I’m down Ascot way tomorrow for a family type thing and staying over in the area, I haven’t been to Swinley for about 12 years, since I worked in that London.

Is it worth a visit on Saturday morning for a spin out before heading off, I’ve got a couple of hours to kill.

LOL wrong place to ask…

I say yes…. very much yes… most on here “i’d rather set myself on fire”

😀

It’s not changed much since you were last there

I’d happily meet up for a pootle round, but would likely do more off-piste than actual trails.

LOL wrong place to ask…

I say yes…. very much yes… most on here “i’d rather set myself on fire”

Why, what’s the issue? overloaded with eBikes like Cannock?

too orange, to easy, flat, etc etc…

I ventured out yesterday. Shock news is that on the official trails it’s very very wet, and that is going to be topped up some more today – the armoured ginger just seems to hold onto water. That makes it even more pedally than usual, but if you’ve not been for 12 years you might not have ridden the reworked trails and there’s still a bit of flow and fun to be found. If you venture off piste over Crowthorne way then “a friend” has heard that there’s a CE warden asking people to keep off those trails (cos wildlife) while as usual not bothering with folk letting their dogs run amok through the same areas.

I’m a swinley local. I’ve always defended it.

But currently, its a bit crap, lack of drainage on the hardpack “all weather” trails.

Had a miserable ride there tuesday night.

Yes, it had monday’s rain added, but I was a muddy wet mess, compared to the weekend where I rode Surrey Hills and Tunnel hill, and both rides I was happy to sit in my car and drive home in, and set out for re-wear, my trousers and jacket.

I work over that way and if I’m staying over there and have my bike, I’ll ride in from the Barossa end and mess about on the trails at the look out and the off piste in that area which is prety easy to find. They are all very short but good for a bit of fun, suspension set up or trying new things.

Can you stay until Sunday morning? I have the morning to kill and would happily come to Swinley. Its worth a go for sure. It will be wet, but less muddy than Epping Forest – my local….

too orange, to easy, flat, etc etc…

The answer is to ride it faster, same comment for Hadleigh.

Swinley is alright if you’re in the area. I haven’t ridden it for a year or so and I think they’ve put in a little jump line since. As long as you know it’s going to be a pedally ride with no sustained downhills then you can still have some fun I reckon.

Can you stay until Sunday morning? I have the morning to kill and would happily come to Swinley. Its worth a go for sure. It will be wet, but less muddy than Epping Forest – my local….

I’m not I’m afraid, heading off mid morning.

I’d give it a go if I were you but it will be very wet and grindy, it used to drain well but over the years the trails have become so packed down that certain sections are just one long drivetrain killing puddle.

It’s a shame because I enjoy a spin around every so often when I am in the area.

Any ride is a good ride! If you have two hours to kill then it’s well worth a visit IMO – it’s not the Berkshire Alps but it serves a purpose. It will be wet, as above the armoured ginge holds the water remarkably well and we’ve had a lot of rain lately, but a bit of slop never hurt anyone and it’s windy which will dry some of it.

Saturday mornings are often busy with families, I tend to avoid weekends but as long as you expect traffic you’ll be reet. Recent weather might be putting folks off by now anyway.

It’s a very XC orientated trail centre so for many that in itself counts it out. Personally, I like it. I take it for what it is. An all weather ride that I can blat around & thoroughly enjoy. Yes, it gets wet & gritty over the winter but then it’s MTB in the UK in the winter – what does anyone expect it to be like? There’s plenty of fun to be had particularly if you mix in the off piste stuff too. End of the day it’s what you make of it & how you approach it. If you’re hoping for BPW style trails you’ll be very disappointed, if you’re after an XC red/blue style ride & you don’t mind getting a bit wet & sh1ty there’s loads to like.

It’s alright, I like it, the waymarked trails are good for a time-crunched blast around. Only ever ridden it in the summer when it’s pretty busy so haven’t seen puddle-mageddon but doesn’t suprise me, most armoured trails suffer from this.

I wouldn’t bother taking an ebike as there’s not much in the way of climbs.

Heavily in the ‘rather stick forks in my eyes’ but I guess any ride is better than nothing.

Unless it’s Swinley 😉

Like ayjaydoubleyou I tend to go elsewhere which better suits my riding preferences these days but have recently visited Swinley a few times as it’s the ideal place to teach my youngest daughter and also went with some non-mtb mates last weekend as they could hire.  It is wet there at the moment, not unridable but some of the sections drain well, but others have a lot of puddles and the ‘ginge’ is a drivechain killer.

If you’re with a local who knows where to go there’s a fair bit that can be linked into a more ‘fun’ ride (if gravity is more your thing and you want to run the risk of some of the riding being ‘off-piste’ which is not allowed) – there’s 5 sanctioned ‘DH’ trails off the ‘clubhouse’ hill, from left to right: Deerstalker (the official trail), ‘Old’ Deerstalker, Babymaker, Baby Stalker/Berminator and Bikini Carwash (which has had a bit of a revamp). The other side of the hill which you climb to the clubhouse there’s the Swinduro section (and a couple of others) next to the start of Camel (which has been flattened), there’s Red15, some short steep bits off the reservoir hill near R15 (may have been logged now), the Swinduro section near R15 (and a couple of other short runs off that hill), Kevlar (Red23 – overrated but people seem to love it), New England Switchbacks, The Elizabeth Line (the new jump line after the exit of Tank Traps, the first tables are fun, the rest is meh).

An e-bike would make sessioning these a lot more bearable as its a lot of short descents followed by a sharp climb back up.

Not averse to a bit of Swinley, however I’d have thought it’s singlespeed or pub bike conditions at the mo.

Ridden it twice – but in the summer – and because I was working down there. 1st time on the HT and it was decent enough to kill a couple of hours (I’m not fast and was trying to follow the route on my phone, as waymarking isn’t great). 2nd time was on my 50kg, 180mm full suss kenevo e-bike – did most of it from memory, rather than phone. Was wayyyyy more fun on the e-bike

2nd time was on my 50kg, 180mm full suss kenevo e-bike – did most of it from memory, rather than phone. Was wayyyyy more fun on the e-bike

I can see the appeal of this. There’s definitely three* types of Swinley riders these days. The XC racers, the e-bikes and the trail bikes looking a bit lost. The latest round of work does make it flow a lot better though, when it’s dry.

*four if you count the kids that only ride the jump line and clubhouse.

Wot, no Labyrinth? I used to love that when I was fit.

It’s more enjoyable if you wander around outside of the all-weather cobbles and ginger, though of course there is no “off-piste” and you must stick to trails and “Fire Rides” (their words on the signs 😉). But if you do venture off, Crowthorne is worth a visit.

Problem though is more and more of the old school trails are being wiped out by logging. Used to be able to ride most of the stuff I rode 10-15 years ago up until a couple of years ago, then it all started to go, aside from the bits that were made official (the mainly dull bits).

I started my bike adventures though and it’s the birthplace of Bird as the guys rode there a lot. It’s got charms in a way, and I’ll still ride it occasionally. Just wouldn’t make a big trip to just ride there.

Gets mega busy though at weekends. Though “Bike Park”😝 Peaslake does too (though that’s only a fraction of Surrey Hills). Talking of Surrey Hills, it was surprisingly not that boggy yesterday.

Talking of Surrey Hills, it was surprisingly not that boggy yesterday.

Oh that’s interesting – with a cold yet drip forecast this week – as a thought for next weeks ride.

Or Twisted Oaks southern Enduro

Wot, no Labyrinth? I used to love that when I was fit.

Still there, the new bits link the blue to the red better, so you start on the reversed bit of seagull, then come back and do tanktraps, into the new jump line which ends down by where the gully used to be, then straight up the hill to R15. The return leg is getting some work too, looks like the back half of Stickler will be the return leg.

Gets rid of that feeling of having to ride all over the forest stringing bits together.