I’m not looking for a flaming, but I’m really interested where these are being ridden.
I went there for the first time today, had a guide and did about 30miles of mainly of off piste (as in not the way marked routes) and was really happy with the great tracks all over the place that he showed us. However, getting back to the car trail centre car park, there was a lot of big DH rigs. Most of them were pretty clean which makes me think they were being used on the official routes as there was a lot of mud in the forest itself. So, did we miss a big DH run? If so, I’m just after finding it so I can play next time. I’ll now run away from over biked comments…!

Yeah there are loads of DH tracks at FOD

are you aware of ‘bouldering’ – it’s a form of climbing, but the ‘routes’ are very short – sometimes only a couple of metres long/high.

a day on the Dh bike can be a lot like a day bouldering. there’s a lot of fun to be had just playing around on a few corners/jumps/drops.

no mountains needed!

Edit: The wonders of Google, planning the return trip now!

http://cdn-18.create.net/sitefiles/18/8/8/188870/Forestofdeantrailmap.pdf

It’s the orange tracks 🙂

Also

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There’s also a decent bike wash behind the shop 😉

people rent a guide in the FoD once they get bored of the waymarked trails, but you did it the other way round, 😀

I guess I did… There were 5 of us so wasn’t much money each and we covered a lot of ground so well worth it to me.
The way marked trails were packed, so glad we headed off into the forest, I don’t think we saw another rider until we linked back into that long downhill at the end of the blue trail. Looking at the other bikes, I assume almost everyone stays on the official trails as we were the only muddy group arriving back at the cafe.

Found the bike wash – a whole pound!!

I did the way marked trails Monday morn …but early ..only a handfull of people in the car park …..when I retuned after a few laps MY GOD ….the car park was rammed …….off piste stuff next time me thinks

Op. who guided you ?.

Went there for the first time on Sat. We were playing mostly on Blue and also on the ‘off piste’ as the DH stuff is above our abilities. I was on the MASSIVE looking DH bike (kinda, it’s a Bionicon with big dual crown forks)

It was a bloke called Joe who was arranged through Pedalon. £75 for 3 hrs but he actually took us out for over 4. Expensive if a solo, but good value in a group.

I know Joe, he rode for Specialized in the 90s,

I think that’s the guy. Certainly still a bloody fit rider, and he’s not too bad on that 29er he rides!

Yes there are some good DH trails at the FOD.

Transapp. Can you recommend the guide you used. Was it worth it for off piste riding?

If you’re there alone, it’s an expensive day out. As part of a group, I’d say it’s worth it. Riding was well taylored to the group, went at a good pace ( I think I’d be very lucky to out rude the guide) and he was a really nice bloke as well. I think we used 2 bits of official trail all day saw no other riders, and we only covered a third of the forest.
I’d use again without hesitation.

I would definitely recommend Joe as a guide; very fit rider, knows the area well and easy to get on with. And, referencing the bouldering comments above, he enjoys a bit of climbing too 8)

So this guide then? What sort of trails does he take you on, plenty of singletrack, technical stuff? Would be super keen if this is the case. How do you get in touch with him?

Thanks
Dan

Joe is the salt of the earth guy.Lives in the Forest knows it as well as anybody.He was in are race team years ago.Must of sold his Remedy.
The art of the Forest is to string the routes together and you get a great ride no same trails twice.Takes years.worth paying if you dont go there very often.Was a mud bath down there Tuesday mind did see a group of 12 young Wild Boar twice made my day and they never ran of to quick great.

does anyone know if the start of the DH runs are marked at all? quite fancy heading up their once the new BFe is built and wouldnt mind a look around. From this map http://cdn-18.create.net/sitefiles/18/8/8/188870/DH%20AND%20XC%20Tracks.pdf it looks like they should start just off the main trails/fire roads?

Bristolpablo….cant tell you where the DH trails start in relation to the other trails but just ask the bloke driving the ‘Fly up downhill’ minibus that shuttles riders to the top for a couple of quid….in fact better still just pay the £2 and get driven to the start of the DH tracks!….some people do that once to see where they start and then push up for the rest of the day.

Don’t forget to casually deposit your cans of Monster and Red Bull in the woods. Oh, and any other litter you feel like dropping. You know, stuff like goggle tear offs, inner tubes, crisp packets, etc.

Seems it’s the right thing to do. I mean, everyone else is doing it…..

Yes all the current downhill runs are marked Corkscrew/flatland/sheepskull etc.Also where they start you can see the old runs which are still good plus some new ones which are not named yet.There is a big signpost explaining them in the woods by the start of them.Follow the freeminers trail for a little bit out in the open turn left up wide track and climb up there or push and you will come to the sign post bit of a push ask anydownhiller etc will tell you.So you can do loads of half runs then do a full one down to bottom.

So how do we get in touch with the mighty Joe?

Go through pedalabikeaway.They will sort it out and get you to Joe.Joe works from there.

The DH tracks at the FoD are great (nothing too scary but still some stuff i need to get better at) and I can thoroughly recommend the uplift service.

And while there’s nothing massively tech that I saw, there’s some reasonably hefty doubles/tabletops that were being easily cleared by some of those on big DH bikes.

They are great you can do them on a Remedy no probs.Love the track with the 3 doubles in it and that nice tabletop that use to have that step up on it last year which they got rid of made it great.

the uplift service at FOD is excellent, I got 13 or so runs in during my day there and all the tracks were rideable on a trail bike