I am heading down to Bristol this weekend for a family thing and have taken Friday off to do some full-faced, bouncy-bike riding.

Anyhoo, I was thinking of heading down to Gawton but it is about 240 odd miles for me and was thinking about somewhere a little nearer, such as the Forest of Dean. I know there is Cwmcarn as well, but I have been there several times before and fancy something new. I’m sure the weather will play a part too.

Any experiences/recommendations? I still fancy Gawton but am happy to weigh-up the options.

Go to FoD if you haven’t before. The trails are great and it has a really quick turnaround on the uplift.

Felt like I got a lot more riding in a day there than at Cwmcarn, and while it’s not as big or steep I had a lot more fun there.

FoD is awesome, my favourite place to ride downhill so far!

Sounds promising for the FOD so far. Have you ridden Gawton as well?

Have ridden gawton and FOD. GAwton would be as good as FOD if it had a useful uplift. FOD uplift is brill, I have had so much fun there.

That’s three votes for FOD so far. How do the FOD and Gawton tracks compare?

Hmm I prefer FOD but thats because I’m a bit lame. At Gawton two of the tracks are beyond unridable (although loads of rubber people have vids of themselves shredding it, its just I can’t). FOD tracks are just pure fun, loads of jumps, great berms and table tops etc. The uplift is intense he just bangs out lifts quick as you like. Shorter than GAwton.
Haven’t done cwmcarn yet so cannot report, althpugh i met two lads at FOD last5 time who had jsut done cwmcarn and they preferred FOD.

define “beyond unridable” 😯

Would you mind pushing?
Coz there’s loads of tracks way closer to Bristol than Gawton and loads better than cwmcarn. (depends what you’re into tho)

mikey74 – Member
define “beyond unridable”

from the pic above and description, I’d guess he means more of an actual DH track rather than a groomed BMX track in the woods.

Would you mind pushing?
Coz there’s loads of tracks way closer to Bristol than Gawton and loads better than cwmcarn. (depends what you’re into tho)

I’m not adverse to a bit of pushing. Obviously I’d have to push a Gawton cause I’m going on a weekday.

Proper DH tracks are what I’m after: What did you have in mind?

Gethin or Mynd Du would be my choice.

I ******* love Mynd Du – not been for years tho.. 🙁

Haven’t heard of those. What’s the deal?

more of an actual DH track rather than a groomed BMX track in the woods.

Sounds not far off it, FOD is a bit rooty in places, but super tavi and egypt at Gawton are bonkers, might be your kind of thing. The HSD trail at Gawton is hard packed and really fast.

FOD is my local, I ride there pretty much every weekend. It’s a great place to ride even if your not on the uplift. Short tracks which are mellow allows for lots of jumps and berms and easy push up. The uplift restricts the access of some of the better secret tracks but is nice to get on once in a while… Roll on Saturday!

Near Bristol you have:

Cwmcarn – Ok for the day I suppose.

Rowberrow – Sweet short downhill, pretty fun.

North Nibley – Sweet short downhill/freeride, pretty cool place to ride for the day.

Leckhampton – Short steep downhill, love it or hate it.

🙂

Just been looking at Gethin and Rheola but can’t find much info: I get the impression they are only open when races are being held there.

I didn’t mention Rheola, but Yeah, Rheola would be way better for actual DH bike riding too (and closer).
what do you mean, open? they are just forests so don’t really have opening times 🙄 ..

Mynd du is in the middle of nowhere but i’m sure you’d be able to find directions via Google

ps. it’s actually spelt “Mynydd du” (I’m just lazy when it comes to Welsh spelling) 😉

GAwton would be as good as FOD if it had a useful uplift.

Well a) it does, but I am not sure it operates during the week. Have a look at the woodland riders website. When it does run, it’s very quick for a track of this quality, but that’s becaus the uplift road is super steep and therefore very short. So if there is no uplift running, it’s a very tiring push.

Oh and b) what the **** are you talking about? 😯 You can’t even talk about FOD and Gawton in the same sentence.

Don’t get me wrong, FOD is fabulous fun, super cruisy, super easy, super mellow, super fast for those of us of average ability etc.

Gawton is pretty full on, especially Egypt, which is about as hard a track as you can find in the wet (although in the dry it’s not quite as daunting).

But Super Tavi is very rideable. I’ve quite happily ridden it on my Nicolai Helius and as a course to really get to grips with DH riding, it’s excellent. There are a few sections that are quite tricky, especially the section at the bottom, where you either have a very tight jink left around the catch netting or you have a tricky ride up off camber roots to jink left around the tree. Both then drop you into a pretty steep chute and a tight right hander after.

HSD is a large, groomed BMXesque track, but it’s still pretty tricky to ride fast.

Cwmcarn is similar in some respects but much easier than SuperTavi and more accessible from where you are. It’s like SuperTavi in its construction, so much of the track is hardpack with rocks on bench cut trails.

Rheola is an amazing course but while you can go ride it whenever you want, you wouldn’t want to do the push up the access road as it’s seveal miles long and would take you about 45 minutes minimum. But oh man what a course; has a bit of everything, big fast loose rock bit up top, tricky, tight singletrack in the woods, super slippery roots, mud etc.

Mynydd Du 0 awesome trak. Push up wouldn’t be as bad as Rheola. I don’t think there’s been an event there for quite some time and I haven’t done it in several years. It’s very steep and very technical, especially in the wet, a little like Egypt in some respects.

Gawton is absolutely worth the drive if there is an uplift service running.

I know you didn’t mention Rheola but it kept on coming up when searching for Gethin.

Edit: I might just bite the bullet and head to Gawton.

There is no uplift during the week, but hey, I only have Friday available so will have to make do.

upto you dude!

The push-up is irrelivent IMO.. you simply can’t ride a lot of good tracks without pushing and a hard push usually equals a challenging descent, a long push, a long descent & easy push usually means it isn’t actually worth taking a DH bike.

Rheola, Gethin & Mynd all less than an hours drive or Gawton 2+?

I know I can’t be arsed driving 40mins to get to my closest DH tracks this time of year (I hate riding in the morning, and it’s getting too dark in the tree cover by 3pm here)

Oh and b) what the **** are you talking about? You can’t even talk about FOD and Gawton in the same sentence. Don’t get me wrong, FOD is fabulous fun, super cruisy, super easy, super mellow, super fast for those of us of average ability etc.

All right Mr Gnar DH world champ 😀 , I think admitted my modest ability quite clearly so I’m sure my comments are taken in that context..

Your description of FOD is exactly what I like about it, same as your description of HSD.

In the 5 times I’ve been to gawton the uplift was never running, and it only runs if you book five riders, so for me it isnt as useful, I’d go there all the time if it did. We did 9 runs there a while back, its 120 odd metre drop so thats 1000m of vertical gain pushing, like doing snowdon from sea level.Whilst I don’t object to pushing and appreciate the good it’s doing me with regard to making me less lardy, I like to have a bit of energy left for the downhill….
I’ve chatted to some of the young locals who do 15 a day 😮
FOD uplift has its down side too, it doesnt run midweek, which is crapola for the self employed.

Mikey74 as you have stated you want more “proper DH” so you might find FOD a bit tame. It sounds as though my “beyond unridable” is your meat and gravy. That doesn’t mean FOD isn’t brilliant fun. It can’t be that bad as Steve Peat was there the other day and the editor of another MTB mag testing gear..

See here for some better fotos of FOD it the competetion that Steve Peat ran there last week. clicky

I think admitted my modest ability quite clearly so I’m sure my comments are taken in that context..

Yeah fair point Toys – apologies mate, I didn’t mean to belittle your riding.

And just to reinforce your point, yep, I think FOD is brilliant also. It is challenging in a different kind of way and it’s very accessible.
The push isn’t really even so bad. Before the uplift we used to 10 runs in a day pushing up. With the uplift you can do 12-13 without too much hassle.

Just back to the original OP

If there’s no uplift at Gawton on a Friday then you may be as well to consider the tracks that GW is suggesting.

Of the three, I’d say that Myn Du would be the better option because from memory, the uplift road isn’t quite as long as the other. This of course rests on you being able to find it 😆

Rheola is a looong way up. Takes a good 20 minutes in the van. It’s probably the more accessible course especially in the wet though.

I am not adverse to a push-up and, as you say, if there isn’t an uplift at Gawton, then I may as well look at those nearer options.

Thanks for all your input folks, it is most appreciated :-). I will look into Rheola and Myndd Du, and see which one is most suited/accessible.

Mynydd Du doesn’t really exist any more – the Forestry have been working the forest & the track has been destroyed.

Mynydd Du doesn’t really exist any more – the Forestry have been working the forest & the track has been destroyed.

That’s a blow!

Gethin will be a much easier push up than Rheola and that track is in fine working order. There was an uplift day there last weekend. At Gethin it’s also likely that you can easily push up the track rather than the access road.

There are rumours its going to be rebuilt though, whether or not thats the case, we shall see. It would be good if they did!

Gethin is a more sensible push too, you can push up to the second fireroad cross point and do the bottom 2/3 of the track (which is the best bit anyway). Or push up the open section to the upper tree line & go from there.

I wouldnt bother going to the very top – its pretty flat in the woods.

RIP

I Hear Abercarn has gone too?

Shame!

🙁

Yep Abercarn was felled over last year, maybe a few new cheeky lines but haven’t been for a while, F.C have dropped trees over alot of the unofficial tracks around Cwmcarn this year, Darren track e.t.c
But a ‘new’ track is being built at Cwmcarn too running from the drop off point down to the fire road where the drop on to the last section of the current DH track is. Please don’t ride it though as it will knacker any work the trail crew has done over the last couple of months.
Back to the original question, I’d say Cwmcarn as it’s a bit more of a challenge, but FOD is a good fun day out especially if you haven’t been before, so FOD and Cwmcarn next time you come to visit as more work will have been done on the track and the new one maybe open too.

Abercarn was a great track; you can always tell a great track because the chainless times were more or less the same as the standard ones in races.

The problem with Abercarn was that Forrestry had leased the land to a third party for harvesting the trees and there was some issue over access between that third party and FC. I never quite understood it, but the issue ended up meaning the track was no longer accessible.

The last time I rode it was on a private uplift day with Mike from FC and Darryl and a few other guys but that was probably summer 2008.

What about going to Gawton for a few runs and then heading to Tavi Woods – loads of good shorter runs there with much less of a push up so if you’re knackered after a few runs at Gawton you could spend the afternoon doing some more chilled riding? That’s what I did when I went to Gawton and it worked pretty well.

What about going to Gawton for a few runs and then heading to Tavi Woods

Tavi Woods is a great venue if you’ve got no uplift to fall back on. The riding is excellent as Lex says; lots of choice, nothing you’re going to kill yourself on unless you go looking for the big road gaps and drops and the push is super easy.

It’s like Forrest of Dean but just a bit more challenging all round.

Gawton is probably my preferred venue. The only thing that is stopping me is that it’s about a 240 mile drive for me, as opposed to around 150-200 for the other tracks. I’ll be leaving at around 6am as it is.

I hadn’t really looked at the Tavi woods tracks, but will check them out.

Triscombe FTW

I think I’ve ridden Triscombe. Is that in the Quantocks?

It does appear that Cwmcarn is now out of the equation as the uplift is sold out for Friday.

I am still tempted by Gawton. Anyone travelled there from the south-east? If so, how long did it take?

FOD is alot nearer but the tracks seems a bit too similar to what I can ride at home, albeit a fair bit longer.

UK Bike Park? As it appears to be on the way, almost.

UK Bike Park is closed during the week, often with someone there to tell you to go away 🙁

Ahh, that rules that one out then, thanks.

I am still tempted by Gawton. Anyone travelled there from the south-east? If so, how long did it take?

I’m in the SE, around the Surrey Hills way. If you’re staying down that way the night before, then you could ride there in the day and drive back to the SE without it being too tiring. It’s about four hours from Tavistock (very close to Gawton) to the start of the M25.

If you’re going to bolt on a 6am start with a 3 hour drive from Bristol as well as spending the day pushing up, I reckon that’s going ot be really tiring. It’s something I used to do for all of 40 minutes on the bike because that’s how much I loved riding DH at that point. I wish I still had the time and the energy to be that passionate!

FOD is great fun and yes it is a lot like Surrey Hills but a lot longer but it also has a feel to it that has a little bit extra.

Have a chat with Daryll, he may still let you on if you explain the situation and are really nice. He’s getting married some time next year, so if you promise to buy him a nice wedding present he may relent….

Hahaha thanks for the tips.

To be honest I have pretty much given up on Gawton as it is just too far: Basically I’d get up at 6am, drive from near Gatwick for about 4;5 hours, ride, push up etc and then drive to Bristol.

I am now planning on going to Gethin and Mountain Ash, which cuts nearly 90-100 miles off the travelling.

Unless it rain is forecast: In which case I will head for the uplift at the FOD