Forest of Dean Trails

oxocube1

So I'll be heading home for a weekend in Wales to do some biking with a friend and will be dropping in on FoD on the way there. I was just wondering what the trails and DH tracks are like there as it's going to be both our first times there.

From what I've read the Verderers Trail is really good so we'll definitely be doing that and probably the red afterwards too as it looks to be a short route. Is the red route any good/worth doing?

Also, how technically difficult are the DH tracks compared to say the likes of Cwmcarn? I've watched a few videos and they don't appear to be that steep, although it could just be the way the camera makes them look. Out of the 6 DH tracks they have, is there a sort of hierarchy of easier to more difficult?

Any info will be greatly appreciated as always!

handsome devil

I wouldn`t bother. There are much better trails than FOD. Verderers is okay, last mile (out of 7) is easily the best part . The Freeminer is okay but no more than average really. Gets very busy too - almost "conveyor like! I would head for Cwmcarn and do the Twrch (very good after the initial lung-busting climb!) and the Mojo downhill (which I haven`t done but have heard very good reports). The rest of South Wales I expect you know if you`re Welsh anyway but FOD over-rated imo.

Good luck!

welshkev

ignore the above.

if you just want a quick blast (the verderers can be done in 45 mins by me and i'm a fat lazy git!) it's a great fun trail, nothing testing but good to ride if you haven't done it before.

they've just extended the red trail by 2.5km, i'm hopefully going there tonight to take a look, but the vids make it look good

the DH trails are good fun, everything is rollable, but the faster you go, the better it is. the end of GBU with all the jumps is superb.

but i'd use it just as a pit stop really. it is a good trail centre and I go there fairly regulary and I only live 10 mins from cwmcarn

Thewaylander

As Kev says ignore that dude.

Verderes is a bit cultured but its fun and you can hammer it, and the DH tracks are brilliant just a nice leverl of fun, I'd go as far to say as they suit 160-180mm bikes perfectly.

oxocube1

So as stated we were back in Wales for this weekend just gone. It was the first major trip for my new Mega and it felt so good to ride.

Ended up doing Cwmcarn on Saturday and FoD on Sunday. Cwmcarn does not appear to have been changed too much since I last rode it a year ago, we did my usual route of riding the Twrch trail until the concrete climb, and then riding up the road to the DH track and riding that. Then hopping back over to the Finishing Section of the Twrch on the DH fireroad drop. Was a really good ride and I certainly miss having it only 20mins up the road.

It was both our first times at FoD and we both thought it was awesome. We rode the red trail first which was not anything particularly special so decided to do a few of the DH runs which were fantastic. All the more it was the first day of this supposed 'mega storm' that's hitting the UK this week so it was absolutely soaking wet but it made it super fun. The Mega was perfect for it and soaked up all the hits well. Finally after a few runs we found out that you could join the decent of the Blue from the start of the DH runs so finished the day with that, which certainly left us grinning afterwards! All in all an awesome weekend and will definitely be visiting the Forest of Dean again!

singletracksurfer

FoD is great if you explore and add some of the natural trails to the man-made stuff on offer.

Psychotext

I tend to do the natural stuff on the weekend and only visit the trail centre on week days. Gets far too busy for me, and what with my general hatred of other people it's generally best to avoid them as much as possible.

prycey

Has anyone got a map or gpx file from the enduros held in the FOD? I am going to be near and I would love to try some of the natural trails

ednino

handsome devil wrote:

I wouldn`t bother. There are much better trails than FOD. Verderers is okay, last mile (out of 7) is easily the best part . The Freeminer is okay but no more than average really. Gets very busy too - almost "conveyor like! I would head for Cwmcarn and do the Twrch (very good after the initial lung-busting climb!) and the Mojo downhill (which I haven`t done but have heard very good reports). The rest of South Wales I expect you know if you`re Welsh anyway but FOD over-rated imo.

Good luck!

Agree that anything in Wales is better than FoD. I like Verderes, but its only the last mile that's really fun. The first 6 are just good training. (unless its a weekend & you get stuck behind all the slow people that won't move over)

Thewaylander

Here speaks a man who had never done a single of the dh trails which are great fun.

jimothy78

Had anyone ridden FoD recently?
Heading there on sunday, and just wondering:
a) is it still as busy as it used to be, or have recent developments elsewhere (like BPW, etc) eased some of the congestion by drawing some people away?
b) has anyone ridden the Freeminers trail since it's been worked on - what's it like these days?
c) no one answered the question above about the technicality of the DH trails - I've read they're fairly tame in downhill terms, just wondering if anyone can compare to the trails at BPW (where I can comfortably ride all the reds, but haven't plucked up courage to try the blacks yet)?

thanks, jim

oxocube1

Well I can Tell you from when I went after making this post:

The Freeminers wasn't that great to be honest. There was a few good sections but it really felt like they had tried a bit too hard to make the last part of the trail weave around the forest kinda pointlessly. Almost as if they just wanted to add the extra few km just for the sake of it.

The DH trails we extremely fun and we only rode 3 of them. In terms of technicality, the 3 we rode were fairly tame and nothing that my Mega and my buddies 140mm Norco Sight couldn't handle. There was a lot of roots on the trails but they just made it more fun! We did notice that the tracks on the lower half of the hill were steeper and more technical, but required a longer push up if you go all the way down. We mostly rode down to the halfway fireroad and pushed up from there. I can't compare then to BPW as I haven't been there yet. Although from videos I've seen of BPW, the FoD tracks are much more natural and unpredictable.

Hope that helps.

welshkev

jimothy78 wrote:

Had anyone ridden FoD recently?
Heading there on sunday, and just wondering:
a) is it still as busy as it used to be, or have recent developments elsewhere (like BPW, etc) eased some of the congestion by drawing some people away?
b) has anyone ridden the Freeminers trail since it's been worked on - what's it like these days?
c) no one answered the question above about the technicality of the DH trails - I've read they're fairly tame in downhill terms, just wondering if anyone can compare to the trails at BPW (where I can comfortably ride all the reds, but haven't plucked up courage to try the blacks yet)?

thanks, jim

Yes jim they're holding up well, there is 1 or 2 sections of fire road that's boggy as hell but the trail is fine.

The tracks are all rollable. Similar in technicality to the red on melted welly at BPW.

Not sure about how busy it'll get as I ride it in the week after work and its always quiet then