I'm going to Stafford with my other half just before Christmas and I'm thinking of going to Cannock to do Follow the Dog. My other half isn't massively confident on a mountain bike but, then again, goes up and down all the stuff I go up and down, albeit a bit slower. Would she be OK, are there bits to avoid and are the trails there so heavily used she'd get in the way and get yelled at?

I'd appreciate some advice as she'll not be chuffed if I take her anywhere out of her depth.

Cheers,

Ian

She's be fine, it's not that difficult, there's plenty of places to pass and pretty much everyone I've ever seen there has been really friendly.

I've seen a guy running on the fire road next to one of the first sections (where the slabs of rock are) giving his missus a trail lesson, LEFT CRANK HIGH! RIGHT CRANK HIGH! Crash.

Give it a go you'll have a great time, cakes from the tea shop are pretty good too.

She'll be fine. There are no significant hills, nothing gnarley that can't be avoided other than some tight tree sections, that are only tight with 28"+ bars at high speed.

Guess it depends on the weather as to how busy it'll be – if she's really slow then it'd probably frustrate her getting out of peoples way constantly – (from my rather hazy memory) there are some fairly substained wooded areas where overtaking would be difficult otherwise.

she'll be fine, it's ideal for a beginner and lots of short cuts back to the cafe if she gets fed up

Go. It's ace.

Cannock (Follow the Dog) has nothing too technical for beginners, nothing particularly hard, just a plain old simple fun trail which is great fun for a quick blast. I haven't ridden there at a weekend or when it's busy but the couple of times I have been there were no yelling riders! Enjoy.

Excellent. She's happy about it, now, as am I. Thanks everyone.

Ian

It's the perfect place for a newbie. Easy enough not to be off-putting, yet interesting enough not to be too "kid gloves", long enough to provide some kind of challenge yet short enough not to be too much of a challenge for someone not that fit yet… Perfect place to take a newbie IMO.