Hi,
I moved to Wells fairly recently and a couple of weekends back my girlfriend was talking to a rider up at Stockhill, who mentioned a few local places to ride, as well as the possibility of meeting up for a ride. He said to post on here. If you were that rider, or if you are local and fancy meeting up for a ride, let me know!
I wasn't that rider, however, there are some great routes over the mendips. Try starting at the bottom of the Cheddar gorge, then go up (you can do Jacobs Ladder, but you'll walk most of it), turn left at the top through Velvet Bottom, over to the trig point (Black Down I think), from which you can head down towards Christmas trees and Rowbarrow downhills. of Burrington for some sweet singletrack. All of which will put a smile on your face!. From any of the downhills, head back up and you'll find decent trails before going back over the top, through Velvet and then down Jacobs.
It makes a lot more sense when you look on a map (google the specifics I've mentioned), or failing that, fancy a meet up for a ride?
That sounds suspiciously like the alarmingly social Buzz-lightyear. I'm sure he'll be along shortly.
Maybe out on sunday on mendip. It depends on whether Clink and I decide on the Quantocks or more local.
All welcome. It might be touch early for some though...
Cheers guys. I'll head out to Cheddar with the OS map and give the suggested route a try; just seen someone's video of the Burrington Coombe bit on youtube and it looks fantastic - guess I'll be spoiled for good riding round here then!
Transapp - meeting up for a ride sounds good, did you have any time in mind?
There's a group of us local to the mendips, but it's suffered from the weather badly this year. We've been spending more time on the Quantocs or in wales of late.
We tend to ride once or twice during the week, and on sunday mornings. Give us a shout if you fancy it, and we'll show you some of the area.
PS - Burrington coombe is a challenging climb (we sometimes start from there) but it's not that good of a decent really - fast, but largely uneventful. There is much better stuff in the area 🙂
Duffer,
Cheers, yep, I'd be up for joining your group for some Sunday morning rides if that's OK. Probably can't make weeknights, as working hours mean getting home a bit late (and commuting diguised as a roadie!) Are you around this Sun?
I would recommend going over to see Box at Bad Ass Bikes (the shop at bottom of burrington coombe) He can give you all the trail advice you need and even has a handy little trail map. He's closed on Sunday though, so you need to go tomorrow! Theres loads of good stuff in Rowberrow woods which is dead easy to find. It might have finally dried out a bit by now as well!
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"Jacobs Ladder" ?! Surely people mean the bridleway that runs from the south side of the top of the gorge down into Cheddar, past the tower, rather than the ladder itself..... Never ridden / pushed up or down the actual ladder and dont you have to pay at the bottom gate? Surely very cheeky too?
jt26, Beacon Batch trig point, NE towards Ellick House (on the 25k map) then W along Limestone link is one of my favourite trails anyway. About 6km downhill to the A38 - stunning use of 300m of height.
Hopefully Rowberrow should be starting to dry out a little too.....
Isn't Velvet Bottom off limits bike wise ?
jti26 - Member
Duffer,
Cheers, yep, I'd be up for joining your group for some Sunday morning rides if that's OK. Probably can't make weeknights, as working hours mean getting home a bit late (and commuting diguised as a roadie!) Are you around this Sun?
Not around this sunday i'm afraid, but i'll be out next week. i'll let you know place/time etc.
"That sounds suspiciously like the alarmingly social Buzz-lightyear"
It was me Guvnor, guilty as charged 😀
Am hoping to join Clink and ScienceOfficer on the Qs this Sunday morning. Why not join in? I'd be happy to show you local Mendip trails when available. My email is in my profile. Ping me.
Jti: me and clink are meeting at stockhill wood tomorrow at 8.30. Come along.
Hello all, new to forum myself but a local(ish) rider from Frome. Had a nice ride from burrington up to rowberrow and around the blackdown area this morning. Trails are drying up well with a few boggy areas up near the trig point. Have fun 🙂
Oh, and warrens hill bridle way down into cheddar was a blast but the climb back up the gorge to charterhouse was evil, helped by fig rolls!
Mr Lightyear; just snt you an e-mail, then saw your next post. So please ignore the e-mail! Will aim to see you at Stockhill in the morning.
Thanks
"turn left at the top through Velvet Bottom"
A word of caution to anyone reading this - VB is a FP and considered a sensitive area where cyclists are not welcomed by the authorities. It's also popular with hikers and dog walkers. Stealth is recommended.
Thanks all, I followed the advice on here and had a great ride round Beacon Batch and Rowberrow on Sat, then met Buzz & Clink for a ride this morning. Excellent advice and good trails, thanks everyone!
Great to meet you - hope to ride again soon.
What were the conditions like up there? Quantocks were surprisingly sticky yesterday, must have been the frost.
Same here. See you again soon.
Conditions up at Beacon Batch/Rowberrow were pretty good; surprisingly dry in most places, with a few wet bits but nothing unridable.
Current forecasts leading up to next weekend look like fine weather for the Mendips (Thursday is the blip). Trail quality should not degrade.
Hmm, I wonder if we could do Cheddar next Sunday? That would be a proper test of your new suspension fork clink 🙂
Sounds like a plan 🙂 Daughter is in swim comp - might need to negotiate!
Excuse me? May I play with the big boys? 😕
I was solo today. Cracking weather. I spent myself on the flanks of Shute Shelve, Rose Wood and Witches wood.
Excuse the shite phone pics, but you get the idea.
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Smashing stuff. 8)
Enjoying your big bike again Colin? I bet you fly down Witches Wood. Those trail conditions look nice and dry too. It might be time to blow the dust off my bouncy bike.
Sorry Colin - I thought you were the big boy! 😆 All those lovely moving parts!
Enough talk of my big boys moving parts? ! 😯 😳
Its the true that the fat bike had me grinning like a buffoon today, but, to be fair, I do that on the thin bike too.
Leaf litter is still quite deep, which is fun with the rocks and roots underneath, but the ground is pretty much dry!
Interesting, is there much riding to be had in Rose Wood or on the rest of Shute Shelve (West of Cheddar Wood)? I'd be very interested in ways of connecting trails like Yogurt and Badgers to Crook Peak without waiting on possible upgrades to bridleways in that area.....
Nothing legal agent. Mostly its connecting off piste stuff.
I'm another new person to the area - just finishing my new bike but found I need a conventional type front mech (grrr) and then I would love to be shown around. Have been familiarising myself with the area out on dog walks.
Its all good. Sunday mornings is when. Time depends on Clink and Buzz.
"Have been familiarising myself with the area out on dog walks"
Good plan. We can point out good trails, how best to connect them and any stealth requirements.
"waiting on possible upgrades to bridleways in that area"
If you mean Winscombe Drove, don't wait! Evidence of use is key to the upgrade process.
It's fine now, but the weekend weather forecast for the Mendip area looks like rain. Best to leave the Cheddar ride for another day and do something else in the area IMO.
I would be out but have kids rugby in Bristol, only 4 more weeks then back to normal
4 more weeks then back to normal
Looking forward to having you back! 😀
Weekend forecast for the Mendip improved considerably. No Rain and partial sunshine forecast.
So, is Cheddar back on for Sunday?
what plans for Cheddar?
plans for Cheddar you say?!?
Rode up there last night really dry, only the bottom of Rowberrow still a little soggy, top of Blackdown riding almost like summer!
OK.
Cheddar Gorge ride this Sunday.
Meet at: On the Cheddar Gorge road above the pay car parks. About 2/3rds up you'll see a bus turning area and a walled off hillock on the right. Directly opposite on the left is a large free parking bay below a small quarry, meet there. 8:30AM SUNDAY
Ride will do: down Cheddar gorge trail, up Warrens Hill (ouch), down Badgers, up Yoghurt, down Witches Wood and back to the start on the road.
sounds good 😀
What distance is that buzz & what time do you think you'll finish?
What is this [i]'back on the Road'[/i] of which you speak? 8)
Snaps - Its not a vast ride in terms of mileage, but theres a couple of juicy climbs. A long couple of hours I should think.
I just did a plot: 17km, 700m climbing, ~3 hours at sociable pace. So likely to finish before lunch.
Can easily add additional climbs and descents to make it longer.
Yes buzz just got your mail - sounds good & I could get back for the afternoon of [s]drinking[/s] rugby 😆
Well today's pre-ride ride turned into a morning's tree clearance. I remembered that Witches Wood had several winter tree falls blocking it. I rode down and it was all still there 🙁 . So I set about it with my little folding saw - two hours later and it's all clear for tomorrow 😀
The trails are buff and fast too. W00t!
PS. I saw elliptic riding up Shipham Gorge road on his road bike like it was downhill.
PPS. I need a bigger saw!
The trails are buff and fast too. W00t!
Perhaps not quite so buff now 🙁 Heavy rain and more forecast for morning.
Baws 🙁 Though it should have stopped by 8am, the rocks are gonna be slippy.
We'll just have to MTFU and ride properly 😀
[heads for the garage to lower tyre pressures]
Well today's pre-ride ride turned into a morning's tree clearance.
Saw those when I went out for a tootle last Monday. Good man on the clearance - a couple of those were somewhat substantial!
It'll be fine. We can always freecore-mince-lite our way down if needs be.We'll just have to MTFU and ride properly
In a suitably radical manner of course!
Phat bike for me tomrrow.
Phat bike for me tomorrow
a bike for me tomorrow! 😆
Lol! The was sphincter clenching slippery madness! Two offs on the Cheddar rock garden due to losing the back wheel in zero grip. Loss of front wheel on Badgers, saved by sticking a foot out; fits of giggles all round. Witches Wood was fast by contrast. It's a pity about the rain soaking the trails last night but it was [u]fun![/u].
Cheers guys.
Dry today (well mostly!)
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I saw elliptic riding up Shipham Gorge road on his road bike like it was downhill.
Kind of you to say 🙂 I thought I was having an off day myself...
Good work on the trail maintenance and glad somebody's out enjoying the trails, I'm having to ration the MTB rides at the moment.
And what a lovely day it turned out on Sunday - I was on the road bike again - saw Pen Y Fan and the other Brecon tops absolutely crystal clear from the Tynings Farm road.
Ah, Clink, you went all the way round in the end?!
Ah, Clink, you went all the way round in the end?!
Thought it would be a nice lunch spot - sun was glorious! 😀