Moved to Exeter yesterday, and am just looking for some mountain bike rides I can join in on, preferably starting close to the city as I don’t have a car right now.

Cheers.

The Bike Shed (shop) and also Exeter Mountain Bike Club do weekly organised rides. You may have to get used to the ride up to Haldon though!

Ley Arms in Kenn @ 6.30 every wednesday riding haldon, or top of the tarmac cycle path next to the a38 fly-over @ 7. but it does start and finish at the pub, and is a social ride of varying pace and size, so may not be your cup of tea. 19 turned up last week, a bit unwieldy, but more usually around 5 to 12 of varying ability. about 15 miles and 1000m ish. back at the bottom for about 9. if you don’t know the off-piste stuff then you’ll get a good introduction.

As Del says above. If you’re reasonably fit it’s about a 45 minute ride up the lanes from the centre of Exeter to the ridge road, mostly uphill. It’s about 30 minutes back from the Ley Arms, flat-ish in comparison to the start climb.
I put some map links in this thread while ago – haldon

It’ll be a dull ole’ ride to get there, and the surface will [then] kill your components, but there’s Woodbury Common too. It used to be really popular, but I rarely hear it mentioned these days (maybe that’s down to the attritional nature of the sand over there?). I guess it may even have been ‘closed’ too?

Maybe take a train out one way – either up on the Barnstaple line a bit, or down to Newton Abbot and then greenlane it back to the city?

Woodbury common is still open… don’t come down here though.. I mean.. don’t go there.. it’s rubbish.. oh yes.. ruuuuubbbbish.. with a capital ‘R’..
it’s certainly not always quiet.. oh no.. and there’s definitely NO rooty singletrack whatsoflippinever.. none at all..there’s no open moorland liberally criss-crossed with singletrack and pebbly doubletrack.. definitely not.. no flowing woodland sections.. no no no..
nothing to see here… move on..

But seriously.. Knobblies bike shop in Exmouth do a regular Woodbury ride.. It could meet your needs if I remember your previous posts on the subject of group rides correctly..

You can ride down the flat 12 mile Sustrans route from Exeter city center to Exmouth in no time at all.. or catch a train if you’re feeeling lazy.. then I believe the knobblies woodbury ride is usually around 20 – 25 miles off-road although that may be old information now..

There are some trails in Stoke Woods too.. these (pretty much) back straight on to the University..

I’ve actually been injured for the past 6 or so weeks, and I really just want to get to know the area a bit, and get back on the bike, (plus I’m doing a massive amount of drinking at the moment and feel horrible), so a slow paced ride where I can take notes on where I am might be perfect. Thanks for the links, I will check them out, and you may just see me soon!