Being dragged to Leicester for two days a week on a work placement starting August until Christmas,
Have never been to that neck of the woods before, so what are the highlights, lowlights, where should I look to stay? is it worth taking the bike?
Any advice welcome.....
Leicester has a pretty good jump/bmx track in Western Park, Bradgate Park is nice to walk around, otherwise, it ain't the Mae West...
First multicultural city on Earth apparently!
take a road bike not a mountain bike, I've never lived anywhere with less bridleways, there aren't many cheeky trails either.
SE bit is probably the best but really it is all a bit of a s***hole.
It's shite. Utter utter shite. I moved 12 years ago and don't regret it for a second! Having said that, it's pretty good for a curry. As above, take a road bike
I live in scotland now but did live in leicester for quite a while. best places i found to ride are swithland woods,bradgate park, western park, martinshaw woods , and thringstone woods.
dryroasted +1
dont personally know Leicester as I'm more Derby but have ridden all those (largly cheeky) places and they can fill a few hours, which is plenty long enough when you have cannock or the Peaks within 60-90 mintes drive for anything more serious
Bradgate Park is nice for a walk / family day out too
No family walks or possibility to commute 60 miles for a ride, this is the full Alan Partridge style travel lodge existence.....
Doesn't sound hopefull!
Leicester is a shithole. For one.....I live nearby. That should be enough to put you off.
It's not worth taking your bike, the last time my brother went BMXing there he had to fight off a dozen Somalian lads (with only one mate to help) who tried to rob his bike.
A friend of mine was just murdered by 13 year olds, they beat him to death in the street last saturday for refusing to sell them alcohol.
Enjoy. If you want a nice day out and an easy XC ride, your best bet would be to get on the train to Oakham and cycle round Rutland water. It's rather pretty. Within striking distance by car are also Sherwood forest (okay), Wakerly (meh), Cannock Chase (good) and Chicksands (good).
Lived there for 3 years at uni and I liked it. Not amazing but it's small enough that all pubs, bars etc are in easy walking distance. Western Park is awesome if you're into jumps. The guys who build the jumps there are sound as well. Places in the centre and around the uni's are good for street if you're into bmx at all. Not anything to ride a mtb on though unless you like jumping on 26".
In my life I have had two bikeless years, one in Leicester and one in Barcelona. I walked or drove everywhere in Leicester, be careful on the buses. I disagree about multicultural, one token white does not make a class of 30 kids of the same ethnic origin multicultural.
Has no one mentioned crisps yet?
Hmm, that's a bleak picture painted of Leicester.
I've lived here all my life, albeit not in the city centre.
Yes, it's true, there are very few MTB paths/routes within riding distance. There must be 20 bridlepaths within 2 miles of me, yet they all have gates every few hundred metres, making a ride out exceedingly tedious.
The minor roads South are pleasant for road riding, very few cars around.
As for the violence, maybe I've lived in a sheltered cocoon, but I've never experienced anything as described above.
There are some areas where I wouldn't think of living in,but nowhere where I would not visit, or go to do jobs there.
Traffic is bloody awful. It is on a par with central London - yes really. Nowhere else (but London) has such a badly designed road system. So try and get somewhere close to where you are working.
A friend of mine was just murdered by 13 year olds, they beat him to death in the street last saturday for refusing to sell them alcohol.
Seriously Bwaarp sorry to hear about your mate, but this can't be representative of a city.
I would say that Leicester had more casual violence than anywhere else Ive been. Are you looking at my pint type brawls, but that's still shocking.
refuse to come,
its a s h i t hole
there is no riding (even the road stuff is pants) the people are ****y, the only way you would manage to have fun is if you bring a play bike and hang out at weston park, that's literally the highlight of living in the depressing hellish scrotum of the uk
I live near Leicester and the first thing I would say is try to be 'billeted' out of the city, but on a train line.
There is good(ish) MTBing to be had, but you need to ride the naughty stuff early to avoid being chased by rangers (aka the fun police). You can string together a reasonable 60% offroad route of 20 miles in Charnwood Forest if you don't mind riding footpaths and outrunning rangers in landrovers (anyone local knows where I am talking about). I can do a 110m height gain climb pretty much out of my front door, where there's hills, there's thrills - you just have to avoid people who want to clamp down on any form of enjoyment at all.
I have to agree with the 'casual violence' quote, though. I often said to my uni mates when we went out in Newcastle that there were lots of scuffles in the Bigg Market, but that they were almost governed by some unwritten code, in Leicester, there would have been at least ten people involved.
I've been out on the lash in countless towns and cities in Britain, and the only place I've been that's more intimidating is Oldham. You know, that kind of 'there's something bubbling under the surface in this place and it's going to kick off' feeling you get.
On the plus sides, though - very, very good for a curry and all manner of indian food and the best rugby team in the country!
dannyh has it pretty well summed up. If you end up south of Leicester, there's a town called Market Harborough which my brother is manager of the LBS, the owner runs a MTB club that I helped set up years ago, Cats MTB. They do regular rides so could be worth looking up. Train into the center of Leicester is sub 15m I think
transapp is that the bike shop opposite Emerson & Wests that do the loverly hot pork and beef rolls?
yep, that's the one
Keep meaning to pop and have a look when i'm over that way.
Had the odd scrap in my uni days in Leicester, loved my time there, can't ever remember it being the centre of violence tho! It is 15 yrs ago tho and I do remember back then tbe odd bit of racial tension!
Lived around the area on and off all my life and can't say I've ever felt intimidated ever when I've been out. Lots of cultures mixing together well on the whole. It is no different to any other city in the country, they all have areas that are a bit dodgy just be careful if you go to them. . . . . . . Thinking about it I am hard a nails though! 😉
ell me about........Leicester......
It's the capital of India ... no?
😆
I'm not exactly soft but quit (as in walked out with my girlfriend in tow half way through a class) a Leicester school rather than have to defend myself (which given the way the system works would have resulted in me being suspended and prosectuted rather than the thugs). My female head of department had already been punched in the face by the thug and there was a burnt out car in the teachers' car park (the thug was threatening to burn my car amongst other things). I would like to thank the thugs for provoking some of the best decisions I've ever made - including leaving Leicester.
Never once felt unsafe in Leicester, you guys must have been in some really shit areas!
Did a pub refurb on Belvoir Street many years ago. They pronounce it Beaver Street, crazy cats, all of them!
I used to live at the top of Belvoir Bank, pronounced Beaver Bank.
Smart people them leicesertshirians.
Oh yes, mate of mine had a hair dressers on belvoir street. Not a bad area and close to the bars etc. I lived near to Filbert street, and then on East Park Road, both quite shit areas, however all my scrapes were nowhere near where I lived and in the bars in the city centre (both the normal and the Indian centres)
Still freakin hate the place.
Don't think im helping the op somehow!
Cheese ?
[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumont_Leys ]Avoid[/url]
Google "beaumont leys assault" if you doubt the above posters who point to high levels of violence in parts of the city.
Lived in leic for most of my life,cant say im sorry to have it in the rear view mirror now though, martin shaw woods, trails round mount sorrel and the bomb hole near croft hill are all good sports for a ride.
As for it being rough in the town, it can get bad (match days,jd sports sale,etc) but no worse than anywhere else ive lived, malvern, london and dorset inc, everywhere has chav's and scum bags these days, just a sad fact,,,, But I wouldnt let the stories posted above put you off altogether
Smart people them leicesertshirians.
Smart? I bet they drop the second syllable too? 🙄
[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Matthew%27s,_Leicester ]St. Matthews - statistically the most income deprived area of Britain[/url]
Edit: Beaumont Leys - pah, there's a police station there. Even the police daren't take on the Somalian gangs in St Matthews...
wow, leicester sounds bad, but to be fair, i feel uneasy there these days, i've never found unease on ethnics grounds, but the mix is different now.
The ridings not great, the 'decent' places have been named but theres round staunton harold which is ok.
I dont agree with the crapness of road riding, in my part of leics, there great lanes stretching to hinckley and into warks, you can go east into the wreake and onto rutland and south leics is nice. Really good road scene also.
Ashbyalien
organdonor,
when i was in lri having my elbow reattached i was in abed next to a st matthews scag head. He'd broke his leg jumping over the railings on the inner ring road, got his foot caught in the top and ripped his leg apart.
aa,
nice.
When I was in LRI having a cast taken off my arm, the guy before me in reception to have his (arm) cast removed had the exact same name as me...
Leicester - a place of wonderful coincidences?
lol.
Lri, not a happy place to be.
Lovely aneathnatist (sp) aa i remember
Also, everyone in Leicester is ****ing ugly. During a day out in the city center...One in about 100 women is attractive or non-obese, on a day out in Oxford, even in the parts around Blackbird Leys, it's more like 1 in 10.
I feel attractive in Leicester and I look a bit like Pete Doherty which tells you something. 
BTW, where are all these illegal trails? I need to find them! Can anyone suggest some more decent rides in the Leicestershire region? Or want to meet up for a ride? I don't mind dodging rangers.
Swithland woods
Braggy Park
Weston Park
Belvoir loop
That is the sum total of riding here, there is the odd decent bridle way but they join nothing.
If you find said illegal trails tell me where they are.
Bit further out of Leicester between Whitwick and Thringstone, the trails through Cademan and Grace Dieu woods are good, quite a few different routes to choose from. You can also include Whitwick Quarry, Bardon Hill and Blackbrook Reservoir if you want a longer ride. 😉
oi, thats my patch, don't you go bringing outsiders in... 😉
specially them good looking charismatic ones!
Sounds like a few people have had bad experiences of Leicester, but in all honesty it’s not much different from any other city of a similar size in the UK. It has some rough areas, but as a contrast a few of us were in the city centre this Saturday, had a few beers in a couple of nice bars followed by a very decent Italian, all very civilised and completely harmless.
There is loads of mountain biking once you get away from the city, and where I live in South Leics a thriving mountain biking community. It’s not technical, but there are miles and miles of bridleways for XC style riding – and this very quickly gets you into quite beautiful typical English countryside with great pubs. There are a couple of very good cycle clubs, and the FNSS series is great fun.
I’ve lived in the area 12 years now, and I’m pretty well travelled – it really isn’t as bad as some on here would have you believe. One myth though – the curries are pretty average compared to the West Midlands or Bradford!
‘Harry too’ – drop me an email once you get here, we’ll take you out for a ride one evening and show you a few places that will put a smile on your face I’m sure.
Worked in Leicester for a year and a half. Lived in Nottingham, really don't like Leicester. Nothing going for it, when you have Nottingham only 30/40 mins away.
Having said that Leicestershire countryside is nice, no mountains, but nice.
