The best things about bikes is riding them. We reminisce about our riding highs (and lows) of ’25.
Our best rides of the year
One day that absolutely stands out among the numerous foreign trips I’ve had this year was simply a big day out in the Lakes with a bunch of mates in and around Buttermere. Joe had been scoping a trail and was keen to try it out with some like-minded fools. In return, I showed him an extension to the loop. Outrageously techy, we’d all packed our A games, and buoyed along by the general enthusiasm and some encouraging heckling, we were clearing things that shouldn’t have been possible with a great combo of brute force and stubbornness: I will not get off and walk… That the day finished with drinking beer and eating burgers in the late afternoon sunshine at the bottom of the valley was the icing on a very tasty cake. Glorious. – James
Two days of e-fatbiking through the snow in Finland. I will say heading over a poorly compacted fell with a heavy bike is also a contender for the worst ride of the year (lots of falling into waist-deep snow), but the fast and swooping descent on the other side made up for it. You could go absolutely full tilt the whole time because you knew there was a soft landing when you stacked it, and riding over the softer snow really levelled up your bike handling. We also followed two reindeer down the trail for a while, which was magical, and finished the day in a private sauna, watching the northern lights. – Heather
Colorado, Les Gets – bikepark schmikepark. Once you’ve ridden (badly) one pair of berms and a tabletop jump, you’ve done them all. Courtesy of some guiding from Les Gets LBS boss Lionel, we were finally able to escape the confines of the park and do some Actual Mountain Biking in trees along fantastic singletrack. The ensuing deep joy resulted in simultaneous feelings of immense smugness and profound melancholy that most of the folk who visit Les Gets never bother to experience riding like this. – Benji
Sunken Road, Claerwen Dam, mid-Wales (during Storm Amy). This could have quickly become the worst ride, but the massive Type2 fun rebound I got from leading seven other riders through some of mid-Wales’s funnest, wildest terrain in a storm-force winds and heavy rain, has propelled it up there. Eating our lunch sheltering in the Claerwen public loos, before wringing gloves out and getting back out in it, made the evening’s pub grub at the Blue Bell Inn taste divine. – Chipps
Our worst rides of the year
A perfect run with Scottish friends, Chris and Jac, down rooty enduro trails, ready to take on the rocky slabs further down, when a sniper stump caught Jac’s pedal, throwing her out the front door. The result was a broken collarbone and curtailed activities for the next part of their dream road trip across Europe. (I did get the photo, though…) – Chipps
Caught a chairlift for an afternoon ride in Saint Chevalier and then mid-traverse, the weather came in. We were nowhere near any official trails, so had to descend on fire roads only to discover when we reached the bottom that they’d closed the mountain. Bit of a waste of a day’s lift pass. – James
Nearly decapitated by a low-hanging snapped branch on the canal while commuting to work. Dodged at the last minute, but it got me in the shoulder – somehow stayed on the bike, but it bloody hurt. Thankfully, a quick email to the Canal & River Trust got it chopped down before it did some real damage. – Heather
Tricky one. But the desperate moment that stands out for me was in Morzine. Specifically, the realisation that the clampdown on the wild trails beneath the Super Morzine gondola meant a whole swathe of great riding is no more. Having to ride down to Morzine town on the road (!) from the middle lift station was a real bummer. – Benji
Mates Races
Picture the scene… It’s raining cats and dogs, the Forestry Commission has handed trail management over to the Rivers Trust, and on any other Saturday, you’d sack it all off and hibernate in the garage, finding jobs to do. But no. You’ve joined nearly 40 other like-minded loons on a soggy hillside for a mates’ race like no other! Round 4 (of many), the organisers have gone to the not insignificant effort of erecting an easy-up, sorting podiums, making trophies, and buying bottles of Prosecco for the victors. The trail fairies have been polishing the track all week, and in spite of the biblical weather, it’s running better than ever. What’s more, nine kids have turned up, so the organisers hastily decide to run a junior category with its own podium! Brilliant. Proper community spirit. – James
Going to be day one of Mountain Bike Wales trip where we got to swim in a river pool to cool off from a mad hot day in the saddle.Â
Don’t think I’ve had any awful rides this year, certainly nothing involving injuries.
Oh thats going to be a hard one as we retired at the end of March and have ridden in some amazing places, some old and some new, with stunning trails and awesome locals.
I’ve struggled but narrowed it down to two. One old, Ainsa, and one new, Aletsch Arena.
Last trip of the year so us starting in Ainsa. Been wanting to go back and explore since Abigale raced it in the EWS.
Had a week to explore before we moved on and every day was smiles and miles, both up and down. Weather was perfect and so we’re the trails. The last day we made it a big one and everything came together to make it perfect.
Summer trip saw us starting with Aletsch Arena, heard so much good stuff about the trails and scenery that we just had to go.
Its a hard place to ride as I felt on my limit with some of the stuff but still managed it all with big grins. Again the weather was good for us
Just two of the many we have ridden since retiring and both will be revisited in the future
No bad rides for me. Couple of crashes come to mind, both over the bars . First was in Massa Marittima in May. Big bruise on my thigh and can still feel it. Second was on Cutgate just before we were setting of on our last trip. Cracked some ribs so had to ease of a bit on the trip and try not to sneeze.Â
Great photos from STW there 😀
I had some extremely pleasant rides with my partner on our hol in Dorset – highlight was the overgrown cornfields
she’s in there somewhere!
Also in Dorset, the uplift day with my son and his Uni mates at Oakford Hill was pretty damn special.
Did a trip up to scotland to watch the IXS cup in April. Laggan off piste was an unexpected highlight. Decided to do Antur Stiniog on the way back and had it all to myself with perfect conditions.Â
Worst was a local ride in Sept, crashed on a track I built and am still dealing with a shoulder impingement.
New bike days at BPW don’t suck.
Any bike day at bpw is a good one.
I’ve had four days there this year, on two different bikes, in all weathers, from bone dry to chucking it down, and every one has been great.
@chipps That’s spectacular photo of Jac, but be warned – she’s mostly recovered, and a broken collarbone wouldn’t stop her kicking your ass anyway….
😉
Highlight was probably a trip to Antur at the end of Oct. With the eldest and normally not my sort of riding at all. To make it even more fun it was bloody cold with lots of rain, even by Welsh standards and was proper windy at the top.
However once I got into it I really enjoyed it, even if I was piss wet through and freezing. So much so that I want to go back, when the weather is a bit less wild.
No bad rides that I can think of.
Best: Downieville – combination of long term dream, hard work (to pay for it) and the stars aligning.
Worst: Discovering our local trails at Drumlanrig were gone (another bout of storm damage) and never coming back.
Best and worst are from the same trip, our tour down The Rhine. Fabulous experience, beautiful scenery especially Switzerland. Worst bit, seeing my wife going off in an ambulance ? after a simple error crash that left her in hospital for 40hrs with suspected concussion
Maybe it’s an issue with riding regularly but I struggle to think of one outstanding ride.
I might select Ride to the Sun as I encouraged a couple of folk to try it and they really enjoyed it. That’s always a nice feeling.
Or perhaps that spectacular bivvy with @piemonsterÂ
Least favourite ride? Again, nothing stands out. I don’t think I ended any ride and thought “that was shit".
Worst- the 30 km commute down the A6 to work in central Manchester on 15 December, pouring rain all the way and max temperature 6 C, only to be told the meeting I’d gone in for had been switched to Teams. Then the same weather conditions going home! Â
Best- don’t know really. Loads of good on- and off-road riding during Spring and Summer this year.Â
Overall a decent year- a bit over 7000 km and 150000 m climbing, about 2/3 off-roadÂ
My old career has given me a particular perspective and mantra when it comes to riding. “No bad days"Even if it’s LUBP, being in the woods on my bike with friends is a privilege that even at its ‘worst’ is still a **** joy.Â
My best rides this year were first time riding abroad for a long time, in Spain, was actually first time proper mountain biking for a long time. Chunky rocks. Hired an 160mm Orbea, first time on a proper full suss that wasn’t a spindly 120mm XC bike. The other best ride was in Scotland, first time riding there too, at AE, hired a 160mm full suss e-bike, first time on an e-bike (other than on a mates for 30 seconds in a car park). Other best rides, on the trials bike, made some progress, got personal bests for height dropping off obstacles, and hopping at height across obstacles.
Worst rides, on the trials bike. Two months of frustration at actually just getting worse at side hops and pedal ups, felt like I was just collecting error data, finding all the ways they can go wrong and knowing that intimately. Also two shin digs, and light shoulder injury which a couple of months later is still bothering me.
Not beaten yet though.
No bad rides per se, but my favourite ride is probably my birthday trip. A friend and I did 120 miles around the canals and rivers of South Yorkshire/Manchester over 2 days. I deeply love rides alongside water courses and I also love industrial architecture, so the whole thing was amazing for me.
I guess the worst ride was the other week. I got a slow puncture about 4 miles from home and the seals on my pump shat the bed, so I had to push. Not the worst thing ever, no injuries and I have a spare pump back at base. So, to consider that my worst day out is really good going in my opinion!
Honestly some of the best rides I’ve had this year have just been the singletrack around Woburn. Fun fast and flowy. No gnar or big hills, just fun.
So this year I’ll be seeking out more stuff along those lines, Surrey Hills looks like a similar kind of riding but with longer descents, so aiming to give that a go when I next get a free weekend.
I don’t think I had a bad ride (other than road bike rides into headwinds), but going up to Wharncliffe was a good reminder that I’m really not into steep/loose/rocky trails. Had fun on the reds and the xc trails, but I guess I’m not an enduro trail rider! The buzz on the blacks was more from “I’m glad I got down in one piece" rather than “I rode that well" !
Highlights for me have to be climbing to top of Harversting Lane on side of Butser Hill, plus climbing to top of Warren Lane by Wheatham Hill, for the first time since ’21 and ’22 respectively. Both ~50 mile rides with ~3200 feet of climbing, all thanks to the ebike bought this year helping my weakened fitness/stamina from long covid.
Worst ride? Think in mid November I got myself ready to go out, carried the ebike outside and the rain started as soon as I locked the front door… Unlocked door, carried ebike back inside and got changed!
Best. Mallorca recovery. 100 miles across the island and back via Deia and lunch in Soller. Worst. Surrey Grumble gravel ride. Front wheel caught in a footbridge, OTB and lots of face damage and wallet damage. I now have some wider tyres for gravel. And new helmet and Koo glasses.
I might do the Gralloch this year – on rim brakes too. And try for the vets TT Worlds in Japan.Â
Best rides:Â
On the mountain bike it has to be a day at BPW with my teenagers. I’ve barely ridden the mountain bike this year (or if I have I haven’t logged it on Strava) but that was a really good day out. I’ve had a couple of really nice Tuesday evening rides as well but not very many due to work and other time pressures. Â
I did my longest road ride ever this year. That was about 90 miles from Bristol to Southampton to raise some charity money with great company and I spent a couple of weeks road riding in the Southern Lake District / France with my son(s) in the Summer. Â
I also found a regular shortish, social road ride for Saturday mornings. That’s been a game changer in terms of regular time on the bike and decompression in what’s been a super busy year. Â
Worst rides:Â
None although one or two have definitely been type 2 fun.Â
What I’ve been utterly rubbish at is taking pictures of any of it. I think we need an action cam for 2026. Â