I,ve ridden both on road & off road in Europe & USA,and I've come to the conclusion that you don't have to go abroad for good MTBiking but you do for road biking.Anyone agree
some awesome road biking too.
stay away from a roads and big towns.
dales
lakes
northumberland
borders
exmoor
dumfries and galway.
n y moors.
ridden my bikes in all of these areas and all are very good.
Lots of fantastic road riding in the UK.
the title should just be a statement
'mtb riding good...road riding not good'
geepee - MemberI,ve ridden both on road & off road in Europe & USA,and I've come to the conclusion that you don't have to go abroad for good MTBiking but you do for road biking.Anyone agree
Yep. No decent roads around here.
Have ridden some of the areas ton lists but they don't compare to Alps,Pyrenees,North Spain or South France.Road surface better,less traffic,climbs harder,decents faster.
Whereas for MTBiking that same list plus Wales is as good as anywhere in the world.
Th condition of the roads around here (West Sussex) are absolutely terrible and make riding a road bike hell. If it wasn't for the state of the roads, it would be great, although the hills aren't as big as many areas.
i'm off to the pyrenees in a month for a weeks darksided.
look out lance..... 😆
Wales is as good as anywhere in the world.
Never been to North America or Canada then?
I started riding off road on a road bike 25 years ago to get to good bits of road. I pretty soon discovered that there were a lot of good off road routes starting 2 minutes from my door so I stopped bothering with the road bits at all.I guess it varies from area to area but where I am in Brighton there are miles and miles of bridleways, I can take at least 4 routes to work which are virtually entirely off road. I suppose I'm still really a road rider who just happens to do all their riding off road.
Gotta look for it.
But slightly inclined to agree with poster and also the weather is better!
Done Moab & other areas in Utah twice.My point being that you don't have to go abroad for good MTB but you do for the best road biking.No comparison.Am road biking Pyrenees again in June.
Have you been to the highlands?
Fair enough, and I agree with you about that; there is good mountain biking in the UK, but to say that Wales is as good as anywhere in the world is a stretch to say the least.
Yes,only MTBiking though.
fatmuthahubbard - Memberthe title should just be a statement
'mtb riding good...road riding not good'
haha, you should see the road poor f-m-h just had to ride up (with the mephasis on 'up') after our ride just now. No wonder he doesn't like them.
But yes, [s]the Motherland[/s], err, France is waaaaay better for road riding in terms of variety and quiet roads (though not so sure about road surfacing in my experience!), and i think people are more courteous and encouraging to cyclists over there.
I was'nt saying just Wales but adding Wales to TONS list.Wales is very good.
geepee - Member
Done Moab & other areas in Utah twice.My point being that you don't have to go abroad for good MTB but you do for the best road biking.No comparison.Am road biking Pyrenees again in June.
but thats a different thing, there is plenty good road riding here, but the best is abroad.
i would say the same for mtbing, theres plenty good stuff here. but better stuff abroad...
try the edge of the peaks - just moved to Bollington near Macclesfield and roads are decent surfaced and its up and down relentlessly (10miles = 900m total elevation). And not that busy with tourists -week away in macclesfield kids...i dont think so.
Sure the weathers crap and the drivers are more likely to run you off the road than give you the space our more considerate foreign friends do - but then its england we need to moan about some thing/idiot in the pub afterwards.
Remember the good riding places in europe and US are hundreds and hundreds of miles apart - you can ride completely different places in a single ride here.
Anyone fancy doing the cost to coast in 1 day - then youd see how good stuff is and how its all linked!
havin spent the winter riding round the notoriously bad new zealand roads i have to say the uk roads are shite ...
the surface is terrible , pot holes , sunken drains , downright dangerous drains with slots the same way as you ride..
terrain is nice though !
North of Scotland should be great for road riding... (I only road ride to work and back, for everything else I have an engine, but routes like the bealach na ba to applecross are pretty incredible on 2 wheels... it's genuinely alpine)
Northwind - MemberNorth of Scotland should be great for road riding..
Nah - it's rubbish. Nothing to see - move along.
Some fantastic roads in North Yorks/Durham/Northumberland/Lakes. Its the drivers that do my head in 🙁
more quiet decent quality roads than you could ever need around here. the MTBing is dull as **** (1/2 hr drive and it's good tho)
How does one define "good road riding"?
miles of car free smooth descents with a regular free train service home 😉
The road riding round the Chilterns would be great (Whipsnade, Ivinghoe, that sort of area) if the road surface was any good. I'm seriously considering getting a road bike and doing some sportifs simply to get miles in, but I'm a little concerned that at around 14 stone I'd end up buckling wheels every other ride round this way
[i]you don't have to go abroad for good MTBiking but you do for road biking.Anyone agree [/i]
absolute shite.
Guillano - im nearly 15 stone after an over indulgent year, ride a carbon framed planet X and have hit things at high speed with no buckles or dings in the stock wheels
It may be the dark side but its a good way to get fit and makes a huge difference to the more important activity of mountain biking!
having been to Gran Canaria with the road bike last year, the one thing that has stuck in my mind most is the room drivers gave when over taking.
And the road surfaces were smooth!!!
Mr Hood.... Thanks for letting me know I should be safe! Maybe I'll consider the Giant Defy Advanced 2 after all..... would like to be able to get riding after work but 6 miles of road on the MTB to get to Woburn Sands for an hour or so is not a tempting option.