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Hello. I live in British Columbia, Canada and am over in south England for a few weeks. I do lots of mountain biking back home and would really love to discover some of the trails while over here. My friend has some meetings down in Bournemouth and I was thinking of heading down that way. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on where to find some fun single track riding. Is it all well sign posted or some good maps that we would need? Also we did not bring our bikes and have never ridden in the UK before so any good rental shops and advice on the right bike to hire for the terrain? would love any tips. Thanks
Emma
Best bet is probably to find a shop near where you're staying that has a regular shop ride and tag along. Shop may have demo/rental bikes you can use too.
A fairly good place to start
[url= http://singletrackworld.com/trailguide/uk/south-east/the-south-downs/ ]http://singletrackworld.com/trailguide/uk/south-east/the-south-downs/[/url]
[url= http://www.southdownsway.co.uk/ ]http://www.southdownsway.co.uk/[/url]
Welcome! Bournemouth isn't in the South Downs, it's actually in Dorset. However you'll be very close to the Purbecks which offers fantastic riding. It won't be purpose-built single track but there will be some technical sections.
Hi.
Bournemouth isn't the southdowns (just making sure you know 🙂 )
southdowns is winchester - eastbourne & some great riding to be had.
near bournemouth is the purbecks. lovely scenic riding, with views of the sea. charlie the bike monger has a shop in swanage which does bike hire.
new forest is also near by - nothing techical or many hills but lovely country side with free roaming animals. loads of bike hire in burley or brockenhurst.
no signposted routes in any of these areas. an ordanance survey map would be ideal (assuming you can read a map?) but lots of bike shops will have maps of marked rides.
Could be worth asking this lot
[url= http://www.dorsetroughriders.co.uk/ ]http://www.dorsetroughriders.co.uk/[/url]
uk bike park (aka okeford hill) is that neck of the woods. Smallish hill, but good fun
Thanks guys for your advice and yes I did think Bournemouth was in south downs hahaha. I will now look into some biking in new forest. We have not booked accommodation, I want to find an area I want to bike and then book.
Honestly, the Purbecks are a million times better than the New Forest for cycling. New Forest is dull, parochial and hate people riding bikes.
Emma the New Forest is basically flat and the riding on gravel paths - not my cup of tea. As per @cinamon's post the Purbeck riding is much more interesting with scope to take in some sea views (note the coastal paths are mostly off limits to bikes and can be a bit dangerous in places as they are cliff top - best walked). The pub at Worth Matravers is worth stopping at.
The magazine did a route guide years ago, have a read of this
http://singletrackworld.com/trailguide/uk/south-west/the-isle-of-purbeck/
If you don't have a car you could even ride out from Bournmouth and over the chain ferry at Poole, the dunes there are very nice and you can ride into Swanage fir an ice-cream