any "easy" mtbing in UK? or does it all *have* to be technical

Increasingly of late, I fundamentally don’t like the technical / difficult bits of mountain biking. Does this mean it’s not for me any more?

The enjoyment pretty much solely comes from exercise, being out in the countryside, and whizzing along quite fast. I fail to derive any enjoyment whatsoever from the challenge of ‘cleaning’ a section, jumps, crashing, seeing mates crash, having to keep stopping, etc.

My ideal day out on the mtb is fast flowing, smooth, singletrack, with no rock gardens, sheer drops off one side, unrideable sections, mud, gates, or any other things that cause me to have to do something other than be riding my bike. But it seems this isn’t what most of the natural countryside can offer (e.g. peaks) or even what most mtbers want these days – which is why hardly any trail centres have that (a slight exception being sherwood pines) – consequently I just haven’t bothered doing much mtbing recently, always going out on my road bike instead.
The more I don’t use it, the more alien it feels when I do with its bounciness and its big wide handlebars and fat noisy tyres.

Is there not anything in the UK that’s a nice long ride, doesn’t matter how much climbing as long as it’s all rideable, but fairly ‘easy’, i.e. not particularly technical or perilous?

with no mud

now that is funny.

nice sly way to get your advert on the front page though…

Apart from the mud bit, there’s a million miles of what you want in Scotland. The trail centres don’t tend to do it because it’s so well covered by the un-purpose-built (though, I suppose Mabie comes close)

I don’t know the peaks at all though so can’t commend on that but it’s a big country.

sorry, I’ll remove it, I suppose it is a bit cheeky. Was thinking of making just one post but couldn’t decide which section to put it in.

May I be the first to suggest joining the RSF, or just get a touring bike and do some long back road tours.

http://www.rsf.org.uk/

try the south?

Natural trail is still like it was Parks People keep trying to make trail for you by smoothing out technical but it always erodes back to “Fun”.

Some of the blue trail centre route may be what your looking for.

Is there not anything in the UK that’s a nice long ride, doesn’t matter how much climbing as long as it’s all rideable, but fairly ‘easy’, i.e. not particularly technical or perilous?

Sounds like you should move to the south east. 😉

I have to say though, having done a fair bit of ‘easy’ riding in France in gentle rolling hills – I thought I might be bored but I really enjoyed it. It was great for my health/fitness too. There’s really not much like that you can do near me.

A lot of the Yorkshire Dales would fit the bill. Mud and gates are something you’re going to get just about wherever you are.

Don’t let STW, other forums and the magazines delude you into what “most mountain bikers want”. There must be plenty of routes you can do that get you out into decent countryside that don’t involve you having to jump off things or look like a Star Wars stormtrooper.

Once you find it, you might them think about the type of bike you have. A FS can seem like overkill but might provide some added comfort for longer days in the saddle.

d45yth – yeah that’s true actually – there’s some lovely easy riding around Clapham/Settle/Austwick area. There’s a few relatively stiff bits of climbing but not for very long.

Is there not anything in the UK that’s a nice long ride, doesn’t matter how much climbing as long as it’s all rideable, but fairly ‘easy’, i.e. not particularly technical or perilous?

Hmm yes, I think you might be in the wrong part of the country though?

Ridgeway/South Downs Way ? Just make sure its a sunny day to avoid the mud.

Load of that sort of stuff in the White Peak.

I was at Llandegla for my first time yesterday morning and although we rode red+black, I thought it was all very smooth and not really technical – there were some jumps and northshore, but all very rollable and I expect none of that is on the blue. It certainly was a lot smoother/less technical than any other Welsh TC I have ridden (Afan,Brechfa,CyB,NyA,Penmach,Cwmcarn,Mach).
Dont dismiss the blue runs either, all the recently built ones I have been on are lovely and smooth+fun

Surrey Hills, North & South Downs, Chilterns, all the stuff round north Notts – Sherwood/Bestwood/Clipstone/Clumber etc. Some of the Yorkshie Dales.

You won’t find many places without mud though…

there’s a million miles of what you want in Scotland.

💡 Where abouts in scotland 🙂 Anywhere near any train stations?
I could make visiting scotland a habit as long as I didn’t have to drive.

I suppose it’s a matter of researching but that just reminds me of one of the massive reasons why I always choose my road bike over my mtb. With natural stuff, there’s no way of knowing where to go or what’s a good route – a bridleway could be anything from an unrideable quagmire to a private farm track to something that peters out or doesn’t even exist at all. By contrast, most roads are pretty much guaranteed to be at least ok to ride, and are all included on a variety of *routable* maps.
By contrast, with mtbing, for every hour you spend riding some enjoyable track, you could have spent five discovering it. I don’t mean to whinge – but I just wonder how anyone else works out this stuff.

May I be the first to suggest joining the RSF, or just get a touring bike and do some long back road tours.

http://www.rsf.org.uk/

very interesting, cheers, that’s the sort of stuff i’m looking for.

Ever heard of sustrans? we seem to be blessed with miles of traffic free relatively well surfaced, gentle gradient, Railway paths up here. not as many gates as on farm trails either.

Elsewhere there’s plenty of forestry fire roads that are available to ride (not necessarilly well mapped though) which are pretty much feature free but not so pancake flat.

After that there’s towpaths, and B roads – you know, use your imagination.

Not sure if this is what Northwind was referring to, but there are miles of tracks through the forests of Scotland that fit the bill and the access rules mean that you are pretty much free to ride any of them. The first place that springs to my mind when you mention train stations is Aviemore as there are loads of trails (or various levels of difficulty) within riding distance of the station there. But that’s just because I know that area. I’d bet that you can get a decent ride near loads of stations in the Highlands (and plenty of other places besides).

Cheers,

Andy

I fail to derive any enjoyment whatsoever from the challenge of ‘cleaning’ a section, jumps, crashing, seeing mates crash, having to keep stopping, etc

There’s one thing about that that really troubles me about that statement. Surely when a man is tired of seeing his mates crash, he is tired of life itself? Are you really telling me that you could watch one of your mates disappear into a bush, at speed, and not nearly fall off yourself as you’re laughing that hard?

Have you considered counseling?

But in answer to your original question – South you big girl 😀

There’s a few long-distance paths which are suitable for cycling.
eg the Great Glen Way is all pretty easy. Mostly decent forest tracks and canal towpaths, so usually not much mud, not too many gates, and pretty well signposted.

Assuming that the OP is serious and not a Postlethwaite-type wind up….

Where do you live/ride? Have you any of the trad Mtb guidebooks to the UK as they seem more focused on the type of rising that you describe?

Apart from a bit of regional ribbing, I am not sure that geography has much to do with it. Plenty of easy rides in Lakes and Scotland and the opposite in the SE if you look for them.

An obvious answer would seem to be, get a few OS maps and simply explore.

You could try Northumberland. Lots of big open spaces.

Are you not describing the midlands/welsh borders, theres riding like that all over the shop Cannock, Wyre Forest, Malverns, Long Mynd, Mortimers Forest, Radnor Forest, Elan Valley and the Clwyds spring to mind. It’s more about spending the time to find the best mix of trails you need to get out and explore and it does mean occasionally getting lost or having a grotty ride on some unmaintained overgrown trail, you just need to look beyond the headline trails in some of these areas.

bonj – Member

Where abouts in scotland Anywhere near any train stations?

Easier to say where not, in scotland, tbh.

But just as a frinstance- train to Edinburgh haymarket, then either train to currie station or just ride out along the water of leith path (canal and old railway line). Then up the hill at bonaly or currie. And… begin!

Thetford? Sherwood? Great fun, but not technical as such.

What you describe is bridleway riding, available throughout the UK.

Jump a train to Blair Atholl, Kingussie or Aviemore and there is tons of the type of riding you’re after within easy reach. There’s also loads of people on here who can suggest routes that are interesting without being technical.

Plenty of routes in the North Yorks Moors would fit the bill.

EDIT: What Jambalaya said

I would highly recommend the vertebrate series of MTB guidebooks which have routes like you describe in most areas of the UK.
There’s no getting away from gates and mud, but they do take you away from the technical trail centre stuff and to the great outdoors.
I’ve used the volumes covering the South West, Wales, and the Cotswolds and have had some spectacular rides.

+1 for Sustrans. Not sure where you are but, as a for instance, there’s a disused railway line that runs between Scarborough and Whitby (edge of North Yorks Moors), a bit of tarmac at the ends but otherwise great scenery, on the coast, off road but smooth. About 25 miles I think?

Towpaths?

Apart from a bit of regional ribbing, I am not sure that geography has much to do with it. Plenty of easy rides in Lakes

What you describe is bridleway riding, available throughout the UK.

Not many bridleways in the Lakes that offer easy non-technical riding. I can think of a couple but it’s hard to link them up without anything technical at all.

There’s loads of that kind of stuff – absolutely tons of it about.

As above, pick an area, buy a guidebook and just have a pop at the lower graded routes, it’s what we did when Mrs Spanner was starting out off-road.

North Wales has a surprising amount of this type of stuff if you have a look in the Bikefax guidebook, and the Dales/Northumberland is pretty much the same.

Don’t mind a bit of gnarr, but as a proud mincer, I do enjoy a nice bimble.

Just go for a drive in the car with the windows down.

What you describe is bridleway riding, available throughout the UK. England and Wales

FTFY – no BWs in Scotlandshire, as the residents are only too fond of pointing out.

Like most of the others, I don’t understand why you’re struggling so much to find this sort of riding (OK mud is an issue, especially this year, but just go somewhere which doesn’t have such a big problem with that – something to be said for my local area, the Malverns). I have to admit I’ve always preferred flowing singletrack over harcore techy stuff, though I’ve gradually get better to the point where I now think of something like Y Wal at Afan as being mostly flowing singletrack, and find nothing there to get scared about. Though if you’re after something at a trail centre where you’re sure of keeping your wheels on the ground, how about Verderers in FoD?

Not many bridleways in the Lakes that offer easy non-technical riding. I can think of a couple but it’s hard to link them up without anything technical at all.

I suppose it depends what you call non-technical. I’ve certainly never been a riding god, but have had plenty of pleasant days out in the Lakes (the only obvious issue is that most routes do tend to involve quite a bit of climbing, so if you’re not into that either…)

Think you need to either rethink what your chosen sport is or perhaps learn to read OS maps.
What you’ve described in the opening post is not mountain biking that many riders would recognise as being. Sounds to me like you’d be happier pottering round forestry roads or canal towpaths.

Or just MTFU

Someone on here coined the phrase “off road roadie”.
That’s the sort of rider I am. I haven’t got much interest in technical stuff, I’d rather actually go somewhere on my bike.
As others have said, Sustrans and tow paths are probably what you’re looking for.

Sounds like the new Bristol all-weather trails would be right up your street, as well as the non-DH trails at the Forest of Dean.

I haven’t got much interest in technical stuff, I’d rather actually go somewhere on my bike.

Any reason at all why the two should be mutually exclusive?

Er, no, I didn’t mean to suggest there was.

Blue route at Kielder is great fast flowing singletrack (after the initial climb) and since it’s a maintained trail centre is fairly all weather.