woods
Chicksands
Swinley
Chilterns (watlington as base)
Forest of Dean
Surrey hills-north downs

All within your range.

In town itself Shotover hill (east of city centre) and Boars Hill (west) have enough to keep you interested, esp on a night ride.

I think this is probably a fairly definitive list. You could add the croft Trail swindon buts its is pretty small I hear.

Personally I wouldn’t bother with croft unless you’re actually passing the place. I know the local guys have put in a lot of hard work building the trails but I’ve ridden it 4 times and never impressed – v short and just doesn’t flow (nice rollers / jumps on an uphill section for example!). If it was on my doorstep I’d have a blast around it every now and then but not really worth travelling for…

Oxford to Cannock is about 90 miles from memory, and assuming you’re pretty close to A34 or M40 then about 80 miles is on the motorway, allowing 20 mins for the last 10 miles – pretty doable in an hour and a half within speed limits and assuming you’re not doing the M40/M42 junction at rush hour on a monday morning 😆

Croft Trail full lap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKOAIA64qlE

http://www.mbswindon.co.uk/croft-trail if you want any info. It can be combined with a load of ridgeway riding.
Check out the 40 and 50km routes on this link: http://www.mbswindon.co.uk/prospect-hospice-big-bike-ride-elevation-plots-gpx-maps/

Other locations:
Ashton Court
Forest of Dean
Swinley
Cleeve Hill

More ideas here: http://www.mbswindon.co.uk/club/ride-reports/

We’re going to Swinley on Sunday too: http://www.mbswindon.co.uk/ride-swinley-forest-2012/

Cwm Carn is actually a trail centre and it’s possible to get there within an hour and a half from Oxford.