Savernake has some good singletrack, but very much needs exploration or knowledge – it’s not been developed for cycling or walking really at all (which is part of the charm). You’ll be spat out by the picnic site from the railway track which is as good a place to start as any, although it’s a bit of a slog from Swindon proper (easy enough, but a time sink).

West Woods would be worth a drive and ride, especially to head out south to the top of Martinsell to admire the view (cheeky trail warning – never had any trouble though).

You might have to link the BW you’re thinking about – I’d normally go over Fyfield Down that way rather than in the river valley, it’s probably a bog fest this time of year with the springs up and horses out.

I know of 6 horses – Uffington, Cherhill, Marlborough, Hackpen, Westbury, Alton Barnes .. google White Horse Challenge if you have the road bike.

Go see Sean @ Bertie Maffoons in Marlborough if you are here any length of time. Might still be an evening group ride into the forest going on. I’d be happy to offer but I’m 30 minutes SE of Marlborough now and work is interfering with my free time :-/

oops forgot the Broad Town horse, make that 7

Here’s a challenge for you – go find this bad boy.

OK, you could ride over the Eastern side of the A346 by Ogbourne St George, some of those tracks are fine but can be overgrown. Do think that the climb on Smeathe’s Ridge ie heading up to Barbury, is worth doing for the views.

I personally really like the ridge that’s the far side of West Woods so Martinsell Hill, Huish Hill, Golden Ball Hill, Knap Hill. It does feel remote.

Do keep us updated on your Wiltshire adventures. 😀

Never heard of King of Limbs, is it ghoulish?

A few years ago I did a trail break ride from Swindon. 100k of dry Summer trails.
It was beautiful and was one of “those” special rides….love to repeat on a crosser tbh .
I think it went west along the ridgeway and anti clock wise ish.
BR off of here once had me (ooer) along the ridgeway from Wantage when it was sodden =grim.

If you follow me on Strava you can see where I end up CG 🙂

I see that trail you mention, would represent a long ride after work so I’ll do it when I’m looking to push it. Maybe get some faster tyres 🙂

If you follow me on Strava you can see where I end up CG

Request just sent, interested in your Wiltshire rides. 🙂

cinnamon_girl said

…….The Ridgeway, believed to be Europe’s oldest road….

So how did the people get here from Europe and beyond in the first place. Fly? 🙂

If you check out the map, wf, you will see what they mean. It’s like the M4 corridor with all the hill forts and other infrastructure. Ironic since its within sight of the actual M4!

You can see enough of the landscape to realise why it was such an important road when you’re up there.

So how did the people get here from Europe and beyond in the first place. Fly?

Devon to East Anglia is the complete route. Do I get a lamb chop for answering? 😉

Here’s a suggestion. Ride out to or park up in Avebury. Then Wessex Ridgeway onto the Ridgeway proper then on to Sanctuary. Through or round East Kennet then get yourself onto Wansdyke/White Horse Trail and head west past Tan Hill. Great sense of wilderness here. At Morgans Hill turn east then north up to Cherhill Down. From Cherhill Down pop across the A4 and make for Windmill Hill then back to Avebury for tea and medals.

@cinnamon_girl thanks for the reminder. I was supposed to check the freezer to see if there are any chops left. 🙂
Let me know if you are ever in the Black Mountains and we can see what we can do for you.

@ welshfarmer – thank you, that’s very kind. 🙂 Whilst you’re here, and being very cheeky, may I just bump up this thread as your ears clearly weren’t burning at the time!

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/telly-this-farming-life-and-what-a-superb-series

Did you manage to see any of these?

@ uponthedowns – excellent route and well worth riding.

Having grown up in the shadow of Liddington Hill, the comment that beat relates to riding around here is that it’s a bit ‘mint sauce’. It’s great riding, but like most places in the UK, depending on the weather, it can be fun or hard work on endless bridleways, countless routes to explore, countryside rich in historical interest and the Ridgeway provides fantastic views. Swindon itself gets a bad rap but most good cycling is outside towns.

Nonetheless, you’ve got Victoria Hill for a decent road/Strava hill, link-ups through old town to the downs, cycle track Strava segment from Chissy to Marlborough. And my mate Sean at Bertie’s in Marlborough does a 7am Saturday morning road ride before he opens the shop up and you can get a coffee and cake. Molgrips, get a GPS unit with OS map and start exploring…

@ cinnamon_girl thanks for the heads up on the thread. I did manage to watch 1 episode of “this farming life”. Unfortunately it was on right in the middle of lambing time which is so intense & disruptive that I was unable to catch any others. The only one I saw was where the young couple were lambing in the snow and cold which was a bit too close to home! What I saw was very good though. I did plan on catching up on the i-player but like all these things never found the time. It will be back on again one day 🙂

molgrips. Another useful track back to Swindon is from Yatesbury. Follow the NCN from Avebury then do a right up Back Lane and there’s a nice gravel track to Broad Town. I then loop round Uffcot to avoid some of the main road and drop down Elcombe to a cheeky path over the M4 then back on the railway track to Old Town.

Never heard of King of Limbs, is it ghoulish?

One of Savernakes ‘named oaks’ – finding all of them is a nice afternoon on a bike though when I were a lad there weren’t no maps and we did it on Chippers and Choppers etc. etc. still all trees round there though!

Beautiful road ride last night, except for the bit between Hungerford and Ramsbury. WTF is with all those flies? Ergh!

PS MTB next week so will do some of the trail suggestions above

Am I going to regret going out in the rain tonight and tomorrow night? Mudbath?

I tried to do some of what DavidB suggested but the other way round, and ended up riding across fields of knee-high wheat, round field edges and having to climb over a barbed wire fence to get to a road. Bit of a fiasco.. but reminded me of being a teenager all the same 🙂

Is there any singletrack ish twisty turny upppy downy riding in the area?