Derbyshire Trails

timnoyce

Currently living in Derby and am on the look out for some decent trail riding nearby as need to increase the fitness to make the most of weekend trips away. Recently done Coed Y Brenin, LLandegla etc and am loving the single track!

Is there anywhere near with any good single track? I have heard of Cannock which is about 30mins drive away so definitely worth checking out. If anyone local fancies hitting up a few midweek rides then let me know. My housemate and I both have pretty capable XC machines and want to push ourselves!

Cheers,

Tim

on-oneplus26

Hi Tim.

Suggest you look in the White Peak guide by VG guidebooks. All to the North of Derby. The old guide book (Mountain biking in Derbyshire of something like that has routes to the North and south of the city.

If you are after more woodsey trails head to Shining cliff at Ambergate.

Enjoy

iain1775

Cannock is definately worth a visit, Follow the Dog is good but there are also numerous other 'secret' trails out there to be discovered - the Monkey Trail - excellent - I go every Wednesday Evening, takes 30mins door to door via A38 to Arewas, then cross country through Armitage to Rugely.
There is good riding in peaks (Hope / Ladybower - Cut Gate and Jacobs ladder are possibly the best rides in the country) again echo what the other writer says about Vertibrae Graphics excellent guide books (they are on sale in Waterstones in Derby) or closer to home riding straight from Derby at Ambergate as someone else said and along the Chevin at Belper. I have a good X Country route from Ticknall around Foremark Reservoir etc (can be started from centre of Derby along national Cycle route 6 to make a 70km 90% offroad loop!) - I can send directions across when I figure out how to post them on here, also a route out towards Ashborne starting from Markeaton Park that is 70% off road. There is also some good tracks in the woods south of Nottingham (I forget their name) near to Kegworth, and Bestwood Park in Notts has a very active mountain bike club.
Also try Sherwood Pines near Mansfield and Warnecliffe Woods north of Sheffield for some more downhill hardcore stuff (Its Steve Peats stomping ground)
Iain

sprocker

Its more likely that you would use the Welsh trail centres for training for some of the routes you can do in the peak. There are some great 40+km around both the Dark peak Castleton, Edale etc and for the summer single there is plenty round Bakewell, Darley Dale, Stoney Middleton and surrounding area.

Like the other posts the VG books are really good and once you know where you are going you can start to build up your own variations. It you are feeling really fit the dark peak guide includes a 105km killer loop which takes in some of the best ups and downs you will find anywhere.

timnoyce

Thanks guys. There is certainly some stuff there to look at there.

I visited Cannock Chase a couple of weeks ago and it was pretty good crack. Long enough for a good evening ride, but glad I didn't go there for a full day! Bike is off the road for a few days at the moment as I caught my outer crank chain ring on a rock and it's made a bit of a mess of it. Perhaps I should have listened when the reviews said that the bottom bracket is low on the Marin Eldridge Grade?!

Going down to Afan in a couple of weekends time so might find time to explore derby after that. If anyone is doing any mid week stuff whilst the evenings are light then PM me.

ednwireland

used to live in derby some cracking trails round belper need a bit of linking together but i used to cycle out of town
also good singletrack bridleways south of town round a resevoir cant remember the name - great for evening rides, unlless there all closed over the last 10 years
i now live in donegal nw ireland
you need this book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mountain-Bike-G ... 094815358X

foremark resevoir - remembered