Riding from the door only...

tonnes of riding, 0 tech/massively fun. If i wanted to be a gravel/Ridegway biker i'm in the perfect place.

Being able to ride from my door was an important factor in where I live.  Not to save the planet but for sheer convenience.  I drive plenty of places to ride but always want the option of riding from the door.

With the odd exception of a couple of trips a year I always ride from the door.

I'm based in West Yorkshire, the lower Calder Valley. So have a range of riding from woodland, urban, canals and moorland.

Obviously you need to use some roads to link the trails up but we certainly have enough to keep me interested.

It's mostly XC but there are more technical routes in the woods if you want.

Leicestershite is exactly that for good riding. ‘Cheeky’ is available locally but not very inspiring and a total swamp ATM. Nearest decent riding is Cannock off-piste and the Peak but they’re 45 and 6o miles away so driving needed. We did a trip up to Wharncliffe last week which was a 132 mile round trip to do a winch and plummet 13 mile fun session, which is a bonkers return for the travelling involved. We do a few Snowdonia/Long Mynd/Lakes/Golfie trips a year too but they are all multiple ride events so ‘worth’ it. Would love some good decent tech/lumpy rides from the door but you can’t easily alter where you live…

Loads of mountain bike route books with routes that start from train stations, so that is a possibility.

I'm lucky to have some local trails so can ride from the door but if I wanted to ride further afield then it is possible it would just take a lot longer and would require some logistical planning. But this would be solo riding, if doing with a couple of friends then it becomes a lot harder to plan due to limited space on trains.

Much better to car share. 

Yes, almost entirely as packing up car/driving etc. just eats in to limited available riding time.

Ultimately thought it's why I'm such a massive convert to gravel, I can link together lots of (typically pedally and short) singletrack sections with gravel sections and road sections and it's all fun.

In fact it's amazing just how much good singletrack you can find with this approach, I don't think I've ever had as many 'new' trails to explore from my doorstep 😎

If I had more time then I’d probably drive to places to ride more often but about 95% of my MTBing is from my door. We don’t use the car much, total mileage for the family is only about 8k which is mostly from visiting relatives and holidays - kids and wife walk to school/work and I cycle to work. But that’s only possible because we live near the edge of a city with a national park a few minutes ride away.

I’m looking into getting a tow bar rack for more family cycling opportunities (they don’t all want to ride up a hill to a load of (v muddy right now) rooty twisty singletrack, and so I can take my bike more often when we visit relatives.

I’m not that keen on the idea of always driving to ride, the environmental issue does bother me - and if doing so I’d prefer to fill a car with people and bikes rather than travel separately.

No, but then this is what outside my door:

I'm not particularly interested in technical riding so not travelling is really more to do with the hassle factor for me. I really can't be bothered to do a four hour round trip just to go cycling.

Being able to ride from my door was an important factor in where I live.

And

With the odd exception of a couple of trips a year I always ride from the door.

Partly it's laziness, partly just being time-efficient. I always had a rule that ride time had to be greater than total drive time, it's just that I've taken that to an extreme. I do intend riding slightly further afield this year though.

I am spoilt a bit. Have hundreds of kms of gravel virtually from the door,  can drive to work via good parks, ride to bona fide DH, or  can commute via gravel and singletrack.

I'm another lucky one, I've 3 riding spots (all with enduro-type trails) within a 10 mile ride of home and can XC pretty much there/back. Plus Golfie/Innes/GT/Thornielee are all within 30 mins in the car too.

90% of my gravel riding is from home too - one approach I did recently is to ride the 5 miles to the train station and then get off 30 mins away and then ride home on as much off-piste as possible (latest route was 50 miles & 5500 feet home).

I used to ride from the door loads, but then we moved. Now I'd spend more time riding my MTB on-road than off. So I drive.

I can understand the concern about riding from the door could result in repetition and a lack of variety.

I'm fortunate and live right by the SDNP.  While it lacks any great altitude it is huge and has an incredible trail network with a good mix of riding options and choice...  Gravel, XC, Steeps, flows, tech.  I do still drive to ride on occasions, but it's not frequent.

I mostly ride from my door. I typically do a handful of "trips" a year with riding mates, which usually consist of a 30-ish min van trundle to some precipitous woodland slightly outside of comfortable riding distance.

Whilst a refusal to take what might be deemed uneccessary car journeys is admirable from an environmental point of view, does it massively restrict your riding?

...so, yes, it does massively restrict your riding from a geographic perspective. I've ridden in MTB in Wales once, in the Peak once, and in the Lakes once, having been at it since 2016.

But, on the other hand -- no, it does not massively restrict my riding, because my riding is actually more time-restricted than anything else. Family and general life commitments mean that I can't readily zip off for riding weekends, or even add a couple of extra hours travel time to a Sunday morning ride on a regular basis. If I was driving all the time to ride, I'd be swapping bike time for driving time.

It helps that riding is pretty good around here. Varied terrain and difficulty levels, plus an active local MTB scene means that new trails pop up from time to time, and existing stuff is developed and maintained.

So ultimately, living where I live makes it possible to ride local the vast majority of the time, which in turn makes it possible for me to ride more than I would otherwise. If that makes sense.

I've got good trails from the door, but I get a bit bored riding the same stuff over and over again so I'm always likely to drive a bit to ride - especially since most of my riding is playing in steep woods and a hilly 'commute' to reach the trails cuts massively into the time and energy available.

I do care about environmental stuff though, so the driving bothers me and I wonder if an ebike would help here. I don't particularly want one from a riding perspective but one might open up a few extra spots for riding from the door.

Edit - Kramer's point below about carbon footprints of driving and a potential ebike is a good one. I'd need to make a lot of trips for the maths to add up... Maybe I just need to pull on my big socks and start riding what I've got to those spots further away.

Whilst a refusal to take what might be deemed uneccessary car journeys is admirable from an environmental point of view, does it massively restrict your riding?

Bit of a daft question as it 100% depends on where you live.

Pentland Hills and local trails from the door, which is mostly fine but the appeal of Tweed Valley trails 25mins drive down the road means close to 50/50 split between from the door and driving.

Unfortunately living in Suffolk I have to drive for any decent riding, so usually make a weekend of it.  It doesn't help the environment but I do help the local economies around the country by staying in B&Bs, eat in the local pubs/restaurant etc.

The carbon footprint of driving to mountain bike far outweighs the footprint of making the bike AFAIK.

I try to:

• Ride from the door for fitness riding.
• Use the train to get to places to ride as much as possible.
• Car share as much as possible when I can't use the train.

It takes some planning, and it can be a bit limiting, but it's amazing what is accessible.

Plenty of gravel/xc riding from my door and that's what I'm doing most of simply because it's more accessible. There's some tech about but I really need to drive to make use of my full suss or longer travel hard tail, albeit not too far.

I do nearly all my riding from my doorstep. I kinda have the opposite problem now, the cars don't get used enough.

can easily ride from home with a steady 20 min road spin to the woods. However, very often i still drive up - the way i look at it is, its an extra 40mins on the good stuff.
Will happily ride from home if time allows, but riding habits change and at the moment its little and often rather than a big one once a week...
We live about 1.5hrs from south Lakes, peaks or north wales. used to to visit these places all the time, almost weekly. have not been in at least 12 months!?

I have ridden from the door for 100% of my rides in all of my 50 years of riding. But then I don't do downhill MTB and am happy to ride whatever I have.

I'm similar to Kramer. Maybe 70% of my riding is from the door, however one or twice a month in the drier months I'll drive or get the train somewhere to ride. (Usually 30 min - 1hr 15 each way, depending where we are going)
Try to lift share wherever possible.

Whilst a refusal to take what might be deemed uneccessary car journeys is admirable from an environmental point of view, does it massively restrict your riding?

Yes, obviously it restricts my riding, but in much the same way eeebers will tell you they're trying to achieve more with their limited time, sitting in a car for 2-4 hours in order to do 2-3 hours of actual riding doesn't appeal to me every weekend. If I get a whole day for riding, it's a rarity now, and spending half of that sat in a car can really take the shine off.

As it is I mostly get the odd half day at weekends, often with a bit of a cut-off time to be back, riding a loop I know from the door or doing a bit of limited exploring tends to work well with the constraints I have to deal with...

I also have to say, even living in an un-promising area (East Cheshire) I've been pleasantly surprised by what I've managed to find outside my door, even if it is a bit cheeky.

I do 95% of road riding from door as have huge selection of rides in Dumfries - mtb from door for quick fun one to two hours riding but mainly drive to trails which arent far but cuts out a load of what would be dull riding on the road with a MTB

95% of my riding is from the door. On the edge of the Surrey hills I can often get a morning "WFH commute" 1-1.5hrs all off road and pretty technical. Same for % road riding

Last year made a conscious effort to ride more local stuff and started to appreciate what i have on the doorstep a lot more, since moved to an even better area and can ride from the door and access plenty good trails, gravel and longer days. 

Will still use the car maybe once a month for a trail centre or somewhere further type day. 

Really hate 2hr drives to ride, but sometimes its a necessary evil.

I'd say 90% of my riding is done from my front door. For mainly two reasons, first being loading my bike into the boot of my car is a faff, and then you've gotta drive to where you wanna ride, then if your bike is covered in mud or you are, the car becomes an absolute mess on the drive home, and driving home when your absolutely paggered isn't fun I'd rather get back, shove the bike in the shed, get showered and crash out after a particularly exhausting ride and if I'm travelling somewhere to ride I always feel pressured to do as much as possible/go as hard as possible.
The second reason being most of my riding is done solo, I always feel like the effort to drive somewhere to go riding is worth it with others but pointless on my own.

I'm still waiting on the delivery of the roof bars from car dealership I was promised so that may change slightly as I'll probably find it easier to throw the bike on the roof than wheel off seats down and in the boot, but I still probably won't go that far.

For me it's nothing to do with carbon footprint or enviromentalism it's just convenience, and the trails and riding near me is enough to sate the appetite most of the time, and I'm lucky enough to live a 10 minute ride away from a 100ha woodland, it's not the highest being 158m above sea level, but you can do lots of laps and the trail networks are like rat runs so you're spoilt for choice, it's all short, sharp and steep.

If I could only ride from my door I'd sell all my bikes and quit riding.

99% is from the door.  I used to quite regularly throw the bike in the car for Aston Hill or Swinley.<br />I (we) have not been away with the bikes since before CV19.<br />I have a great mix of local riding here in the Chilterns, but nothing to justify the FS.

South Manchester here, and I can ride from my door to the TPT and even get to the Peak by bike if I'm feeling energetic, so much of my riding is that, but I've also got Calderdale, The majority of Peaks within an hour's (more or less) drive, and North Wales and the Lakes within 1.5-2 hours drive away, so I will go to those places, although I try to limit how often I do it. 

For anyone that might be interested to see why 90% of my riding is done locally, heres a video of Danny Hart ripping it up at my local woods

I can't remember the last time I drove anywhere to ride.  Very lucky where I live to have the Peak District within striking distance that I ride from the door (MTB, road) all the time.  It's not by accident that we live here....

I'll take the bike when we visit family etc... and ride from their door.

I'm actually a bit determined this year to ride a trail centre or two and do some big rides elsewhere whilst on holiday.  Not done that for a while.  Not driving just for the ride, more integrating the ride into being elsewhere.

does it massively restrict your riding?

Depends how you look at it.

I could do a 3+ hour gravel / old fashioned XC loop from my door, probably every day of the week without repeating too many trails / routes. I don't live in a "great" area for riding, the Thames Valley is pretty much defined by being wide flat and muddy art this time of year. I just make the most of it when I do.

Or I could load the car, drive 25min to Swinley, unload the car, ride for 90min, load the car, drive 25min home.

Which is more restrictive?

Driving wise, I do 30k a year in a 3l diesel 4×4 (partly by choice, partly for work), so a 20 mile trip to the trails doesn’t really register as a planet killer (in my mind).

And some people think paper straws are enough to save the planet 🤷‍♂️

I think sustainability has to be viewed as a balance.

I now drive 0 miles for work, commute by bike, and do all my shopping by bike.

Probably only average one EU flight every other year.

I'm vegetarian.

Thermostat's set to 17.5C and the house has been insulated as far as reasonably possible (loft, cavity wall, double glazing), and has a new boiler + smart-ish thermostat.

I wouldn't have a personal issue if I decided I wanted to drive to Aldershot (about 30min drive) to ride the army land a couple of times a week as I think I've pretty much cut back as much as is practicable everything else I do that has an impact. I calculated it and my carbon footprint is still ~150% of the "sustainable" level, although the remainder is systemic stuff like the electrical grid or £££ stuff like a heat pump, solar + electric car.

Torn between given up trying to influence others and just doing a good job myself, and saying stuff it, I'll fly somewhere hot to go cycling 5 weeks a year, drive to Wales in a flash new van every other weekend and turn the thermostat up because I can afford to be bougie?

The environmental impact of driving to ride is a very small factor in my choices, even though I drive very little anyway. The thought of flying to ride is just beyond me. 😀. 

My main local restriction is a very limited choice of roads. With one rideable road heading North and two converging roads heading South, there's a lot of repetition even to get a medium sized road ride in. 

Whilst a refusal to take what might be deemed uneccessary car journeys is admirable from an environmental point of view, does it massively restrict your riding?

It’s not a refusal on my part, it’s the fact we live somewhere with a lot of riding (Forest of Dean) so I don’t really ‘need’ to go far. Part of the appeal of living here is we are on a forest track & I can literally be in the woods, riding a trail within a few minutes of leaving my garage.

The forest has a lot of zones, all of which are commutable by bike & we generally ride where we fancy on the day.

Do you have riding a stones throw away, that is just too far/inaccessible for a half day/days riding that you refuse to drive to?

The other advantage of being here is, within an hour, there is a huge amount of off piste Welsh gold we can get to. I don’t ride it as much as I would like to, but the reality when you have this much on your doorstep, you don’t need to travel so much.

I do enjoy an off piste Welsh Valleys day though 🙂

During lockdown me and my son made a point of riding from the door every ride, every weekend (cos them was the roolz). It was ok, but involved a lot of tedious road riding to get to the offroad stuff. I can't be arsed with that mostly, though there are a couple of rides from my door (eg. out to Kingley Vale) that I like doing on my ebike.

95% riding from the door for me. North Leeds, so a great and varied network of trails, pockets of woodland etc. Gravel bike, HT, and FS all get used regularly and there's riding to suit each bike.

Mostly, it's about time. With other life stuff, and my need to ride regularly, ie 3-6 times per week, my riding windows are 1-3 hours, therefore I don't want to waste riding time by driving. Environmental impact of driving is a secondary consideration.

Usually get 2-3 weekends away through the year (Lakes, Boltby Bash), so drive then, invariably car-sharing.

And, certainly when the weather is better, will drive somewhere up to 1hr 15 away maybe once every 4-6 weeks, and try to car-share.

When I lived in Calderdale I'd go a year at a time and only use the car to drive elsewhere a tiny handful (<5) times a year such was the quality and variation of riding on my doorstep. Live in York now and whilst there is some VERY tame stuff I could string together from my door, it generally involves large amounts or tarmac and flat BW so I tend to drive 30 minutes away. Not too bothered about the environmental impact since its usually the only time during the week the van moves...

I mostly ride from my door, but thats pretty much all gravel or road riding. I've shit loads of gravel/bridleway riding from the door. If I want proper MTB though I have to go somewhere else in the car. I'm not driving somewhere an hour away a few times a week so my (proper) MTBing tends to be once a week if I've not got other commitments. Yeah I'd love to do more but my life doesn't revolve around MTB or bikes at all for that matter. Cycling is just something I like to do, when I can really.

I do have some trails near home, and whilst they can be fun, they would get pretty boring if I only ever rode those.

If I could only ride from my door I’d sell all my bikes and quit riding.

Really? you wouldn't even look at your local area or maybe adapt your riding to suit the opportunities near by?

Are many people really that stuck on the idea that riding bikes means lots of travel every weekend?

I used to be away riding every other weekend when I was younger (20s) but it just wasn't sustainable once I had kids, and TBH I don't really enjoy driving now like 25 year old me did.

Really? you wouldn’t even look at your local area or maybe adapt your riding to suit the opportunities near by?

Are many people really that stuck on the idea that riding bikes means lots of travel every weekend?

I did think that post was a bit defeatist! Yeah obviously churning around on a gravel bike is very different from steep gnar on an Enduro Sled, but if you open your mind to it you can have just as much of a slightly different sort of fun, if the legs will propel you that is (or, dare I say it, an e-bike 😂)

I remember being led along some very slippy, muddy and twisty (uphill!) singletrack by didn'thurt and still thinking (as I two wheel slid round a slightly uphill corner) that this is 90% of the fun I might have on an MTB, albeit I'm having to propel the bike with my legs rather than gravity.