[Closed] Malvern riding

3-6 hours is doable if you go end to end twice which you can do only needing to repeat yourself about 5% of the way to stay "legal".

Its tricky to describe all of the routes because they all lie on a knife edge of ground, but can offer a very varied ride by taking different forks as you go.

this route on Paul's shop site can give you some ideas
http://www.backontrack-bikes.com/routes2.php

Alex (occasional poster and STW contributor) put together what Id call a pretty definitve, legal, route for WhatMTB a few months ago. My copy is at home, it may be online somewhere. dont know.

this issue
http://magazine.bikeradar.com/2012/01/17/what-mountain-bike-131-on-sale-now/

We're in the are fairly often and riding on the Malvern ridge itself is an option. Took the road bikes last time and explored the area that way.

Were thinking of heading further afield this time. We're travelling up from Newport so a diversion to Brecon is another regular option but wondering about something new.

Id head for abergavenny and do a big day out in the black mountains.

you can find my routes here if youw ant to try and decipher the maps (tip, blue and red are rideable, pink are experimental)

and

also, Al's site often has good write-ups on his black mountains adventures

http://pickled-hedgehog.com/

For Malvern have a look at the trail-guide at the top of the page for an idea too.

Looking for a decent off-road ride (3-6 hours) within easy reach (lets say an hour) of Malvern.

FoD, pop down there and fill yer boots. [url= http://www.fountaininnandlodge.co.uk/biking_family_cycle_trail.html ]The Fountain Inn[/url] has loads of google-maps available omn-line, you just need to check where they are working atm, IIRC the Lawnmower is one place out-of-bounds.

Long mynd, Hopton woods, Mortimer forest all in range too

Can you get to the Wyre forest from Malvern within an hour? Might be pushing it a tad, but its worth a trip.

Hopton's too short for the length of ride you're looking for, and you'd struggle for anything much over 3-4 hours around Mortimers as well. They're both great though.

[i]Can you get to the Wyre forest from Malvern within an hour? Might be pushing it a tad, but its worth a trip. [/i]

You can, but without local knowledge its hard to find the decent singletrack and link it all up to make an enjoyable ride IME.

Wyre Forest info and gpx file link [url= http://www.mbswindon.co.uk/ride-report-wyre-forest-april-2011/ ]here[/url].

I'm off to the Malverns for a ride tomorrow, starting from Ledbury.
[url= http://www.mbswindon.co.uk/ride-ledbury-and-the-malverns-2012/ ]Ledbury and Malverns[/url]

Wyre Forest info and gpx file link here.

Can't see the gpx - can you point again?

Id head for abergavenny and do a big day out in the black mountains.

Good idea and forecast is still looking OK. There's a 'black mountains killer loop' I've got in Tracklogs from somewhere that looks a lot like your blue route and pretty sure I've never ridden. I won't tell K about the 45minute push it mentions in the notes....

check out als thread here http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/black-mountain-loop-pics and SSStu's video of the descent of Rhiw Trumau.

2 great days riding. A couple of laps of CwmCarn in the driest conditions I've ever ridden it in.

Surprised to see how little has changed up on the freeride section - the only change I can see is the loss of the 'tunnel'. What was the idea of that? I never saw anyone do anything interesting riding it (but it must have taken some effort to put in). Were people slamming themselves into the edge of it? The non-jumpy run seems unchanged. Shame about all the litter at the top as well.

Sunday we rode the Black Mountains loop. Lulled into a false sense of confidence by CwmCarn didn't bother with mudguards and it was a world away from Al's ride there a year ago. Fine lower down but clouds sitting on the tops and the trail up Y-Das still covered in 20cm+ of snow which made it hard going. The descent was then running with water from the snow melt leaving us soaked by the time we got to the forest.

I had been up there before of course but not for a good few years.

The descent was then running with water from the snow melt leaving us soaked by the time we got to the forest.

one of the best bits - river bed riding 🙂
TBH, its not dry most of the year.

How was Rhiw Trumau?

PS: went out last night to remind myself what riding in mud was like. The landrover tracks above eastnor were a claggy slopfest - 5 days ago I was complaining about the choking dust clouds 😯

turned up at the pub in the muckiest condition Ive been in for 6 months.
We forget how awfully dry it's been.

Don't mind the riverbed riding - just prefer to do it with mudguards to keep a dryish arse 🙂

How was Rhiw Trumau?

A couple of patches of snow at the very top on the grass but the rocky descent was fine.