north london rides

nickswansea

Finally managed to bring my bike up to london and interested in finding out if there are any good rides within an hour or so drive. i live near Wembley so was thinking about heading up to the Chilterns? Anyone have any good suggestions for this area?

timmys

Woburn is probably your best bet (assuming you are looking for XC stuff). You really need a local to show you where the singletrack is, or be prepared to explore a lot though. There are also some bits of XC riding at Chicksands and Aston Hill but it's only really worth going to those if you also want to play around on the DH/FR stuff a bit as well (especially as you have to pay at both nowadays).

Other than that Swinley is worth a drive, and if you are prepared to drive even further the Surrey Hills are definitely worth it.

nickswansea

thanks for that. think i will give woburn a try this weekend. do you know where is the best place to start off?

i have heard a few good things about the surrey hills will venture out that way soon i think.

i heard that the south weald near brentwood and Epping forest are also pretty good. do you know if there are set trails there or is it a case of ride around and work it out for yourself?

timmys

nickswansea wrote:

thanks for that. think i will give woburn a try this weekend. do you know where is the best place to start off?

i have heard a few good things about the surrey hills will venture out that way soon i think.

i heard that the south weald near brentwood and Epping forest are also pretty good. do you know if there are set trails there or is it a case of ride around and work it out for yourself?

There most popular starting point for XC riding is probably the car park at the end of Church Rd, here:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF ... 97,,0,9.45

There's also a verge by the play area where people park but you'll not fit in unless you are fully stomtroopered up in a full-face helmet etc.:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 2,,0,17.27

There's some info here but it's pretty out of date and is 90% about the play area:
http://www.woburntrails.co.uk/

I've not been to Brentwood and only the very southern end of Epping (I tend to cycle there from home occasionally rather than drive there). Epping is same old story - you really need a local to show you the area. Only other thing about Epping as that there are only approx. two weeks a year - generally in August - that it is not a complete mud-fest.

nickswansea

sounds good. will take a look. do you know if there any organised xc rides in these areas?

nickswansea

sounds good. will take a look. do you know if there any organised xc rides in these areas?

timmys

nickswansea wrote:

sounds good. will take a look. do you know if there any organised xc rides in these areas?

I think Cyclone are the most established club that rides there;
www.cyclonembc.co.uk
(Check in their forum for a limited map of Woburn singletrack)

Googling also brought up these;
http://www.reservoirgoats.co.uk/default.aspx
http://sillygrin.co.uk/index.htm

nonnac85

I ride Woburn a fair bit as I only live 15 mins away. I could show you around at some point if you wanted. Send me a pm if you want to arrange it

davidwazz

Nick - there are some really good trails around the Surrey Hills area. The best thing to do is speak to Dan or Roger at Head for the Hills bike shop in Dorking. http://head-for-the-hills.co.uk/

These guys are clued up about the area, they have maps and are always willing to point you in the right direction.

Maybe I will see you out there someday.

MattJWL

Also check out the chilterns - chesham, ashridge, princes risborough, tring, wendover. there's lots of bridleways that are reasonably challenging round there, I used to live up that way, and could could string together over 75kms of off-road, with only minimal tarmac in-betweeners.
cheers
matt

nickswansea

cheers guys,

sorry for the time for a reply. internet is screwed!! quite like the look of surrey hills, will try and get out to there soon.

can you recommend any routes in the chilterns? think they are fairly close to me so will prob become my regular ride.

popstar

Nick, to cut it short ... the best bet if you can transport your bike or not, is Swinley forest (40mins away)or Surrey hills(1hour away). All you really have to do is ... click London Calling then see yourself if you are interested. There are at least 5 riders based in West London near you, and a fat chance to get a lift for shared petrol costs.