I like to do most of mine from my house but sometimes get bored of the same trails and like to explore new places and go the the occasional trail centre. I know some folk who will only go to trail centres. What about you lot?
North Downs & Surrey Hills
outside
Probably the dark peak. I think I'm getting bored of it, though surely that cannot be?
100% in the Lake District (never ridden my Mountain Bike anywhere else)
98% Natural trails, only ride on the purpose built trails to join the traditional bridlepaths together. Not through any partiuclar ideal just riding the best trails that are available.
Most of my rides start from home.
In my head 🙂
Home (Woburn)
herts shore/skills area 🙂
North Wales, it has everything.
On the Internet.
In the spare room.
Work, kids, house move, weather, life has got in the way, so a pull of the brakes and a squish of the suspension in the spare room is as much as can manage for the moment...
Rivington. My back garden.
Woburn, and mostly on my bike.
Glentress, Pentlands, Linlithgow area, Union Canal, back garden! 😀
Oh... West Highland Way will be added this year! 😀
Most from my door at night after work, using local tracks and bridalways ; at weekends localish but need to drive there (Thetford and Rendlesham Forests, Alton Water) ; hols or weekends away (South Downs, Wales various, Stretton Hills/Long Mynd, Sierra Nevada hopefully this May.) What's great about travelling round the UK by car, for work or pleasure, is to have the bike in the back, and park up and explore a likely looking trail you just happen to see - opportunist riding! So most of my riding is 'natural' trails and paths/woods - though I suppose parts of Thetford could be said to be a trail centre.
About half in the Pentlands, and the other half at assorted other places round Scotland.
Lake District...Its rubbish really,you would hate it 😉
Mostly the lakes for me.Even though I live 45mins-1hr away by car.
Innerleithen, fantastic riding...best 7stanes XC route, some of the best official DH trails in Scotland and some fantastic off piste stuff across the valley.
so lucky to have it just down the road, would be even better if I actually lived there mind.
The forest where I ride starts at about 7min30 riding time over there -->
Tend to cycle from my house to grizedale, do a few tracks round there and cycle back. Havent been anywhere else for some time.
loddrik -MemberNorth Wales, it has everything.
+1
lucky enough to live near cairngorm. plus I make a point of taking the bike whenever we go visiting or on holiday to get a day to myself on whatevers at hand
California
not that I go very often (fortnight each summer and that's not all riding) but I don't do much at home, one way & another.
Not strictly true, of course - I do more hours in a year around the new forest but in terms of "proper riding", way more over there (and it's pretty close even measured in hours)
poor me 🙄
I'd say ...50% Yorkshire Dales & the other 50% between around the doors, Lakes & Scotchland.
On the hills behind the house (Mendips). But the best bits are a short drive away.
There is enough in summer, a bit more restricted in winter. After 5 Mendip rides in a row I do feel the urge to ride elsewhere. An hour's drive to the Qs usually. Hour and thirty to Exmoor. Very occasionally I can be bothered to cross the water and hit Wales.
I'm planning a mini road/camping trip before Easter so hoping to visit: Beacons, Gower, Brechfa, Doethe, Long Mynd and Malvern, one day at each place.
FoD
In my head...
Sometimes I ride here.[img] 
[/img]
Or here.
[img] 
[/img]
But mainly here.
[img] 
[/img]
from my front door into the superb rossendale hills in east lancashire, love the place
Derbyshire with the occasional foray elsewhere.
All my best riding is:
On the internet!!!
Spaceman - whereabouts are you?
Beacons. Less than a mile from my door.
Which is nice 🙂
mostly Drumlanrig, but occasionally some stanes (was at Dalbeattie this evenin) and there's plenty local off piste up in the Lowthers and along the coast.
It's nice to get to the lakes or wales or up the highlands every now and again but living near Dumfries is pretty darn fine for trails and good folks to got out pedalling with.
Until recently was South Wales but now from my doorstep in Bangor, North Wales (having moved). I'm still exploring, but happy to see [b]flippinheckler[/b] and [b]loddrik[/b] say it has everything.
Sweden 75% Ireland 25%
west Pennines, rivington, belmont, turton, darwen
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Another lucky one here - straight into the FoD without even touching tarmac so most of my riding is here. Often travel into Wales for miles of natural riding but have visited loads of places to ride over the years including many rides with fellow STWers in places like Woburn, Thetford, Yorkshire [remember Shatfest?], Scotlandshire, etcetera, etcetera. [Strangely never Siam/Thailand though, despite that last bit 😆 ]
Ludlow (Bringewood/mortimor forest)
Surrey Hills, Tunnel Hill, Wisley are all rideable from home and plenty of local woodland for nightime cheekiness 🙂
Days out by SW trains to Alton, Winchester, Salisbury etc.
My bike has never been carried by a car to a ride which gives me a strange feeling of satisfaction 8)
Cannock Chase (not Follow Your Dad)
[img] 
[/img]
i remember going down some swoopy tree lined singletrack with you and snakebite years ago, scruff
Used to ride mainly in the dark peak, but got tired of riding the same trails. Now ride mainly cheeky stuff in the white peak, and finding new trails all the time. Go to wales / scotland for the odd trail centre trip.
Started at trail centres and still enjoy the better ones from time to time but much prefer our natural trails. We're pretty spoiled for choice in this country but Lake District and North Wales top my list. Best resource I know of for routes on natural trails is The Edge website ([url= http://www.theedgecycleworks.com/mtbroutes/cumbria-and-lancashire ]Lake District Routes here[/url], [url= http://www.theedgecycleworks.com/mtbroutes/wales ]North Wales Routes here[/url]). There are maps, photo's and very detailed route hints so no excuses for heading to a trail centre 🙂
Nothing I can ride without driving there first. closest thing to me is Woburn, which is ok but doesn't excite me hugely.
very envious of those of you with great natural trails on your doorstep.
Not easy to fit family life around a 3hr round trip just to get a decent ride in.
North Wales, it has everything.
We are blessed with some great stuff, Clwyds, Berwyns and llandegla for me.
Purbecks and local heaths from home. Although lately it's been mostly on the roads of Dorset (just heading out to the New Forest in a minute on the road bike too). 🙂
Glentress, Innerleithen and the Pentlands are the most common venues, although I spend one night a week going out to Queensferry/Fife or up the WoL to Balerno and back, but that doesn't really count as mountain biking. The downside of living on the North side of Edinburgh is that most riding from the door involves a repetitive slog to get anywhere.
In an average year I'll also ride a couple of trail centres and a natural route in Lancs, most of the 7Stanes centres, Laggan, somewhere natural up north and half a dozen XC courses in Scotland. Not a bad wee mix, but I would like to shift the emphasis away from GT to more natural Highland stuff.
Quite a few Pentland mentions on here.
I ride mainly straight out the door in and around Speyside and on the Moray Monster trails with occasional trips to the Cairngorms, Laggan and Golspie.
I really want to head to Torridon a bit more, it really is spectacular over there and it's not really that far.
100yds from my house to the woods, another 200 yds and I'm on the Hit the North circuit. I go through a lot of drivetrains.
Night rides up Rivi from Belmont and the odd uplift day at Moelfre. Oh and usually ride fort william the day after the UCI stuff. And Lee Quarry sometimes which may become my local spot if we move house 😀
Getting ready for a change of scenery at the mo, mud is only fun for a while....
I roll out the back gate.. across the road.. then it's 10 minutes on green lanes and bridleways and I'm on Dartmoor.. so that's me sorted..
From my front door. It's not heaven, but might be on the short list for heaven's ante-chamber. And it's right there, which fits right in with my lifestyle and motivations for riding. I drive places to meet friends.
Mugdock
Surrey Hills, North Downs, Swinley, more hill biking really.
I'm super lucky that this trail is a 10min ride from my place…
[url= http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4105/5068567632_449d2f779e.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/flamejob/5068567632/ ]Switchbacks at la Herradura[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/flamejob/ ]flamejob[/url], on Flickr
… and this is a 20min drive
[url= http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/5046701772_ce62c334d2.jp g" target="_blank">
I tend to ride with a different group each week too when wearing, my guide hat, which is sometimes nice and other times a bore (especially when people try and combine a lads drinking holiday with a biking holiday)
100 yards from my front door, I'm into the countryside, then over a wee hill (2 km) and I'm here
[url= http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1351/5164105441_f4698ebd09_z.jp g" target="_blank">
nice motorbike! 😀 😉
The Malvern's most weeks, 5 minute ride up the hill, then I try and get down the FoD once a month or so.
Trying to talk Mrs J into moving to Bewdley / Wyre forest. 😐
Home counties, Lakes, Wales, Scotland.
In that order.
Pentland Hills with Glentress/Innerleithen a close second (tend to ride there every second week after digging)
[img] 
[/img]
mostly up the kilpatrick hills or carron valley or the odd mugdock ride.....
Doing at least three rides a week ATM:
Leith to Juniper Green and back, via Union Canal.
Pentlands Flotterstone circuit (1/2 hr drive)
Glentress - usually red route (1 hr drive)
Want the Pentlands to dry up so I can do more of them. Heading out on a 5 or 6 hour XC ramble over the Pentlands always feels great. Glentress is a good option when the Pentlands are too wet. Other, wider afield, excursions are being planned...
Bristol.
No time to go further afield very often atm.
Anywhere in the South East primarily and then Cumbria.
Although I don't call it mountain biking in the South East. 🙂
Just cycling.
Probably do 50% from my front door - County Durham countryside/bridleways
The other 50% is made up of trail centres (mainly Hamsterley) and trips to places like North York Moors, Yorks Dales, Durham Dales
Apart from travelling to races and trailquests (did I mention I ride trailquests ?), I'd guess that 98% of my mountain biking is done from my house and 1% from MuddyPuddle's house.
Although I live in the Wyre Forest, I tend to ride the surrounding lanes and bridleways rather than the forest it's self.
Lucky to be a 2 minute cycle away from Bringewood, and Mortimer forests. Despite its history theres hardly any mountain bikers around here, so have some excellent trails all to my self mostly!
I have a lucky mountain bike history when it comes to living area's
Started in Malvern when living with my parents, Joined the RAF spent next 3 years outside Aviemore, Left the RAF and moved to Hope, then moved from Hope to Ludlow!
Used to live in the Shropshire hills which was ace, but having now migrated to Birmingham spend a lot of time at Cannock. Have graduated off Follow Your Dad/Monkey onto the cheeky trails but looking at Scruff's pic, still have not found all the good stuff. Good fun trying though.
smuttiesmith - Member
100% in the Lake District (never ridden my Mountain Bike anywhere else)98% Natural trails, only ride on the purpose built trails to join the traditional bridlepaths together. Not through any partiuclar ideal just riding the best trails that are available
Are BWs and lots of footpaths not manmade ❓ 👿
bangin on - Member
mostly Drumlanrig, but occasionally some stanes (was at Dalbeattie this evenin) and there's plenty local off piste up in the Lowthers and along the coast.It's nice to get to the lakes or wales or up the highlands every now and again but living near Dumfries is pretty darn fine for trails and good folks to got out pedalling with.
POSTED 15 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST
+1
Mabie & Ae are only a 7ml pedal from my house.
Train up to Sanquhar and pedal back to Dumfries is a good epic.
Some good riding out of Moffat 1/2hr up the road.
Also get down to the Lakes as often as possible and Peaks 2/3 times/yr
Bringewood, and Mortimer forests. Despite its history theres hardly any mountain bikers around here, so have some excellent trails all to my self mostly
There used to be - lots of riders from college and other locals in the mid 1990's. Fond memories of riding there. Haven't been back for sometime but last time I was there, it wasn't as good as I remember somehow 😕
Now ride almost exclusively from Brecon - taking in the Beacons and the Black Mountains.
[img] 
[/img]
Lots of variation here too, and if you stay off the tourist route, hardly a soul to be seen on the trail.
I'm fortunate enough to live on the edge of the Pentlands so do 95%+ of my riding from the door. Last year I did a few trailcentre trips (Laggan, Fort William, Lochgilphead, Carron Valley) and a few rides up in the far North West.
This year I'm planning to do some more exploring of the borders trail centres but the vast majority of my riding will still be in the Pentlands.
[img] 
[/img]
Usually drive to the peaks.
There's next to no interesting riding here, its mostly flat wide and muddy. If you're a real adrenaline junkie theres the canal tow path, or the old railway lane...
It's about an hours drive to the peaks, sometimes ride Rivington or Rossendale way, but if I'm getting in the car, I might as well drive a bit further.
North Downs & Surrey Hills
South Downs & Friston Forest
From the front door there is some great local riding around the 'Roman Lakes' near Stocport, which leads nicely into the Dark Peak.
Once a year trip to Scotland, then the odd day out in the Lake District and a North Wales trail centre, usually Penmachno.
So mainly natural stuff.
South Downs + QE park.
Then trips to Surrey Hills and South Wales.
IanB: I wouldn't mind some tip on "off the beaten track". Email in profile 🙂
Cannock and FOD mostly. I also ride Woburn and Chicksands quite regularly. It's rubbish having no good local trails.
Mostly in New Mexico, some in Colorado---I am really fortunate to live 200 yard from a trailhead leading into a large trail system on the west face of the Sandia mountains here in Albuquerque that gives me 2 minute access to about 40 miles of trails (easy to moderate levels). I drive to the other side of the same mountains in the summer (about 20 miles or so) to access another 120 miles or so of trails that are much more technical/difficult (ranging from 8000-10,000 feet in elevation----- but snowed under all winter, usually open from April through October. Vacation riding usually in CO, UT or AZ
Epicyclo & flamejob--where are the locations in the photos?
IanB-that looks like a really great place to ride--have to say a whole lot greener than here in New Mexico!!