What’s the best MTB holiday you’ve done in the UK?

As the title really. I need some inspiration

Easy – 7Stanes tour about er 10 years ago..

Swindon

West Highland Way Duathlon with the Wean

West Highland Way Duathlon with the Wean

How old was the wean at the time?

7Stanes tour

What was the best bit apart from inners and GT?

Only because I live in the tweed valley so they’re not a holiday.

I think he was 11

I only used the word “wean” as it alliterated well for a thread title.
🥺

Unequivocally the Lakes, with local knowledge.

Unequivocally the Lakes, with local knowledge.

Was that lots of bridleway stuff or lots of off-piste trails?

“need some inspiration”
If you have a week only and like driving..
Beinn fhadda Loop
Torridon Lollipop
Torridon loop
Cairngorm & Macdui
Beinn a Bhuird
5 Munros into Lochnagar.

Highlands.

No-brainer if you live in Tweed Valley anyway, surely?

Bit of Cairngorms and bit of NW Highlands.

South Wales and Forest of Dean is rammed with primo riding; you can mix and match between pedaling and uplifted days, with plenty of civilization and culture nearby.

Hard to list all available venues; Besides the obvious uplifted venues: Bike Park Wales, Dirt Farm and the soon to be open Hafod Bike Park, there’s trails scattered everywhere in a wide range of flavours; here is just a few

Cwmcarn (Risca)
Barry Sidings
Tirpentwys Trails
Machen
Afan

As for Forest of Dean, besides the cycle centre itself (which is well worth a visit), there is a wealth of sublime off piste

Between the 2, there’s more than enough for a week’s riding with plenty of variety; 2 weeks and you could venture more northward for the delights of Dyfi, Gwydir etc etc

Pound for pound, I honestly think Wales is among the best in the world right now for trails that don’t require uplifting, whilst also offering plenty of uplift venues on top.

What was the best bit apart from inners and GT?
Only because I live in the tweed valley so they’re not a holiday.

My memory isn’t that good… Erm… The rocky one was the best!
You should probably try one of the other options 😀

I’ve done a Valleys holiday like JHJ is suggesting as well, and it was indeed awesome.

Just had slight winch-and-plummet fatigue after a while, as it was all enduro tracks on forestry sites – rather than getting out in the hills.

Fear not, South Wales can accomodate your need to be enveloped in rural splendor; the most obvious choice being the gap:

https://www.mbwales.com/listings/the-gap/

Other options exist, such as that one out the back of Dan-yr-Ogof which is still very much on my to do list

Mid-Wales is very good.

Dyfi and Antur Stiniog for uplift. Dyfi forest for off-piste. Nant-yr-Arian and Coed-Y-Brenin for trail centres. Hafren Forest and environs for XC and trailforks enduro riding.

Ballater region as a base. Heartbreak ridge and then get busy on trailforks. I can’t get enough of Scottish hand built action, drive up for a week from the SW every year.

Tim Woodcock’s Scottish CTC. It would probably class as gravel these days though.

Ballater region as a base.

Good to hear, I’ve got a trip up there in June.

As above, Wester Ross/Torridon + Ballater twin centre trip.

I’d put a carry up Big Mac and ride down Coire Etchachan as one optional day on Deeside.  You could easily spend a whole week in Deeside alone, between forest trails around Aboyne & Ballater, plus big mountain days on the likes of Lochnagar, descending west to Loch Callater, via t’Saggairt Mor; Ben Avon, Bhuird, not forgetting Tarland for a wet day.

Sgorr Gaoith (Mule Trail descent) for a day with a different feel.

Fhadda circuit anti-clockwise.

As above, fill your boots up in Torridon.

We’ve done this a few times now but… Ride BPW, Dirt Farm, Forest of Dean, stay somewhere pretty in the middle. Used to be near Aber til the place we stayed there closed, Tintern was good, Parkend was better, but there’s no shortage of lovely places to base. We used to do this as a pedalled wales holiday but we slowly drifted over to mostly uplift jus because our focus was always quality riding and it means not spending 80% of your holiday riding upwards, or 5 times more of your holiday doing the fun bit.

Obviously ymmv if you like the feeling of getting out there, “adventure”, views, etc but for me this is how you max out the riding side, the concentration of quality uplift venues around there is such a multiplier.

In terms of places to stay, Llanthony Priory is just up the road from Dirt Farm… besides the hotel, there’s also a campsite

And yep, there’s scenic riding to be had nearby too:

https://www.trailforks.com/region/abergavenny/routes/

“Ballater region as a base.

Good to hear, I’ve got a trip up there in June.”

Me and t’ missus were arguing yesterday about going there or Aviemore in May…
I lost, so we’re going to Aviemore.

“No great hardship” as Mark Rainsley always used to say

Fort William for a week. I think I did 4 days on the uplift, the witches trail and a day off. 2 days of driving as I live in Nottingham.

Bike packing Edinburgh to sky. Don’t forget to book the train back. I booked. Loads of folk tried to get on. The cheeky and rude ones got thrown off, the polite ones got to stay on.

Last MTB trip pre kids was Torridon Lollipop and
Torridon loop for two days trail riding then fort William for 3 days of uplift. Unfortunately my car caught fire slightly and I never made it to fort William. As much oldest is 4 it might be quite some time before I get back up that way.

Tour of Scotland a few years ago. Aviemore/West Island Way/Skye

Transwales 2006. Painful but glorious

And two off road c2cs.

Big memories.

MBUK Red Kite Bash in 1994.

It feels like yesterday, clearly it wasn’t.

A Welsh road trip is hard to beat if you’ve got just a week, start in either South or North and head the other way, there’s limitless riding both natural and man made, and either side of the border, plus the scenery in nice, and there’s plenty of nice little villages and towns to stay in.

For most of us, not as far to  go as Northern Scotland either.

Point to point across the country.trans Wales.  England c2c. Whw.

Lakes as Keswick or coniston as a base and ride a load of great routes.

Quantocks and Exmoor worth a shout for me. Over the course of a couple of years wife and I did breaks there and the riding is a great mix, and we now live here as a result. Enduro stuff in Triscombe and Hopcott (Southern Enduro events held here), and then genuinely super trail riding on the Quantocks and Exmoor. Obvious bonus that the Qs are a National Landscape and Exmoor a national park, so get the views and adventure too.

Lots to do locally on days off as well.

Not Scotland granted, but would make a brilliant week. The place is always deserted in the week also, so you’ll have the place to yourself.

I’ve done a few days in the Quantocks and it is indeed awesome; couple of days there could even be grafted onto a South Wales FOD Trip (or vice versa)

I think the answer to the question is for me the Lake District

But I’ve never really done an MTB holiday. More some MTB whilst on holiday

I think even sticking to the rights of way the riding in the Lakes would is Great

Although I can see if your going to move around then Wales has a huge amount to offer

Oh and I like North Yourshire. Deeply unfashionable bridleway linked by road stuff. Too rough for a gravel bike. Not gnarr enough for most. A great day out for me

A few years back we did the northern loop of the Highland trail 550 with a diversion up to Cape Wrath.

Stunning scenery, rain only on the first day. Managed to get in to bothies every night. Great trip.

The bothy at Cape Wrath is absolutely stunning.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ePhadNqiwG4kNP4s5

Totally depends on your preferred riding. A riding holiday for me needs uplift for a change from the norm and to maximise quality riding.

Long weekends staying in a cottage with a good crew riding uplift in Wales is hard to beat.

A couple of days at Revs then onto Dyfi were the best. Can’t wait for Revs to reopen.

Dirt Farm and BPW for a south Wales alternative.

How about the Traws Eryri/Trans Snowdonia?

For the record I haven’t done it – but looks ace, scenic and some trails centres etc.

Totally depends on your preferred riding. A riding holiday for me needs uplift for a change from the norm and to maximise quality riding.

Yea, it’s individual though.  The only time I’ve properly enjoyed an uplift was Switchbacks in Bubion, where it’s one big uplift at 9am, ride down ~1000m, break, ride back up over a ~500m pass, and ride down another ~1000m to be collected by the minibus.  Doing 10x 5minute runs of a 100m hill just feels like I’ve not been for a ride somehow, there’s no flow to it.

The trouble is we don’t have any mountains that big in the UK.

Coast to coast Scotland. It rained 5 minutes before we got into Montrose, other than that it was sunny… 😎

Easy for me.

The annual Inners-Golfie trip in June.

Great trails, good laugh, Inners is very obliging for bikes and they do a beer called Long White Cloud in the Traquair.

Superb.

Doing 10x 5minute runs of a 100m hill just feels like I’ve not been for a ride somehow, there’s no flow to it.

Mmm it would indeed, but surely if you’re doing uplift then you’ll get about 8 times that total height gain wouldn’t you? ( Or at least 6)

At which point it would be worth it…

Not sure what I’m missing or if my arithmetic is dodgy

Only really done Antur uplift in the UK. And a bit at Inners, so not sure if that’s an outlier.  TBH I’d feel short changed by any 500m cycle and would be shocked if that’s what you get from an uplift

FOD and Dirt Farm are all only about 130m of vertical- and 417 and Dirt Farm you have to ride or push up some of that. I really had my doubts about uplift on such little hills, innerleithen is twice that even if you don’t push to the top… But fast efficient uplift makes it work, especially with high quality trails. (and not sittign around and missing it).

I’d rather do an uplift at dirt farm than innerleithen, at the end of the day. I mean I’d rather be at la thuile…

Would have to be a bikepacking trip in the Lakes. 2-3 days or more riding your bike in beautiful scenery and great trails, interspersed with pubs and cafes