Day trips from Sherwood (Notts)

Steve-XcT

So me and junior are meeting grandma for a weeks holiday.
Grandma chose a last minute deal in Sherwood (it's half way between us) and accommodation is restricted as she has a dog... anyway... for good or bad we are committed.

A bit of research and helpful advice from oxoman by pm seems to indicate this will all be very tame for Jr. who is used to aggressively riding Swinley Reds.

So that said I'm looking for a few day trips no to far away with something more challenging (for a 6yr old)?

Unless I sort out a bike rack between now and then (easier said than done for reasons of how the last bike rack died and damaged the car) the problem is I only have 2 seats in the car with bikes in....which means not leaving gran for a whole day.... so really not much more than an hour door to door and a 2-3 hour route max. (As in that's 5 hours)

For something really outstanding (can't miss) ... we could make an exception

I'm thinking Hope Valley is one good trip but it will be close to 1h30m door to door??? Then I want to find a challenging route but one we can complete in a couple of hours.

I see a few other bike park type places in Notts.... (which is not something he has tried before) but he's not that confident in the air...

Can any locals give some guidance? Top places BUT also convenient places?
I'm sure we can do 2 perhaps 3 days on the Sherwood Kitchener trail ... but I'd like a backup after I get "Dad, this is boring"

Steve-XcT

Hey come-on .... surely someone lives close?

Steve-XcT

oxoman wrote:

Hi Steve, the nearest decent trails to Sherwood are the Hope valley and surrounding area which isn't to far across from you, but the climbs on the usual rides might be a bit much for your lad.

I might stick a 40T expander on then ....I guess so long as its a couple of hours circuit he'll get up the hills one way or another. He can climb almost anything rideable if its not too long and he's not tired. (Leastwise what I can ride....) ... he's passing plenty of adults on climbs now as Swinley - least at the start of the day... 2 hours later its another story.


Any tips on shorter trails in the Hope Valley?
Obviously it will be a misery if its uphill and he's tired.

Plenty of forest trails and lanes around Sherwood but I'm not local so don't do these myself. Ladybower classic or just around the reservoirs might be ok the latter being flat and part on a very quiet road. Cannock is a bit far for you to do and that leaves Hicks lodge, which is a very deceiving flat blue trail which is aimed at beginners and only 4 miles long. Hicks is a fun ride with small berms and the odd bump thrown in mainly gravel, but it is as I said deceiving as its pretty constant pedalling all the way with some gentle inclines. I use it as a cardio workout as I live not to far away from it.

Cheers, I'll check those out.

Steve-XcT

oxoman wrote:

Steve have a look at peakpedallers blog gorillainthepeak, maybe worth sending him a pm as he is very knowledgeable on the peak area and can advise you. Ps he has one speed flat out.

Thanks
Have done.

Briggo

Theres some very good trails much nearer than Hope Valley, some good easy riding (for your 6yr old) around the White Peaks near Bakewell/Matlock/Darley Dale area.

tim_wand

Okay, whats lacking for you? Fair enough your not going to get massive descents and up lifts at Sherwood Pines, but some of the Trails, Red and Black are certainly technical enough to challenge! Pines regularly runs a national round of the XC series so should be enough for a six year old.

There is a fair sized " play area " with Berms and Jumps not too deep into the woods, and if you go a bit off piste into the old Proteus Army training area there's some Un official Trials that link the old Army Trench systems which I would defy even the best riders to clean.

Your not going to get much elevation Granted. Belvior Loop in Vale is Okay and then its really into the Peaks which are about a hour from you.

Steve-XcT

tim wand wrote:

Okay, whats lacking for you? Fair enough your not going to get massive descents and up lifts at Sherwood Pines, but some of the Trails, Red and Black are certainly technical enough to challenge! Pines regularly runs a national round of the XC series so should be enough for a six year old.

Do you have any of those hidden trails mapped?
My understanding from people that ride both and reviews is Swinley is a lot more technical and the reds in Sherwood are more like the more technical blues in Swinley. That said many of his favourite Swinley trails are not part of the official route and are probably somewhere between reds and black. (I think the difference being that 1'+ dropoffs and a few small jumps are compulsory) ...

Pines regularly runs a national round of the XC series so should be enough for a six year old.

I fitted the speedo from his 20 incher so he can have a challenge on that. But its not so much what he can do in terms of a XC route as what he would enjoy (it is after-all a holiday).

There is a fair sized " play area " with Berms and Jumps not too deep into the woods,

This sounds like something he would enjoy and learn and was one of the things I was looking forwards to.
Many of the jumps, especially the doubles at Swinley are on very narrow single track (narrow meaning I thought of changing my bars) ... and then go straight into a 90 degree turn. It's quite hard for him to get confidence on these, if you mess up the double you hit a tree (no real option) ... so I was looking forwards to the play area where he can work on jumps without a great tree at the end.

and if you go a bit off piste into the old Proteus Army training area there's some Un official Trials that link the old Army Trench systems which I would defy even the best riders to clean.

Any maps/recorded GPX etc ???

Your not going to get much elevation Granted. Belvior Loop in Vale is Okay and then its really into the Peaks which are about a hour from you.

Belvoir seems to be about 40 mins so quite a good distance/time - Seems best on drier days due to the clay.

White Peaks near Bakewell/Matlock/Darley Dale area.

Any specific recommendations.... according to google maps the time is slightly less than Hope Valley

and at the end of the day I'm looking for 2-3 (possibly 4) good trips over the week.
A bit of variety and something new to supplement Sherwood.

tim_wand

If you go into the Sherwood Pines bike shop at the centre, they will point you in the direction of the Play Area, its not that far in ! As for Proteus , its all a bit un official , but basically its the Army Training area between Edwinstone ( Robin Hood Visitor Centre ) and the 616 Sheffield road. Its an old Infantry and tank training area.

I ve got a couple of mates in our club who race XC for pines and do a lot more MTB than me ( scared old roadie nowadays) so I ll pick their brains on tonights chain gang. Some of them will no doubt have GPX or TCX files.

Steve-XcT

tim wand wrote:

If you go into the Sherwood Pines bike shop at the centre, they will point you in the direction of the Play Area, its not that far in ! As for Proteus , its all a bit un official , but basically its the Army Training area between Edwinstone ( Robin Hood Visitor Centre ) and the 616 Sheffield road. Its an old Infantry and tank training area.

I ve got a couple of mates in our club who race XC for pines and do a lot more MTB than me ( scared old roadie nowadays) so I ll pick their brains on tonights chain gang. Some of them will no doubt have GPX or TCX files.

Cheers Tim...

Steve-XcT

oxoman wrote:

Steve have a look at peakpedallers blog gorillainthepeak, maybe worth sending him a pm as he is very knowledgeable on the peak area and can advise you. Ps he has one speed flat out.

Just as a follow-up ....and also can't recommend Jon/peakdistrictmountainbiking too much.

We booked Jon for a days biking and this turned out exceptionally well. (http://peakdistrictmountainbiking.co.uk/)

On the day we rode Lady Cannings and Blacka and Jon put together a route based on his assessment of what would be challenging but not cross into the "it's not fun any more" boundary.

He got this absolutely spot on..... before the last climb out of Blacka Ollie was "let's do it ALL again" ... but by the time we'd got to the top the ride back to the cars was just right. He also progressively brought up the technical levels and had contingencies.

One thing I hadn't really thought of is the value of having someone like Jon about on the ride and how that let me be far more relaxed and have more fun on natural trails. The two of us could have done exactly the same route but I would have spent much more time shepherding Ollie, planning contingencies etc. so it was money well spent.

Steve-XcT

tim wand wrote:

Okay, whats lacking for you? Fair enough your not going to get massive descents and up lifts at Sherwood Pines, but some of the Trails, Red and Black are certainly technical enough to challenge! Pines regularly runs a national round of the XC series so should be enough for a six year old.

There is a fair sized " play area " with Berms and Jumps not too deep into the woods, and if you go a bit off piste into the old Proteus Army training area there's some Un official Trials that link the old Army Trench systems which I would defy even the best riders to clean.

Your not going to get much elevation Granted. Belvior Loop in Vale is Okay and then its really into the Peaks which are about a hour from you.

Other than the day trip to the peaks we didn't actually leave Sherwood Pines the whole week.

There wasn't anything we did really technically challenging (Ollie did wimp out on the starting ramp for the downhill) but we did have a LOT of fun.

I'd agree with Oxoman that the red's at Sherwood and pretty much like the Blues at Swinley which isn't to say they are not fun.... they obviously are as we enjoyed a whole week

Steve-XcT

oxoman wrote:

Glad you and Ollie had a good trip. Disagree with one thing slightly I find Swinley way more fun especially when it's quiet and you can let go a bit. Agree with Ollie the starting ramp is daunting the first few times even to us oldies. Next time perhaps, I know my youngest isn't keen on it after stuffing it the first time he tried it.

Oh, Swinley is definitely better fun for a day's bike trip but we managed to stop on the actual site at Sherwood so that INCLUDED from a 6yr old perspective a hot tub, archery and go-ape. From an adult perspective it meant £££ (even though we got a discounted last minute booking) .... and being able to fall out of bed onto the trail was a definite plus!

Swinley is more "polished" and the trail design seems to be more thought out as to how they integrate berms and the limited slope... indeed just got back and the new bike park is coming on great....

The start ramp was fun as I rode Ollie's bike down for him.... but had to lock the forks to do it .... then forgot to unlock so he did his first run with locked forks :twisted: