im sat in work bored shitless again so i thought i would ask you guys a question.

where in the UK do you regaurd is the best place for MTBing, as a welsh lad i am blessed with natural and man made trails but would like to sample some other places in the new yr.

Highlands are the best i’ve ridden. But even then it was a case of ‘wow that was almost as good as the alps….’

This one is probably the best long trail i’ve ridden. Bit of a mission to get there tho.

IMG_3711 by Ewan Panter, on Flickr

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=200975&Y=821485&A=Y&Z=120 (go east to west!)

Tho torradon was good as well.

Yorkshire Dales, easy access for me & lots of it.
Scotlandshire for a trip away.

In England? West Yorkshire. Slightly biased but from my door I can ride what I’ve found to be some of the best woodsey singletrack, big all day moorland rides, short super tech rides and everything inbetween.

UK-wide, the 7-Stanes hit the spot for me. I love trail centres as non of my local riding is done on them so its nice for a change to go somewhere and be guaranteed brilliant trails and facilities and just turn the navigation part of my brain off and just follow arrows…

Lakes for me,preferably big ups with big downs, real biking 🙂

Milton Keynes without exception.

London.

Well I like the Lakes best, it’s just got it all (apart from trees). Brilliant bridleway network, stunning views, compact enough to get around a bit.

But I haven’t done any biking in the Highlands (yet).

The problem is, how to chose? we’re spoilt for choice! but here goes..
1.Lakes
2.Wales(all of it,more all less)
3.Scotland (boarders)
4.My back yard, Cannock chase.
5.Yorksire

This one is probably the best long trail i’ve ridden. Bit of a mission to get there tho.

Crikey!

I’ve been meaning to get to proper Highlands for a while now and this looks like a good place to start. Any chance you could email me some specifics about this ride? My email’s jw14185z@hotmail.co.uk – thanks

Thetford Forest FTW. 😆

Lake District – all over really. So many good trails to chose from in such a compact area. I love how I can still find lots of new stuff despite having ridden there for years.

Highlands? Anywhere in the Cairngorms is hard to beat. Torridon? What I’ve ridden there is pretty good but not quite up to Cairngorm standard. Perhaps I needed a really sunny day for it. Rural Perthshire is pretty special too.

Cheers

Sanny

Great pics by the way Ewan. Like the look of the trail in the pic. One for me to explore methinks. I can feel a roadtrip coming on. 😀

donks
Milton Keynes without exception.

😀

There is no “best/” there is just different. There is no trail comparable to Ewans anywhere outside the highlands, but downs south you can ride all day without having to carry your bike thru a swamp. From the wide open rocky trails of Yorkshire to the intense blasts of the Quantocks to the differing natures of the trail parks – its all good

Not sure how to do the linky pic magic but this was an ace ride back in August.

wide open rocky trails of Yorkshire

Wide open rocky trails are available in other counties a well.

TJ has it – embrace the diversity! 😉

Familiarity does breed boredom if not contempt, it’s just great to mix it up if possible. Exmoor, Dales, Pentlands, South Downs, Malverns, trail centres, all fun in their own way.

Even though I can’t go somewhere all the time, I’m lucky enough to try the same local routes on different bikes and it keeps them interesting.

C’mon Butt we live in the best place and you knows it 😀

Out the back door and into countryside others would dream of, I wouldn’t move from here for the world – well ok a big pay rise.

less than 45 mins from 3 or 4 trail centres, unbelievable amount of natural stuff, tons undiscovered and £5 million plus being invested in the sport we love on our doorstep it cannot get any better for us.

Sanny…Open your pic in Flickr > Share this > Grab the HTML/BBCode > Tick BBCode > select the code & paste into STW. Might have to move any text you’ve already put in as it pastes the link at the start of the post.

Love the trail your on 😉

Ewan (*or anybody), awesome photo, any chance of some info, (planning two Scotland trips next year), Presuambly E to W, Affric Lodge, S of Loch, Athnamulloch, SYHA, etc.
? is the bit from road parking@ishAffricLodge to SYHA doable for a non technical rider and ‘obvious’ , SYHA site – “This track provides a great challenge for experienced mountain bikers (a wee bit bumpy)”

Cheers

Lake district. Linking the bridleways up is much easier meaning your rides are pretty much all off road.

But Ewans picture makes an excellent case for tying North of the border.

for bids… london

The lake district (only 40 mins away in the car for me)
Would love to do some of the natural trails in scotland though.

It starts just 100 metres from my back door 🙂

gusamc – Member
Ewan (*or anybody), awesome photo, any chance of some info, (planning two Scotland trips next year), Presuambly E to W, Affric Lodge, S of Loch, Athnamulloch, SYHA, etc.
? is the bit from road parking@ishAffricLodge to SYHA doable for a non technical rider and ‘obvious’ , SYHA site – “This track provides a great challenge for experienced mountain bikers (a wee bit bumpy)”

Cheers

It’s a dawdle. Landie track all the way to Athnamulloch, then a good foot path for a couple of km. Then a VERY stony track for another couple of km before setting down again as it runs alongside the river to the hostel.

Landie track is this sort of standard…

PICT3483 by druidh_dubh, on Flickr

This is the view West a couple of km past Athnamulloch…

PICT3476 by druidh_dubh, on Flickr

The track along the north bank of Loch Affric is more “fun” if you are a bit more skilled on a bike.

What were you planning as a route out though?

GlitterGary – Member
London.

Here Is Wisdom.

Simply because I can jump on a ‘plane, for less cost than a train, and be in somewhere warm in less time than it would take to get to Scotland…. 😉

London by druidh_dubh, on Flickr

Madrid? Timewise it might be closer than driving somewhere in the UK. 💡

Truth is Onion; the reverse is more accurate, in terms of weather. I know for a fact it is proper cold in Edinbugger right now, as my mate Scottish Kev has just texted me to tell me he’s had to put long trousers on again. 😯 He did send me a pic of the sun shining one day there though. But that was in August.

I do want to visit Scotland though. bit of luck, I may be up there in the New Year sometime. Hope to meet up with some of my Scottish fayns. 😉

Northumberland has some really good riding that everybody just seems to bypass but not complaining keeps traffic low

For me it’s these 3- different, but all good-

Highlands (probably the best for the shear number of insane trails)
Peak
Lakes

Anywhere else doesn’t match up. Wales always disappoints me a bit, especially their trail centres, the Dales are a laugh but you have to get the day right and the south- well…

I did a highly recommended by STW ride in Northumberland a while back and to be honest, it was a bit shit. Road, hacking across a grass moorland, slow descent, a bit of wood, more road.

I was told that was one of the best routes, but it really wasn’t a patch on anywhere else I’ve ridden a mountain bike, so I find it difficult to believe that Northumberland is worthy of a mention in this thread.

If you have to live in the south, then where I am is a good compromise, giving reasonable access to Exmoor, Dartmoor, Qs, Mendip, South Wales trail centers, Brecon Beacons. Not to mention lots of micro venues such as Ashton Court and Lea Woods, Longleat, Street.

the south always gets a bad rap in these kinds of things

Personally if I lived in the Peaks i would drive every weekend to Dorking for the riding…

Wales for me as it has everything. Been spending more and more time in the peaks but Wales is still no 1 for me.

cabbage84 – Member
Northumberland has some really good riding that everybody just seems to bypass but not complaining keeps traffic low

Sssshhh!

jhw – hear hear 😀
Plenty of different riding down here and better than the peaks IMO.

Surrey Hills, Qs, UK Bikepark, Gawton, etc

Love the Lakes etc but its always shitty weather.

Its all about variety as TJ said.

Loamy woodland down here
rocky mountains up North