[Closed] STW Mendips ride ????

Count me out. But let me know a date so I can be busy doing something else....

DrP

All day breaky and final descent for beer and pub meal.

*puts hand up*

I'll come along depending on the date 😀

Mmmmm.... ice cream..... beer...... dusty Mendip trails....

....will be along if the date fits.

Ooooh, like the idea of an English breakfast 😀

Presumably in place of a picnic lunch?

To be followed by a cream tea mid-afternoon?

CG breakfast as in all day unless you want it at breakfast time ! Aleigh thought / hoped you would .Any more takers now i've started the ball rolling ? Guess some pics might help .Anybody ? Anna how about you ?

Not pics AB your company .

Love to come along and play.

smaller climbs please...............post some pics so I can get over excited again. Mendips have never really hit the spot before but Im willing to try again if the ususal gang turn up(they know who they are).

I aim to be but my weekends are booked up now until August (I get 2 weekends free a month in case you lot think I'm very popular!!)

aleigh you ARE v . popular with us !!!!

I'm in. How about someone just puts up a date and we can all start bickering.

July 19th or August 15th 🙂

knottie as it's not that big an area will have to get a bit more inventive .hoping science officer and buzz can help in that department .

My only experience of the Mendips was racing at Cheddar last year and I hated that, so I'll look forward to a positive experience instead.

How about the last weekend of this month? I was supposed to be going to see AC/DC but blown head gasket has altered those plans.

just thinking if we start in cheddar we could ride up the gorge (nothing like the road climb to dunkery btw )to charterhouse then head into the off road stuff ? but hey hang on a minute i shouldn't be bossing people around i had my turn at that yesterday !!!

Rich August will allow aleigh to come .but the 15th is a saturday so thats me out how about the 16th ? DOH THERE I GO AGAIN TAKING CHARGE !!!!! sorry i'll back off now .

Im liking RichPennys style.

Start at the Swan in Rowberrow then we can stop there for food and drink afterwards.

Keep the ideas coming .I thought this might appeal.....start in Cheddar nice ride up through the gorge for the scenery .To Charterhouse up to the mast , then right at the gate follow the trail through the 2 streams down into Rowberrow woods (essentially clic course ) then keep going through woods to the left turn by the exposed pipe ? Turn left follow stream then a bit of random playtime before heading to Lilypool for the all day breakfast.After that back up into the woods again before heading either up to the trig point and the blast into Rowberrow woods again or straight for the stock car track and the descent to Cheddar .Just a bit of an idea .Might not mean a lot to some people and as i said let's hear from some more locals.

Why not do the offroad climb up the gorge instead of the road?

He's taking into account of me going, so that means not to many hills..But TBH the thought of pedalling up through the gorge to chrterhouse does seems daunting..

Would rather start over in Burrington combe or Rowbarrow, that's only because i don't know the gorge side of riding, other than up in cheddar woods and around the quarry....can we fit in witches wood descent as i need to have words in there....strongs words from 2004...

Awwww fanks OF!

I can do the 8th or 9th August just to add to the mix!

Sticks hand up to join in - really enjoyed the big Quantocks gathering!

As Sharki said Burrington Combe is a good place to start - loads of free parking

Me me me me me pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze

I'd quite like to come along. Will only really know if I can make it nearer the time though so I.ll just see how things are nearer the time.

Polite request - can we have a date please?

Thank you so much!

Just thinking about it, rather than a cream tea, could we have (cheddar) cheese and crackers? You can't beat Somerset cheddar 😀

19th july is the air tattoo so cant make it but would be intrested otherwise

I'm in. I was thinking about this very topic [b]ALL[/b] yesterday evening. Hope I can make whatever dates you decide upon.

OF - I'm happy to assist you in planning, guiding and gate-holding as you see fit. All the suggestions so far sound good.

Anyways, here's a few more tips:

* Burrington Combe, the Inn and the now defunct garden centre has the largest free parking and is a good start-point.
* There is a wide bridle track for climbing over the back of Burrington Ham to reach the top of the combe avoiding the road. From there, the climb up to the summit if Black Down is reasonable and wide.
* We should definitely go to Cheddar, either down rocky Warrens Hill Road, or down the techy/scenic track atop Cheddar Gorge, although the latter can be difficult to access without a weensy bit of cheekyness. We can book up cream teas in Cheddar - yum
* Climbing "up" the Cheddar Gorge track top-track sounds a bit crazy to me 🙂 Climbing the road is easy enough and very scenic. Another doable off-road climb out of Cheddar starts at Bradley Cross, or climbing Warrens Hill Road isn't too bad if it's dry
* In Rowberrow Wood, it's got to be worth including the upper-parts of "Santa's Grotto" 🙂
* The funnest bridle path descent back toward Burrington is "Stony Lane" which is sandwiched between the hill fort and mendip lodge wood and ends at the Blagdon Water Gardens with a short road ride back to Burrington Inn.
* if you can squeeze the Limestone Link track from CLIC in, that's always fast/furious fun

I might have a word with the Mendip warden to see if we can get dispensation to cycle through Velvet Bottom, seeing as the ground is nice and hard and links Cheddar Gorge nicely with Black Down.

What do you think ScienceOfficer?

All good ideas from Buzz.

Gotta go to the Beacon at some point.

Another thought - the permissive bridleway from the top of Stony Lane around the north side of the fort to the main road at Dolebury Bottom - followed by a stop at the Crown 😀

Sounds like there are likely to be more pub stops than riding... just grand. Count me in.

Sounds reasonable to me Buzz. You have a better appreciation of whats doable with a group this large.

I think its going to be difficult to do Mendip justice from an MTB view and still keep it legal-ish.

elliptic, is the crown a little festering inn of tradition at the end of a wide bridleway, mid section is stoney flat out section then it turns to axle deep mush in the wet seasons, then through another gate to pick up the CP..

There's a hose and tap around the side to clean bikes off, which the Landlord permits IIRC.

As it'll be peak time and mid summer holidays, is it likely that any gorge trails are going to be crammed with Tourists?

Not that it matters to much, most fallen kids aren't much more than 130mm deep....

a little festering inn of tradition

You could call it that 🙂 It's off a back lane round the corner from Churchill lights, at the start of a gravelly farm track that goes up the hill and connects with the Sandford Batch bridleway - might be the trails you're thinking of.

The trail along the gorge top is indeed likely to be packed with grockles (though there'll be walkers everywhere if it's a nice day).

Ah, home.

Wish I could join ya. Sadly, I'll still be in exile.

[i]a little festering inn of tradition[/i]

😀 😀 😀

I'm not joining you, be too late a start. Normally out on trail by 7am

[i]any gorge trails are going to be crammed with Tourists[/i]

yeah it can be a problem, especially on a Sunday. If I'm doing it, I generally start early, but that's not going to happen - shame. Plenty of other good stuff though.

I was really impressed with OF's organisation last weekend on Exmoor. Having a couple of helper guides (armed with cameras) to go ahead is a must to mark important junctions + a sweeper to avoid losing people.

I can lend a hand on that front. Same problem on our group rides especially with summer foliage hiding trail entrances.

Bit of cheeky not a problem, surely?

With a large crowd of riders on a busy summer afternoon, best to keep it legit really.

If I have enough notice date wise I'd be well up for breaking STW group ride cherry - especially so close to where I grew up!

Also, Hopester can vouch for me having the amazing ability to be both skinny and slow - so I'll be great mocking fodder for everyone!

Any date in August, and I will join in. Cool.

"Bit of cheeky not a problem, surely?"

A "guided" group of 20 at the weekend is a bit different from you+mate on a weekday evening. 😀 A linky/cheeky bit here and there will be no problem. But e.g. Velvet Bottom is a bit sensitive (oooh er) esp. because it's adjacent to the mendip warden's house! I think it's currently classified as a bridal way but only for horses or some such nonsense. I'm enquiring with the AONB.

I hear what's been said about the gorge-top bridle way. It's super, and all legal, but I would not want to be involved in innocent grockles being squashed or tossed off the cliffs - not good for local cycling relations. Pity, because it's ace [the trail, not the grockles being killed]. If it was included, we would have to exercise some caution. It's not impossible. [thinks...]