Guildford Routes

jhoyle
jhoyle Posts: 39
edited August 2011 in Routes
Any good trail centres/XC routes located within cycling distance of guildford? i won't have a car to transport my bike on so they need to be within 10 miles. Cheers

Comments

  • twiggllett
    twiggllett Posts: 15
    Head east towards Pitch, Holmbury and Leith Hill and you'll be happy for a long time (See You Tube if you havent heard of the Surrey Hills). Its about 10 miles from Guildford, if you start up the North Downs way its a good ride there and back as well
  • IcarusGreen
    IcarusGreen Posts: 1,486
    twiggllett wrote:
    Head east towards Pitch, Holmbury and Leith Hill and you'll be happy for a long time (See You Tube if you havent heard of the Surrey Hills). Its about 10 miles from Guildford, if you start up the North Downs way its a good ride there and back as well

    :D This^^^^^^^^^^^ :D
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  • benpinnick
    benpinnick Posts: 4,148
    You can easily get the train from guildford to tunnel hill (farnborough north), Swinley (Crowthorne) and even surrey hills (Gomshall) if you're feeling lazy.
    A Flock of Birds
    + some other bikes.
  • ollie_lucas1985
    ollie_lucas1985 Posts: 325
    I still have no idea where "tunnel hill (farnborough north)" is and im 3 miles from Farnborough.. ?

    Any clues..?
    33342.jpg30872.gif

    http://www.oliverlucas.co.uk
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    There are no technically official trail centres nearby, but there are loads of fantastic places to ride.

    Swinley is the nearest thing to a trail centre. It's Crown Estate forest that has open biking allowed and trails have been built and are maintained there. Nothing sign posted and maps aren't public so not technically a trail centre, but it pretty much is one. Need a permit to ride there (£2 a day or £20 a year. Yeah, yeah, I know most don't bother, but I ride it a lot and think it's worth it if you do go a lot).

    And then there are the Surrey Hills... which are immense and have tonnes of fantastic natural singletrack, a number of little DH sections, some jumps, drops, gaps and whatnot here and there. Plus all of 3 actual officially built trails.

    Surrey Hills also links up with North Downs, such as Box Hill and Ranmore Common which has more goodness.

    If you don't want to ride all the way there, bike on the train to Gomshall or Dorking. From Gomshall, head for Peaslake which is a good starting point for loads of stuff.

    I'd say this area is one of the best served for MTB in the south outside of Wales!

    Problem with it all is you need people to show you where it all is.

    Oh, and yeah there's all the MOD land too. Tunnel, Porridgepot & Frith Hills (all in the same area, just next to Mytchett / Deepcut), Caesars Camp by Aldershot, Minley, Yately and other bits dotted around.

    Hop over to the London Calling thread where many of us around the London / SE area frequent and tend to arrange rides around this way, especially Surrey Hills & Swinley.
  • welshkev
    welshkev Posts: 9,690
    i have an office in guildford which i went to for the first time the other day. the office is in cobbett park, moorfield road.

    when i was driving out towards the m3 i drove through some woodland and spotted some trails with jumps etc on the left hand side, anyone know what this place is called/is it any good?

    nice one, i may take my bike next time :D
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    M3 or A3?

    I know there are jumps off the A3 up by Wisley, though not sure you can see them from the road. Haven't checked them out. Privately run. Supposedly some fairly decent stuff there.

    M3 - which way are you going?

    P.S. I can recommend the book Mountain Biking Britain. Has a lot of locations including lesser known areas, dirt jumps etc. The copy I got is slightly out of date as a couple of places have changed (e.g. Esher Shore gone) and a few places have different names to what people often know them as, but it's pretty comprehensive.
  • welshkev
    welshkev Posts: 9,690
    just looking on the map now and it's somewheer around stringers common or stoke hill i think: a320 and salt box road if i remember correctly the way i went :?
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Ah yeah, I know where you mean now. Just off the left before you get to the A322. I've seen those before but again haven't investigated.

    Just here I think: http://bit.ly/qMKmOI

    Various bits of common land about have little jump areas built by local kids. This being one.

    I occasionally have a gentle ride round Whitmoor Common to the right as it's short riding distance for me.

    Nice place in the snow
    4250957163_585dfbc099_m.jpg
  • Captain Peanut
    Captain Peanut Posts: 42
    IIRC there are some jumps in the woods right next to Salt Box Road (towards the Worplesdon Road) that have been built up by local kids. Not sure if there are any trails around there though although its on my list of places to explore.

    There are similar jumps in the woods on the edge of Horsell Common, again built over time by local kids.

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