As per title really. We’ve ended up in the Quantocks after being in the Peaks and Yorkshire for the last week. So what’s your favourites and why?

Only been there once but if you’re putting a route together don’t miss Somerton/Hodder’s Combe, Smith’s Combe, and Weacombe. They’re real gems of natural singletrack, so fast and with so many stream crossings you’ll want to whoop with joy. We did the Killer MBR Loop which was great but I would miss out The Great Wood when I go again.Ride report here if you’re interested in the route we did.

Smiths combe – just do all the BWS in the area and you wont go wrong… suggest exmoor as well – superb riding there too

paul

We have been here before. Wor lass loves Weacombe, smiths less so.

Brendons 😯

Only 1 fav that’s hard to choose. There’s so many and it all depends, did enjoy somerton Combe today it rode really fast. Love smiths Combe as well but there’s so many to choose from up there

You don’t have to be limited to one, you can expand! Smiths – I massively over cooked a corner into a stream and some how hung on to the bike as it went over the top before stopping in the stream. Tasha didn’t like the rock and roots going into smiths

Bin combe (five lords) I love the top section of somerton but Bin combe is just oh so sweet, a little rooty then a sweet launch of the road into the off camber left hander, after you stay left and your rewarded with the most sweetest ribbon of singletrack and that magical gradient where you just continually gain speed as it dips in and out of a gully and around the trees. Not many people seem to ride it so normally a little debris or leaf cover. Last rode it 4 weeks ago and unfortunately there’s a big tree which has fallen across the trail towards the end, but still worth riding down. To get out go under a large tree trunk and after its left up through the trees and holly bushes. I could spend the day just riding this 1 descent

Somerton is the tops , smiths is good but a pain to get out of.

Frog combe is a blast

Weacombe is just dodgy as hell especially with the stream on the right ( I need to shake the monkey off my back) 😳

Took a while to write this so Ruscle has covered Bin.

But here’s my brief guide to the Q’s top trails.

I’ve always said Bincombe is my favourite, perhaps because it’s not overly rode. It’a a trail of subtle incline that once you get to know it, becomes a twisty playful ribbon of giggles, features to get you flicking the ass end out, jinking left and right as you hurtle inches past tree stumps and roots laying in wait for your bad forward vision. From top to bottom 3-5mins of shits and giggles, thrills and spills. Pure natural fun.

Another fav will always be Somertons top section, but it’s been getting wider as the years go by as riders run wide scrubbing out a new rut. At it’s best it’s a fast and furious descent to the tree line along a moorland piece of single track, the worn shallow rut means that when the turns come, you can get the front tyre to stick so you don’t lose momentum, and after the slight pedally bit around back side the trail is just pure bliss as at speed you’ll get a little drift as you flick left, right, left, left and left mind the rock then into the trees, 80m and slight(18″ step) into rooty braking bumps, sharp right, moist butt and follow the wider track along side the stream, it gets pedally but crank it and enjoy.

Weacombe, mind the drop to the right most the way along it’s mile and a half length, though it’s not on the trail itself, so eyes ahead(once they’ve stopped rattling in side your head from the stuttery first 150m) Pin it at your own peril, Weacombe is just waiting for the over enthusiastic it will bite, It’s non steep and non technical, it’s just FAST!

Frog combe, traverse or Roller coaster. Not an obvious to find trail but if you survive the initial steepish rooty run in, the reward along the traverse is a very natural twisty piece of 400mm trail, that joins the main frog combe trail near the bottom. I like because it bit me tearing my ACJ and collapsing my lung, so i bit it back, harder.

Smiths is a love hate affair for me. Love it because it has a good mix, grass, roots, stoney, hard pack and stream crossings.
Hate because i always have a bad feeling about it once i let go of the brakes on the mid section. It’s not a comfy landing…And the climb out usually bitch’s at me.
From Beacon hill trig, it’s a mile long.

If you want pure speed, followed by a burger, you’ll be after the descent North of the Hill fort (Dowsborough) It’s wide, there’s a few bumpy bits on the first hundred metres then it’s loose stone till it rises for moment, about enough to gather your breath then it’s down, down, more loose stuff making a drifty left and then into the trees to a gate. Careful in there, there’s monsters lurking on the ground ready to spit you off course and watch the long right hander at the bottom, trees hurt.

Did you say your favourites? Then let me continue…

Slaughterhouse, Concrete block, Dead womans ditch north side, and te Hare knapp splits(two choices) even holly bush gives me the necessary smiles.

And that’s just on the Heath and combe.
The Forestry has alot on offer too but these aren’t named so are not so easy to find. There’s Sam’s track and the Chimney dropping into Great wood, then in Cockercombe there’s around 40 DH runs of varying difficulty, most can be ridden on a HT IMO.

That’s enough to keep most people busy for a weekend or two.

Enjoy!

I love Weacombe. we don’t get much singletrack up here, and I just love pushing my own limits for (what seems like) mile after mile

Hi Sharki, how’s it going? You answered my call last time I came across a fallen tree, which was at the bottom of the twisty section of the dead women’s ditch descent which was much appreciated. The fallen tree at the bottom end of Bin combe is much bigger and I wondered if you had a bigger saw and a lot of time on your hands??! 😉

I think some ballroom blitz is required….

I ride up there once or twice a week and always wondered why people like Smith’s combe, I’ve always thought it’s just an average descent and there’s far better up there.

My favourites are the chimney (although the top section is looking a bit battered from forestry work now), slaughterhouse combe, frog combe, and the twisty bit from hare’s knapp into holford.

Jambo, you’ll start Dibbs off again.. 😆

Ruscle, All’s greet thanks.

Is the tree raised off the ground? If it’s laying on the ground then maybe, just maybe a pile of stone and soil will find itself on the facing edge creating a naturally formed way over it. Though if it’s a bigun, then a way round will need to found, the rangers don’t venture down there, and i’m not going the use a Chainsaw in there. I will look into it though and see what can be done.

Same as you Mark – not that fussed by smith’s but like the techy challenge of the chimney. Also really fond of the cheeky bit of frog’s that sharki mentioned.
There’s a whole load of others I should know the names of as I am up there most weeks!

Good to hear your doing well Sharki.

The tree is of a very substantial size and just before 1 of the last little dives into the gully. It was raised slightly due to its branches if I remember correctly and would be more of a climb over than a nice jump if you were to build it up on the facing edge. Its a real shame as when we came across it I thought that no rangers or anyone else will ever be able to remove it so will for ever stop the sublime flow of this descent albeit towards the very end.

I have only managed to get down to the Tocks twice this year due to family and setting up my own driving school. I was starting to fall out of love with biking as had no time to get to any decent riding, un-till I last visited the Tocks a few weeks ago. Then the love soon came flooding back 😀

It’s not a classified path so the Rangers have no obligation to unsure it’s clear. If there’s a way i can clear the gully i will, though it’s unlikely, it’s best therefore if a trail appears higher to get above it.

I’ll send out the wildlife to begin walking a new trail in. 😉

Which could work well in keeping the trail above the other fallen trees.. But it’ll need to happen naturally. 😉

My favourite is probably Slaughterhouse, because it doesn’t get ridden as much as some of the others and has a more natural feel.

Smith’s. I even get nervous thinking about it.

The bumped, grassy start sucks you into high speed and hopping. Then you go into the steeper, rocky-rooty woods section waaay too fast and poo bricks just hanging-on to the bars as every possible line looks equally disastrous at this speed and gradient. But you can’t brake to slow down much and the bike is all over the shop. Then it “eases” into the madcap blind corners and stream crossings. Somehow one survives it all! The climb out is brutish – I’ve not yet cleared the steep bit but you know it’s do-able.

It’s fast and scary. It’s a crash waiting to happen.

Meh! ‘this’combe, ‘that’combe… Willoughby Cleave is where it’s at!

And Weacombe, and Smiths, and Slaughterhouse and Stert/Somerton and Hodders and…

I’ll send out the wildlife to begin walking a new trail in.

Which could work well in keeping the trail above the other fallen trees.. But it’ll need to happen naturally.

To be fair, nature has done an excellent job all over the Quantocks, so as long as they get a wriggle on I’m sure the end result will be good. Its just a matter of time and my legs still being able to turn the pedals in years to come when they finally finish it!

I love the different takes on the various tracks. We may try smiths again, though we didn’t think it was worth the hype last time, especially for the climb out. We’ve read through this thread and both wondered about the perils of the river in Weacombe, we’ve obviously never paid attention to it! We normally finish on Stert and somerton before heading back to campsite via the pub at holford.

Don’t bother with smith’s, your first thoughts are correct as its just not worth it. The river is on the right of you on the way down Weacombe and is a 10-15ft vertical drop in places 😯

The drop off of Hill fort is a blast as you go to full speed in seconds and its pure rock garden with absolutely no control over the outcome, you are just along for the ride. Always makes me smile and laugh at the insane-ness of it.

Many moons ago on the narrowest stretch of weacombe where the trail runs closest to the stream my bike and I parted company. OTBs through bracken and stingers and then the strangest sensation of weightlessness whilst staring up at the sky. Then a big thump as I landed flat on my back in the stream gulley. Amazingly nothing worse then a few cuts and bruises, but I had to walk back down the stream to clamber out … cause the banks were too steep at the point that I’d landed. The trail has changed a bit since then, but Weacombe remains one of those perfect pieces of singletrack, albeit one that since that particular day, I am probably more respectful of than I might otherwise be! In fact, I wrote about that particular moment here 😉

Personal tastes clearly differ!

The wide track down from the hill fort doesn’t light my fire especially. For the most part it is wide, gently graded, with complete visibility, no corners and uniformly littered with rubble. On the plus side, you can go so fast your eyeballs fall out 🙂

I rode the Quantocks for the first time this summer and must say I loved Smiths, Weacombe and Somerton / Hodders.
Can’t wait to go back and explore a bit more! 😀

Buzz, if you split off to the right just below the cairn below the hillfort it gets silly fun in a ‘where the hecks the trail gone, i’m in a gully a foot deep in dry leaves’ pinging about on tree debris and rocks.

Whenever i write about those hills it’s Warra Play ground’..

I must have been so focused on Weacombe as I don’t even remember any big drops off the side of the trail?! The climb back out of Smith’s was a real bitch now I think back on it. I inadvertently flew off the biggest drop off yet on the way down Somerton combe as I was going too fast to avoid it. A big tree had either fallen (or been placed) across the trail. Making me smile just thinking back on all that sublime singletrack., got to get back down there soon.

Buzz, if you split off to the right just below the cairn below the hillfort it gets silly fun in a ‘where the hecks the trail gone, i’m in a gully a foot deep in dry leaves’ pinging about on tree debris and rocks.

Yeeehaaa. That sounds more like it!

The Quantocks is the perfect mtb playground with wonderful and sublime varied descents every where. The climbs are a good challenge to, especially as you always know that just over the top is one of those great descents 😀

Are these trails all very technical?
I’m planning a first trip in a couple of months with some relatively inexperienced mates. I don’t want to scare them with too many roots & rocks.
Can anyone pick a couple of combes with nice twisty flowing tracks, and nothing to technical?

Thanks.

Frog combe for me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L18WqIXl4yY&list=UUebKNO-TDDM674KbPLIqIqA&index=8&feature=plcp
God I miss that place being on my doorstep 🙁

Everything becomes technical once you hit a speed above your ability.
But other than the concrete block trail(that’s not named on the map) everything mentioned has nothing that would cause an inexperienced rider issues.
The tree step on Somerton can be ridden around. I’d avoid Smiths though with that group. There will be roots on the trails as they all end up in the woods, but they an be seen easy enough and dealt with by most newbie riders.

Both of the Frog descents have roots that’ll make some new to riding roots clench their gluts.

Weacombe, holford, hodder, and many others are all easy at sensible speeds. Great wood is where a lot of the tech stuff is hiding. Smiths might be a bit iffy with noobs.

FWIW I was there with a varied bunch from mrs p’s work earlier this year – ranging from total newbs on hired bikes to some fairly experienced types. As far as I know nobody got lost or properly hurt, and when we met up for lunch everyone seemed to be having fun. In fact i think the biggest offs & worst bike damage came from those that should’ve known better but got carried away.

is there a good map of all these somewhere?

As per sharkis post most of it is very rideable, but more experience allows you to get the best from it. Noobs will not see the benefit from the steepish climbs.
Did a few today, Bins being the favourite, just the right side of being too fast. A truly magical bit of singletrack

The 25k OS names most of the combes. Start there and after a few rides once you have the lie of the land start following your nose.

My favourite is probably Slaughterhouse, because it doesn’t get ridden as much as some of the others and has a more natural feel.