Hi

Looks quite likely my first time buyer experiance needs to occur somewhere between Reading and Bath, thinking somewhere surrounding swindon or Chippenham, or maybe didcot but i would doubt that far east. I'll be honest ive never really been anywhere near these places other than doing about 80 in the m4.
anyone want to tell me where the biking is? im under the impression the bath end is much better (access to wales etc) but is it completely barren in the middle?

excuse my complete lack of knowledge

p.s. anyone know any nice areas that might have some flats going cheap!!

Swinley is a few miles from Reading.

For riding, all IMO

Swindon hmmm I've been told its not bad but I'm not convinced
Chippenham is better, particulary west of
Bath is better again

East of Chip is downland type riding extending past the south of Swindon which is not to my liking for the most part.

It makes little difference if Chippenham of Bath for driving to Wales etc as although Bath is closer it can be a right big queue to get out sometimes.

Cheap flat in Bath ha ha ha ha ha well you might be lucky in the current climate if you don't mind a fixer upper

Swinley is good fun and okay although I wuold've thought there is far more varieyt Bath way and as you mentioned access to Wales. Do NOT move to Didcot … it is rank, all you can see it that bleeding power station, MTBing is okay but not worth living in Didcot for, and having worked there(I know I'd be a bit more biased) it's minging! don't do it!

MTB wasteland + Cultural wasteland = M4 Corridor

Doh!

FOD and Wales are luring from the other end though, and Swinley and Surrey Hills are not too shabby if you end up at the eastern end of that area.

Swindon though. Did anyone ever move there out of choice?

+ Marlborough area
+ S of Basingstoke
+ N of Reading

don't know what your work journey is but I'd find that out and understand commuting flows before deciding where to buy.

What sort of riding do you want?

Based in Chippenham, there is easy access to a lot of different places. As llama has said, heading off to the west can take in countless villages, bloody big hills, loads of bridleways, plenty of cheeky trails. Within half an hour riding you can be in Box woods, (small but varied) or heading off to Sally in the Woods and all the other Bath trails.

If distance is more your thing then the No. 4 cyclepath heads off from Chippenham, west towards Calne then onto Avebury from there you are out onto the Marlborough downs. Heading out from Calne in another direction and you will take in Cherhill, Roundway hill. The Ridgeway is also quite easy to get to, along with Wansdyke.

Been riding this area for 3 years now and still finding new places to go.

The trail centres in South Wales are easy to get to from here too, plus there is all the Trails around Ashton Court, Leigh Woods in Bristol.

Swindon though. Did anyone ever move there out of choice?

You have a point there I moved to swindon when I was posted to RAF Lyneham, hated the place

But after a wifectomy I escaped took 20 years though 😳 yep dumb arse

cheers guys, my commute will be variable but the three key locations to get to are reading, london and Farnham for me and bath uni for her.

I recon id put up with nearly two hours drive to farnham just coz i dont have to be there that often and its better for the biking by the sounds of things? and easier for bath

In terms of what sort of riding i want, its understandably not priority number one so basically anythings a bonus, i dont mind if is more suited to my SS than my 140mm bouncer

GreekRestaurantOwnerPimlico – Member
MTB wasteland + Cultural wasteland = M4 Corridor
Doh!

and how would you know? While Swindon doesn't have much going for it as a town, it's getting good for live music, with the Oasis putting on Massive Attack, Morrisey, and Motorhead, among others, plus smaller venues, Bath is a wonderful city, which has the Komedia, and Bristol's got a brilliant music city. Then there's Cirencester and Marlborough either side of the M4. Cultural wasteland indeed. Only a bloody townie would think that. Wouldn't know culture if he ate a Petrie dish.
Anyway, there's loads of really challenging riding around Bath, sitting as it does in the bottom of a valley. Pipehouse lane is challenging with 160mm of travel. The Downs are great riding on a SS, I do a 17 mile route from Avebury that takes in Barbury Castle, which is lovely, and it includes Silbury Hill, the largest man-made prehistoric mound in Europe, for the ignorant city dwellers. I'm in Chippenham, and the great thing is that everywhere's so easy to get to from here.

A frequent commute bath<->reading would be terrible you would last about 6 months before going mental. Either leave at 6 am or it will take you 2 hours. Commuting bath to north side of swindon takes me about 1 hour to arrive at 8:45 by car sensible speeds. I'd be looking further east and make her suffer the (considerable) queues into bath if I were you. Taking the train might be doable, depends on what sort of person you are.

and how would you know? While Swindon doesn't have much going for it as a town etc etc etc

Yes Swindon tries hard. Its like a small child trying to get noticed. You might like it, I know lots of people who do.

E end is good (Chilterns) as is the W end (Quantocks & S Wales) but dont bother with anything in the middle – nowt but girt big huge farms & precious little else. +1 on Didcot – its sh1te.

I only know the western end, but it sounds like you're going to be the one willing to do the longest commute. If you need decent doorstep trails, then there is some very decent riding in the land between Bath and Chippenham. The A46 down to Bath clogs up very readily, so being based somewhere were you can jump onto the motorway without having to go near that would be good for your commuting sanity.

Depends if you want to live in Bath or Chippenham or in a village just outside one or the other, Chippenham or just outside it will be easier for first time buyers.

You'll need to find time to go out with locals though, or you'll probably never find the good stuff. The trails are mostly sweet flowing swoopy singletrack, with a fair amount of road hack to get between the good bits, there is the odd bit of trail like pipehouse, the charmy down airfield descent and Rudloe Wood where unless you're name is Steve Peat you won't be getting down it on a rigid singlespeed …

Forgot to say, if you're looking for spots outside Chippenham, some freinds have just bought in Corsham as first time buyers, its a nice spot.

adh – where is rudloe wood?

North of the A4 from Rudloe, which is west of Corsham. From the back of the offices at Rudloe manor there is a trail running down the hill to Widdenham Farm. Steep, couple of rocky drops, fast chutey run out IIRC.

Not ridden it for about 5 years mind, bit out of the way of my normal routes. Hope it hasn't been 'improved' like so many ofnthe byways south west of Bath.

If you ride it let me know if its still in good shape.

IIRC the bridleway run in to Collett's Bottom Woods from Weavern Lane is also a good one.

Oh yes I know that one, its fine as of a few months ago. Probably lots of nettles at the bottom now.

GreekRestaurantOwnerPimlico – Member

There isn't a Greek restaurant in Pimlico any more. Am confused.

Anyway, there's plenty of riding around that area. Some great stuff around Greenham Common, for example.

If you don't need to be spoon fed trail centres, theres plenty of good riding around there, Marlborough downs, Pewsey Vale, Top end of Test Valley around Vernham dean.. North Wessex Downs AONB innit?

But I also have a soft spot for the mendips.. and the quantocks wouldn't be too far from there for day trips. deepnd where you're actually working I guess.

Another vote for the northern Test Valley, must get back there soon 🙂

Until I saw you were looking to commute to farnham, I'd have suggested south wales – I live there and its 1.20 on the train to Paddington from Bristol Parkway (20mins drive to teh station). Reading is an hour on the train. Getting to farnham makes it pretty difficult. How about somewhere like Bracknell or Newbury? I guess it depends how often you need to go to Farnham and how long your working day is…

Heap of stuff on the Ridgeway that you can do – welcome to the joys of riding on wet chalk. I've done a fair few rides around Lambourn which have been fab, lot's of swoopy, fast descents. Around Newbury there are a few rides off the A34, can get very boggy in winter, look around the Watership down area. More stuff S of Basingstoke try the Oxdrovers trail, althogh this gets impassable in Winter due to the 4×4 traffic. Not quite the trail desert that some people here are suggesting. Swinley, obviously and the Chilterns are easy access from Reading, and there's heaps around there.

Wet chalk with the green tinge is particularly wonderful in the wet IME.

I think most of the routes have been covered. Most of the routes around swindon are made up of wide open rutted bridle and byways only good for getting the miles in rather than exciting the senses, however if your into outdoors and not head down blasting the amount of wildlife etc you can see is amazing. There are areas with some good bits of single track and challenging climbs. if its rained and dried out slightly you'll be carrying 20lbs of mud stuck to your bike after the 1st 1/2 mile no matter what tyres you have. there is some good road riding to be had if thats your bag along the quietish country lanes.

Red planet bikes swindon do a weekly ride tuesdays I think never been on one as have other comitments have heard good things.

cinnamon_girl – I'm lucky enough to live there <chortle> 😀

If you really are trying to get to Farnham, then Newbury/Basingstoke/Andover are better bets really, some decent trails within 30 minutes riding, easy access to motorways for those trips further afield.
Coming east along the M4 in the mornings is not recommended by anyone I'd think.

Some great stuff around Greenham Common, for example.

ahhh… love riding around there… Not so far away Newtown Common has some good bits too. Link both up for a pretty good ride.

Kev

llama – Member
Oh yes I know that one, its fine as of a few months ago. Probably lots of nettles at the bottom now.

Hi llama, we did it last Weds. It's not too bad, may even have been cut earlier in the season.

commuting

reading = easy train less than 1 hour
london = paddington 1 hr 1:15 St Pauls, Bank etc 1:40 ish (using central line from lancaster gate) return train frequency drops as the evening progresses…..+ speed…..
Farnham = hard work…. done the drive many time got to be an early start
bath uni = cross country using back roads or train easy

As Llama, Count and Ginger say lots of trails around…local knowledge is everything and there's alway's something new

lots of trail centres nearby natural trails nearby

easy to get anywhere from Chippenham….have done CYB as a day trip although needed plenty of redbull on the drive back…….