You, a bike and an OS map?

Feeling a bit short of places to ride at the moment (well places that don’t require lots of driving!), so instead of getting out the road bike I’ve found my OS map and have found a loop of bridleways that gives me a reasonable mileage, almost from my door. No idea if any of it is likely to be fun riding though! Ive walked quite a chunk of it, and ridden bits and I know a lot of the bridleways are singletrack road, or not very exciting bits of grass, si I’m not sue it’s going to be worth the effort.

So, who else has gone out from the their door with an OS map to follow the bridleways and just explore? Found anything good or has it been a waste of time?

Found good stuff and found utter waste of time. The only way to know which is which is to try.

I’ve done it. Put together a few different loops just using roads and bridleways to start with. As I did them, and explored a bit, I started finding hidden bits of singletrack. And then I spotted a few bits of woodland that look promising for a bit of “development”.

Just do it. Get out there. Take a pencil, make notes. If something looks fun, ride it 🙂

Yeah – I discovered that our local woods is a little gem of a place to ride if I am not feeling too energetic. There is also a local forest with great fire roads, and I have also discovered loads of little back roads too which are very scenic.

The one let down was riding up a steep hill up a farm track to a farm. On the map there is what looks like a bridleway, and I rode there as there was a the remains of an ancient hill fort to look at. But the field had an electric fence and it seemed to be connected to the actual gate – I didnt want to risk it so rode down again.

Apart from that I wish I had a sturdy road bike as a mountain bike can be a bit of drag, but still good fun.

So, who else has gone out from the their door with an OS map to follow the bridleways and just explore?

My usual way of riding 😀
Not a car user so just explore locally.
Much of what I ride isn’t up to ‘stw gnar’ standards, but I’m rarely disappointed and get to know an area really well and appreciate how it changes with the seasons.
If I get bored with local stuff, just hop on a train and go somewhere further afield 🙂

Do it all the time, in fact it’s how most of my rides get formulated!

Suppose its “proper” riding, although having just had a quick scout on google maps satellite view, looks like more like cross bike territory to me, nothing exciting! maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised, as long as its not raining it should be alright 😛

Yes. Isn’t that mountain biking?

I’m not quite sure how anyone could imagine that this was something novel and / or different.

Well there are 3 options

Ride the same as before

get someone else to show you around

Or go trail blazing with a map and a bit of google earth research!

Do it all the time, it’s not just the Bridleways, its what you can find leading off them, particularly in woods 🙂

Having explored all the bridleways within about a 15ml radius of home, I now look further afield and decide a base point for a loop, lob the bike in the car, and drive out to the start of the planned route, saves boring road time.

Sounds like my sort of riding, as mentioned here.
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/riding-a-mountain-bike-like-a-road-bike

It’s not really trail blazing though! All you’re doing is getting off your arse and piecing together bridleways and footpaths and assorted bits of cheek that other people have been riding (and walking) for years. I don’t get how anyone would not get out and explore all the stuff in their local area.

how I’ve ridden for about the last 30 years, yellow highlight all Bridle//Rupp/BOAT etc that way you can see loops/routes about the right distance for you, also helps when seeing if worth driving to an area, it also really helps you spot useful coughpaths for linking etc you’ll get everything from swamps to gems, and that can be on the same track at different times of the year, fabulous way to explore, now you can augmnent it with t’internet maps etc etc go for it

It’s not really trail blazing though!

It can be with me sometimes. Number of times trails run out, usually downhill, but keep going hoping to find another path/track, sometimes we don’t then we have to work out best way to find a path, sometimes involves streams, barbed wire fences, and dense undergrowth. Never had to resort to machete yet tho.:)

^^agree doesnt take many trips to realise whoever marks bridleways on OS maps spends a lot of time skiving down the pub.

All part of the fun though.

Every ride I do, I make it a policy to include one new trail, using a map, or stuff I’ve seen in passing, or on google maps etc.

And it ain’t always bridleways 😉

google earth and a map are your friends…I do that loads to plan routes

I went exploring on my commute home today.
The bridleway breaks off right from a forestry road.
A forestry road later joins the bridleway from the left.
Staying on the forestry road would obviously be an alternative faster route worth checking.
Except it’s two different forestry roads. 😳
I ended up on the opposite side of the wood to where I thought I would.
Oh well, at least I found a back way in to the arboretum. 😀

This site is great for looking at new routes!

http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm

<pulls up a sandbag>

Crikey, you mean there are people out there who didn’t start like this?

back in the day, it was all we had – I recall back, oh, well over a decade ago, getting OS maps and plotting a route from Harrogate to Consett through the dales, and doing it over two days, staying at Baldersdale youth hostel overnight.

On my wall there used to be two OS maps, with every legal right of way in the area highlighted in pink, and every decent cheeky trail in yellow – not many hadn’t been ridden at some point…

<wanders into middle distance, swinging lamp>

I’ve only been doing it for 25 years but it seems like a good idea to me so far. I’ve no interest or the time to drive places to ride a bike, I like just going out of the door and enjoying the riding and the fresh air. Even now I find routes I haven’t ridden before. The South Downs don’t offer what a lot of people want but if you just enjoy cross country riding there are miles and miles of bridleways.

a little something that was hard to link in with other stuff so i’d ignored on the map, i’m always looking up stuff i see when out to see where it goes or looking at the map for bridleways and unclassified/unmetalled roads – google earth has been a real bonus to see if something nice does end up in a garden

– sometimes you find something good (albeit it short)

So, who else has gone out from the their door with an OS map to follow the bridleways and just explore?
I thought it was normal.
I drove 40mins yesterday & did the same round Nidderdale, stuff I’d never done before but always wanted to. It was 85% ok.

Just another half thought out idea with a couple of generalisations thrown in…

People tend to meet up for group rides at trail centres, whether it’s official ones like Cannock or cheeky ones like the Wyre.
Those of us who do the OS map, bridleway and other path thing tend to do it on our own.

It can take quite a bit of exploring to work out what’s good, what’s not so good and what’s unrideable in your area. OK if you live there and have got the time to try all the different trails and don’t mind the odd disappointment, not so good if you want to travel to a new area and go straight to the good stuff.

How about some sort of irregular meet up where locals invite others to their area for a tour of the good bits ?
I could put together a route anywhere from 20 to 50km starting and finishing in the Wyre forest, but heading off out in to the surrounding countryside.
I could post a map of the route beforehand too, to give you an idea of what to expect.
In return, other people could lead rides around the trails they know well in their area.

Think of it like lots of mini unofficial HONCs, or non competitive trailquests.

That sounds like a very good idea! 🙂

Haven’t decided which direction to head yet but I’ll be off out this afternoon to see what I can find 🙂

that’s how I do 75% of all my riding..
It’s a flippin’ ace way to do things although it can take a while to learn which way you would like to ride certain sections and the best way to link things up..
I’m lucky enough to have some very spectacular riding on my doorstep though and I think I could probably be linking and re-routing and riding sections in different orders for about 100 years without ever riding the same route twice..

MT Graham – I was thinking just that whilst out with the dog the other day. Ended up going well ‘off-piste’

Happy trails pics

Despite being on foot, I spent most of the time linking up bits of known and previously unknown tracks in my head until I had a nice 20 mile blast put together.

MTG, looking to do a bromsgrove to wyre ride tomorrow, going via top of droitwich, Ombersley, Hartlebury, Burlish Top to wyre quick loop or 2, then returning via Eymore wood, Upper Arley, Kinver and Clent. Any tips or areas to miss/ must do?

That’s what MTBing is all about, isn’t it?

Open a map, look for the green dashed lines, and explore. Although nowadays you need a two-pronged approach. Following the bridleways is worth while (many are crap, but you get the hang of spotting those on the map after a while) but you also need to go to a patch of woodland, cruise the fire-roads and look for the openings in the verge. Many many people putting in new trails and lines all through the woods, these are not on maps.

When starting with the maps though, this site is fantastic:

http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm

Find the bridleway then zoom in on the satellite image to see if it exists on the ground.

got a 51 mile round trip now sorted, excluding the ride round the forest once I’m there! I sense tired legs tomorrow night!

i’m not a big fan of trail centres tbh, i spend half my time pouring over google earth and os maps, tis great. some times it goes wrong, sometimes it’s great. 38.7 mile loop yesterday from my front door, wee bit of road, but mostly traffic free, up through kelvingrove over to mugdock up to the beach tree for a guiness then up along the pipe track on the campsies and into the back of mugdock then home. 🙂 once i can do 60 miles(with twice as much climbing) ), there’s a great loop awaiting, train to milngavie round ben lomond to balloch,

blimey, really? i thought most everyone does this most of the time!

part of the fun is exploring, even when it turns out to be crap. or is it just me?

Having gone out yesterday, I can see why people like it, but with the bridleways and stuff near me, it seems to be lacking the excitement that I need from most rides!

Many bridleways are flat and rubbish, becky. But many are not – it depends where you are. Some of the best trails I’ve ever ridden – no, THE best trails I’ve ever ridden are bridleways up in the mountains.

Where are you roughly? Just the town, I don’t want to know your postcode! I’ll cast an eye over the map if you like.

Yes I’m sure there are many nice ones (and cheeky bits coming off of them!), flat is fine on the whole – but a few corners or a bit of flow would be nice 😛

I’m just north of Northampton

Hmm, pretty sparse around there. Looks like west of Daventry is your best bet.

it may be a wee trek but badby woods always used to be fun. though it’s entirely possible that riding has been banned there now

hi,not a hijack,hope you dont mind,just a quick question.do many people out there ride footpaths (not pavements).round here there are a few bridleways and loads of footpaths,would be nice to link them up.

Those of us who do the OS map, bridleway and other path thing tend to do it on our own.

Only because all our mates have long since gotten fed up being dragged through every gorse bush and bog in the vicinity 😀

Steve36, the only difference between a bridleway and a footpath is whether it’s got gates or styles. 😉
I wouldn’t try to ride a footpath along the Malverns on a sunny Sunday afternoon, but away from the tourist areas there are footpaths around field edges all over the country where you are unlikely to meet anyone on foot.

Mick, I only just saw your post, so a bit late to give advice for this time.
I’ve never cycled Route 45 as far as Hartlebury, it’s on my To Do list. Once you get to the bottom of Bewdley bypass, ignore the Sustrans route and ride up either side of the river bank to Bewdley.
Eymore wood is a bit of a slog up hill, I tend to use Trimpley Lane. the footpath through the middle is actually a forestry road and pretty fast.
Arley Wood and Castle Hill is a nice loop in either direction.
The North Worcestershire Path between Kinver Edge and the canal is deep, soft sand. I wouldn’t even attempt to ride up it. SinglespeedStu seems to like it on his fat tyres though.