Anything good near Shrewsbury?

adrenalinemunki
adrenalinemunki Posts: 213
edited December 2011 in Routes
I'm off to Shrewsbury for a long weekend in October... Going to be taking the bikes so are there any notable trails within an hour or so driving distance?

Level wise I'm perfectly happy on FTD at Cannock, haven't done the Monkey yet :) - so red runs or less I'm guessing...
My 2011 Rockhopper Comp

Comments

  • stubs
    stubs Posts: 5,001
    Llandegla trail centre is less than an hour or for some natural riding theres the Long Mynd not far away.
    Fig rolls: proof that god loves cyclists and that she wants us to do another lap
  • adrenalinemunki
    adrenalinemunki Posts: 213
    Hmm, Llandegla doesn't seem to be very highly thought of... people say that there are very long boring uphills to be rewarded with short lived very-average singletrack?

    Any others around? or are those reviewers being overly critical?
    My 2011 Rockhopper Comp
  • stubs
    stubs Posts: 5,001
    Llandegla does get a very bad press. Fair enough if your a riding god who could teach the Athertons plenty (like a lot of bullshitters on this forum) but for an average rider its a fun not too technical ride in fact you could probably do the Black sections without too much bother. There is a longish steady first climb but the other climbs are okay not too dull but lets face it climbs are to be got over with not enjoyed. Coed Y Brenin is about an hour and 45 away and is a bit more technical and rocky if thats what your after. If your just after a fast fun blast Llandegla is fine I dont know what Cannock is like so cant compare it to Llandegla I am afraid.
    Fig rolls: proof that god loves cyclists and that she wants us to do another lap
  • adrenalinemunki
    adrenalinemunki Posts: 213
    Cool, in that case I'll give it a blast and judge for myself.

    Thanks :)
    My 2011 Rockhopper Comp
  • stubs
    stubs Posts: 5,001
    Enjoy. :D

    Might be up there myself in a couple of weeks havent been for a while and I believe there is a new section to play on.
    Fig rolls: proof that god loves cyclists and that she wants us to do another lap
  • adrenalinemunki
    adrenalinemunki Posts: 213
    Although I've not got a whole lot to compare against, Cannock rocks ;)
    My 2011 Rockhopper Comp
  • x3man
    x3man Posts: 85
    Llandegla is more like what our American friends call a bike park - but on a smaller scale. The singletrack descents in particular are very well groomed - smooth, fast, and quite wide. Great fun for riding flat out. It gets a bad rep off some because they don't enjoy the manmade feel of the singletrack. I would not describe the black descents as average - as they are quite different to the "average" trail in the area.

    It's different to Cannock as Cannock is a more natural type of singletrack with rocks, roots, off-cambers etc. Personally I wouldn't go there if it wasn't for the Monkey trail (or Stile Cop - DH area) as I find the Dog a bit unchallenging.

    I would say give the black sections a try. You'll find it much faster than anything on FTD.
  • adrenalinemunki
    adrenalinemunki Posts: 213
    Wouldn't have thought I'm up to the task of running blacks yet... FTD is the only trail I've got experience of and although I found it fine (well, by fine I mean awesome fun) I haven't even ventured onto the monkey yet...

    I'm in no rush to get awesome in record time I'm happy to get steadily better while remaining as unharmed as possible :D
    My 2011 Rockhopper Comp
  • tsenior
    tsenior Posts: 664
    x3man wrote:
    I would not describe the black descents as average - as they are quite different to the "average" trail in the area.

    the riding in the area is pretty varied so not sure what is meant by "average trail": lots of peat/till moorland, loose rocky trails, rooty forest bits, quarries, even some limestone surfaces,. but yeah, you wont find much like the smoothed-out fast sections at CL apart from when the clay surfaces of some footpaths bake out in a dry summer or firm up in a hard frost.

    They have added a few rocks to the new (left hand) black section but it feels a bit contrived to me.......they are obviously being very sucessfull with the formula thay have.

    FTR i really like CL and have been lucky to have it within riding distance of my house for the past few years; although i dident do most of my riding there. now i have moved (still fairly local) where there is not so much natural stuff i may go more often.
  • bragawd
    bragawd Posts: 160
    As been already mentioed...
    you've llandegla wrexham area.
    and cannock both really good trail centres... cannock is brilliant.
    and long mynd at church stretton .. more natural trails there.
    Regards Bazza

    http://www.visitwales.co.uk/
    http://mbwales.com/
    http://www.stendec-works.com/
    http://www.oneplanetadventure.com/
    http://www.coedllandegla.com/
  • garethwd
    garethwd Posts: 52
    The nearest you,ve got to shrewsbury is haughmond hill or eastridge.. theres a new red route at eastridge that ive not tried yet,but should be fun. Both within 10 miles of shrewsbury
    On One Codeine

    On One Parkwood

    My babies :)
  • adrenalinemunki
    adrenalinemunki Posts: 213
    Right, the weekend in question has nearly arrived, we're off on Friday... I have one more question...

    My good lady (who will have our 18 month old daughter sat happily in a rear mounted Hamax seat) and some of our mates would also like to do some riding, but obviously they are after some regular family oriented green trails while those of us who want to adventure can check out the reds etc...

    So, at Llandegla (or now Eastridge) are there some regular gentle family paths or are they enthusiast only?

    Cheers :)
    My 2011 Rockhopper Comp
  • garethwd
    garethwd Posts: 52
    I reckon llandegla has the better green route from memory the green at eastridge is hard going ,my daughter moaned like hell about the climbs although there is nothing technical on either
    On One Codeine

    On One Parkwood

    My babies :)
  • adrenalinemunki
    adrenalinemunki Posts: 213
    That settles it then :) - by the way since my earlier post, I have actually done the monkey now... technically I was fine only got off the bike for the rock gardens but was quite unconditioned for it, the ascents were doing me over!

    I'll get there :D
    My 2011 Rockhopper Comp
  • garetjax
    garetjax Posts: 175
    http://www.theedgecycleworks.com/mtbrou ... r-counties

    Long Mynd - little Stretton near Shrewsbury.
  • Indigo Gorilla
    Indigo Gorilla Posts: 189
    I went to Llandegla today having only done FTD at Cannock before (trail centre riding at least anyway). I ended up doing all the black bits as I thought sod it, had a really good laugh and if anything I found it to be easier than FTD. It is definately faster and more free flowing than FTD but I would say it was less challenging. There was only one bit with a steep rock section that I thought was hard and difficult but that was just me not being confident on it more than anything else. It's definately worth a visit.

    I have also been to Church Stretton before and the Long Mynd and I must say it's beautiful and a fantastic ride. All natural as well so take a map with directions to get yourself round. Nice climbs, nothing to silly and some good descending as well on open fields and some singletrack stuff as well. Minton Bach is a good blast as well.
  • DodgeT
    DodgeT Posts: 2,255
    IMO Llandegla every day of the week over Cannock, far more fun.

    Also, degla is very good whatever the weather. Cannock in the wet is just awful.
  • adrenalinemunki
    adrenalinemunki Posts: 213
    Think I'm going against the grain here but I thought Llandegla didn't have a patch on Cannock :(

    Still fun of course, but lots of climbs and standard cycling to be rewarded with very short-lived slices of interesting single track.

    Fast and free flowing yes, but those bits added up to what must have been about 2 minutes.

    Sorry guys, not a fan, straight back to the Monkey on Saturday ;)
    My 2011 Rockhopper Comp
  • garethwd
    garethwd Posts: 52
    did eastridges new red graded trail today. Wow by far the hardest red run ive done, done cannock llandegla and coedy brenin.......im no expert but it seemed much tougher than the back at llandegla.definitely one for more experienced rider in my not very expert opinion
    On One Codeine

    On One Parkwood

    My babies :)
  • scale20
    scale20 Posts: 1,300
    Im in Shrewsbury and itching to find some natural trails if someones offering?
    Niner Air 9 Rigid
    Whyte 129S 29er.
  • garethwd
    garethwd Posts: 52
    church strettons your best bet for natural trails, only a ten minute drive, place is litterd with trails, go to push hill cycles in the town center for some info.
    On One Codeine

    On One Parkwood

    My babies :)
  • garethwd
    garethwd Posts: 52
    church strettons your best bet for natural trails, only a ten minute drive, place is litterd with trails, go to push hill cycles in the town center for some info.
    On One Codeine

    On One Parkwood

    My babies :)
  • mkf
    mkf Posts: 242
    what length is eastridges new red graded then
  • garethwd
    garethwd Posts: 52
    Only 8k but it seemed longer to me, partly down to the hellish climbs and my super level of unfitness :-)
    On One Codeine

    On One Parkwood

    My babies :)
  • roughjaw
    roughjaw Posts: 22
    garethwd wrote:
    did eastridges new red graded trail today. Wow by far the hardest red run ive done, done cannock llandegla and coedy brenin.......im no expert but it seemed much tougher than the back at llandegla.definitely one for more experienced rider in my not very expert opinion

    That's comforting someone felt overwhelmed too. I remember when I first went to Eastridge a few months back, my only previous off road experience being once round follow the dog, I thought I had taken the wrong turn half way round onto the downhill track :mrgreen:
  • roughjaw
    roughjaw Posts: 22
    I found Blazing Bikes in Marshbrook far more helpful than Plush Hill Cycles. Plus there's some car parking space out the back and they let me wash the bike there. You can get maps of the recommended routes at either place

Categories