Any good off road rides 5 / 6 hours in gloucester area?

clout stench

Hi,

Planning day out soon and want some challenging rides in the Gloucester area.

I've heard forest of dean is good but seems a bit short from searches i've done. Need something to last all day to justify trip out there.

Thanks

uk_mr_brownstone

Seems like there's quite a few people on this forum from the Glos area.

Depends what you mean by challenging- I've often done the Cotswold Way from Cleeve Hill, finishing with a few goes around Leckhampton Hill. However- there is some 'footpath' on this route and a fair amount of climbing. Probably 4-5 hours at a steady pace, maybe more if you mess around an Leckhampton at the end. C.Ws fairly well signposted most of the way, has a variety of riding, but it's a long distance off road 'walk' at the end of the day, so it's more XC than trail centre type riding.

If by challenging you mean physically demanding (stamina) then try the Cotswold Way. If you're after a FULL day you could cycle from Glos to Winchcoome on the road in the morn, start there, and either end at Leckhampton, or carry on across Birdlip and cut across to painsick Beacon and down through Upton-St-Leonards back into Glos. For me, that would take 8-10 hours in total I reakon. That would be a tough ride.

There must be loads of good riding in the forest, but you need a local to show you- the cycle centre has a singletrack loop and a downhill run- but not a full days riding on it's own. If you find someone to show you a full days riding in the forest let me know!

uk_mr_brownstone

Seems like there's quite a few people on this forum from the Glos area.

Depends what you mean by challenging- I've often done the Cotswold Way from Cleeve Hill, finishing with a few goes around Leckhampton Hill. However- there is some 'footpath' on this route and a fair amount of climbing. Probably 4-5 hours at a steady pace, maybe more if you mess around an Leckhampton at the end. C.Ws fairly well signposted most of the way, has a variety of riding, but it's a long distance off road 'walk' at the end of the day, so it's more XC than trail centre type riding.

If by challenging you mean physically demanding (stamina) then try the Cotswold Way. If you're after a FULL day you could cycle from Glos to Winchcoome on the road in the morn, start there, and either end at Leckhampton, or carry on across Birdlip and cut across to painsick Beacon and down through Upton-St-Leonards back into Glos. For me, that would take 8-10 hours in total I reakon. That would be a tough ride.

There must be loads of good riding in the forest, but you need a local to show you- the cycle centre has a singletrack loop and a downhill run- but not a full days riding on it's own. If you find someone to show you a full days riding in the forest let me know!

clout stench

Thanks Mr B,

Ended up going to Afan forest in Wales in the end and highly recommend this to anyone wanting a good workout on marked trails varying in length up to 40 - 50k

We did the 'wall' first then started the skyline after a full b'fast in the cafe, but realised 2 thirds of the way round that doing both was a big ask and took the 'shorter' route back to the centre. The 6k downhill was something else.

amt27

uk_mr_brownstone wrote:

There must be loads of good riding in the forest, but you need a local to show you- the cycle centre has a singletrack loop and a downhill run- but not a full days riding on it's own. If you find someone to show you a full days riding in the forest let me know!

i'm a forester, do you think there is a market for guided rides?

uk_mr_brownstone

amt27 wrote:

i'm a forester, do you think there is a market for guided rides?

probably