Donks – do you know what the current situation is with access to Woburn at the moment?

Now that winter is upon us and the tourist bikers are all abed for the winter you should head for the Surrey Hills. Rides well all year round and the glag is light and wet, not sticky and heavy as there is no clay in it at all.

well all i can say is we are all still riding it and it’s being tolerated so as long as it doesn’t get Swinley numbers turning up then touch wood.
There was someone from the Greensands committee or something with progress updates but nothing new or definitive. Jedi may know more? There was even some talk of plans for a mini trail centre around the Stokgrove park area?

I ride Surrey fairly regularly so Im looking for some new stuff. Seems a lot of the good stuff is in them thar rocky northern hills!

Cool – thanks. I’ve not been over for a while and my membership has well and truly run out. I’ve been doing some work with Aston Hill though so appreciate the difficulties that Woburn is facing – there are soooo many factors involved in making somewhere legal to ride bikes.

I did hear the rumour of the Stokegrove Park trails as well, but nothing more.

Surrey’s best is around Leith Pitch Hombury Abinger and so on in my opinion.

In the summer it can get a little busy but not silly, now winters here it will be pretty quiet.

A couple of weekends ago I rode on the Mendips and was pleased that it wasn’t too sloppy. Nevertheless by bike got pretty dirty.

Last weekend following rain I went to the Quantocks, not having cleaned the bike. After the Quantocks ride, my bike was noticably cleaner.

You may get wet on the Qs, but you wont normally get bogged down. It’s a pretty good winter venue if fancy “au natural” rather than “purpose built”.

I saw this thread and thought Quantocks. It get’s a bit muddy but nothing compared to anywhere else I’ve ridden.

I can only really compare it to Newcastle and Rivington as the other two places I’ve ridden extensively.

So Spain then – wheres good for a quick fix? Long w/e stylee..

Just 20 minutes from Malaga airport, we´ll have you riding some stunning singletrack just an hour after landing!
http://www.sierracycling.com since 1992..

The Quantocks is rideable all year round, due to the sandy soil and easy draining terrain.

RepacK – Member

So Spain then – wheres good for a quick fix? Long w/e stylee..

What kind of riding are you looking for?
This time of year southern Spain would be your best bet, if he goes to SierraCycling, I want some commission. 😉
Around Madrid you’ll find some pretty decent cross country and a bikepark downhilly with chairlift type thingy (it’s not actually in Madrid, but pretty darned close!).
Barcelona again has some bikeparks close by.
Basque country will give some good riding, but it’s wet up there.

Madrid is dry (and quite warm) at the moment and never really suffers from mud. 😆
I can’t really speak for other areas though.

Wrexham. Nothing to see here in my local woods where it’s free draining sand and rock.

Why not Wrecsam? You’ve got Llandegla and N. Wales. The only problem is that some visitors can sound like boring broken records. 🙄

Currently Woburn has a access agreed until the end of the year. I was checked for my permit on Sunday (which I had forgotten, but as I was on the list it was all smiles). The man from the green sands trust was optimistic that a deal would be done, although with a slight increase in price.

I think Woburn is a great XC venue. But do get a permit

http://www.greensandtrust.org/permits.html

Somewhere mainly rocky, no clay soil, no limestone?

T’Pennines then.

The pennines? Predominately limestone overlayed with small areas of millstone grit.

Its far too dry around here, I keep sinking into the sand and dust.

Bedgebury can be good fun – sure it’s not Afan, but its as good as you’ll get out of a trail centre given the local geography – tight and twisty rather than steep and technical. Used to suffer really badly in the wet, but much better these days. Am heading there myself on Saturday funnily enough.

As far as all weather riding is concerned, the Lakes would get my top vote. Quantocks after that – can get very muddy in the more heavily wooded / horsey combes, but up top is ridable in pretty much any weather.

Definitely Wrexham. The abundance of hot air dries out the soil!

I think Woburn is a great XC venue. But do get a permit

http://www.greensandtrust.org/permits.html

Amen to that.

The pennines? Predominately limestone overlayed with small areas of millstone grit.

Not round here, no limestone at all.

So, southern t’pennines?

Just to clarify, if anyone thinks of coming here then it’s Late March – October. It’s wet here from November until March. October can be cold, although it’s usually quite sunny. Next year we’re going to offer some late season (October-November) trips to the South Pyrenees which are a few hours away, I’m just back from a trip exploring there and have a touch of sunburn.

Swaledale dries well, but the wind up here is a permanent bitch all winter long, so even though i live here, i rarely ride here outside the summer… i head over the Moors which are a bit less severe and has more singletrack.