[Closed] Would you/do you live somewhere with rubbish riding?

I have a map of the UK in my head with "no go" areas due to crap access to the outdoors for riding and hills.

I moved to the Fens from Bristol last year. It's been a great move apart from the riding, even the road biking is nowhere as good. Thetford and Woburn aren't too far which aren't too bad but I miss riding from my door.

No I wouldn't.
It was an active decision to live where I do based on the presence of hills.
We were offered a house in the flatlands around York for silly money, but just couldn't bring ourselves to go there.

I do. It's a bit rubbish but I've never lived anywhere with good riding so MTBing has always been something that involves loading up the car and driving for 1 hour + each way.

If I moved from the middle of the peaks to here then I'm sure I'd hate it, but it's easier to live without something that I've never had.

I've been out twice in the two years I've lived here. It's very flat, footpaths and bridleways are just around the edge of fields, not thorugh woods or anything. And it's muddy. It's always muddy. Not in a fun-slippy-slidey manner, just in a "oh, I've got 15lbs of clay stuck to each wheel. In fact, my front wheel isn't even spinning any more, it's just sliding forwards, propelled by the disc of mud on the back".

There is a local riding group but they all seem to ride singlespeeds and rigids so i suspect that's the only way to make the local riding interesting.

I'm with cheers_drive, i've just moved to the Fens as well, surprised by the number of mountain bikers i've met bearing in mind the riding is rubbish.

I moved from Surrey and had Ash Ranges, Tunnel Hill, Swinley all on my doorstep. So i do miss quality riding and my old bike club a lot, but on the flip side, for the same price of my 2 bedroom flat in Surrey, we have a 3 bed house with big garden in Norfolk and we are near the in-laws so child care costs have halfed and i no longer have a 128 mile round commute on the M25 every day which is a huge plus.

So as much as i really miss quality riding, my family came first (a with it my sanity a bit)

A lot of Cheshire is very flat and it has one of the lowest levels of bridleways per square mile (or however they calculate it) of any county in England, which makes it a bit dull for riding round.

But (and this is a BIG BUT) it is perfectly placed for accessing so many other areas of the UK for excellent riding I don't mind in the slightest, especially as I moved here from Brum and it's a whole load better than living in a huge urban conurbation like that.

@cheers_drive, where abouts in the Fens are you??

Sure I would - riding's important, but it's a million miles behind one or two other considerations in life.

Besides, human beings are infinitely adaptable - that's why we run the show here on planet earth. Just look at how many people are happy to ride the Surrey Hills - people can adjust to turning the pedals over anything - just need some trees and a yard of grass.

Nope. Its one of the main reasons I live where I do

Some pictures snapped on my commute home from the office:

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How the hell anyone lives in somewhere like central London is completely beyond me. What kind of existence is that? 😉

Where are you based binners (roughly)?

I live in Hull, so the local riding is pretty rubbish - it's flat. But I can be on some nice country lanes on the road bike in half an hour, and it's only an hour and a half to the Peak, Sheffield, the Moors and Dalby amongst others, and not much further to the Pennines and the Dales, then not much further than THAT to the Lakes... The fact that I have to drive to have a nice day mountain biking is offset that I can live in a nice house, near my friends for about half the cost of most places 😀

That said, if (when) we do move, it will likely be to somewhere with better hill access.

I'm in Ramsbottom fella. I can head straight out of my door and get some fantastic, really varied loops in over the moors, including Cragg and Lee quarry. Basically; I'm spoilt rotten 😀 This is at the bottom of my last 3 mile descent before home….

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^^Norveners with their pissy crappy beer^^

Pfft.

😉

I do. North London (shove it Binners). Although I can get to decent riding in under an hour so it's not a total loss.
For what it's worth prior to this my local riding was the North Yorks Moors, then Hamsterley and around Durham, then Grenoside (Steve Peat's patch).
I plan on being closer to the trails with my next move...

Looks spot on, but then I can't grumble with the White Peak/Matlock etc from my doorstep and Dark Peak half an hour in the car

Off up Greno woods next Sunday brakes for a bit of BPW practice

A lot of Cheshire is very flat and it has one of the lowest levels of bridleways per square mile (or however they calculate it) of any county in England, which makes it a bit dull for riding round.

But (and this is a BIG BUT) it is perfectly placed for accessing so many other areas of the UK for excellent riding I don't mind in the slightest,

This..

I too live in the Cheshire [s]Plane..[/s] Plain, thanksfully have a car and a fuel card, so can happily drive out to better spots at the weekend..

Off up Greno woods next Sunday brakes for a bit of BPW practice

is BPW wet and muddy all the time too? 🙂

@scud -Ely

In the week yes, Lonjons not that inspiring TBH, sometimes it's ok but in the main it's a bit of a pain.
However I substitute that with trips home on the coast to make up for it.

Used to live in Bristol.
Saw the light and defected from Road Cycling to Mountainbiking, and at about the same time took up skiing too.
Then promptly moved to the Netherlands!

At least I moved to Germany 4 years later 🙂 But it's disappointing having to ride a whole 7 minutes on a few back streets to get to the forest 😉

Not been up Greno before (done loads up Wharncliffe), but I've heard Greno holds up to the weather a bit better than Wharny

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Should I stop it now? 😆

I'd move to the tweed valley in an instant if I didn't work in Glasgow.

Yeah I live in the East Midlands, hence why I bought a road bike! Still not sure how I got into MTB living here to be honest. Got loads of skateparks though hence why I got a bmx again. I wouldn't move any further east as the nearest good trails are Woburn which is still a good 40 minute drive from me. Would love to move up north or more west towards wales.

I hope to never have to live in London or a big city, have a nice easy commute to MK which is fine for me as I work on the outskirts so never have to venture into a city unless I want to!

No, my last move was because it had more accessible riding from the door, sacrificed a garage for it!

The reason I ride mountain bikes is because of where I live and grew up (hills and woodlands all around), this must be the case for a large percentage of MTB-ers I guess. I can't imagine I would have even got into mountain biking if I lived in a flat feature-less environment like London or Norfolk! If I had to up-sticks and relocate one of the main criteria would be good local riding.

brakes - Member

I do. North London (shove it Binners). Although I can get to decent riding in under an hour so it's not a total loss.
For what it's worth prior to this my local riding was the North Yorks Moors, then Hamsterley and around Durham, then Grenoside (Steve Peat's patch).
I plan on being closer to the trails with my next move...

Typical that I spend my youth in Co. Durham with the Dales & Moors on the doorstep and the Lakes an hour away. Its only when I moved to London that I discovered mountain biking. Up until that point I though all geography south of the Peak District was crap. Since riding mtb I've discovered that the North Downs, South Downs, Kent, Sussex, Surrey Hills, Woburn are interesting and at least I'm not living in the Fens. Its also quicker getting from SE London to the Alps than NW Scotland.

I'm in now Colchester. It is unbelievably flat! Really miss the big hills.

Should I stop it now?

Post as many pictures of bleak featureless moorland double track as you like, I'm not bothered!

Personally I'm not sure I would, unless there were some truly irresistible reasons to go.

Born a lived all my life in Wales so not really been a concern. But now when looking at jobs I think about it, if I am going to uproot my family and move somewhere it better have some good riding about.

Just one last piece of bleak featureless moorland double track, in my back yard, just for you njee 😀

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Its shiiiiiiite living round here!

In York here, so it's about an hours drive to get to the hills which is a bit of a pain. Its a similar distance to get to the moors, dales or sherwood pines so atleast its not all the same.

Can't get much flatter than the Vale of York. My 7 mile commute has an altitude change of 16ft.
I grew up exploring the forestry/moors outside Scarborough and have lived in Sheffield, so I miss the hills.
Wouldn't move though. Area and people are lovely and we're only 2 miles wobbly ride from one of the best CAMRA real ale pubs in Yorkshire (Ferry Boat Arms in Thorganby).

Moved from North Wales to Nottingham just over a year ago. I've hardly ridden the last 3 months. I would move back in an instant, but she wants to stay in Notts as she prefers city life.

Post as many pictures of bleak featureless moorland double track as you like, I'm not bothered!

I live a couple of miles from Brechfa, and mountainbiking was one of the reasons I moved here. I couldn't live in a town.

"Would you/do you live somewhere with rubbish riding?" - I doubt it, but not just because of mountainbiking.

Recently moved from the Chilterns to the Isle of Wight. I've sacrificed having Aston Hill within a few miles and loads of great cheeky trail within seconds of being out my front door, to being able to surf within a 30 minute drive (OK, it's nearer 40 minutes with traffic) and having to ride for 20 minutes to hit my first piece of decent singletrack.

I would lie if I said I didn't miss the access I previously enjoyed, but there's still good riding and a good scene where I am know so can't moan too much.

Would I move somewhere with no easy access to trails? Not on your nelly.

I live in Leicestershire and whilst the vast majority of Leicestershire is awful, my little corner is actually alright.

However virtually all the interesting riding is cheeky.

I have a big hilly country park 15 mins from my door, which is generally rideable year round though I'm avoiding it at the moment.

On the far side of that park, I have a wood lovely woodsy singletrack, that's OK most of the year.
5 mins ride from my door there is another wood that is a great in the summer but is a quagmire some of the time.

Beyond that there are lots of dull bridleways around the edges of fields and lots of Sustrans tracks of varying type and quality.

There is also the moderately entertaining Hicks Lodge 20mins drive away (or a couple of hours spin on Sustrans route 63)

You can also get into the Peaks or Cannock within an hour and to Long Mynd in 90 mins.

Yes, I would.

I used to hunt for jobs etc only in places with good riding nearby when i was in my 20's.

However, this all change after yet another redundancy a few years back, followed by a failed relationship.

Suddenly MTBing didn't seem so important, so MTBing is on the back burner for a while. Need to get on top of my career and relationship first, and that means living in the best place for those things as a first priority. I decided to think about long term happiness rather than what i'll be doing at the weekend.

Oh, and as an aside, about five minutes either direction from the door these days and I'm out of the village and in to the hills. Haven't had time to get out and explore properly as yet, though. 😳

I have a big hilly country park 15 mins from my door, which is generally rideable year round though I'm avoiding it at the moment.

We're past rutting season aren't we? Or are the rangers out in force?

We're past rutting season aren't we? Or are the rangers out in force?

It's wet as ****! Give it a couple of dry-ish weeks and I'll be back in there...

For my own sanity, if I lived somewhere miles from decent riding I'd take up a different hobby.

Calderdale. Its rubbish - wished I lived somewhere with decent riding like the Lakes or the Scottish Borders.