I’ve done Edinburgh to Glentress but I was thinking of something a little less epic. A mid week day off, no car access on the day so it’ll have to be a train journey and I have a desire to ride a trail centre. England, Scotland or Wales.

Afan Argoed and Glyncorrwg are within riding disatnce of Port Talbot Parkway.

CyB is OK from Barmouth I think, but Barmouth is a pain in itself. Hamsterley Forest from Darlington?

It’s not a trail centre. But Edale, very easy to get to via train.

cli-mach trail starts and ends in machlynlleth i think. though nit really a trail centre. And you get there on a train from peterborough/leicester/birmingham/shrewsbury. But it takes aaaaaaaages!

I’d not considered that but I think train to Afan now seems quite do-able for a days riding.

I’ve ridden from Port Talbot to Afan a few times, it’s about 7 miles.

Marin and Penmachno are both rideable from Betws-Y-Coed station which is on the Conwy Valley line

Thanks for the options so far,.Getting the train from Manchester (or Stockport) this Friday. I can’t leave the house until 8:00am and riding up to Manchester and then the train to Darlington was looking good until I saw the prices.
Doing Penmachno and Marin by riding though Bewsty Coed is a biannual ride. Terrahawk has a PB that needs beating but could still be on the cards for this Friday, I’ll get straight back on to trainline.
Is Grizedale doable from Windereme?

Where are you based?
How far/long are you willing to travel?

Some places have nearby rail access but would take ages to get not being on main lines and/or at ends of the country

Not repeating others above, but still within ~ 3miles of a station might be:
Golspie
Kyle of Sutherland Trails (Carbisdale/Balbair)
Witches Trails (Fort William)
Cannock Chase

Under about 10 miles:
Moray Trails (via Keith)
Laggan Wolftrax (via Dalwhinnie/Newtonmore)
Ae (via Dumfries)
Nant-y-Arian (via Aberystwyth/Vale of Rheidol Rlwy)
Cwm Carn (via Cwmbran)
Dalby (via Malton)
Stainburn (via Burley in Wharfedale)

There must be more

Grizedale from Windermere is very doable as long as the ferry is running if not its a blooming long ride

If your feeling fit the Altura trail at Whinlatter is doable from Whitehaven or Workington but I dont think youll have much left in the tank if you try and do it in one day

Getting the train from Manchester

There is a direct train to Port Talbot Parkway from Manchester and I do believe the prices are reasonable, especially if you can book a few days early.

Yes Grizedale definetly doable from windermere, get the little ferry across.

Grizedale is do-able from Windermere (get the ferry across from Ferry Nab (Bowness-on-Windermere) to Far Sawrey, it costs 50p for bikes).
Not worth going to just for the NFT though, try to get a local to show you round, there’s FAR better trails in the forest than just the NFT…

Out of interest I just had a look at times to Golspie from Glasgow. Average journey time is 6 hours! 😯

How about nipping over to Sheffield and doing Wharncliffe. It’s only about four miles north of the city centre, or half a mile west of Chapeltown station.

Lots more to have a think about, thanks.
I can do Marple to Sheffield easy, it’s just round the corner from here, no changes and about an hour. I was under the impression Wharncliffe was all about downhill riding. Is there much XC and is it marked trails or find your own?

Wharncliffe info here

Looks like the XC is still work in progress. I’ve only ridden there once as if I’m driving over that direction I might as well go to the peaks. It’ll be very muddy this week though, we’ve had some big downpours over here since Friday.

Hamsterley Forest from Darlington?

I did just that yesterday, without the train ride though, as I was in Darlington anyway. Took me just under two hours to get there from home, but the station is a bit nearer. The direct route (A68) is nasty, so I take a more scenic route on quiet roads.

The XC course is good at Wharncliffe, just not very long, and seems to disappear about halfway around, then you go play on DH stuff

Cannock Chase is only a 5-10 min ride from the one Rugeley Station. You’d have to go via Birmingham.
Rugeley’s other station is on the West Coast Mainline which is probably another 5 mins away. Don’t know if any direct trains stop there, but there is a local train from Stafford that probably does. That’s probably the best route from Manchester, certainly better than going via Birmingham.

Dalby’s not far from a station, but you’d want something with no train changes, I’d have thought.

Think Llandegla forest is nearest trail centre from manchester, around 7 miles from wrexham, though never been on train to it.

Details here
http://www.coedllandegla.com/find-us.htm

from crosskeys train station you can see cwmcarn trails

Dumfries.
Gives you the choice of Mabie or Ae. May have to change at Carlisle.
I`m off mid-week sometimes(work shifts) so just mail me or post up if you fancy somewhere like Dalbeattie, Kirroughtree , Drumlanrigg or something wilder.

Thanks for all the suggestions (and thanks to Trekster especially). Not too bothered of the length of the train ride as long as though the location is worth it. I went up to Edinburgh on the train, rode down to Glentress, did the black route, camped in the forest and rode back to Edinburgh for the train home the next day which was fun but I wouldn’t do it again.
The ride from Wrexham to Llandegla really isn’t worth it for me though but thanks for the suggestion. I did that one before they built the trails (did the old xc race route, Ponderosa, planks of doom) and that only just made it worth while.
I think I’m going to give one of the South Wales centers a go, Coed y Brenin looked favourite but it’s an arse to get to from Stockport.

High Lodge is close to Brandon Station, I wouldn’t like to guess how many trains a day stop there though.

how about going to aber by train, riding up over nant yr arian, down the other side, via the mbr killer& the Machs down to to Machynellyth?
im sure theres a route somewhere….

That sounds like a fine day out Olly!

barca, sounds like you are heading for Wales now but my suggestions were:

Laggan Wolftrax – about 8 miles from Dalwhinnie station
Ft William downhill and Witches trails – 6 miles from Ft William

Penmachno is only about 12 miles from Ffestiniog, cos that’s what I did instead when I bust my wrist and shoulder.

Loads of great suggestions there, thanks all. I think Fort Bill involves a sleeper train from where I am doesn’t it? I’ve made alist of them all and i’m going ot do them one by one over the coming 12 months. I really am a geek 🙂

PEAKS!!!!

On a related note i did once look into doing all the scottish trail centers by train/bike/bivvy. I know they have to be built on a hill (although Cannock proves otherwise) , but could they not pick hills within reach of public transport?

I know it’s blasphemy Spoonie and I feel dirty and disgusting for admitting this but…………I’m bored bonkers with the Peak District! I’m even growing some of those super tall, very quick growing hedges in the garden so I don’t have to look at the same Peak District hill every time I open the curtains in the morning. I even stayed in yesterday and watched Hannah Montanna on the Disney channel instead or riding in the Peak District.

On a related note i did once look into doing all the scottish trail centers by train/bike/bivvy. I know they have to be built on a hill (although Cannock proves otherwise) , but could they not pick hills within reach of public transport?

They all are. It just depends upon how far you’re willing to ride to get to them 🙂 You can ride every one of the Seven Stanes in uder 24 hours without using a car…

“You can ride every one of the Seven Stanes in uder 24 hours without using a car…”

Now my interest is piqued!

If you reconsider your opinion about Llandegla which I think seems rather unfairly jaundiced.. i rode Llandegla before you even knew what it was and stil lride the old tracks in the trees we made for races , the trail remains fun and there are new trails to be opened shortly, Gwersyllt Station is not that far.. you could still ride across the sleepers on Offa’s dyke

alternatively if you prefer something not so manicured and constructed as trail centres, from Buckley Station its about a 6 mile ride to Loggerheads of Cilcain and the ridetheclwyds.com where there are miles of natural native trails there.

are we talking a superhuman doing 240 miles at a 10mph average and only making it round the green routes, or is it actualy possible to do all the black routes in a day?

thers’s a new train service to Crosskeys – S Wales – on doorstep of Cwmcarn. need to change at cardiff, i think.

“i rode Llandegla before you even knew what it was”
I have no reason to believe you didn’t. I was introduced to Llandegla about 8 years ago. I actually quite enjoy the new trails, especially tagged on to the old route and Offa’s Dyke. Even doing Worlds End for a bigger ride. Coming back into the forest from the planks and doing the black route (as you’ll be aware, I’d only miss out the initial climb from the cafe), is a great ride. I just don’t much fancy riding over from Wrexham General station.
I’ve done a quite a bit around thew Clwyds as well. Loggerheads and the like with a guy from Chester I used to ride with (waves at Geoff “dirtybike) and I’ve doen the Flintshire challenge a few times.

I know it’s really backward but I have a real yearn for trail centre riding at the moment. Maybe it’s the fear of my Sarn Helen ride coming up in July?

Just for the record though max, I haven’t ever critiscised Llandegla before or after the trails were built although I do feel sad when driving up the approach road and I see the old car park and the last little bit of bridleway into it, overgrown and neglected. I’ve done the car park naked clothes shuffle there a few times 🙂