Had an exploring type ride today. I am still Finding new bits of trail in my backyard. Some are just interesting little links. A whole new trail was explored that I had no idea existed. I realised I was doing it backards and it has some big tech including twenty metres descending a gap between two electric fences. Go exploring.

yep finding new stuff is ace, I still find some new bits on the darkside of the chase now and then (usually after the tree felling monkeys have been) which can open up some really old classics that got overgrown.

I'd rather lurk in the bushes looking for singletrack nirvana than ride a trail center any day of the week 😀

funny thing is, most trail centres are full of natural trails almost none of the users will ever ride. Didn't ride anything new today but did ride a few old DH tracks at innerleithen that not many people will realise ever existed in the first place.

found a new section of local singletrack descent less than a mile from my house the other week that was only accessable as it's been so dry the stream you'd have had to cross to get to it was dry.

's been a great weekend for it…

Always finding new stuff in the Surrey Hills. Awesome.

Don't have any hills near me for any exciting new trails to be found 🙁

Nevermind just discovering new trail, get creative.

If i'm out on my own i can't help stopping and making new stuff work or planning a return journey with a few tools.

Sometimes all it needs is a bit of judicious pruning. If the weather is crap i take the dog and some tools, very satisfying.

I'm working on the basis that time is tight so the more lines i can create within an hour from home the less bored i'll be in the future.

Some of the things i've done are aspirational, started a few years ago when i couldn't/daren't ride them but as i've improved they've come into their own.

Yesterday i built a simple run out for a vertical old wall. 2 stones and a bit of earth and with bit of balls you no longer have to get off your bike.

If you do decide to clear some trail, keep it subtle or some nosy, dog walker will ruin it for you. Although as they think laying a small branch across the trail will stop you. It seems they have no concept of what a modern bike and rider can do… 😉

_tom_ – Member

Don't have any hills near me for any exciting new trails to be found

You don't need hills to find fun new trails. Get a map, get a compass, use 'where's the path' on the internet and just get out and explore! I found a couple of great play areas and some really sweet singletrack when I lived in Cambridgeshire because I went out and looked.

_tom_ there's loads on cannock, you just have to get off the beaten track and explore all the little gaps in the trees 😀

Still find little bits and pieces on my doorstep all the time. Got out a lot in late April this year just after the snow melted and found some cool stuff that's normally hidden by vegetation once the summer really sets-in.

Yep, still finding new bits, found a nice bit of singletrack just off one of my local routes last week, which was nice.

Mugboo, I need to come out for a ride with you, I'd like to see some more of your work, the bit off the moor into the woods is riding well at the moment.

Matt an i found a cheeky trail the other night we'd never used before, i've only lived in the area 43 years 😳

The local deer/badger population have kindly worn a lovely section of singletrack along a length of narrow woodland that now links a green lane to a bridleway just a few mins up the road from me.

Only took a couple of hours of folding saw action to clear a few branches and hey presto…Hello twisty narrow woodland singletrack.

Well I've lived in the same place for 15 odd years and rode new local singletrack yesterday. Thank you deers.

That's the spirit nickegg, never leave home without one!

Si your always welcome. Drop me an email with your most likely times. We only need an hour every now and again an it'll all be usefull on your Tuesday rides…

I'm with Mugboo. Living in Scotland with right of access to almost anywhere, and a lot of forestry commission land locally, I've opened up two new track down through the local woods. Spade, small saw and long handled pruners are your friends

Pray tell these new trails buzz.

You have my email… 😉

I'm with Mugboo's general approach – We've decided to actually leave the token sticks that our stickman seems to think will close the trail – Less incentive to go bigger if we leave them IMO, so theres less evidence of use.

Folding saw is very handy for developing little bits. But I might get a bit more ambitious during the "off" season. I just need to decide on the best place to work. Subtlety is key.

When you do, let me know. We can pool resources.
🙂

tis exciting 'finding new bits of trails'…better than compass or map (i like the exploring side of it…then agin i do tend to loose my bearings if not my marbles occasionaly ! lol .."if in doubt head down hill"… usually works for me..
infact been on abit of a mission this weekend (walking tho..looking for historical artifacts rite hear in the home of singletrack land…. theres an abundance of history here and long forgotten things….
we even have allien encounters too…..we really do ! i luv where i live !

I've done a bit of "lets have look down here" this year and tbh, sometimes its nothing worth considering, but every now and then you find something good and its all worthwhile.

Always finding new stuff in the Surrey Hills. Awesome.

I'm still finding all the obvious stuff in Surrey Hills! I spot tons of little track everywhere that need to be explored. The riding there is SO good.

You don't need hills to find fun new trails. Get a map, get a compass, use 'where's the path' on the internet and just get out and explore! I found a couple of great play areas and some really sweet singletrack when I lived in Cambridgeshire because I went out and looked.

Trust me I've looked a lot, theres nothing good around here. Just flat and boring bridleways 🙁 Almost all the wooded bits are private. I found one really fun bit of singletrack descent but it's about 30 seconds long and ends on a road!

where do you live?

I totally agree with this, I'm finding new stuff all the time. I've got a list of possibilities written down that I just need to find time to explore. The buzz when you find something new and ride it for the first time is hard to beat. I always carry a folding saw and machete when I'm not guiding to open sections up and spend quite a lot of time doing this over the year.

living in scotland and having a right to roam has opened up all the old poshy estates 😉
been riding around here over 20 years now yet i found this here in east lothian on my door step in winter
then found this on on my local hills in springtime
both made by sheep or cows…
the county of berwickshire just down the road is full of trails which never have mtb tracks which i used to ride alot on motorcycle…still loads new stuff to discover 😮

I'd be interested in sweet singletrack in Cambridgeshire because where I am a kerb is deemed a pretty sharp descent

Just found a couple of spots within a mile or so of my house. Both well established but whenever I go there is never anyone else there. 😀

The Human League, Excellent!! 😀

GW – Member

The Human League, Excellent!!
showing my age now 😮

I can't even ride my new line, fell off again last night.

It's too steep and loose and I'm too crap!

I've spotted a steep slab I've never seen before as well but I'll have to doing scavenging to build a run in and then find someone daft to test it…

Had the opportunity to show a couple of passing bikers a hidden line, always a pleasure

im always finding new trails or thinking up new ones to build

Found one Saturday; Clear as Day, All I had to do was turn 180 degrees from my normal route to find it…

(It was a good 'un apart from a bomb hole at the start that has a ditch just before it goes back up…you are flying at this point to get up the other side. Bottoming out agogo and a cry of nyuuurrrrrrggg! )

I can't even ride my new line, fell off again last night.

This is good. I think it's important to have some stuff available that puts the fear of God into you. Gives you a route to progress. I too am crapp, so there's just enough scary sh1t around to keep me worried.

As i only started riding 6yrs ago i can still remember the bits that scared me senseless locally that i now fly down/off.

After joining the SingletrAction boys 5yrs ago building at Stainburn i just see new lines everwhere… I cleared the exit to 'that' line a few years ago but thought i'd never dared ride it! Turns out i dare, even if i can't clean it!

Each year so far my skills have grown but i'm approaching 40 so no doubt my Kahunas will shrink (metaphorically speaking) so in light of this i'm joining Ed Oxley for a weekend in August.

I see a future where i will need skill and logic instead of balls… 😯

Bert – Member

Always finding new stuff in the Surrey Hills. Awesome.

Might be moving that way…where exactly are the Surrey hills?