Following on from the overhyped thread where many were critical of routes with lots of easy riding to link interesting sections…

What routes have the greatest proportion of interesting riding in their total length? Obviously it has to be a logical, complete ride, you can’t just name the interesting part of a ride.

Over to you.

This depends massively on riding preference.

There’s this place I know in North West Wiltshire that is OFF DA HOOK!

😉

The old Philips Park in Prestwich.
Dinorwic Quarry.
Berwick Moor.
Apedale Road circuit.
Ingleton & Pen Y Ghent.
Skipton & Embsay Moor.

On road, clockwise tour of Anglesey is ace.

Well there’s so many in the Dales, NYM it would be hard to list them all!

Canada BC loads of over 5km downhill single track

Lots of work with a map and riding trails will find surprisingly good trails in many places.

We use to do a Chilterns route that was the best part of 40 miles with next-to-no tarmac, mainly singletrack. And where I live now (Scottish Borders) there are loads of routes that you can join up many of the top descents into a ‘full’ day out.

I’ve got a five ups and five downs route around Ladybower that doesn’t involve much cruising. From Ladybower Inn over Whinstone lee Tor. Then up onto hagg side, down the hagg farm switchbacks. Then up to Wooler Knoll, along Hope Brink and down Blackley Hey. Then up to Lockerbrook and down the screaming mile before hacking back over Whinstone Lee Tor back to Ladybower Inn.

Not much cruising and plenty of rocky fun.

Surrey hills. End of. Innit.

Moose Mountain near Calgary Or is uplift trails in BC Canada cheating?

Grizedale BWs is the closest to me. You can easily fit in eight or nine quality descents and some testing technical climbing in a 25 miler with the bare minimum of road, albeit with a smidgen of fire-road here and there.

Helvellyn down via dollywaggon and grisdale tarn. Short climb great long descent if you like that sort of thing.

Most of the places mentioned in the hyped thread.

I’ll no doubt be told I’m wrong by the ‘keeping it real’ crowd, but Terry’s Belly at BPW is a blast, the climb is easy with a bit of short-cutting (and there’s a lift of course) and it’s 4.5k of twisting bermed up, rock dropped, tabletoped groomed beauty back to where you started (give or take) it’s blue graded so no unavoidable gaps to make or the like – just fast flowing fun for the masses.

there are loads of routes that you can join up many of the top descents into a ‘full’ day out.

You can easily fit in eight or nine quality descents

Thinking about this, usually when I go out for a ride in an area I know well I don’t bother too much about it being loop as such, just link up all the best riding.

However, published routes and ‘classic loops’ tend to be, well, loops, and it sometimes feels like they’ve tried too hard to make it a circular route. Maybe what people want has changed a bit and the mags and guidebooks have yet to catch up?

Comrie croft, Fantastic amount of descending for a small amount of climbing.

About the only trail centre I can think of up here that’s actively progressing too.

However, published routes and ‘classic loops’ tend to be, well, loops, and it sometimes feels like they’ve tried too hard to make it a circular route. Maybe what people want has changed a bit and the mags and guidebooks have yet to catch up?

The definition of ‘interesting riding’ varies from person to person. If I’m following an XC route from a guidebook, I’m happy to follow fairly technically nondescript tracks through good scenery and remoteness, at least for some of the day, anyhow. Which is just as well considering I live in the Dales. 🙂

Any local riding that you know well and can make the most of on the right day as you feel, as Jo Burt’s piece in Cranked issue 2 explains so well.
If you love full on tech but live in an MTB wasteland that’s a problem, so is being a UK-based snowboarder. As his other article discusses (ie, both worth a read with ref to this and the ‘overhyped trails’ thread)

Behind the Nationwide in Swindon

IGMC

tour of skiddaw.
nan bield.
high street/ullswater shoreline, in the right weather conditions.

Tour of skiddaw ton? The massive one with all the road or the nearly massive one with lots of road?

which road? you must be doing it wrong.

There are several options but lots of slog on them… Ridden everything on that bit I think

if there is loads of road on the ones you have done, you have done them wrong.

1.4 miles of road on my route.

For me such routes would be ones that have a bit of everything spread around the length of the route. A good example would be the Tour of Coniston (http://www.pedalnorth.com/content/tour-de-coniston): just enough road to give a breather and link things up; pleasant cross-country bridleways on Blawith Common; some good honest climbs (Walna Scar!); interesting mountain singletrack (Stephenson Ground to Walna Scar) and some good descents (Walna Scar and Parkamoor). Add in cracking views and you’ve a winner!

Another one would be the classic Bowderdale loop, yes there’s a bit of road but it doesn’t get in the way.

I did a loop at the top end of Wharfedale earlier this year: Arncliffe over Old Cote Moor to Kettlewell, up Cam Head, down to Starbotton; road to Buckden; over Firth Fell to Litton and back to Arncliffe. 24Km with over 1000 metres of climbing.

I’ll second Comrie Croft. It’s short, in terms of distance, but there’s rarely more than a few seconds between interesting technical features. It doesn’t always flow well and I’ve had a few tumbles there but I love it. The drive up is alright too.

The full climb is a good challenging one, too. I think I’ve only cleaned it once without stopping or dabbing a foot.

Ton, TOS is about the least bang for your buck ride in the lakes I can imagine! 😀

Comrie is genius, basically like a normal trail centre but with the boring bits of dead trail taken out. “We’ve only got resources to build a mile so we’ll build a mile of good stuff”.

The ride I did yesterday at glentress- started at the top car park, down falla brae to warm up, then all the way up to the boundary, down 5 year plan and deliverance, back up then down the blacks and ponduro trail, then back up and the fort descent. Sure it’s all FC forest but it’s pleasant and somewhat interesting climbing and first class descending. 20 miles.

Is a helicopter breaking the rules?