Your Top 5 - places to ride
CycloRos
Posts: 579
So with the recent resurrection of the "Your Top 5 mountain bike tips" thread and the recent "Do you downhill?..." got me thinking about what the top 5 trails I've ridden, so here we go in reverse order -
**sorry Cannock Chase you are good and I would have put you in cos of the amount of hours I've spent riding there but queuing at the start of trail sections on a weekend reminds me of Alton Towers and I hate that place!
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5. Penmachno - my favourite North Wales trail especially when combining both loops
4. Hope/Edale Valley - proper boulder hopping, water-splashing, tough climbing, mad descending, body breaking action
3. Glencoe - crazy steep and techy, take plenty spares and pad up ffs!
2. Pitfichie Hill - fantastic DH and XC course in Aberdeenshire, love it!
1. Morzine/Les Gets - fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, did I mention how much fun it is?
**sorry Cannock Chase you are good and I would have put you in cos of the amount of hours I've spent riding there but queuing at the start of trail sections on a weekend reminds me of Alton Towers and I hate that place!
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Kirroughtree
Glentress
Dalbeattie
Ae
My local loop incorporating bits of the Southern Upland Way
Fort William,
Glencoe (what a surprise I was in for!!)
Ladybower res area
North York moors
Ellsworth Moment
Intense Socom
Cli-Machx
Nant yr Arian
Llandegla
CYB
Cannock misses out because familiarity breeds contempt
Amy
Farnsworth
Zapp
Allegedly.
Cli-Machx - Enjoyed it even though I've only been once and bruised my coxyix (sp?) Ouch!
Morzine / Les Gets - Mud, Braking bumps, motorway trails, rain, expensive blah blah blah. It gets some (justified) stick, but it's still a stunning place to ride.
Cwmcarm, both trails probably low on what singletrackworld might calare both stunning fun.
Afan Forrest. Rode the wall for the first time in ages last weekend, forgot how go it was!
Machen- local trails and ruin most trail centers.
Cwm - cos i ride it all the time as it's so convenient in all weath types.
Brechfa - cos it like a giant BMX track. if you like LLandeggla blacks come here cos its all liek that but better!
Afan Valley - So much here that you non locals don't know hehe
And i like going up to Coed-y as its a ncie convenient weekend camp trip away.
There are a few but i don't think i have an order so much different types of riding i enjoy.
Ladybower classic loop
Classic Jacobs Ladder Loop (either way round)
Hayfield area
can't decide between Afan W2 or Altura Trail for my last choice
I much prefer the natural stuff, need to get up to Scotland and try some out up there though
My top 5s are
Penmachno
Innerleithen
Coed y Brenin
Snowdonia mountains
Llandegla.
I also loved morzine/les Gets etc and it was a close call for No.5, but Llandegla pipped it to the post by being closer, and more convenient.
1. Whites Level, Wales
2. Cwmcarn, Wales
3. Dalbeattie, 7 Stanes Scotland
4. Mabie, 7 Stanes Scotland
5. New Forest!
Ironic really as I ride in the New Forest at least once a week - but I guess as that's 'home' the others are more appealing as they're a bit more special! Whites is my favourite as it never fails to put a smile on my face (actually - apart from the last time when I fell sideways down a slope ONTO my face :? )
Riding a gorgeous ano orange Turner Burner!
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Can I say Penmachno???
Ellsworth Moment
Intense Socom
Whites level... whan its quiet and ever so slightly damp, its marvelous
Brechfa Blue.... Even my dad can ride it, and it still makes me grin ear to ear
CYB in general just makes me cry with joy, Pins and needles and the really flowly bit with the big berms at the start of dragons back (cant remember the name) and lurch are particular faves
A trail. If its riding, im happy
4 Quantocks
3 Coed y Brenin
2 Afan
1 Les Gets/Morzine
Brenin-Beast is just about the best for my level. Have to work but a great flowing trail.
Penmachno-Just superb feeling riding it.
Long Mynd- Minton Batch is such a great section, worth the climbs
Malvern- Love it on the top of the Beacon. Great views, great feeling.
Joint: Cut Gate-Such a bizzare trail on top, like being on another planet. One day I will do the descent....
Dartmoor-The scenery and the anchient history. And its home......
Cannock-love it but its my weekly ride.
1: Nevis Red
2: Laggan Red & Black
3: Kirroughtree Black
4: Bennachie (can be joined on with Pitfchie XC and DH)
5: Inners
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6: Coed Y Brenin - it's my favourite Welsh trail and has to be mentioned
1 Kirroughtree
2 Lonsdale Fell/Lattrigg
3 Skiddaw Loop
4 Whinlatter
5. Ae
Basically the only places I've been
Deda Acciaio
Pro6
Cotic Soul
Llandegla
Llandegla
Llandegla
and finally
Llandegla
Top Cafe, excelent trail with a bit of everything (specially with the new bit). What more could you ask
north york moors
peak district(edale/ladybower)
walna scar road(pushing up from seathwaite,riding down into torver)
balblair(only rode it once and i want to go back)
dalby forest(for a quick blast maybe once every couple of months,i would ride it every month as a night ride tho,as its so diff in dark )
oooppssss looks like i have 6 as i said edale/ladybower :roll:
Edale/Ladybower (great epic rides every time and a lot of options)
Porte des soleil (hour and a half ragging the DH track or a long tour following a red line on the map - the choice is yours)
Chilterns (my local hills and some fantastic riding)
Afan (any trail - I must go back soon)
Swinley (again the local "trail centre" so much choice for short sharp DH or long flowing singletrack)
I have ridden on Exmoor, Quantocks, Yorks Moors, South Downs etc and there is lots to recommend them from my brief forays and they might take others places with more experience
I dunno, I think I have good memories of the view at the top of the initial climb, plus I went to Betws a lot when I was young, it always makes me remember just why I love wales and why I love mountain biking. I agree its probably just an ok trail, theres some bits I enjoy very much, but I always feel really happy and content with life when I'm riding the Marin, if that makes sense
Amy
Farnsworth
Zapp
I do love Betws y Coed though, it is a stunningly beautiful town/village/whatever it is.
VOODOO CANZO
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O'ahu, Hawaii - stunning scenary and a chance to see turtles just off the shore, tiger sharks lurking and fit chicks surfing. Oh...and Godzilla's footprint.
Quantocks - someone, somewhere else, has already said it: 'If nature made trail centres they'd be like the Quantocks'.
Afan - not a fan of trail centres but this one ticks the boxes
Mount Tiede, Tenerife - two and a half hours straight down from volcano to coast.
And full of outdoors shops!!! but yep its a lovely place, a village I believe. We've become good mates withthe guy in the Vagabond hostel so we're starting to head up there a bit more now, especially as he gives us a cracking midweek rate
He throws fantastic parties too given the limited space
Amy
Farnsworth
Zapp
It's like something out of a Charles Dickens novel, it really is. the kind of place that's so beautiful it makes you want to cry a bit
and luckily, it's only 40 minutes or so down the road.
I dunno, I've also got fond memories of doing the Marin trail a couple of years back, it was a cracking day with fantastic views and quite techy from what I remember.
what! getta outa town! Llandegla better than Morzine?! oh well it's your top 5
Just realised looking at my list again that there's no place for Fort Bill, trouble is I don't think I want to drop any of the others for it...
Charge Cooker, Ragley mmmBop, Haro Mary SS 29er
Pics!
Many years ago I did, Wolverhampton schools has an outdoor activity centre in Cpel Curig, so when I were at school we went there for a week. I think thats when I really fell in love with the outdoors. I love that part of the world though, I "went to uni" in Bangor, by that I mean my mate did, but as there was a spare room in his halls, I went down there most weekends with my fake NUS card.
I was offered a job many years ago at Beaumaris yacht club but I just couldn't afford to move at the time, now my only way out of Wolves will be to head down south, which is beautiful but in a different way
Amy
Farnsworth
Zapp
5 - Long Mynd - You work hard to earn the great and very fast descents.
4 - Cannock - The off piste stuff mainly, but the monkey is also big on fun beyond what i could ever imagine at Cannock.
3 - Afan - Whites Level, for how much fun is shoehorned into such a short trail.
2 - North Wales - Can't narrow it down to a particular part, it's all brill.
1 - Les Arcs - Black 8 on it's own is amazing.... and then there is the rest of it. It would take me years to discover all of the trails there. I had a cheeky trail map aswell and still missed out 95% of it i reckon. I will be going back there lot's and lot's.
Must add that i've not ridden Peaks, Lakes or Scotland.
I could also add the Harz Mountains in Germany but i've not seen enough of them yet, Exmoor, but again only seen little bits.
A Few Pics
now i have found Penmachno its hard to beat for an away day.....................
2 iron keld
3 parkamoor
4 glentress
5 claiff heights