Snowshill - Cotswolds

Distance 26km

Climb c350-400

Time 2/3 hours

Grade red

Rating 3/5

This trail contains an assortment box of classic Cotswold features in to one peaceful and beautiful ride. From the sticky clay that is famous of these parts to the natural, loose-gravel singletrack found on the higher grounds, where the earth has been worn thin through years of erosion. From rolling grassy hills extending high over the wolds to damp and rooty woods.

Starting in Broadway and following a quick blast along the B4632 towards Winchcombe, there is a long climb up to Snowshill. Pass through a farm, bearing left, and, following a sedate cruise along the lane, head in to the village. 

Pass straight past the pub (it's probably too early in the ride for beer so keep going) and head up and out of the village. After another short road blast (minor) the trail heads off road and climbs along a typical stony track before passing through a copse and around the edge of two fields.

Arriving at the third, one finds an array of natural sheep tracks criss-crossing the field, which offer short but sweet roller coaster style fun.

The next section of trail, following another short road jaunt, follows a wooded singletrack bridleway for an extended period before opening out in to a wide valley. The  trail continues along a thin ribbon of dirt trail that follows the contours of the hillsides until you reach a farm. A steep climb through the woods brings you back out on high wold country. 

At times one can feel distinctly isolated. Despite being on top of the Cotswolds, the escarpment is a few miles away. As such you are denied the wide expansive views of Leckhampton and Cleeve hills to the point where you can feel a little like you're in the middle of nowhere at times.

In the summer, however, I would suggest there's no better place for 'loosing yourself'. The peacefulness is sublime. Just you, the bike and Mint Sauce for company. 

The trail passes through a number of fields, gates and styles unfortunately breaking up the flow slightly, as you head back towards Broadway.

Latch on to the Cotswold Way at Littleworth Wood, revel in the speed and increasingly technical terrain on this descent before dropping back in to Buckland and on to Broadway.  Alternatively take the cheaky shortcut through a few fields, following the Cotswold way all the way back to Broadway.

There are sections of this trail that fall foul of precipitation quite badly effectively limiting this one to a gloriously sunny and frosty winters day, when the ground is frozen solid, or once the ground has dried during the summer. However, despite this, the descent in to Broadway is still worth the climb so can be combined with an alternative XC loop or completed as a quick fix

If you are not a resident of the Wychavon district, parking is available in many public car parks, including Milestone Ground (long stay) and Broadway has plenty of cafés and pubs for post ride drinks and cake.

The Gap - Brecon Beacons

Distance:   22.5m

Climb:       c725m
Grade:      Red/Black
Time:        2-3 hours

Rating:     4/5
This trail, as featured in MBUK magazine, has, quite simply, one of the most technically engaging and thrilling descents I have yet had the pleasure of riding.

Following a decent climb from Talybont-on-usk - one that never gets overly steep or technical - albeit a long climb of approximately 350m rounding the Talybont reservoir to the top of the hill. There is, to follow, a section of singletrack across open and exposed hilltop Moreland.

This gradient gradually changes from flat to descent, quickly becoming an extremely fast opening section, and leads to a gateway approximately 1/6 of the way down the hillside.

The top of the hill and opening section of the descent is a slight departure from the general terrain characteristics of The Gap, offering slightly smoother lines from the top of the climb to the gate.  From this point, however, the trail gets all kinds of rough.

Rocks the size of TV's litter the trail and, with very little definition of a 'racing line', there's very little option but to adopt a loose riding style and attack the rocks head on. Dropping approximately 200m over 1.5-2km was a real pleasure. With no other gates or styles to cross from the gateway mentioned earlier to the waters edge of the Pentwynn reservoir we were free to attack at full-on flat out pace from top to bottom.



Early sections of the trail - the climb and traverse - offer a hard packed but rocky terrain, although nothing more technical than what one would expect at a red graded trail centre. However both descents offer a significantly higher technical challenge and would definitely rate as a black section.



The rocky nature of the trail, in general, makes it hard going to retain speed and rhythm on the climbs without the assistance of some rear travel. I completed the loop on a 150mm travel bike and was grateful of the absorptive effects considering the nature of the black runs. I guess it would be possible to complete the loop on a handrail, but why would you want to? Give your package a break and take some bounce.


After another long climb up to the natural feature from which this trail earns its name, The Gap, there follows a steep and technical descent, followed by a cheeky low gradient climb before another flat-out blast to the bottom of the mountain.  Before embarking on the final descent, however, take a bit of time to absorb the fantastic views to be had from this point of the trail (for they will be gone all too soon).


The Gap is popular as a walkers trail as well as with mountain bikers. On the climbs and less demanding sections this is not such a problem. However, the descents are worth completing on a clear run - the first is not an issue as it's a deviation from The Gap. However, the second has the potential to become busy. As such it is worth tackling The Gap on either a week day or early morning to make the best of the final descent.

Back at the bottom of the mountain a quick blast on the lanes precedes a brief excursion along the tow path of the canal back to Talybont. This offers a pleasant way to cool down the muscles before the drive home.

There are no facilities in the way of trail centre luxuries. Parking is available within the village of Talybont and toilets and food/drink are available at the nearby pubs.