Solihull off road routes! anyone know of any more???

stunnertier1

Ive read a few posts from Solihull lads asking if there are any routes at all around our unfotunatly flat area!
Well actually there are a few areas where you can go if you cant be arsed to drive to Cannock or Malverns etc.

1st place where there are a few trails (not hard at all bear in mind) is on the right hand side of the motorway just after J4 of the M42, access to this area is quite difficult to find if you are not a Monkspath lad, you have to find Shelly Crescent (by the shops) and on the bend there is a path (by Elmbridge drive) which leads down to a small forrest, keep left in the forrest & it takes you to the motorway bridge, cross the motorway bridge and your in the area. There is a forrest on the right hand side with a couple of trails in there & out to the left there is the river blythe and a funky bridge to jump off the end off, crossing the river is possible too. Follow over the river & under the train bridge for a fast trail by the side of the cemetery.
Another place from the Motorway bridge is to follow the forrest all the way around and there are some fields & another forrest to play around in & also carry on down the motorway side to come to the old Motorcross dirt track, the track is still there and you can just about work it out from google maps (sat view). you can have some good fun in this area, its just exploring it to find the places.

Another area myself and friend go to which you may know off is around Earlswood lakes, there is a dirt track around both lakes (no bikes allowed but no one ever says anything) the top lake has a great trail around it with loads of jumps and a bit of tech singletrack & there is a opening into Wood lane forest where there are a few trails too (look out for the wood caretaker, he might try to chase you, what a tnuc !) you can do a big circle of the forest then get back onto the lake dirt trails)

There is also a forest just off the Stratford road near box trees farm where I spotted a dirt track while driving past the other day, I am going to explore it on Sunday so ill let you know if there is anything worth exploring in there.

There is also a area close with a derelect Farm which was great, we went there as young teenagers but we have never been able to find it since ! it had a massive drop through the middle of it & was in a forrest area.

If anyone knows anymore within riding distance from Solihull post it on here !!

cheers

crazyjokeuk

thanks for the good advice I am going to check the area over the bridge this week

Rich101

I personally quite like doing a few laps of hay wood:

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?lat=52.71 ... nformation

Maybe a little too far unless you live the right side of solihull. I'ts not going to challenge a skilled rider but it's fun enough. Take a trip out there and see what you think.

Also look at the following map:

http://www.runfinder.co.uk/?r=136766

That ties together some of the more enjoyable unclassified county lanes and bridleways near me (lapworth). Might be worth riding out to it and having a go on a weekend. Varies in difficulty and there is a large piece of road work unfortunatly at the end (beggining).

So far as I know there is not much else nearby worth doing. I'd love to be proved wrong

slimboyjim

1st place where there are a few trails (not hard at all bear in mind) is on the right hand side of the motorway just after J4 of the M42, access to this area is quite difficult to find if you are not a Monkspath lad, you have to find Shelly Crescent (by the shops) and on the bend there is a path (by Elmbridge drive) which leads down to a small forrest, keep left in the forrest & it takes you to the motorway bridge, cross the motorway bridge and your in the area. There is a forrest on the right hand side with a couple of trails in there & out to the left there is the river blythe and a funky bridge to jump off the end off, crossing the river is possible too. Follow over the river & under the train bridge for a fast trail by the side of the cemetery.
Another place from the Motorway bridge is to follow the forrest all the way around and there are some fields & another forrest to play around in & also carry on down the motorway side to come to the old Motorcross dirt track, the track is still there and you can just about work it out from google maps (sat view). you can have some good fun in this area, its just exploring it to find the places.

Good description - I found this on google maps no problem and will look to visit sometime soon and have an explore!

Another area myself and friend go to which you may know off is around Earlswood lakes, there is a dirt track around both lakes (no bikes allowed but no one ever says anything) the top lake has a great trail around it with loads of jumps and a bit of tech singletrack & there is a opening into Wood lane forest where there are a few trails too (look out for the wood caretaker, he might try to chase you, what a tnuc !) you can do a big circle of the forest then get back onto the lake dirt trails)

Again, seems worth the trip - shame it's a fair old ride for me!

There is also a forest just off the Stratford road near box trees farm where I spotted a dirt track while driving past the other day, I am going to explore it on Sunday so ill let you know if there is anything worth exploring in there.

Any update?

There's not too much I've really found locally. If you fancy a spin then it's pretty easy to jump on the train to Warwick Parkway and cycle back. At Warwick Parkway leave the station and go out ionto the main road turning right - you'll cross the canal after which there is a drop down onto the canal on the left hand side maybe 5-10m past the bridge. Going Warwick-Birmingham is tougher as it's uphill overall. Couple of pubs on route if that's your thing... :roll: I intend o9n doing aloop involving the Stratford and Warwick cananls one day but, at 35miles, it's a bit of a trip!

The only bit of singletrack I can suggest is along the side of the canal - Where Dovehouse Lane crosses the canal on the North side there is a trail that runs parallel to the canal before dropping down to meet the towpath. It only takes a minute or two to complete but is pretty good fun. Covered in leaves at the moment so you'll slide around everywhere! Only thing to be aware of is some of the 'jumps' the local kids have built - they are dangerous - about a foot high with near vertical take off means they are more like a small brick wall -just to make you aware!

There are a couple of dirt tracks off the canal that I intend on exploring at some point but they don't really look like anything to shout about...

James

stunnertier1

Slimboy, these are just routes where i go if I fancy a quick blast locally, I ride Cannock litirally every weekend, if not we travel to trail centres & go to the peaks quite a bit too. The best one around me is earlswood thow !
We have found that the little forest right next to the Resivuoir pub has a great little trail inside, its littirally only takes 5 mins to go round but it has some ridiculous jumps in there, well worth a gander ! you can get in there at the bottom of the pub car park & have a an explore round ! you can proper blast round it, then go round the other side of the lakes to to dirt trail around the two & then into the forest !

As for the forest off the stratford road, nothing in there mate, its really flat, not worth a look !

Lets hope that phase 2 at cannock opens soon ! bloody love cannock, its gonna be awesome when the 2nd trail opens !

There are a few trails at style cop bike park which are ok if your on a decent full susser, awsome DH, only takes a min to get down thow ! I do it on a i-drive elite and its sweet !

richard_l

Rich101 wrote:

I personally quite like doing a few laps of hay wood:

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?lat=52.71 ... nformation

Maybe a little too far unless you live the right side of solihull. I'ts not going to challenge a skilled rider but it's fun enough. Take a trip out there and see what you think.

Also look at the following map:

http://www.runfinder.co.uk/?r=136766

That ties together some of the more enjoyable unclassified county lanes and bridleways near me (lapworth). Might be worth riding out to it and having a go on a weekend. Varies in difficulty and there is a large piece of road work unfortunatly at the end (beggining).

So far as I know there is not much else nearby worth doing. I'd love to be proved wrong

Rich - can we prove you wrong indeed ? We use similar to your lanes and bridleways route.
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Dorridge-Sat-route
Usually do this in a clockwise direction and it avoids any road sections for too long. The better parts not picked up on your route are the bridleways at Claverdon and Austy Wood which are a reasonable blast on gentle downhill terrain. As you note, its mostly XC routes round here without any major downhill sections or jumps.

crazyjokeuk

There is a bike shop called Cult in ealswood that are trying to create a track. Only the beginings of a track but needs some more ridding.

slimboyjim

Stunnertier1 - Had a little look around both the areas you suggested (on the pretense of taking my daughter out for a walk ) Both seem worth a short trip with the absence of anything better around. Saying that, some of the jumps in the area to the rear of Earlswood Reservoir pub look a bit big for me just yet! I'd have a go at tables but not doubles... Still, I'm on a jumps skills course in Feb so maybe I'll be on them in the new year! Some nice drops though.

mrooke

Thanks for the routes stunnertier1

I went and found the Shelley Coppice area (the one by the motorway) it's not a bad place to build up some fitness, but it could be a killer little circuit if a few people started building some jumps and trails there.

I might plan some visits to do just that. A tree has fallen down halfway through, and I have built a makeshft log step, over it, but I need to take a saw and get rid of the tree.

H0b0b

at the bottom of Brueton Park near solihull town centre, opposite the cafe near the lake there is a gate enterance to a nature area, if you go through the gate and look left there is a path leading into the forest with some really rooty single track riding in it, about an hours worth of trail in there that varies between open field riding and nice clumps forest riding in there, its not particularly hard but its a nice ride and well worth exploring.

I had a ride over to the spot past Monkspath golf course and over the motor way bridge, there are a nice few clumps of flat land forest riding in there, just keep exploring and when you reach the back of the first part of the forest keep riding and you will find a few horse racing jumps with some forest behind it, worth heading over into that forest aswell and having an explore.

find me on Pinkbike: H0b0b

Kirwan

stunnertier1 wrote:

Ive read a few posts from Solihull lads asking if there are any routes at all around our unfotunatly flat area!
Well actually there are a few areas where you can go if you cant be arsed to drive to Cannock or Malverns etc.

1st place where there are a few trails (not hard at all bear in mind) is on the right hand side of the motorway just after J4 of the M42, access to this area is quite difficult to find if you are not a Monkspath lad, you have to find Shelly Crescent (by the shops) and on the bend there is a path (by Elmbridge drive) which leads down to a small forrest, keep left in the forrest & it takes you to the motorway bridge, cross the motorway bridge and your in the area. There is a forrest on the right hand side with a couple of trails in there & out to the left there is the river blythe and a funky bridge to jump off the end off, crossing the river is possible too. Follow over the river & under the train bridge for a fast trail by the side of the cemetery.
Another place from the Motorway bridge is to follow the forrest all the way around and there are some fields & another forrest to play around in & also carry on down the motorway side to come to the old Motorcross dirt track, the track is still there and you can just about work it out from google maps (sat view). you can have some good fun in this area, its just exploring it to find the places.

Another area myself and friend go to which you may know off is around Earlswood lakes, there is a dirt track around both lakes (no bikes allowed but no one ever says anything) the top lake has a great trail around it with loads of jumps and a bit of tech singletrack & there is a opening into Wood lane forest where there are a few trails too (look out for the wood caretaker, he might try to chase you, what a tnuc !) you can do a big circle of the forest then get back onto the lake dirt trails)

There is also a forest just off the Stratford road near box trees farm where I spotted a dirt track while driving past the other day, I am going to explore it on Sunday so ill let you know if there is anything worth exploring in there.

There is also a area close with a derelect Farm which was great, we went there as young teenagers but we have never been able to find it since ! it had a massive drop through the middle of it & was in a forrest area.

If anyone knows anymore within riding distance from Solihull post it on here !!

cheers

Thanks for posting this. Just thought I’d let you know that all these years later it’s useful information. Had a ride round the route from Monkspath over the M42 inc river crossing last night and really enjoyed it. Cheers!