If you were to split the country into mountain biking regions, how would you do it? What would your lines be? Where would you draw them? How would you draw them? How would you self identify e.g. I'm a rider from...
humour me.
Derbyshire
Swindon. (Woods sub-branch)
Chilterns
Our local Trail Association is Badenoch and Strathspey. I guess that's specific enough.
Tweed Valley here.
I actually live 10 miles from the Tweed Valley but that's what I say if I'm talking to another mountain biker because they've heard of that and not Wedale where I actually live
Central Highlands
The Mighty 'Pines!
Dartmoor and exmoor.
Forest of Dean
Derbyshire Dales and the White Peak is my locality
SW England - Quantocks, Mendips, Exmoor, Dartmoor, and a host of local hotspots like Haldon, Gawton Woodbury, East Devon etc etc.
That is a pretty huge area in terms of square miles and could possibly be split into north and south.
Calderdale
Eastern Highlands.
Everything from Comrie Croft in the west, through Dunkeld and Pitlochry, to Strathmore and the Southern Cairngorms/Angus Glens, then Deeside and as far as Drumtochty.
Mine woods...
North Lakes
Peaks
Pennines
Wales N / S
lakes
tweedvalley
proper scotland
northeast
everywhere else..
Tayside I guess
Northern Highlands. Anything north of the Great Glen.
The south of England - confusing network of nadgery footpaths and bridleways and BOATS and things.
The north of England - eroded cart tracks across moorland
Scotland - delightful singletrack that requires you to drag your bike thru a bog to get to it
Wales - pot noodle miners paths
I'm a lapsed, practising manualist.
Simple
Where theres hills and mountains theres Mountain bikers .. Not many 160mm front and backs around Lincolnshore 🙂
The Marches. Takes in a load of Shropshire riding hotspots and lots of natural riding across the border in the Clywdian hills, Radnor forest, the Cambrian mountains etc. Outside the area, but easily accessible from it are: FoD; Cannock; the trail centres in North and South Wales.
If I had to divide up the UK into MTB regions then, with a bit of wild generalization to avoid a silly long list I'd go with:
Northern Scotland / Highlands: Where the wild haggis roam.
Tweed Valley: Cool kids camp
The Lakes/Cumbria, lovely if it would only stop raining for 5 minutes
North Wales/Snowdonia, see above.
South Wales Valleys BPW/Trail Centre scene
Peak District/Yorkshire region, basically the cult of Peaty.
'Central' England, really just Cannock Chase in the midst of sweet FA else.
Chilterns: Stockbrokers on carbon XC bikes.
East Anglia: Fenduro!
North Downs/Surrey Hills - Basically the Tweed Valley but with even newer T6's
Southdowns: Spiritual home of mint sauce.
South West: Cider in sport
I’m a rider from…
St Aidens nature reserve and Temple Newsem, Canal from Woodelsford to Leeds.....
I don't think I've ridden my MTB since October last year!
Great list Hatter, gave me a couple of LOLs.
Just one thing. You missed out the awesome Shropshire (and mid-Wales borders) trails, would they go in with...
‘Central’ England, really just Cannock Chase in the midst of sweet FA else.
Oh, and does FoD get lumped in with the Valleys?
Mordor.
‘Central’ England, really just Cannock Chase in the midst of sweet FA else
Great list, apart from this shocker! Eastridge, Bucknell, Hopton, Bringewood - all home to an epic DH series and regular uplifts courtesy of Pearce Cycles. Mortimer Forest, the Long Mynd, Caer Caradoc, Wrekin, Wyre Forest, Bury Ditches, etc. etc.
And you forgot Mid Wales! Dyfi forest? Macynthleth? Revs? Radnor? Cambrian mountains? Hafren etc.?
7 Stanes West
Tweed Valley
Cairngorms
N E Scotland
NW Scotland
Lakes
Peaks
Forest of Bowland
North Wales
South Wales
Yorkshire
FoD
Middle flat bit including Cannock
South East
Quantocks and Exmoor
Dartmoor
South West Other
South Downs
Surrey Hills
South East Other
Swinley and surrounds.
Central’ England, really just Cannock Chase in the midst of sweet FA else.
.
Middle flat bit including Cannock
.
North Wales
South Wales
I'm so chuffed so few people know about the Marches, Shropshire hills and mid Wales. Nothing to see - move along 🙂
Chilterns to the north, Thames Basin Heaths to the south (Swinley, Tunnel Hill, Crowthorne, Cesars camp, Minley)
Shropshire hills
I'm still trying to get mrs weeksy to move to Hopton.
Peaks?
The Peak District I consider 2 completely different areas
Dark Peak rocky and steep
White Peak rolling and muddy
(note the lack of a letter s)
otherwise from my limited knowledge I reckon shortcut has it nailed
My attempts to keep the list to a sensible length means I inevitably skipped a few bits (like the entirety of Northern Ireland!)
Oh, and does FoD get lumped in with the Valleys? - Yes similar ''M4 corridor' crowd and likelihood of getting your bike nicked.
I see Swinley as being right on the border between 'Chilterns' and 'North Downs', areas and is populated by an almost exact 50/50 mix of stockbrokers on XC bikes and overbiked middle aged Gnaaaar fiends, my original classification therefore still stands.
Shropshire and the borders is a point though, doesn't really have the same feel as either of the Wales's
So I'd add - 'Anywhere within an hour's drive of a Pearce Cycles uplift' to the list but that's it!
I'd draw a line down and east from the bottom of the Peak District. In that box there is no land higher than 300m, so it's not a mountain biking region.
I ride at Woburn
A small wood on the south edge of Milton Keynes
The area has one major redeeming feature. The Greensand drains well
Actually I don’t get there that often as I ride from the house on my gravel bike. But it’s a good mtb land mark. Chicksands is the same distance the other way
Salop.
Saddleworth/North Peaks
The Valley, Calderdale Valley..
It's very similar to rock climbing as the major difference in location is the rock type. I grew up riding on Gritstone in the NW so riding in the Dark Peak or West Yorks is similar. Even Scottish granite shares mainly the same skills but on a bigger scale.
UK or GB...🤔
duplicate post deleted
In order of goodness:
Scotland
Wales
Northern Ireland
England
