[Closed] How important is riding from the door?

I'm lucky to have plenty of trails within riding distance of home. It's nice not to have to think about driving during post ride committee meetings.

I don't know what the compromises are but riding from the door is brilliant. Makes it so much quicker to get out.

Riding from the door is nice but better lifestyle beats that if that what your compromising.

20 mins drive isn't so bad, focus on getting the house you want. I'd add that the houses nearer the Peak are worth more as the demand is greater, they'll possibly appreciate more ? I used to be able to ride great trails from the door and you do really miss that when you can't, I have a 1hr drive now much more of a project.

Riding from the door is lovely, especially in winter when it´s muddy and you don´t have to think about the car. I do a lot of short rides in winter that I wouldn´t bother with if I had to drive to the trails. You know where we live and I´m pretty lucky there but our house is really small. I used to feel it a bit but now don´t really, looking out onto the mountains from the windows is so cool and never gets boring.

Guess it depends on what you´re compromising. You´ll know that. I also think that you two will ride plenty no matter where you live :- )

We don't have kids or eat out or go drinking much. Going riding, riding with friends, visiting friends and having friend around is what we're about really.

Riding from the door means a 1930s semi in need of some tlc and rebuilding the garage, maybe a slightly longer commute to work.

The other option is a detached house, very well finished, large garden with a brick build workshop at the bottom but there's some riding from the door but it's certainly more limited. Area seems okay but doesn't have the same kudos (not that we're bothered by that but mindful of eventual resale ease). Slightly quicker/easier commute but both commutes are closer/easier than what I do now.

I love being able to ride from the door, I doubt I would ride anywhere near as much (if at all) if I couldn't. However you already have to drive to ride so it sounds like any move closer is a win for you regardless of being able to ride from the door.

I'm midway between the NYM & the Dales with plenty of steady BWays from the door, don't think I'd compromise on lifestyle/house much just to get closer to trails though.

I spent 5 years being able to ride from the door in the tweed valley. I miss it a lot.

Moving to a house needing maintenance will take time away from the stuff you really want to do.

Buy a new house near where you want to ride.....

Get a van - makes a drive to the trails much easier + there must be some hidden off-road routes to the trails for big days out?

Very high on my list when we moved. I had good riding on my doorstep and I couldn't imagine living anywhere without it. Although it depends on how time crunched you are? Sometimes I have less than an hour to get my techy fix.

@Doug, we were upstairs in the semi discussing whether the front or rear bedroom gave the best view. Waking up to either would be amazing.

I don't know what the compromises are but riding from the door is brilliant. Makes it so much quicker to get out.

This. I can squeeze in a ride if I can get an hour-ish to spare; wouldn't if I had to load up the car...

Essential for me.

[i]Is it worth that compromise to ride from the door or would you rather live in a nicer house but have to load up and drive 20 minutes to get to the good stuff? [/i]

I can ride from the door, but if I drive 20 mins I get to Inners/GT etc.

Sometimes I ride from the door, and sometimes I drive.

[quote=ratherbeintobago] I can squeeze in a ride if I can get an hour-ish to spare; wouldn't if I had to load up the car...+1 Especially so in winter or when the weather is generally crap. getting back to a car/van covered in mud or soaked through is pants. Much easier to ride into the garage, disrobe in the connecting utility room, throw the dirty clothes in the washer and head straight for the shower.

Don't live anywhere hilly like the Peaks, but since we moved in October able to ride out the front door and be in the local woods in 5 minutes as opposed to a load up the van and drive for 25 minutes delay.

Makes a huge positive difference to lifestyle and riding.

Bought a new house rather than a doer upper, so lose out in character to most of the village, but gain in facilities, space and convenience.

Riding from the door is simply awesome, I don't drive.

I ride out my door on my road bike:

-less than 1km I have Regent's Park for quick road cycling

-less than 1 km it's NW London with lots of short / steep hills around Hampstead and Highgate including Swain's Lane

-easy access into Surrey through West London (St. John's Wood to Ladbroke Grove and out through Hammersmith)

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I ride out my door on my mountain bike:

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-8km of hidden trails all over 'the Heath

-easy access to Euston and Waterloo station for fast train travel out of London to multiple trail centres

cannot complain really?

Currently it is a drive to the trails for me... other than some cheeky numbers... if we move then trails from the door are pretty high up my list!

That said - a move like that would probably involve a major renovation project so it may steal some of those opportunities away! This is the dream though....

Riding from the door is brilliant, we were very lucky when we found the current place

The riding from the door of the old house was good. The problem was I'd always have to do the same route out and back. It was a 15 minute drive to the edge of the really good stuff. It always struck me as JUST a little bit to close. The hassle of loading, then putting muddy stuff back in the car...

However you spend far more time in or at a house than riding, a shorter commute opens the possibility of more riding (your home earlier)

I think I'm saying the house needs to be right, if you "over compromise " you'll never settle..

Riding from my door is the reason I do Mtb.

I like trips and holidays but the freedom and relative hassle free nature of RFTD was part of my house choice location.

If I had to get in a car most times to ride I think it would die off.

Riding from the door me and you can drink if you want to.

Depends how motivated you are. I live right in the middle of the Black Mountains with riding from my door. However, I find that unless I make the effort to pack the truck and drive away from home (even if it is only a mile or so), I would rarely actually ride. I guess there is always something to do at home (whether it gets done is another matter) so I need to make that break in order to get the motivation I need to ride.

Essential to me. It's why I live where I do.

we were upstairs in the semi discussing whether the front or rear bedroom gave the best view. Waking up to either would be amazing.

Riding from the door into genuinely beautiful landscapes is extremely important to me. It's why I live where I do. If I had to pack my MTB into a car every time I just wanted a ride, or pedal through miles of glass-strewn suburbia on my road bike, I'd get despondent pretty quickly.

If it helps I had a mate move to the peak and although he commutes, he doesn't ride Mtb hardly at all now and he says the conditions are just too rough in winter to ride with the regularity he did when here.

Peak is 40mins if I want to visit. Which I don't much these days as it's too busy. I'd sooner make a trip to Dales or NYM.

View from my garden 🙂

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Riding from the door is everything.

I can go out for a quick blast at lunchtime, a couple of hours in the evening, or all day epics. Today I rode in the local woods with my son and his friend: priceless.

That said, everywhere has some riding from the door. May not be magazine-worthy, but a small patch of woodland for razzing around in.

Love it! In Lewes so got hills, bridleways, singletrack, road, coast, brighton, variety is fantastic! Riding buddies are a few roads away if I or they want company and have got to know my locale through the seasons more and more. Keeps me sane.

If I'm short on time I ride my road bike, irrespective of the proximity of decent MTB riding.

That is what I miss about Stirling Crispin... I keep thinking of jacking in the job and heading back.

Unfortunately I wouldn't have any work, so it is off the cards!

I pity people who can't mountain bike from the door. I've got to a point now where I only really put the bike in/on the van/car a handful of times a year. Riding from the doorstep either onto the trails or hopping on a train 10 mins down the valley to Hebden etc is bloody great...

I can ride from the door, it's not be end of the world if I can't.
Life is all about compromise, if I had to weigh up a longer commute or less amenities riding would slip down the list. Crap riding out the door doesn't count too.
One place I lived the riding from the door was average and the commute he'll. Worst of both worlds.
Owning a van and having some get up and go helps, just popping the bike in and a change of clothes, getting changed in the dry stood up means even the wettest ride ends dry.

Very high on my list of house requirements when I moved. With a young family I would probably hardly ride if I had to use the car. Difficult to steal a cheeky hours riding (@ 5 am!) if you waste half the time in a car.

Essential to me (I wouldn't ride if I had to drive to get there).

I do 1-2 hour rides flat out so like to get straight in shower when finished
I tend to own cars that can't carry bikes

Guess if I was into 6 hour ambles with food stops, chatting etc,. my view would be different and it would be worth having an a suitable car and spending time getting to the ride.

I can ride to the trails but it's 20-30 mins on the road. I have a big car so can throw the bike in and be there in 15 mins. I'd probably ride more if there was good riding on the doorstep but being able to cycle to work and walk to the shops is far more important to me. I also have a load of other activities a short walk or ride away which I wouldn't have in the sticks. Its a compromise but one I'm happy with. I can easily drive to quite a good selection of trails. When I used to have ok riding from the door I'd end up riding the same bits all the time.

I grew up with good riding from the doorstep - literally out of the door and on dirt in a few hundred yards if necessary. Then I moved away and lived in cities for a bit, and basically stopped riding off-road for 7-8 years. Since moving back to the edge of the Dark Peak I realised that absolutely have to live where I can ride to the hills from the doorstep, otherwise I'd just not bother. With a young lad this is even more important to me, I want him to have the same freedom I had as he grows up - and driving to ride uses up my precious, limited free time...

That thought had crossed my mine. If we're on the edge of the good stuff, would we end up just riding the Sam stuff to death? Getting in the car, which we're used to, gives us variety.

Well I've lived in the same village for the last ten years and I'm still finding new bits and bobs pretty much on my doorstep (I am moving house this summer, but not because of the riding). I don't get bored of riding the same stuff - it's quite nice to really get to know the local trails so you can ride them almost subconsciously, see how they change over the seasons and develop over time, get grumpy when the council 'improves' them and then watch them erode back into something new and fun.

Still, there's nothing to stop you riding further afield if you do get bored. It just means you do always have something worthwhile to ride if you're short on time.

I'm trying to return to my riding roots, and not drive my bike anywhere.

I'm lucky enough to have about 100 yards and I'm in the countryside with access to the mountains, but there's lots of routes that are much further away that I used to take a car too.

That was the incentive to build a general purpose bike capable of road and offroad. Now I can ride 20-30 miles to get to a track and follow it to its end. The big advantage of this is that the ride does not have to loop back to a car dropoff. For example start on one side of a range and end on the other, and ride home on the road, and there's the flexibility of being able to change your intended route any and as many times you want. (eg the sky is blue over that way 🙂 )

Twenty minutes drive from the good stuff then you're almost certain to have rides from the front door as well.

For me it's very important!

I live in the centre of Cardiff and can be at the local riding in 15 mins by car or 25 mins by bike but that involves cutting through the city centre, even then it's not close enough! Cwmcarn's a 25 minute drive away, Afan, the Beacons and the FOD an hour. Spoilt for choice compared to most but I grew up in the Beacons with multiple trails outside my front door so it feels odd driving to ride the bike. I don;t have kids to worry about so the next move will be to a good riding spot. Now just to figure out where 8)

Got or gonna have kids?

Choose on schools instead.

Otherwise just let the missus decide.

It's a three an a quarter mile climb from my door to the top of the Quantocks (Lydeard Hill), its a nice warm up. When I do drive up there I feel like I've cheated and also my legs feel lifeless for the first mile or two.

I moved to the Peak over 20 years ago precisely to ride from the door. Picked the village and house to provide as many options as possible - it gives equal access to both dark and white peak. Working locally means I can head out when everyone else has gone home - empty trails in the evening sun - bliss.

A few years back, we went to look at a house that had a garden that backed directly onto the Malvern Hills, in the garden there was a small gate with a well worn bike path leading out onto the hill and another from the gate straight through the middle of the lawn directly into a shed!

My Mrs took one look at my eyes lighting up and strutted out of the property 😉

Seriously considering selling my MTB for a road bike. No local trails within riding distance and no hills for miles. Every off road ride involves a drive of at least 45 mins each way and I've got a house to do up so its a big effort to get out. It's only 1hr 30 to the lakes tho and I know I'll miss it but I'm seriously thinking of giving it up.

Place we moved from last year was surrounded by some great riding from the door, some even finished in the field next to the house. Only thing is, it makes you reluctant to drive anywhere different.
The current place is about a 15 minute ride from the old one and has some OK if not great riding from the door, plus the stuff near the old house, but I am riding a greater variety now and exploring further afield within a 20-30 min drive.
I miss the instant hit of a good trail from the door, but like the exploring and variety nearby more.

If I did't ride from home it's unlikely I'd ride at all.