Are there any good loops that can be done in the Durham area, preferably that can be achieved without having to drive from Durham?

Ta,

P

There's a book by Neil Gander that's worth a look.

The old railway lines have some nice bits of fun singletrack linking them all up, for a long day over the top to Towlaw the back way into Hamsterley do a lap of one of the routes and return.

Spenny woods are always quite good fun as well, nothing mega techncical, but with teh railway lines you can do a full day offroad and on a cross bike knock in 60 miles without any bother.

Alternatively ride up to Chopwell which is a long hilly ride but doable for a hard days riding.

There is also a book called beyond hamsterley that is available in bike shops or online and has a few good routes in and around the co durham area. The railway lines are good for getting about for an explore. If you like early mornings my husband goes out with a few friends for a blast for a couple of hours taking in local bridalways and some bits of singletrack. they meet on saturday mornings at 7:30 outside the pot and glass. Alternatively check out beamish oddsox or durham mountain sports they do regular rides and have alot of local knowledge

Theres very little to ride round Durham. The best stuff locally is Chopwell, Hamsterley and so on

Beyond Hamsterley by Neil Gander may well be available in your local Asda. I know they are in Darlington so take a look

used to be some really good stuff up behind the science site and the brothel on the hill. Also some good stuff behind the bus depot. Small, but perfectly formed. Kiera Knightley's norks, if you will.

Pretty easy to access the Waskerley way from Durham if you want a non-technical ride up onto the moors. Once up there you can get to Bolts law, Rookhope, Edmundbyers and Blanchland. Loads of good moorland bridleways around those parts.

As others have said look at Hamsterely, Chopwell and Beamish for a bit of woodland/forest riding.

Ta, hopefully some of that should allow a quick blast after work. Maybe I'll have to wait for the students to invade the department again and go and approach the MTB club at freshers fair.

Only 2 weeks of peace and quiet left before they bring all of their disparate plagues together to form freshers flu……

Neil is selling off the last few Beyond Hamsterley books for £8.60 on Ebay: http://www.beyond-hamsterley.co.uk/

It's not a huge ride from Durham to Hamsterley.

Cheers Miketually, just ordered one.

Shame there isn't more locally, there seems to be lots of country side but no bridleways.

Hmm, maybe my subtle link was too .. subtle?

Doh! I made my irregular trip to the North East recently (and passed through Durham – memory lane and all that) and could have picked one up.

Now, I'll have to run the risk of Royal Fail and get one posted.

Of course, whether me and a bike ever get up there is almost irrelevant…

😀

There's plenty of traks & trails around Durham, but you really need to know where they are… 🙄

You can easily get onto the Lanchester Valley way, and the Deerness valley way, both with plenty of little side tracks and diversions if you know where to look. There's also tons of stuff slightly further afield, but to be honest, there's far too much to be able to describe to you here.

If you're looking to expand your local trail knowledge, give us a shout.