I didn't mean to start a thread establishing which is best.. merely to point out to all the prejudiced folk out there that the South does have some cracking trails. As does the North, Scotland, Wales etc etc.

Btw SS_shep – what's wrong with Ireland? I always imagined it'd be a good place to ride, but know nothing about it.

Scienceofficer – Member

I do apologise.

You're all Southern cock-ends!

Sorted that for ya 🙂

😆

Molgrips – north / south thread – bound to get a few folk going.

Edit – I was just thing about Manchester conurbation ( wher I lived for ten years) ridings not great around there either. Takes as long to ride out of the city as it does London and not a great deal of riding anyway.

Mind you it does count as the south anyway

Molgrips – north / south thread – bound to get a few folk going.

Yeah, mostly 'friendly' Northerners with blinkers on….. 😉

Irelands not that bad, just not as good as the south of England.

They struggle with right of way laws, Downhill is ok but there is a very slow up take of work on trails, so most riding is like it was here 15 years ago forest roads and drovers roads, but still lots of these are closed becasue of rights of way. You basically have none.

Very good and pretty Road riding mind. I liked that.

PP – I thought most of the vitriol came from the southerners living up to their unfriendly sterotype

PP – I thought most of the vitriol came from the southerners living up to their unfriendly sterotype

Ahem, may I refer you to Gary_lager's marvellous posts? Which have actually been noticed by non-forum members! 😕

I've lived the south for about 10 years now, originally from staffordshire.
The wooded type singletrack is as good as anywhere. And there are lots of places to go for this
guildford/surreyhills/northdowns/chilterns/swinley/tunnel hil etc

There are also some places that are reasonably quiet ie chilterns and areas like the ridgeway/marlboroughdowns/lamborndowns/southdowns can give you that big open space feeling but the descents are nt as good in comparison to the north. Although the ups can be difficult with the chalk reflecting the sun.

The main problem with the south is that turns into a mud bath in the winter. You do get use to riding through it and there are trails that arent muddy but there still is ALOT of mud.

Coming from south staffs the soil is very sandy and drains easily. If does nt really matter what time of year you ride there.

I stayed with a friend in Henley and she wanted to go out for a decent long MTB ride and had some 'routes' which i scoffed at. Awesome day, lots of really nice bits of singletrack and just a day of real fun trails. I was fully surprised esp as I'd just spent 4 weeks riding all over Scotland and done some epics. Ridings what it is really, if you think somewhere is sh1t then your closed mind will make it so. Very zen. I've had a bit to drink.

PP – I thought most of the vitriol came from the southerners living up to their unfriendly sterotype

Well, as a passive observer (Did I mention I'm a Midlander, me duck?) I think if that's true the Northerners are really showing the chips on their shoulders too… 🙂

showing the chips on their shoulders too

That's Chips with Gravy though, non of those un-moistened chips

Dez – aye its a good job Fred was banned – he would have been apoplectic by now.

Midlander = southerner. anything south of manchester = the south. I think manchester should be reclassified as the south as well.

We don't want Manchester thanks.

Midlander = southerner

Do I really have to point out how geographically incompetant that statement is? 8)

If that's true, then you're a Southerner too. South Scotland. 😛

Clutching at straws? Nahhh not TJ…. 😉

Whoa whoa whoa there.

Manchester is almost level with West Yorkshire.

Don't you dare class true northerners/Yorkshiremen as southerners.

Yorkshirefolk are the true northerners. Anything else is wannabe.

I do so love it how some people are tying themselves in knots trying to proove a point that is no more than an opinion, with no knowledge at all to back it up! 🙂

TJ's been to the Qs and walked round London, and therefore KNOWS his local riding is better.
Oh pur-leeeese.

Not better. Just different. You might prefer it, but that doesn't turn a PoV into a fact, you know? 😀

Anyroadup. Carry on, time's flying by here at work, and at 3.30 I'm off to some REAL MOUNTAINS! 😀 😉

Bloody northerners, all of you. Down here in Spain (real South) is where the decent riding is, better weather too. And little-to-no mud.

Not better. Just different. You might prefer it, but that doesn't turn a PoV into a fact, you know?

It does if its Chuck Norris's POV

Manchester is almost level with West Yorkshire.

And it's also almost level with Wales. And we KNOW what happens there!

Baaa.

😉

TJ's been to the Qs and walked round London, and therefore KNOWS his local riding is better.
Oh pur-leeeese.

He's probably found some peer reviewed papers about it as well…..

It does if its Chuck Norris's POV

Yeah, but Chuck Norris doesn't go to a mountain to ride a bike, the mountains come to him and pass under his wheels…..

LOL @ Hilldodger again.

(Sorry, Hilldodger is on form today, you gotta admit that, at least 🙂 )

PP – actually I have lived down south 🙂 Have you PP?

You need to reread what I wrote as I did not say what you claim. I did not say my local riding was better – I said there is a wider spread of good riding in the north. Repeatedly I have said there is good riding in the south – just not as much of it as further north and what there is is concentrated in particular areas.

Me – I'm off to redraw the map. I am putting the quantocks and dartmoor in the north and manchester in the south.

Argument over

PP lives in Hampshire I believe.

There is more riding up north, for sure. But there is still plenty in parts of the South and it's good 🙂

^^ TJ did say that.
(As well as the rubbish about mountains)

molgrips – Member

There is more riding up north, for sure. But there is still plenty in parts of the South and it's good

Which is what I said

freeridenick – Member

When we venture out of this god forsaken place we tend to go and ride stuff like this http://www.flickr.com/photos/71958789@N00/sets/72157623770296923/show/
as its very different to what we normally ride – but we normally don't see many northerners/locals on this sort of stuff as they all seem to be juts blasting down rocky fireroads which seems pretty dull to me

It's more a case of there being so many options that you'll be hard pressed to come across a local (here in the north lakes anyway).

So we're all agreed then. It's good everywhere and any whiney northern clog-dancing "smooth" beer-drinking, lard guzzling spotty whey-faced fag smoking shouters of mangled English are just being a tad unreasonable…

Love the Dales and Cumbria, meself. 😉

but we normally don't see many northerners/locals on this sort of stuff as they all seem to be juts blasting down rocky fireroads which seems pretty dull to me

I don't understand how you can tell where people you can't see are riding ?

PP lives in Hampshire I believe

Indeed I do. 🙂

And I cut my MTB teeth in the Peak District nearly 20 years ago, had a rest for a few years and started up again after I moved darn sarf.

I like any riding, on any bike, anywhere. 🙂

I said there is a wider spread of good riding in the north

And I'm not so sure you're right. I think that's just becasue you know your area so well, just as I know my area. If/when I visit, I hoping you'll show me round, though. I know it'll be ace! 😀

simonfbarnes – Member

but we normally don't see many northerners/locals on this sort of stuff as they all seem to be juts blasting down rocky fireroads which seems pretty dull to me

I don't understand how you can tell where people you can't see are riding ?

😆 😆 😆

Made me spit that mouthfull of tea I'd just taken in…

I don't understand how you can tell where people you can't see are riding ?

Becasue you take so many pics of them? 😀

As an aside, I've noticed Molgrips has an astonishing knack for starting mahoosive-long-running threads. Well done that man! 😀

Most of the riding in the UK is great fun, I like surrey as I live here and I'm sure those up North like their stuff for the same reason. Frankly all of our riding is utter crap in comparison to the French Alps, Pyrenees and other proper mountains in Europe. We all know this and for me this thread is like arguing about British "cuisine".

freeridenick – you're probably right, I would be surprised, but only because my expectations of southern riding are pretty low. To be fair, you look like you get out onto my kind of trails in the Lakes, but there's not much down south that offers that kind of riding on that kind of scale. Some folk love southern-style riding, that's fine, but up north it's way easier to get to bigger hills, longer descents and, I would argue, longer stretches of more challenging terrain – as far as I know that's beyond debate (although others here will still try to argue it).

Becasue you take so many pics of them?

ha ha Podster, however I only photograph that select group who are able to ride near me without extreme prejudice :o)

ha ha Podster, however I only photograph that select group who are able to ride near me without extreme prejudice :o)

Or do you need a longer lens? 😉

As an aside, I've noticed Molgrips has an astonishing knack for starting mahoosive-long-running threads. Well done that man!

Ah, it's a recent thing. There are also a few dead horses but they drop down the pages so fast no-one sees them 🙂

TJ – you seemed to imply that there was very little riding down here. There is plenty, although not as much up north.

Still I'm staying at the Bracknell Hilton next week which is across the road from Swinely – and I shall be enjoying hooning around the dry windy singletrack at breakneck speed very much 🙂

I would argue, longer stretches of more challenging terrain – as far as I know that's beyond debate

Depends what you mean by challenging. If you mean getting down in once piece, then perhaps. But I try and get down everything as fast as I can, and then Southern singletrack (and the above mentioned Swinley stuff) can be a great challenge. Whereas all it takes to do a lot of mountain stuff fast is just the balls to lay off the brakes and the arms to take the pounding.