Taking my wife on her first MTB weekend away, want her to have a great time so I can start spending bike money on her (much nicer than jewellery!)

Anyhoo… the Chilterns have been recommended as a good area to explore with a newbie, would this be correct? Any other suggestions within 3-4 hours of London? (I know the Chilterns aren’t that far away!) As we have access to a van, I’d actually prefer to go further if it’s possible and worth it.

She’s a fit and healthy lass, I think she’ll be ok with 20-30km of riding, if not more. She has zero confidence on anything downhill though (hoping to work on this over the weekend). I think what I’m looking for is nice scenic countryside, bridleways etc for easy riding and the option for singletrack etc to build confidence. Any thoughts?

I was thinking a trail centre, I like Coed-y-brenin, but maybe a bit too much to get started on?

Wherever we go, we’ll need somewhere to stay tomorrow night, any suggestions? budget is around £50-£60 maybe a little more if it’s worth it.

cheers for your advice & suggestions

Might I suggest looking in the Good Pub Guide? An indespensible little book that everyone should own!

As a beginner, CYB may well be very, very overpowering, so I would avoid that. Afan isn’t bad for beginners, though.
You could always try the Surrey Hills – Stay at the Hurtmore Inn in Peaslake. Great trails, good scenery and not too crazy (unless you take her at speed etc)

one of the first rides i took the wife on was the Marin trail, which she loved, loads of places to stay in betws.

she didn’t find it too tough? according to the Forestry Commission’s website it’s big climbs, big descents, brilliant singletrack? How would you rate it?

A lot of Fireroad climbing on the Marin for recovering nerve and taking a breather. Steer clear of CYB it will frighten her from the off. A trail centre might be better as there will be mud but less of the axle deep stuff found on natural trails. A well groomed trail will require less input for line choice to ride well. Once the cold wet rainy season abates natural trails will allow her to develop her skills.
Another plus of trail centres is the cafe experience available at the end. The promise of a hot drink soon can lift the flagging spirits of the saddle sore.

Maybe worth looking at a skills weekend maybe a day with a tutor and then a day riding together.

Skills course helped my Mrs no end and it means you can have a good ride when she’s training and then a social ride the next day.

I used Steve a Chasing Trail he was very good and the results have been excellent.

Chasing Trails

Sound advice Sandwich, I’m sure the lure of a hot chocolate would be useful! And good point on the mud and groomed nature of the trails.

Which centre would you suggest? Afan, as mentioned by CFH above?

Haven’t been to Afan, Dalby has been mentioned by one of the women riders in this part of the world as good. Ican’t recommend Thetford as it’s a bit of a mud fest though the cafes are good. Grizedale was enjoyable though the boardwalks may cause the jitters. There’s some natural trails that adjoin the North Face Trail.

Actually, just to add, what about Nant y Arian?

lovely wide open spaces and a nice mix of trail centre and open mountain trails. Some great views too. Also, it’s normally much more quiet than the other centres.

go to the Dales.

I second the Nant y Arian idea, perfect for beginners as the single track is fun but not scary. No showers though (unless they have built some in the last 6 months), which is a downer this time of year.

Marin is a good idea. Will have a “great outdoors” feeling to it this time of year, with snow capped mountains in the distance. She will like ByC for it’s food and hotels/B&B’s. Then if she’s keen for more on Sunday you can do Penmachno. Everyoneís a winner!

#Do not go to the Chilterns this time of year, the mud, horses, punctures, dog poo will put her off for life#

OK, we’ll give Nant y Arian a try. Forgive my ignorance, but are the other trails you mentioned (Marin, ByC and Penmachno) in the same area? Don’t mind driving an hour or so from whatever base we choose.

On this, any suggestions on a nice bike friendly B & B in the area (I know I’m being lazy, but it’s nice to hear from folk who know the area rather than blindly searching on Google!)

cheers 🙂

I am too looking for a nice B&B in Betws.

As for riding as a beginner, Llandegla is ideal. The blue would be a great taster to her first man-made trail centre. If she’s fine on that, then try out the red. Nice cafe too. For that well deserved piece of cake and hot drink.

Stay away from Coed Y Brenin, it may well put her off.

just remember
easy for you is brutal for non mtb ers, now it is bad enough when your mate who you took out riding is looking at you like you are a loony because you have just taken them on a ‘short 20 k ride’

but the wife is a different story, they can deny you all manner of necessities

BE WARNED, FIND SOMEWHERE REALLY EASY,MAKE SURE THEY ARE WELL WITHIN THERE COMFORT ZONE

ride beside or slightly behind her most of the time, so you don’t shoot off

DO NOT MAKE HER EAT YOUR DUST ON A CLIMB

she doesn’t necceserily care about the rebound adjustment settings on her forks, so a 20 min lecture on this is not needed

think of it as a romantic weekend with a little biking thrown in, not a biking weekend with a little romance thrown in.

this weekend could go pear

take care…..

matt

Follow wildrnes’ advice to the letter, unless you don’t the weekend will end in divorce, or even worse.

I’m popping her on my Yeti ASR (she went for a nice little 10k pootle around Richmond Park yesterday and it fitted her OK), so she’ll have full-sus comfort to be spoilt with.

I hear you though Matt, that’s why I’m consulting the collective wisdom of STW. I’m assuming a few of us have introduced our other-halves to the sport, so all tips appreciated 🙂 I plan on taking it slow, not showing off or anything like that, encouraging her up the climbs, not bagging her when she hops off and pushes etc etc!

She’s not a girly girl and enjoys the outdoors, she’s just never been offroad riding. I think she’ll love it, though she feels the cold and this weekend looks like being rather chilly, shall have to rug her up 🙂

LOL @ “she feels to the cold”. Could be interesting in wales, in January!

“She’s a fit and healthy lass”, please define?

As 3 trips a week to the gym, for 30min “fat burning” on the cross-trainer will be quite different from a 20min granny ring climb; just to get to the start of the Marin or Penmachno singletrack!

Come to think of it, save yourself the hassle and take her to bluewater. Then go riding with your buddies. Anyone who disagrees has obviously never taken a lass riding in real hills!

Something is very much amiss about the new STW forum…

All these posts about riding with the other half and not one smutty innuendo?

Tsk, tsk, I dunno…kids these days.

It’s my new years resolution, no more smut.

Please remember the padded shorts ( underneath the longs) and can you get hold of a ladies saddle – I’m thinking otherwise the day after will be the problem. Oh yes Sudacreme is a good idea for a newbie.
Lots of stopping, loads of encouragement and take some chocolate and snacks, to keep energy levels up and leep mind off the horrid bits.

That includes looking at the superstar products website!

I go riding with my wife all the time

our first romantic weekend was at coed y brenin, but she is hard as nails

just remember all the poor sods you see when you are riding round coaxing their girlfriends round

you are in a dangerous place at the moment
if she doesn’t like it she may see mtb as a pointless silly hobby therefore curtailing your journies out, or it is brilliant, but you must then ride at her pace… or you may have a missues like mine who is a nutter and loves hooning round on her full susser…. (and has more bikes than me)

Don’t forget food. You might want to take some nice sugary treats for her to enjoy. So, you may want to pack fudge.

What does “rug her up” mean psychle? 😯

#opens door for smut induced postings#

rug her up and pack some fudge… oh deary me, you lewd lads 😉

So… to stay on topic and start to form a plan 🙂

Let’s say we’ll stay in Betws-y-Coed, seems like a nice central location. What ride should I start her off on tomorrow? Bearing in mind we’ll probably not get there till midday-ish… driving from London 🙁

thanks again for all your help! (good tip on the shorts Bunnyhop, we’re off to the bike store now 🙂 )

you arrive
book into the george or the holiday inn
and have a nice walk round, or possibly a nice ride round
there is a route up to the lake behind betwys, ask at bike betwys for a route guide

other than that, the marin will be a challenge for a first time out on the bike, If you have to do it (and she will hate the climb and she will tell you and the start climb is singletrack and there is no where warm to stop on the route and it is high and it is -5 in leeds tonight so god knows how cold it is)

it would be better to set off now and arrive tonight and wake up refreshed

I’d have to say go to Exmoor, stay in the Ship in Porlock, eat well, drink well and ride well 🙂 Lots of choice of rides and great scenery. Also doable in 4 hours from London.

Sorry for sounding really stoopid but why does it have to be a trail centre? 😳

I got into riding bikes cos I wanted to, nobody persuaded me to try it and I reckon a trail centre is not the way to go. It could potentially be offputting if you don’t have the requisite handling skills.

In fact I would agree with forge that a skills course is the way to go, wish I would have done that myself when I started out to learn how to handle a bike, setup, gears, braking, balance etc before moving on to anything else.

But then, what do I know, I’m just a girlie 🙄

right, so wife now has lovely enduru 3/4 padded thermal tights, a half-price WTB speed-she saddle and some silk glove liners (oh and a buff). So keeping her at least partially warm is covered (will also take a thermos with us for a hot drink 🙂 )

Now to decide where to take her (still up in the air! Exmoor has thrown a late spanner in the works…)

CG, luckily I’m not persuading her to try MTB, she wants to give it a go and is dead keen. I just want to ensure (as much as possible) that she has a decent day out. I agree on a skills course, in fact she wants to go do a 5-day ‘girls only’ one in the Alps! I figure I’d better get her out on a bike a few times before sending her off on that 🙂

It’s been a couple of year since I last visited but can highly recommend B&B at the New Inn at Appletreewick in the Yorkshire Dales. Bloody brilliant pub plus fantastic trails from eay to hard all on the doorstep. Good food served at the New Inn or there are a couple of decent restraunts 10-15 mins away.

Stable at the back of the pub has been converted to a cycling livery. Workshop/spares/storage.

Used to speciliase in foreign beers if I remember rightly…

Oh, meant to say, took Mrs SP there. She is rubbish at cycling, but she still loved it once, we’d found some flat bits for her.

Check
here

Had forgotten about the Dales, a top place.

Woohoo, silverpigeon, we may have a winner 🙂 That looks perfect for a nice weekend away! She’ll be stoked if we see snow as well (loves the stuff for some reason, I guess because back in OZ we don’t see it too often).

The only thing that throws me a little bit is the quote “the lanes to the small village are very narrow…” I have a rather large Renault Master van for the weekend, it’s 2.3 m wide) just how narrow are these lanes (from your experience, if you can remember!).

cheers 🙂

I did already say the Dales much earlier in the thread 😉

great riding round kettlewell and littondale, my brother has taken his wife up there a few times and she is a novice.

Will be amazing views in the cold still weather, and what better location for a romantic weekend 🙂

the Devonshire Fell near Bunsall is a fantastic place to stay round there too.

coolbies, thanks for the advice djglover (sorry I missed your earlier suggestion of the Dales 🙂 ). The New Inn can’t tell me if they have room or not, can’t find the diary apparently! anyhoo, if they can’t fit us in I’m sure we’ll be able to find somewhere to stay in the area, right?

See ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Two-Night-Stay-in-Picturesque-Isle-of-Purbeck-Dorset_W0QQitemZ140291008922QQihZ004QQcategoryZ109204QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The only catch is that you are limited to 6.95 for a starter (no prob) and 10.95 for a main (bit low as some mains are 16) HOWEVER IMHO it is still a good deal esp at 96 quid (food was good – but if I’d bought it alone would say 25% overpriced – but 2 nights B&BEM for 100 for 2 is just fine by me). Corfe has 5 pubs (legion is mega cheap) and some scenic not too technical riding.

Hi pscycle – Lanes no problem at all for your Renault. Try the Red Lion – in Burnsall – next village along, or some where in Kettlewell or Threshfield.

The first time I ever visted the Dales with a bike, I stayed in Harrogate and drove the 30mins to the New Inn – who let us stay in the car park for 3-4 hours whilst we set off on a loop. Skipton is a good bet as well. There is a campsite opposite the New Inn also if that’s your thing.