Also, there are 'official' trails there.
There will not ever be some kind of announcement by the landowner that you can now ride the unofficial trails again.
Imagine what that opens up for them.
Hopefully, people will be sensible (lolz) and eventually it'll just become quietly tolerated again like before.
Unlikely to happen in the current situation though as everywhere is under immense pressure from visitors.
Kayak has it right.
If you ride it, ride as sensibly as possible (given current hospital capacity that should be obvious), be polite, obey the country code. And perhaps not engage on social media that you’ve been riding it - just a thought.
Cool thanks for the info guys. I see the red route is fully open or at least some of the diversions are removed if not fully open. So I'll carry riding over that side for now and let things settle over the other side of the woods.
The red route is only missing only one small section
The blue is a bit to bogey at the moment
Glad to see back wood isn't on trail forks anymore.
Did both Red and Blue at the weekend. The Red is running well. One of my favourite sections still not open, no idea what it’s called, but narrow downhill leading to the switchback climb.
The blue is a bit naff due to the boggyness of that side. Had to get off and push on two occasions.
I won’t venture back to the off-piste area until after lockdown. Only because I’m a bit of a naff rider and can see myself going over the bars at the end of rollercoaster!!
I don’t know the trails and have never been…however, if there are other established tracks to the existing bridleway, especially if they connect to other bridleways and roads, it sounds like the local riders would have no problem proving constant use/evidence and getting them added to the definitive map and ensuring access in the future.
This is quite likely to completely piss off the landowner. At least it has done so locally (Cambridgeshire).
So far he has been pretty reasonable, although a number of "permissive footpath only" signs have recently gone up.
I was thinking at the weekend on the Red trail that now the trees have gone and it’s been opened up (visually), I was avoiding more walkers than I have ever encountered over on the non official side.
There is one fairly fast section (small chute after the ridge into the pumpy area), anyway, I had to take avoiding action due to kids being on the trail running right to the bottom of the chute.....Luckily I’d guessed what was going to happen so was able to turn left rather than follow the trail.
The guys maintaining the trail though, hats off. With what they have to work with they’ve done a great job.
Woburn trails are, and will always be carefully approached subject with the land-owners and GST. With the increasing popularity, keeping trails official has become an ever increasing issue. Even now, new cheeky trails have been recently dug off the red and blue and it chips away at the trust and gives us trail builder more work.
The guys maintaining the trail though, hats off. With what they have to work with they’ve done a great job.
Mike, Woburn Trails's tireless whip, has recently been recognised by IMBA as a Trail Advocate of 2020 so it's nice knowing the collective efforts are recognised, thank you, next time I can get out and dig I'll pass the sentiments on. Especially when we only have thick sludge or dry sand to play with most of the time.
@woodster I think the trail that’s not back open yet is Peacocks Pass (but I’m crap with the names). Either way, back before it became part of the official loop it was perhaps a little more technical but just petered out onto the bridleway at the bottom. It’s a better all round segment now it has the switchback climbs back up before you cross to Empire. Mike, as mentioned above, is a riding mate, and we have him to thank for that - loves a bloody climb that man 😉
On the Woburn topic, the bike park is closed now due to covid.
The backside by the church was never official, but a few of the trails are as well maintained as the official loops.
