Hi, off to Swinley on Saturday for the first time.
Are all the trails in the Expert Mountain Bike area, or should I be poking around elsewhere too?
Thanks
Bike Forum
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Swinley Forest
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Posted 2 years ago #
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Get some local guidance, if you can. The place is a real hotch potch of disjointed trails and you can spend hours biffing around finding nothing in particular.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Yep, there's nothing waymarked, so you really need to know where you're going to find the best bits. There's tonnes of little trails that are worth a nose though!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Thanks, but not really viable (click my name
) Is there a good area we should start poking around in?
Posted 2 years ago # -
What sort of stuff are you looking for? I'm guessing that fast flowing singletrack isn't top of the list
Posted 2 years ago # -
Flowing singletrack is great, drops, steep stuff. Anything really except the really fast open jumpy stuff.
Posted 2 years ago # -
some singletrack, follow your nose and any bit that looks like it may go somewhere is worth a look
other than that, link up with a local and lower your expectations.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Prepare to be disapointed if you're expecting drops and steep stuff. That is in rather short supply.
It really is somewhere where local guidance is necessary too to get the most out of a visit. It would be very easy to find nothing and come away rather underwhelmed.
What time are you looking to go on Sat?
Posted 2 years ago # -
A few trails are marked on this map:
http://maps.cloudmade.com/?lat=51.37028&lng=-0.724583&zoom=14&styleId=1&opened_tab=0
Zoom in to see trail names.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Thanks for the Map, that should help. As to the terrain, thanks for the info, I'm sure we will find some stuff to play on. That's one of the good things with only having one wheel, everything seems a little bigger!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Sorry to pee on your bonfire guys, but when I rode around Swinley last night it were a right 'orrible soggy mess......
Posted 2 years ago # -
Thanks, but not really viable (click my name ) Is there a good area we should start poking around in?
Haha that made me chuckle a little. looks awesome fun!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Swinley last night it were a right 'orrible soggy mess......
OOooo. Really!
Hows the mud there; sticky, slippy, or sloppy?
Posted 2 years ago # -
BMG - swinley mud is (for the most part) just a bit squirmy rather than proper gloopy. FWIW i rode there yesterday and hardly got any mud - just had to wipe the chain down before i put the bike away so if you go to the right places you can avoid the sloppy bits. Have you got a GPS?
Posted 2 years ago # -
There are some areas to do short downhill run, jumps and drops over in the MTB area, all around the hill that the baby maker trail starts from. SHouldn't be too hard to find. Also jump gully and some little DH bits on the way there if you look carefully. Will be fun in the mud, its not sticky just soft.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Cheers guys. No GPS. Which Hill is the Baby Maker Trail on?
Mountain Unicycling is super fun on steep hills in the mud. Had great fun this morning sliding around corners & over roots through lack of traction.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Given your deficiencies in the wheels and gears dept's it might be worth taking the fireroads over to the MTB area before exploring!
Posted 2 years ago # -
BMG - no use sending you some waypoints then!
Babymaker etc are South of Surrey Hill - easiest way (but dull) to get straight there is to head South then East when you can from the Lookout and follow the bleeding great mess of a fire road that's left over from the water main works & runs pretty much North/Sotuh. Go past the reservoir (though a detour to the East at the reservoir could be rewarding) staying on the main fire road then up the Wall (you'll know it when you see it) and the Babymaker etc is on the LHS/E after the fire road (about 891633 if you've got an OS map), but there are a couple more trails on the LHS before the fire road. On the way down from the reservoir there are a couple more trails on the LHS too, and the entrance to the Rollercoaster is a gap in the wire fence/hedge on the RHS (go in & turn right).
If you do a right on the fire road at the Surrey Hill reservoir there are a few other short runs that go off to the RHS down towards the jump track.
Happy hunting.
Posted 2 years ago # -
That's great, thanks. Just what I was after.
Posted 2 years ago #
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