Myself and a few friends will be near Bristol, for three full days, however none of us are from there and have no experience of what’s around.

So please STW hive mind, with 3 days at our disposal, what are your top 3 picks of where to ride please?

It’s a mixed ability group, but all capable of trail centre red style riding. we’re happy to drive a bit to get to the best places.

Any links to good routes/gpx’s also appreciated. Cheers!

Cwm Carn.

Well you have Ashton Court and Leigh Woods

And/or you can head down to the Mendips (trail guide here is a good start: http://www.badassbikes.co.uk/)

Or you can go further down to the Quantocks or over to South Wales for some trail centres.

Check Strava and other online resources for routes on the mendips too.

I probably should have said, I personally would be a bit keener to explore the south west whilst we’re down there (we’re generally from the North or the midlands) rather than head down to Bristol to go upwards again into wales, if that makes sense!?! However we didn’t know about Cwm Carn, and didn’t realise it was so close so could be perfect for one of the days.

Quantocks would be my first recommendation. Others would be:
Forest of Dean – both trail centre and off-piste
Ashton Court / Leigh Woods / 50 Acre Wood
Mendips

Mendips
Cwm Carn
FOD for sessioning the downhill trails (I’d skip the XC loop as it’s pretty dull aside from the last descent)

Leigh Woods / Ashton Court is ok but to find the best stuff you’ll need a guide.

Quantocks are a must, like a trail center only natural.

http://www.strava.com/activities/159049652?ref=1MT1yaWRlX3NoYXJlOzI9dHdpdHRlcjs0PTQ3NTIzMA%253D%253D

The MBUK big ride this month is a good coastal exmoor route. Probably 1 hr 40 drive south west of bristol

I’d say FOD, only downside is the bridge toll, off piste is only useful if you can get a local to show you round otherwise you’ll miss the good stuff, when are you planning on being in Bristol?

FOD for sessioning the downhill trails (I’d skip the XC loop as it’s pretty dull aside from the last descent)

The latest incarnation of the red route is brilliant, on the way up and down again. And there’s a sneaky push up part way round which lets you get right to the top of the red descent and pretty close to the top of the blue descent, which as already mentioned is great. See if you can get horizontal in the corners. 🙂

Quantocks. Is there more than a days riding, perhaps but no more than 2 IMHO.
As posts above suggest most of the better riding is North and/or Wales

All of the above, but if you want to explore the quantocks you could also push an hour further to dartmoor, the hound tor / grimspound ride from vertebrate guidebook is fantastic. Might be a bit far from bristol though (2h total).

11miles on from the Quantocks is Exmoor above Minehead plenty there.

Quantocks,
Mendips,
Frome Valley,
Cwn Carn Afan.

If it’s natural stuff then here’s my vote

Exmoor – riding from Porlock or Minehead there’s loads of great stuff
Quantocks – riding from Holford loads of great natural trails and some DH in the woods, there’s even an uplift service.
Mendips – riding out of Cheddar some good natural trails
Forest of Dean – Have a search for the Enduro GPX if you want to avoid the man made trails

Quantocks … like a trail center only natural.

Apart from his spelling, Ceepers is pretty much spot on. The riding we did in the Quantocks was very trail centre like. Everything was ridable, short loops from the car and nothing in the way of technical challenge. We were distinctly underwhelmed.

I’d suggest elsewhere if you like technical challenges. If you just like flowy and swoopy then fill yer boots at the Quantocks.

Forest of Dean, 1 hour away, 2 XC loops and plently of DH trails
CwmCarn 45 mins away, 2 xc loops and 2 official downhill routes
Ashton Court, 50 acre wood and Leigh woods, pretty easy going xc routes with some cheeky off piste downhill runs if you explore.
Mendips for more natural stuff 45 mins drive away

There is some good riding nr lansdown race cource on the edge of bath
Iove riding round cheddar / burrington

Go see bad ass bikes for a route

@the generalist

Blame American predictive text 😉

Exmoor around porlock / minehead is good

http://www.mbr.co.uk/routes/south-west-england/exmoor-gps-route-download/

Let me know if you’d like a guide for Leigh woods / local Bristol ride or a Mendips outing. Mendips is rideable from Bristol, you can get there around 80% off road! about 60k round trip. luberly!

What route to the mendips is 80% off road?

If you let us know when your coming down, we could maybe offer a bit of guided Mendip fun

Definitely worth spending a day in the Cotswolds around North Nibley/Wotton-under-Edge/Dursley – only 30 mins north of Bristol. Great woodland single track with some steep climbs and fast descents with fantastic views across the Severn Vale towards Wales. See routes 18 & 19 in Tom Fenton’s Cotswold Mountain Biking or the Cotswold routes from Singletrack.. Several good pubs in the area if you want to break the ride up or have a post ride beer/meal.

Thanks everyone for all the great ideas and suggestions, really appreciate it.

I think Quantocks is definitely on the cards, we’re just discussing the other options now. Cheers!

The Quantocks are nothing like a trail centre!

@thegeneralist – I think you saw only a very small part of the Quantocks. There is some proper gnarly stuff out there, it’s not all just flowy Coombes.

I too think there are interesting bits in the Quantocks and I too vote for FOD. Then you could do AC and LW one evening………….

nothing in the way of technical challenge

So you didn’t ride trails out of Triscombe in The Great Wood then?

Wallop and Buzz

I admit my evidence was based solely on a sample of two rides 😳
However one of them was from that respected MTB guidebook (can’t remember the name, and the route was entitled something like “Best Singletrack in the Quantocks” . So I kind of assumed those were the best bits. It followed a pleasant clover leaf pattern towards the northern edge of the massif.
I’d be thoroughly appreciative if you could give me further info on where to go instead (in the Quantocks, not life in general)

I’m in Bristol wed evening done Leigh/Ashton before but any tips on extending for a quick night ride?

I meant trail centre as in, all fun to ride without much filler. Exmoor for example, has very good stuff but it’s often spread further apart and requires a bit of “getting there” between the standout bits and trail centre in the sense that it could have mostly been purpose made for bikes but it wasn’t.

Yes some of it is snoopy singletrack but it is very fun singletrack. The climbs are often singletrack and tough but rewarding

+1 for the Quantocks. Nice flowy natural riding, or fun DH @ Triscombe, or Exmoor; bit of a trek but worth it.

It p*ssed down last night so I personally would avoid the Mendips, but the fun rocky bits should dry out ok.

Bristol to Mendips off road: ac to Ashton hill plantation to cycle path to Flax Bourton to Bouton Coombe to Tinkers Lane to Long Lane to Fountain Forestry to Wrington to Burrington to link lane up Black Down to ChrIstmas Tree Trails to Cheddar and so on and so forth!

But shhhhhhhh!

Quantocks is superb – there’s stacks to go at without going near the Triscombe downhill stuff… The Minehead/Dunster/Dunkery bit of Exmoor is well worth it too. Ashton Court/Leigh Woods goes without saying and the Mendips – Blackdown/Beacon Batch is great if it’s dry… All my old stomping grounds

Ha! Quantocks like a trail centre?! I think you went to the wrong place.

Triscombe/Great Wood – best technical riding in the South
Lustleigh Cleave\Dartmoor
Gawton
FOD/Monmouth

Ashton court Leigh woods -morning
Mendips -afternoon

Quantocks -all day

Forest of Dean —all day

sambuka – Member
Bristol to Mendips off road: ac to Ashton hill plantation to cycle path to Flax Bourton to Bouton Coombe to Tinkers Lane to Long Lane to Fountain Forestry to Wrington to Burrington to link lane up Black Down to ChrIstmas Tree Trails to Cheddar and so on and so forth!

But shhhhhhhh!

You must be bloody knackered by the time you get down here.

Are you one of the MTBer who used to go past our old house on Long Lane before?

There is easily a days riding on Mendip, but you’d need to be guided. Sticking to the RoW network will give you a half day and a sense of dissatisfaction.

‘Tocks will give you a days riding on the RoW network and you could easily spend a day just sessioning into the Triscombe, great wood area.

I’m pretty sure you could get a days worth stringing together Aston court, Leigh woods and a millionaires row/clevedon run.