hi all im bringing my pikey van and mrs scraprider up to dorchester , staying at the crossway caravan park , this weekend , would like to get out on some trails , question for the locals please , were is good to ride , looking at getting out on sunday , many thanks .

Trails puddletown 6 miles away

DH/trails UK bike park 22 miles away

If you fancy a bit of cross country fun then head south west from Crossways / Warmwell, towards Poxwell and get up onto the bridleway that goes above the White Horse – I rode down there a few weeks back and it was just fantastic – proper old school XC riding.

Funny really, as that’s where I started mountain biking in the mid 1990s!

Warmwell Gravel Pits were ace, but I suspect they may have changed over the last 20 or so years.

You’re fairly close (a short drive) to the downhill place in Blandford Forest (I think) that has an uplift service – been featured in a number of mags in the last year

Also Puddletown Forest used to be nice – mix of singletrack and fire roads, though I don’t know much about current access.

Best bet maybe is an OS map – the volume of bridleways around there is really high – and some of the dowhills off the south side of the Ridgeway are very good – but not of Peak District length! If you want a good day ride, then head west along the Ridgeway to Hardy’s Monument, and the woods around there are great. Lots of pub stops around there too (Portesham etc). Just check access acros the main Dorchester / Weymouth road as there’s massive road works there at the moment at the summit.

Also, if you fancy a little drive, Portland’s good fun. BMX track at the top of the island (northern end) – if it’s still there – by Portland Heights hotel, and you used to be able to practically circumnavigate the island. Just don’t fall off – 200ft drops… Loads of ice cream / cafe stops along the route too.

Have fun – the weather’s looking good as well.

Above the White Horse – a couple of weeks ago…

cheers guys .

Puddletown Forest has been mostly destroyed by the FC.

do you have memory map at all? I could email you lots of nice routes….

DrP

Did a ride around the Hardy monument once.

I managed to stay awake for most of it 😉

Oh it’s not so bad! ^^ 🙂

When it were all we ‘ad, it were great – long before the days of even Girvin Flexstems, let alone full sussers! It got me mountain biking, so I’ve got a lot to thank Hardy’s Monument for.

Maybe it’s a bit tame nowadays but you can’t deny the views are still stunning.

Oddly, I do miss Dorset riding – and I still can’t believe how diverse the trails are around the rest of the country. Having the Peak District on my doorstep now, I’m undeniably spoiled, but I didn’t half enjoy riding back down there the other week. And the sun was out! We’re lucky things to have such choice in such a small country.

nice one thanks all , drp, you have mail. again chers all

Have mailed you a few routes of nice xc routes around the area.
Alternatively head up to puddletown, but a lot of the good trails have been destroyed.

DrP