The family and I are off to see friends in Exeter this weekend so I’m looking to get a ride in while I’m there. Possible two if we stay on for a few days more. But, if I was to ride just the once where should I ride? Or should I say what should I ride.

The two routes in question are from the MBR 20 best mountain bike trails in the UK:

Exmoor – http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=anofpntkywdxkkxp
Quantocks – http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=rzpdadwbrsnjxcvh

Local knowledge and advice appreciated.

Cheers

Having done them both I much preferred the quantocks ride, more single track ups and downs.

Dartmoor. It’s closer.

The amount of tarmac on that Exmoor route is criminal & riding up the A39 in the holiday season would be to risky for me.
There’s so much better riding in that area & you’ll hardly see another bike.
The Quantock one looks OK but I’d add in a decent on Smiths combe or the chimney to get it up over 20 miles.

I agree with Snaps.
Exmoor + Bank holiday = hellish.

Plus the other advantage of the Quantocks is the sheer volume of trails packed into such a small area.
It means you could follow the route but very easily, and confidently, pick up other routes to add in without getting totally lost.
That’s much harder to do on Exmoor.
As Snaps suggests, The Chimney is a good way to do that, not only is it a great little trail but there’s about 5 others all running roughly parallel so you can add in as many as you like.

OK. Thanks all. The Quantocks route it is then.

Does anyone have any better gpx/tcx files for this area. Or Strava segments to check, get my bearings and add to this ride.

Better still is anyone riding Sunday 🙂

Actually is this a better route starting at Holford (rather than Adscombe)?

MBR

Or this…

MTBtrails

Still like the sound of Exmoor, especially the trail into Porlock looks and sounds great and we might end up staying at a campsite there if we stay on a few more days. I’ll save that as backup in case I get to ride Tuesday.

I did that MBR ride, starting from Holford. I loved every bit of it! It will take you down the aforementioned Smiths Combe – get your eyeballs ready to rattle like crazy! 😆

Sounds good medoramas, thanks 😀

Dartmoor, Lustleigh loop

So, I rode the MBR Quantocks Killer loop yesterday. Well most of it in the time allowed. Getting used to my new Garmin E820 created problems which cost me a lot of time and energy. Ironically I bought it to avoid those issues 🙂 Anyway user error.

I must admit it’s a lovely place to ride and it was a beauty of a day to ride too. A clear day with views along with coastline and beyond, mid twenties and purple heather in bloom everywhere.

I cared not for the long steep grassy climbs. The were no fun at all. Real leg and lung busting slogs. The descents were pretty sweet though. Fast swoopy singletrack. Smiths Combe, Weacombe and the descent back to Holford were great. I think the latter just edged it for me with fast open moorland singletrack before dropping into the woods. A nice way to end a ride.

Due to Garmin/User interface errors, navigational issues I had to miss what was the final loop before the descent back to Holford. So it’s unfinished business and I’ll be back 😀

Sounds like you barely scratched the surface, there’s so much more.

Quantocks for definite
One of my favorite UK riding spots – if not my actual favorite
As for the hills – its called mountain biking for a reason