Swinley Forest / The Lookout

J55TTC

Well, Ill be darned...

Just when I thought I knew swinley well I go and find about an hours worth of new stuff including a cool little stream crossing

thatscold

Well, Ill be darned...

Just when I thought I knew swinley well I go and find about an hours worth of new stuff including a cool little stream crossing

Can you share these new routes?

billysan

J55TTC wrote:

Well, Ill be darned...

Just when I thought I knew swinley well I go and find about an hours worth of new stuff including a cool little stream crossing

You mean your all singing all dancing map of the place didnt have them shown?

I'd complain!!!

J55TTC

No need to complain, I effectively got a refund of my annual pass as I found a £20 note

Anonymous

My last trace covers a fair amount, including Seagulls, The Stickler, Tank Traps, Whole Nine Yards, Babymaker(maybe)/ Labyrinth, plus a bit going on from the bottom on Labyrinth which hits a recently refurbed section with a couple of very short bridges (over a stream? well, ditch), and a couple of tiny bits out on the Crowthorne side (near Seagulls) which were new to me.

http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/work ... id=1637943

My plan is to map these somehow on Google Maps or similar, marking up the actual sections.

My mission on further visits is to explore a lot of other areas. There's a lot more out there. I also haven't ventured outside of the Swinley estate itself (e.g. towards Crowthorne and also south into MOD land).

billysan

Thats a good start at mapping it. If you click on the satelite image button you can just about make out the major fire roads, and from those work out what you're been riding on!!

Did you do that loop non stop? The data points towards that, it looks like a nice loop to do if you want to get a training ride in with limited time to hand.

Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous

Pretty much non stop. Just stopped a few times for a quick drink, catch my breath and then head off again.

I tend to do just a couple of hours late on an afternoon. I often just do a loop going down via Stickler, Tank Traps, then over Surrey Hill to Labyrinth and then head back. This time I was trying to explore a bit more but took in Seagulls which I do sometimes.

I notice a lot of people do Seagulls from the other end though. Not sure why as it doesn't seem quite right to me, or maybe it's just it involves more uphill that way . There's a little dark run through the trees which leads up to the entrance at the Crowthorne end which would link up to it as part of a loop.

J55TTC

Its hard to explain where this new bit is I found so Ill post some images.

First one is my 30km route excluding crowethorne and seagul



This one is where this new bit is

chubby666

To anyone that may be interested :
i'll be riding Swinley allmost everyday from 2nd Nov - 6th nov mainly Single trac and Jump gully also be looking for the D/H sections
8) 8)

billysan

You're going to spend a whole week riding in the gulley and on the 'downhill sections'?

You cant get bored very easily then?!

Anonymous

A lot of the kids just spend all day in the gully. Would bore me to death but they're kids (the kind like snowboarders who will go all the way to a ski resort and just spend the whole week in the snow park). Then again, I can't do jumps anyway.

chubby666

billysan wrote:

You're going to spend a whole week riding in the gulley and on the 'downhill sections'?

You cant get bored very easily then?!

how could i possibly get bored ! the buzz of being airbourne and very fast descents ? probably spend a couple of hours doing this then another couple of hours riding the singletracs and lookig for other routes , now how could that be boring

billysan

My point being there isnt really anywhere that you can descend 'fast' for more than a few seconds!!

If you've got a whole week to spend there riding why not try exploring a bit more? Ie beyond Swinley?

m_cozzy

There is a gorrick event this coming sunday (8th). I only saw a little sign way out in the forest advertising this. Does anyone know how much this limits the trails? I'm thinking of changing the usual sunday morning ride to a saturday if all the good bits are roped off for a race?

missmarple

I'm meant to be going to Swinley on Friday night with the club, anyone know the conditions of it at the mo?

billysan

Moist?!

missmarple

I hope it isn't soggy, went through 36 miles of the North Downs yesterday - should've come dressed for swimming as it was that messy.

billysan

To be fair I wasnt actually in Swinley yesterday, went down towards Blackbush. But it is pretty muddy. Some of the tracks in Swinley have been waterlogged for a couple of weeks now, and remember we've had a fair bit of rain over the last 24 hours.

merlie

surley it'll be dry by friday morning when da club arrives at 10am ?

missmarple

Conditions were good, moist and gloopy in parts - especially the fireroads.

adam.hales

was there on sunday and although a little chiili conditions were fun... took a spill on the way back to the lookout on a rarely used bit of single track tho (",)

had to dodge 300 santas on the way out (some kind of fun run) but they stuck to the fire roads so didnt cause any problems... enjoyed splashing a few of them (",)

Anonymous

Probably venture over after lunch today to check out things. Have been addicted to Surrey Hills for a while, so I'll do Swinley for a change. If there's a break in the rain I may still do Surrey Hills tomorrow

jez_clarke

Had a first ride at Swinley on Saturday.. and was pretty impressed..
handles the torrential rain very well..

raced in Cranleigh on Sunday, which didn't drain quite so well..

Bridleways' like rivers!

will be back at Swinley again and again i am sure.. great spot for night rides..

Anonymous

FYI, if you check out the extras on the latest Harry Potter DVD / Blu Ray, and find the preview for the next film, you'll find some location stuff you might recognise

I see now what the aerial cable thing was for.

Epic_Mitch

Anyone fancy a meet and a group ride? I've never done Swinley before and keen to test it out!

Mitch

ladybee

I'd also be up for this! Never ridden Swinley before.

J09

I've been there once but liked it quite a lot. Definetively up for a group ride around it. We can always go on discovery mode as it has a fence all around... Can't stray too far...

weeksy59

Well for some trails you end up on the other side of fence 1.

i go there a fair bit with the lads and love the place.

Although i wouldn't want to navigate for others as i barely know the place.

thel33ter

I'd be up for it, been there loads but dont have a route, I just do few laps of the singletrack.

Anonymous

Spur of the moment decision and I went over to Swinley today. Main roads were clear so thought it should be fine. Got there but the gates were shut on the main car park. Tried other places to park but just kept getting stuck as soon as I got off the road. Gave up and just went around one of the local commons near me. That was tricky anyway as I found the snow was quite wet but also icy wherever it was compacted. Quite different from before Christmas when the snow was more of a dry kind of snow.