London Calling

WisePranker

Can anyone tell me where the best place is to park if I'm riding in Crowthorne Wood?
Am I as well off just parking at the Lookout and riding over?

benpinnick

My house. Failing that:

All the below links are centered maps - the parking is bang in the middle....

Theres half a dozen cars worth of parking (and often empty) by the gates here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=crowthorne&hl=en&ll=51.37683,-0.782293&spn=0.002287,0.005343&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=47.215051,87.539063&vpsrc=6&hnear=Crowthorne,+Bracknell+Forest,+United+Kingdom&t=h&z=18

Theres a car park here, just behind the Past and Present Shop here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Unknown+road&daddr=51.372114,-0.785954&hl=en&ll=51.371921,-0.787518&spn=0.002287,0.005343&sll=51.371886,-0.786783&sspn=0.001144,0.002671&geocode=FdjfDwMdZffz_w%3B&vpsrc=6&mra=mift&mrsp=1&sz=19&t=h&z=18

'A' is the shop, 'B' is the car park.

Or here at the Broadmoor hospital is also popular.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=crowthorne&hl=en&ll=51.371941,-0.778967&spn=0.004574,0.010686&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=47.215051,87.539063&vpsrc=6&hnear=Crowthorne,+Bracknell+Forest,+United+Kingdom&t=h&z=17

Easiest and probably most secure is Broadmoor - just park up, cut through the trees and pick up the bridleway up the hill. This will take you under the bridge into the main crowthorne woods area (crowthorne woods is split in half by the Foresters Way road.

benpinnick

As for the weekend, I was thinking maybe Saturday or Sunday 9am (pushed back as CoolDad has shown interest). Done by midday so we can all get some other things done!

WisePranker

Thanks for that. I'll dump the motor at the Hospital by the looks of it

cooldad

benpinnick wrote:

As for the weekend, I was thinking maybe Saturday or Sunday 9am (pushed back as CoolDad has shown interest). Done by midday so we can all get some other things done!

Fine with me. Saturday would be better but either ok.

Blind Danny Johnson

A 9 start is too early for me on Sat, working late on Fri plus it's about 1.5 - 2hrs in total door to door on the train for me. Might come later or skip it in favour of a Surrey Hills on Sunday. Are you guys about Sunday?

natrix

WisePranker wrote:

Thanks for that. I'll dump the motor at the Hospital by the looks of it

Don't be surprised if it gets clamped, Broadmoor is a private car park

Anonymous

And if the siren goes off it'll go missing anyway, then be featured later in a mass murder.

Curious Yellow

@cooldad, if you're up for a 1000 ride then my mate and I should be up for it. Will double check and confirm tonight.

cooldad

Looks like Swinley is 9 am, also arranged with Facebook group.
Sunday still open though.

benpinnick

Sounds good - see you there.

cooldad

Saturday 9am Swinley
Sunday 11am SH.

cooldad

Or 8.30 DK time

Anonymous

8.30!

sobol

Hi All,

Me and my mate are driving to Wales this Sunday morning for whole day.
We're leaving from west London and have two more spaces in the car and on the bike rack.

The drive time is around 2h - 2,5h depending which place we drive to.
We want to either do cross country loop in Cwmcarn ( around 22 km loop ) or Skyline singletrack at Afan with a shortcut that bring it to 36 km.

We will be sharing fuel cost though it is very little if divided by three people.
Please call me if you're interested to come on 077 46 350 172 or pm here.

Regards,
SoboL

ps. I ride all montain and my mate will be renting one.

Stan Leigh

@ Cooldad . Surrey Hills 11am , Walking Bottom Car park ?

cooldad

Yup

cooldad

So far Stan, thel33ter, DK, Blind Danny Johnstone, and probably some others.

Blind Danny Johnson

cooldad wrote:

So far Stan, thel33ter, DK, Blind Danny Johnstone, and probably some others.

It's Johnson, not Johnstone!!! As in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW1SRJrNZZw

cooldad

It's Johnson as in goddam pedant.

Blind Danny Johnson

cooldad wrote:

It's Johnson as in goddam pedant.

apreading

Went to Swinley today with my son.

Followed a route based on one shared on here - New Englad Switchbacks, Watson Wander, Satans Grotto, Seagul, (New Stickler), Stickler, Tank Traps, Manhole, Whole Nine Yards & back to the lookout. Used the new map and Viewranger set to OSM Cycle Maps with a route based on BenPinnicks shared gpx.

Fantastic - last time we found a bit of seagull and Jump Gully but missed some fantastic stuff.

Also tried out some new tyres - Nevegal 2.35 StickE front and 2.1 DTC rear. They were great on most of it but a bit slippy on some of the wet roots - but then I think probably most tyres would be.

Best bit by far was Stickler, and especially the new section they have built which comes out in the middle of the old Stickler, and then we did both parts of the old route. Both my son and I REALLY enjoyed the sweeping turns and the surface was perfect for the tyres - they really bit in and had massive grip for sections we didnt think we would be able to do until we tried them! The new section was the most fun I have had on a bike in ages!

Now I have done an exploratory, perhaps I will look out for a good time to join you guys - although I am sure to be alot slower than you are...

cooldad

Welcome anytime, not many people are slower than me.

diy

I dunno if you guys did BKB, but its had some minor improvements worked in. There are now a few more jumps and passing places. The trail builders were out last sunday and while the improvements are work in progress, it certainly made bkb a bit more of a challenge. It was quite congested though, so the dual track is welcome for passing slower riders.

cooldad

Yes noticed some changes but at the speed we ride, low flying really, hardly noticed them.
Seriously though, rode nicely, only issue is still the last berm, which is horrendous.

diy

take it high, its not too bad then.

cooldad

I do, but the smooth line is down to a few inches. Why people need to brake heavily there I'll never know. Especially now there's a nice chunky catch fence at the end.

benpinnick

After meeting Andy (Hey Andy) while out riding last weekend, I was thinking of possibly making some trail markers for Swinley, given the number of people that ride there and have no idea where they are or where to go. I was thinking just some small laminated cards that could hang from a tree at the start and end of the trails, giving the name and a reference point to a GPX type map. I was thinking also of adding a QR code to download the map for that trail, and link to a mobile site that explains what trail you are at and the options from there, + maybe the whole GPX for the forest. Any thoughts?

Anonymous

Nice idea, but BoB will not like it, and the estate supposedly (according to BoB) have a condition that trails are not to be advertised or mapped officially.

Daft because the trails in Swinley are the worst kept secret. If anything because of its popularity it needs some management now in places to ensure people are being a bit more responsible and perhaps know how technical some parts are. May reduce the amount of ambulance trips there. Doesn't stop idiots like me seeing something beyond my skills and doing it anyway of course.

Also some way of making some trails definitely one way and keeping some exclusive to bikes to avoid conflicts would be good. Sign posts really is the only way, but they're dead against that.

Some of the trail fairies are in that Swinley Facebook group, and don't think they're all BoB (Gorrick do the trails also). Might be worth chatting with them or Gorrick, or the ranger.

diy

Yogurt pots and telegraph on Holmbury could do with a sign at the start and finish. I have come across people walking up YP too many times and to be fair to them there is nothing to warn them of the risk. I think BKB is quite obviously a trail.

Nobody can stop you, however I suspect your signs will be removed.