Nice down the Forest Of Dean Today

Bone dry and dusty Dowies running very sweetly Bluebell trail bit of mess looks like someone is starting to re-route it not many MTBikers mainly walkers happy days.

Seriously? I didn’t go today thinking it would be rammed!

I’m going tomorrow though.

God I love the forest of dean, we’ve been making an annual trip for a few years now which I guess probably isn’t happening this year… Every year I know it’s going to be great and I’m still always surprised by how great it really is

I thought it would be packed but was the quietest I have ever seen Pedalway is shut but you can park by council offices or up to overflow car park which has the barrier across Beechhurst is shut but Cannop ponds and speculation car parks were open I parked up by Speech house few people parked bottom of Dowies your love it after the winter down there.

Watch out for the suitcases😲

Looking forward to about a months time when we move there 🙂

Chomping to go and ride something decent!

I bet the Forest holds loads of secrets all those various mud holds very scary

I have friends that live 10 minutes away from the drop off spot for the dh trails. They keep posting up how the trails are running great, finding new stuff all the time and just generally making the most of furlough. As much as we are now allowed to travel driving all the way from Essex at the moment probably isn’t the best thing to do…

Ridden there a few times now since we have been allowed.  It’s running so prime! Almost too dusty now 😂 Rode Staunton today and that was simply fantastic

God I love the forest of dean, we’ve been making an annual trip for a few years now which I guess probably isn’t happening this year… Every year I know it’s going to be great and I’m still always surprised by how great it really is

Dunno what you’re talking about, it’s crap, dunno why people bother! 🤷🏻‍♂️😉

Though of course, if you are heading down that way anytime this lockdown finally ends, by all means get in touch for a ride…

I thought it would be packed but was the quietest I have ever seen

Ahhhhh, the good old days! 😍

Seriously though… FoD has become the Pedalabikeaway, it’s a double edged sword, but it means that 99% of the people that go there are oblivious to just how good the place is, so with Pedalabikeaway still closed, it’ll pretty much just be the locals and a few hardened not quite so locals riding.

Looking forward to about a months time when we move there

Where you moving to? Awesome place to ride, mostly a crap place to live! Monmouth not so bad (flooding aside) though, and can get to Cardiff quickly from there, also it’s on the right side for Staunton.

Ridden there a few times now since we have been allowed. It’s running so prime! Almost too dusty now 😂 Rode Staunton today and that was simply fantastic

Bastard! Though the Wyre has been running the best it has in years too, and it’s my “usual place of exercise” at least… I also don’t like riding Staunton without a small group at least, just in case anything happens.

Where you moving to? Awesome place to ride, mostly a crap place to live! Monmouth not so bad (flooding aside) though, and can get to Cardiff quickly from there, also it’s on the right side for Staunton.

Literally up a forest track 😆

Outskirts of Parkend. We’re both very fortune with jobs that we can work remotely. I (did) have to be in Germany once every 3 weeks or our UK office for meetings & similar for my other half, with minimal actual driving travel. But yes, getting anywhere is a pain in the ass there!

Selling a normal house in commuter town for something twice the size, an acre of land & it’s the last house on the road for less money is appealing too – we’re prepared to accept convenience is going to drop, for living somewhere we have a green surrounding rather than brick & concrete.

Thankfully we have done a trial run already, so not too daunted by the change.

Can you all shut up about how good the place is running please? I’m stuck in Cardiff unable to go there. It’s on my places to move to at some point too.

Thank you very much.

I keep hearing how good mallards is right now with a some work being put in. I might have to get a day out over there soon. If only there was a ferry over the river I could ride there from my house as I can see the fod! How about a 3rd bridge? Sharpness to Lydney would be convenient!

Has mallards been rebuilt then? Haven’t been since the felling work, as apparently it was a mess.

Good to know though!

It’s been lovely down here for the last 2 months on our 1 hour exercise bike rides from home, no crowds.

Bluebell trail bit of mess looks like someone is starting to re-route it

That’s annoying. Classic trail that doesn’t need messing with. A few years ago, a spur was built off down the hill and it caused a bit of trouble.

I’ve not ridden in that side of the FoD since March (when it was horrible). Been riding exclusively Staunton side (as it’s rideable from my door). Cracked yesterday and rode some of the harder trails as I can now ride with a mate. There’s definitely places there you wouldn’t be found for a few days if you had a bad crash!

Mallards/Staple edge rebuilt after logging? Right then, best go check that out.

@hobnob – good luck with the move.

Watch out for the suitcases

I did wonder about that police tape on one of the track off the Staunton road. It was only when I got back I found out about the body! Bizarre tale all round that…

Hmm, I thought it was crazy busy around Mallards yesterday with groups of 20-40 yr old men, quite a few of whom seem new to mtbing!
It is perfect conditions though and the trails up there are gradually coming back to life after being trashed.
Expect it to be even busier today. Locals on FB are fuming of course.

@supernova – not that surprised. Before logging it seemed to be an even busier ‘hub’ than Dowies.

That’s the great thing about Staunton. We saw one MTBer (Geomotron, looked pretty quick) and a family riding and that was it.  Car park open at Saracens Head (had been closed off) and saw around 20 cars. So the old railway path was a bit busier but still very quiet for this time of year.

Maybe I’ll stay away from Staple edge tho then.

I was thinking about driving there from Bristol today, bikes on the back of the van. But wasn’t sure about having to cross through Wales briefly. It’s a big detour through Glos.

Staple edge and Mallards are running well and have largely recovered from the logging work already!

Love the FOD it’s kind of my mtb mecca.
First rode there in 1998 when we were visiting a friend in Ross and it happened to coincide with a round of an xc series…Midland series perhaps? Anyhow I rode one lap around the marked track on the Saturday and remember thinking, **** doing 4 of those … 🙂

Happy times.

I was thinking about driving there from Bristol today, bikes on the back of the van.

Two motorbike police in Chepstow today stopping motorbikes, so I think you might get lucky with bikes on the bike. They could have easily stopped all the roadies by the race course, but it looks like their focus is on motorbikes.

Dowies, Shutcastle and the area around wasteland are all running really nicely. Except Hairy Snatch. That MF can eff off!

Well that’s convinced me to slice a day of work and head over for a pedal! A few people I know have said they have seen people around mallards with tools so there must be a good bit of trail work going on. Did dowies suffer from the felling?

It did but I think it’s all been repaired/improved now. I only rode 3,4 and 5 today though.

Dowies is fine locals reset that in March with a few detours Bluebell has had a lot of felling in it but looks like they are starting to reroute it lot of heavy machinery tracks left rock hard you expect that only came from Cheltenham probably to far for some mind today the Malverns were packed.

Literally up a forest track 😆

Outskirts of Parkend. We’re both very fortune with jobs that we can work remotely

Awesome! Have they discovered Broadband in Parkend though? I know they certainly haven’t discovered 3G, let alone 4G! 😉

Hope to do something similar sometime in the future, though won’t have anywhere particularly expensive to sell sadly. Both the GF and I can live anywhere within our territories for our jobs, but her kids are anchoring us where we are for now. I predict that maybe in 5yrs we’ll be able to consider a move, probably likely to be closer to Shropshire than FoD though mind… Still…

Sharpness to Lydney would be convenient!

People from Sharpness & Lydney don’t need a bridge… They’re all web footed! 🤷🏻‍♂️

There’s definitely places there you wouldn’t be found for a few days if you had a bad crash!

I don’t trust myself to go there on my own, for this very reason. Can’t wait to get back in there ASAP though!

I did wonder about that police tape on one of the track off the Staunton road. It was only when I got back I found out about the body! Bizarre tale all round that…

My Dad has just told me about that! Not nice! Caught them already though…

That’s the great thing about Staunton. We saw one MTBer (Geomotron, looked pretty quick)

Older fella, surly demeanour, plenty of facial hair and a pony tail, far quicker both up and down than he looks like he should be…?

That’ll be Chris Porter… Geometron HQ is just down the road, he rides there a lot as you might imagine.

Two motorbike police in Chepstow today stopping motorbikes, so I think you might get lucky with bikes on the bike.

The cops are having a field day with motorcyclists right now, highly predictable though… Most haven’t ridden a bike in 8 months (only the hardier riders got theirs out prior to lockdown) so will be acting like they’ve literally just been let off the leash! Went out with the GF on mine yesterday evening, stuck to a lot of lesser known back roads. The police like easy targets, and motorcyclists for the most part are highly predictable and not very imaginative, so they all ride in the same 10am-4pm window on a Sunday morning, and they all stick to the typical haunts.

Can you all shut up about how good the place is running please?

Doesn’t really matter where you are… ALL the local trails everywhere seem to be running incredibly well right now apparently!

That’ll be Chris Porter… Geometron HQ is just down the road, he rides there a lot as you might imagine.

No it wasn’t Chris. We’ve met Chris a few times. He generally spends the time telling us what’s wrong with our bikes 😉

Good to know Dowies trails are back. I might have a scoot over there next weekend. It does involve quite a long road ride tho which is one of the reasons I’ve not bothered.

mind today the Malverns were packed.

Yeah my mate who lives close to the Wyche was telling me it was rammed. I’ll not be going anywhere near there for a while!

Getting even drier down there lovely today looks like some of the Shutcastle ones are out for the time being the one on its own is running great the main lot seems to have a lot of felling done on the second part of them still its a forest after all and there is plenty of trails to go around Beechinghurst car park is now open not pedalway main one just the overflow one up near the fire road.

Was going to head to FoD tomorrow but Staunton sounds interesting and I’ve never been. Can anyone provide any beta? I can’t find anything on trailforks but did find a random route on viewranger. Thanks!

Might be my mate on his G1 and misses on spesh stumpjumper evo. As I said lives in the forest and is riding most days in the woods.

Check Strava heat maps for Staunton lines.

None of the Staunton trails are really on Strava etc.  So you’ll be lucky to work a route off that I would think, as above heat maps may help but you won’t have signal out there.  Best to explore especially the lower side of the road as it’s a fire road all the way up.  Otherwise of the road is probably a bit more complicated but simple when you know. Personally I would recommend riding with someone that knows the area post lockdown

I’ve found a bunch of routes around there so I’ll try my best to find some stuff today. Thanks for the tips and maybe I’ll bump into a local!

Staunton is good not been over there for years always found bit of pain riding from Pedalway.

It’s a big day out riding from PABA then riding a decent chuck of Staunton trails!

I had a decent explore yesterday and think I found quite a bit of stuff. I saw plenty more which I didn’t get to ride due to time. In general I was very impressed – the trails are much, much better than the stuff around PABA. If you want to ride enduro style trails and don’t mind slogging up fireroads in between then this is a much more fun day out. I also realised that the segments are all on Strava but they are all hidden…

In case it’s helpful for any other noob then here is my gpx: https://www.strava.com/activities/3488648959

In particular, the section called Billy’s trail is so much fun. For a split second I thought I was in Squamish. I also thought Bunker and Widow Maker were lots of fun. Very keen to get back for more!

[If I shouldn’t be posting these trails for whatever reason just let me know and I’ll remove]

Bit of a thread resurrection but I’ve just had my offer accepted for a house in Whitecroft so it looks like I’ll be moving to the FOD in the next few months! Been to cannop, sallowvallets, dowies and mallards before so i’m quite familiar with the area, but I haven’t done any more off piste than that.

From exploring segments and heatmaps I can see there are quite a few trails in the woods south of Whitecroft, which is great because having trails from my doorstep is a dream. My question is does anyone have any trail specific recommendations around that area?

I’ve also noticed the shutcastle trails just south of dowies which seems cool as well.

Scary – we are also moving a stones throw away from Whitecroft. Little bit further down the road than you, as we have just agreed a moving date for the latter part of this month.

There is a lot of stuff in the same woodland as the Dowies trails over the Drybrook side, and also the other side of the road. There is hell of a lot not on Strava too. Basically if it’s not an enclosed area, there is probably trails there.

Currently deciding on what E-Bike i’m buying to get more trails in 🙂