[Closed] Why do people think Southern England riding is crap?

Swinley's up north as far as i'm concerned! Much further South and i'd be in France. Plenty of hills and roots and rocks and sand and chalk and.... here, and it's sunny.

Nothing against the North, but can't be bothered to drive hundreds of miles to get there when there's plenty here.

[i]Nothing against the North, but can't be bothered to drive hundreds of miles to get there when there's plenty here.[/i]

& quite right too but Vice Versa. Why on earth would I travel to the Quantocks or the Sarf Darns when I've got 'T'Dales on't doorstep, North York Moors 30mins & 'T'Lakes 90mins away? (& Fort Willy's only 6.575 hrs)Givvower man, yer taalkin bollix.

it's good if people can be happy riding near where they live!

I live in Oxfordshire. The riding is pretty shite in my experience. I drive in excess of an hour every week to find some hills.

Would love to know if it's worth reading the rest of this thread to see if there are good places closer to home.

Ha Ha, Poor troll. Move up north you shandy drinking puffs!

Ridgeway is close to oxon

Has there ever been a north/south forum weekend ride thing (a kind of cultural exchange). I'm sure we could rustle up a van or two of southern softies.

it's all my fault cos I said the sarf was all Tesco carparks 🙂

As someone said earlier, Oxford is up north, so change your name yeti 🙂

rusty - I wish I could. I think Yeti's are crap and now I don't live in the South wtf is a man supposed to do?!

ST ran a North/South exchange feature a while back. It didn't light my fire.

Tescos!! Waitrose old bean 🙂

We do have some rocks (Exmoor):
[img] [/img]

But we major on singletrack (Mendip):
[img] [/img]

and also on tight, woody trails (Mendip):
[img] [/img]

Thats right you lot think Yorkshire is the North. There`s a fabulous bit above it just before you hit Scotia. But I wont bore you with it, you may come and try to ride it.. God it would be like the Peaks on a weekend, heaven forbid!

Thumbs up to molgrips for not dissing the Southern riding. 8)

As a Welshman and non-Southerner, he could have joined in with some of the moaning Northerners. But no, he was completely open-minded and able to say nice things. 8)

I'm not long in from a 36 mile cross-country ride in Hampshire, only saw 2 walkers. 😉

On the very positive side, within an hour or so's driving, I can enjoy a huge variety of riding/scenery/terrain.

The Southern Yeti - have you ridden around the Lambourn area, heading west?

Lambourn... no. If I'm not hitting uplifts I've been travelling to trail centres as West Ox is just really quite flat and boring. If you can recommend a route that'd be great.

On music advice... loving NY, can't get enough of the Bonnie Prince and will be ordering some Van at the LRS tomorrow. Ta1

* laughs at all the Englanders arguing about which bit of their country is the least shit *

I can send you some gpx routes, haven't been over that way for a couple of years. Added attraction - Ashdown Park - now bought by Pete Townsend, guitarist with The Who.

Pleased that you're enjoying NY but who is this Bonnie Prince? Currently into Rory Gallagher 'Irish Tour'. 8)

Seem to remember that possibly play.com were selling a Van album really cheap?

druid - shut it 😉

People still ride on Hilsea Lines?

Yep, think that's part of some of our routes.

Being born to a southerner and a geordie, and living in North Yorkshire, I'd have to say,"Hey-up there yeh canny lot it all be lovely jubbly, shut tha gobs wi yer pointless bickering an geh oot an ride me owd muckers!"

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blast the rubbish URL thing not working

shut tha gobs wi yer pointless bickering an geh oot an ride me owd muckers!"

cod Yorkshire ?

cod Yorkshire ?

Definition of a mountain
You fall [i]down[/i] a hill, you fall [i]off[/i] a mountain.

Some of the scottish "mountains" are really just big hills despite being over 3000 ft, ( drumochter munro anyone?) whereas some of the non Munros are definitely mountains - Ben Arthur anyone?

I have to say some of the lake district would be mountains to me but not much else. And yes - I have walked or biked in all the high areas of the UK

I don't think anyone is saying there is no good riding down south - clearly there is and some of what there is is very good indeed. The quantocks was some of the best riding I have done. Its just that the quantity and the spread is not the same as further north. There are few areas in the north with no decent riding and most have plenty

cod Yorkshire ?

trying too hard sound like a 'local' person 🙂

And as for London I lived there for a year and visit often. Its awful. the air is horrid, the people are rude and unfriendly and the water is not worth drinking - its horribly claustrophobic as well. Not for me thanks

Londoners - when did you last have a chat with a stranger on public transport? Wheat happens when you smile at someone on the street? here people even thank th4e bus drivers when they get off the bus!

just that the quantity and the spread is not the same as further north.

just that the quantity and the spread is not the same as further north.

Depends what you're into - it's certainly very different. If you think there's anything like the variety of natural technical riding down south, you're deluded. And for long, continuous descents the north wins hands down, purely because of elevation. Half of southerners don't get it because they bypass the best northern riding to hit theme parks like Glentress. Yes there are plenty of exceptions to this on STW, but they just prove the rule.

Representing the North well just one county Yorkshire (ish)
Pace, Orange, On-One, Ragley, Hope (border bandit now Lancs country though)

Representing the Sarth
Whyte

5-1 nuff said

Oh do shut up!
And also in the South - Curtis, Robin Mather, Pipedream (South Wales) Chas Roberts, Argos Cycles, Burls (Custom Ti, no less!) Demon Frameworks... Shall I contine looking? 😉

And a couple from the Midlands, just for good measure - Mercian and Dave Yates 🙂

Yes there are plenty of exceptions to this on STW, but they just prove the rule.

And as for [s]London[/s] Scotland I lived there for a year and visit [s]often.[/s]never again Its awful. the air is [s]horrid[/s] full of bitey insects, the people are [s]rude and unfriendly[/s]bitter closed minded alcoholics and the [s]water[/s] food is not worth [s]drinking[/s] eating - its horribly [s]claustrophobic[/s] old fashioned and primitive as well. Not for me thanks

Yeah, lets all play the regional stereotypes game - huzzah for small mindedness, bigotry and ignorance 😉

Lets face it, UK is not 'mountain central' by any stretch of the imagination, a few rocky hills maybe but very little that most other countries would call a 'proper mountain' - let's just enjoy what we have and ride it before it's gone.......

Definition of a mountain
You fall down a hill, you fall off a mountain.

Phhhhhhhhhhh. More utter garbage. TJ, you can 'fall off' a brick wall, but it don't make it a frikkin' mountain, or any different to 'falling down' your bleedin' stairs! 😀

Representing the North well just one county Yorkshire (ish)
Pace, Orange, On-One, Ragley,

shed bikes and warranty claims - nice 😆

What 'rule' is this, please?

the rule that any gobby northerner always quotes when proved wrong 😆 😆

I shouldn't, but PMSL @ Hilldodger! 8)

The rule that says tons of southern riders who venture out seem to drive for hours to reach Scottish trail centres rather than hit real trails in real hills and mountains far closer to home in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria etc etc. As far as I'm concerned, long may this continue. I'm not saying all southern riding's sh*t, it's just a certain type of riding and generally not for me or the folk I ride with.

PMSL even more at the 'fall [i]off[/i] a ladder and fall [i]down[/i] the stairs' comment, new keyboard please mine's full of coffee....

Jeez, I think it was my uncle Billy, in the institute, who last said to me "How can it be mountain biking when there aren't any mountains. Cough. Spit. Wibble" before he shat in his hand and passed it to the nurse.
Now they're saying it on here.

FFS

The dark peak is pretty cr4p really, when I leave home on a sunday morning and ride 400 yards down the road to the bridleway that takes me out of sheffield and don't come home till dark having not ridden the same trail twice all day, I often wish I was able to load the bike onto the car and drive for an hour or 2 to get to a car park in a forest with a visitor centre and toilets so that I can buy a map of the trails and then follow other people round the same 10k route back to the car park, that would be so much more fun.
I'm just so jealous of you guys in the south east

I live in one of the larger cities in the South East. From my house I have two minutes of riding on tarmac, then I'm offroad and can ride a mix of technical woodland singletrack and fast open hills for a good few day's worth of riding before repeating myself. Like I said, rubbish!

I will bite
I live in Glorious green surrey - we have some of the best woodland singletrack in the country with plenty of gnar if you know where to look.
We also have great riding down south in the Quantocks, UK bike park and welsh trail centres etc - but also some really quite shit riding!!

When we venture out of this god forsaken place we tend to go and ride stuff like this [url] http://www.flickr.com/photos/71958789@N00/sets/72157623770296923/show/ [/url]
as its very different to what we normally ride - but we normally don't see many northerners/locals on this sort of stuff as they all seem to be juts blasting down rocky fireroads which seems pretty dull to me 🙄

All I am trying to say is that there is great riding all around this glorious country of ours - but also plenty of crap riding north and south.

The rule that says tons of southern riders who venture out seem to drive for hours to reach Scottish trail centres rather than hit real trails in real hills and mountains far closer to home in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria etc etc. As far as I'm concerned, long may this continue. I'm not saying all southern riding's sh*t, it's just a certain type of riding and generally not for me or the folk I ride with.

So, not actually a [i]rule[/i] then, just a point of view or preference? 🙂

And of course NOBODY in the North [i]ever[/i] vistits any of the trail centres, ohhh noooooooo.... 😉

PP - the definition of a mountain was lighthearted - its at least as sensible a defintion as any other

As for London - I lived there for a year. Thats my experience.

Riding - how much riding is there within 30 miles of central london? Come off it - due to the population density there simply cannot be the same amount of riding available. Look at a map FFS. There is no need to be so defensive, reread what I wrote. Even some of the southerners on this thread admit there is not much around them

I don't think anyone is saying there is no good riding down south - clearly there is and some of what there is is very good indeed. The quantocks was some of the best riding I have done. Its just that the quantity and the spread is not the same as further north. There are few areas in the north with no decent riding and most have plenty

From my flat I can ride west east or south ( no need to get into a car) and ride many hundreds of miles of trail from woody twisty singletrack to wide open moorland to old industrial stuff

and obviously, being southerners we've never ridden anywhere else in the country...

Mountain biking is about what you make of it, other than living somewhere very flat, there's good biking most places.

Whatever. You don't see many folks heading south to ride though.

Methinks the men doth protest too much

wl - I did to sample the quantocks and I am sure other areas are worth it as well