Freeminer Trail - Forest of Dean

Climb:       c200m
Length:     4.7km
Time:        0.5 hrs
Grade:      Red
Rating:      4.5/5

The Freeminer trail has been a feature of the Cannop cycle-centre for as long as I can remember. Traditionally this is a fairly classic, natural singletrack route; weaving Its way through the pine forests leaving a distinct line in the moss strewn forest floor.

In the face of the Verderers trail, the Freeminer trail has recently been given a major facelift. Extended to 4.7 km (this is a short loop - but so much fun) the route now squeezes in three good descents, a doubles line and some awesome berms and blends them seamlessly with the original root infested lines, which makes for a really good red trail.

Gossip suggests that further changes are afoot with plans to extend the red further - this would be fantastic for the centre. The FoD volunteer trail builders never tire and are constantly looking for new ways to improve the trails. They are currently adding a series of fly-off jumps to this trail to add a bit of extra spice to the intermediary section of the second descent.

The Freeminer starts from the same point as the blue graded Verderers trail but is immediately distinguishable from its tamer neighbour. With the blue being heavily surfaced, the red is a mixture of several different trail types but it mainly switches from natural clay-based, heavily rooted singletrack to lightly dressed easier rolling sections. There a few slab lines, some skinny lines & some rocky bits too. The dressed sections make up much of the new work with large proportions of the original route still in tact and hiking up the technical level.

 The trail also changes in general character at certain points. Although predominantly beneath tree cover it can feel fairly open one minute and the next, the trees have closed right in hugging the trail tightly - the first descent cuts through a fairly dense section of the forest before a sharp rocky climb and emerging out on to a recently felled section with expansive views over the forest.

The second descent is completely new and offers a quick dose of fast, big-bermed fun before slinging you straight back on to the old rooty lines, with a few additional berms thrown in. The speed gained could rattle fillings loose but, more importantly, brings the old sections to life. Where they once sapped speed they are now flippin awesome.

Another brief climb then delivers you to the third descent, a relic of the old trail, which has had similar treatment. Although retaining much of its original character the introduction of the odd berm has ramped up the speed some what...

The net result of the recent interventions is like a mixture of trail restoration and pimp my trail. What ever you want to call it, the Freeminer is now the first trail I ride when visiting FoD. It's fresh and interesting to ride. It packs lots of content in to a very small trail and as it's short can be ridden repeatedly.

Even better, when one gets bored they van either have a pop at some of the DH tracks, the Verderers trail or tackle any of the vast network of trails hiding in these woods.

If you go down to the woods today, your in for a red surprise.

 

February Diary

Most of you know how it is. You wake up, full of optimism, today is going to be a good ride day. Then you pull the curtains to gaze out on this beautiful land. But, there's a problem, it's raining. The weather report the night before said it would be good but the weather is so unpredictable even they struggle to get right anymor.

So what to do. I feel as though I should just man the f**k up and get out there. I'll get wet but who cares, I'll have fun doing it. Perhaps awaken the inner child and instead of dodging those puddles, I'll just plough through them.  Thing is, I did that last week, and the week before. And, the one before that...

You do this week in, week out. There's no real thought process - its part of who you are - you just get on with it. However, my ** is starting to wain and opening the curtains this morning has just pushed me over the edge. I've simply lost my enthusiasm for riding and don't know how to find it.

In isolation I don't mind the rain. I don't mind when it's windy either, in isolation and a crisp winters day can offer some of the most beautiful conditions to ride in. But I cannot put with them all at the same time. Earn my summer... When it's like this I'd rather extend the festive period, stay at home and eat more cake.

I feel slightly hypocritical but I find myself purposefully avoiding my local trails simply because I know they're 'too muddy'. Normally my local - Brecon Hill - is super fast and great fun to ride. I avoid it simply because I don't want to spoil this relationship I have with the trails or ruin them before they dry out.  So what to do - Trail Centre Time

 

Thank you mtb gods, therefore, for trail centres. The holy grail when mother nature is having a tantrum. Sometimes you just gotta give in, pack up the car and get rolling down the road to your local. Or even better, dodge the showers by going a bit further.

So far, this year has not been particularly fun for mtb'ers. I have, at least, managed to get to Cwm Carn, Bike Park Wales and a couple of visits to fod have helped feed the crave.

 

 

The image attached is a drawing that shows my riding patterns from last year. My aim for this year is to ride further each month - totalling 2000km by next Christmas. More importantly, however, is to try an reinvigorate my enthusiasm for riding. Days spent at places like Bike Park Wales are to be thoroughly enjoyed. Although not classic trail riding, its the type of place to awaken your inner riding soul. I visited this place in February and will do a full right up soon - but rest assured, with the weather we're getting at the moment I will be going back ASAP.

 

 

 

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.

Raven Trail, Brechfa

Distance:   18.5km

Climb:       725m

Grade:       Black

Time:        2-3 hours

Rating:      4.5/5

Tough opening climb separates those who are fit from those who aren't but the rewards for your investment are some seriously thrilling downhill sections.

Unfortunately this isn't a full review. I will have to return to Brechfa at some point to finish the Raven Trail as my riding partners and I only completed the first half, missing a second climb and the final descent to link up with the Gorlech trail and complete a mammoth 26.5mile journey with 4500 ft of ascent.

However for the purposes of this review I shall refer to the sections of the Raven trail only and will update at a later date with a fuller account.

The trail starts from a very basic car park with little in the way of facilities. In all fairness there are plenty of places one can grab a drink, nip to the loo etc within the village of Brechfa, which is only a stones throw away. Plus, I'm not sure that a massive trail centre would be right image for this area. It has a very subtle and tranquil quality. Less is more.  It's like its a little secret, tucked away out of sight.

Being so far west, the place is never very busy. In fact you'd be going pretty fast, or slow, to meet any one whilst actually on the trail.  This is not, however, a sign of a bad trail. This is, by far, one of the most interesting and fun trails I have ridden.  In fact the Raven here, Gorlech and the smaller Cwm Rheaedr up the road make for one hell of a weekend.

Passing through the large Raven's Wings starting gate, the trail itself begins with the, ever present, fire road climb. Thankfully this does quite quickly give way to pleasant singletrack. The surface chopping and changing between compact stone gravel, to loose and wet earth.  With very little let off, except for two switch backs, the trail continues to steepen for what feels like an eternity. Just when you think you've crested the hill it continues - out of sight.

Anyway, you do, of course, reach the top eventually. What follows is a long descent. Broken up in three sections, each very different. The first a rhythm section of tight turns and sweeping singletrack with a loamy/ rooty surface cut up with loose rock and damp earth. It emerges on to a fireroad with the next section beginning directly opposite.

The next section is fast and has a very natural feel to it. It sweeps through the oak woodland on dense earth trail and begs for you to ride faster. And, why not, as there are no major surprises along this short part. It traverses the hillside, following the contours and loosing very little altitude for the speed your going.

 

However, do keep your eyes peeled as the following section is remarkably different. The trail turns down hill and gets very steep indeed. Utilising massive berms cut in to the very bedrock of the hillside to keep you rubber side down. These berms are not your average smooth offerings either. These are rough as old boots, the various formations - visible where they have been cut through - create a rumble strip affect as you pass over them with very little option but to commit.

 

These eventually tame to 'normal' sized berms a bit lower down but retains its warp speed setting before spitting you out in to a clearing at the very base of the valley.

The blue trail, which has essentially followed us round, on a parallel track thus far, re-joins for the following fire road climb. A light incline along an oak lined track offers plenty of time to catch your breath and regain your composure before embarking on the next section of singletrack.

This was equally as fun as the first downhill but for different reasons. The nature of the trail here became very natural, tight and twisting. Reminiscent of trails back home where the line weaves its way through the ancient woodland, tracking around and over any obstacles, in a bid to leave as little trace as possible of our existence. Obstacles become less consistent with the drops, dips and rollers of a typical trail centre and more variable like a true off piste trail.  It's rooty. It's up and down-y, its twisty and great fun.

As you complete the section you, again, come out on to a fire road, which happens to be the very top of the final climb of the Gorlech trail. It is here that we made our escape and joined the red trail - please see my other review for a low down of this trail - and complete a loop of this also. This meant getting to do the red descent twice (can't complain as its great).

Red Trail - Cwm Rheaedr

Length:     6.7km

Duration:  45mins

Climb:       210m

Grade:      Red

Rating:      5/5

Cwm Rheaedr or 'valley of the waterfall' is a little gem of a trail nestled deep in the hillside overlooking the Tywl valley. It is a short but, ultimately, fantastic trail and well worth combining in to a longer visit to the centre of Wales.

The trail at Cwm Rheaedr begins from a fairly typical Forestry Commission car park just outside the village of Cil-Y-Cwm. There are no facilities. However, that merely adds to how great the place is. Rather than your busy, sanitised trail centre like Cannock (which does have its merits) this is serenely quite with very light trail traffic. On our 2 loops I did not see one single other rider (apart from my riding partner that is) - although it was a Friday afternoon and welsh trail centres tend to be significantly quieter than say Cannock or Ashton Court.

With designer, Rowan Sorrel's name preceding him, expectations were high and we weren't disappointed.  The trail starts with an all too typical fire road climb straight out of the car park. This is not much of an issue, however.  In this case the fire road climb is long but lacks gradient so can be dispatched reasonably quickly and without need of much grimacing or curses.

Chatting is a sure fire way to make the dull bits pass quickly and, despite the fantastic views and relative ease of the climb, it is still just a fire road. So, chatting all the way up, we were somewhat surprised to find ourselves at the top so quickly. It's a fair amount of altitude gained in a short time with somewhat less effort than I am normally used to - maybe I'm just getting fitter!

Anyway, the fire road gives way to graded singletrack, which climbs for a short while longer. And, after a short break on the bench provided at this threshold to admire the view of the waterfall we were on our way.  There are a few switch backs to navigate and a small across section before you climb steeply to reach the summit.

There is no ceremonial indication to suggest that you are now pointing down but be assured, you will not want your seat up from now until the end of the trail.

What follows is possibly one of the most flowing of sections of singletrack descent I have ridden and deserves maximum attack. Its hard to really put in to words how much fun I had coming down. The surface itself changes from the man-made compacted, stone gravel of the fire road and opening singletrack sequence to a much more natural, earth based surface incorporating odd outcrops of the underlying strata - which is exposed on its edge providing a rumble strip effect - to create a bit of added interest.

In the dry and damp there is plenty of grip available. Even the loose shingle that litters the corners of the upper section give way to a base of hard earth and stone eager to provide the daring with ample purchase.

The top section is reasonably quick but quite rocky in places with a number of drops to send it off. As you head in to the woods things get a little more loamy due to falling detritus but not by much.  The tacky sub-base and loose scree follows you most of the way down - the scree becoming more absent the further down you travel - where it gives way to the plain tacky earth base.

The middle of the descent becomes quite tight with the trail becoming no more than a few inches wide in places where people have exploited the 'racing line' and crosses two rutted access tracks at two points. This was a little like changing tracks at a railway junction - especially as it was off camber - and took commitment and speed to ensure I stayed on line.

As you come in to the bottom section things get a little faster still with wide cambered corners (not quite berms) catching you at every turn and allowing you to maintain a significant speed all the way to the car park. Somewhere in this section (before the final crossing point) you'll come across a reasonable wall ride.

My riding partner and I were at full speed pretty much the whole way down and with no gates or styles to cross it was literally all the way from top to bottom.

Leckhampton & Birdlip

The Lecky and Birdlip route could be described as a very typical ride through the Cotswolds. It comes from the Cotswold mtb guide book by Tom Fenton but with a few minor alterations to make it a bit more fun.

Navigating around the southwestern escarpment of the Cotswolds (Gloucestershire), it benefits from beautiful views over the Severn estuary and to Wales, superbly technical climbing/descending and to top it off a leisurely gallop through the rolling hills of the 'wolds.

The route takes in some very pretty villages including Birdlip and traverses some stunning scenery that, over it's 34km length, cannot be beaten on a warm and pleasant summer's day. With fields a plenty of wildflower, pine and beach woodland rushing gently in the wind and the farm life grazing as a backdrop, one can simply pass through as though in a day dream (or a scene from a Mint Sauce strip). This is, quite simply, what summer's days are made for.

Let's start by just clarifying, this is an xc route at heart. Yes, it has some very good, and quite technical, climbs and descents but nothing that would find itself on a DH course.

Starting from the Daisy Bank car park on Leckhampton Hill one should climb the escarpment to join the Cotswold way on the top of the hill. Take a brief moment to enjoy the view but don't linger for too long - you'll see it again soon enough.

Following the Byway through Ullenwood towards Birdlip you will take in a wide open descent followed by a steep climb up a typical loose Cotswold stone track. Here there is an opportunity to follow a bit of off piste woodland trail off to the right of the main track. At the top of the climb, head left and pass a farm before descending again in to open meadows.

Following the bridleway through the valley turn right and head through the wildflower meadows. Pass the kennels and underpass for the A417 road before reaching the escarpment once again. Follow the Cotswold way in to the woods and as far as the main road - climb on the road in to Birdlip turning right at the top of the hill before re-joining the Cotswold way to descend through the woods.

After approximately 1km bear left and head back uphill, emerging on to the road. Turning back on oneself (left) follow the roadside singletrack trail back towards Birdlip. Note: along this section there are two fairly technical drop-offs to be had so keep your eyes peeled.

Before actually reaching Birdlip head right through a belt of trees and, following the bridleway, head across country, away from the escarpment and in to the rolling hills.  Following a few kilometers on road, linked with small sections of Bridleway, you will reach Brimpsfield. From here there is a 1-2km light gradient descent in to the valley. You will reach a large lake, then a climb back out towards A417.

Navigate your way through a couple more villages before reaching a long 2km track slowly ascending back towards Leckhampton. This will eventually lead to the double roundabout, from which you head northwest re-joining the Cotswold way to round the very upper edge of the escarpment back to Daisy bank.  The sinuous, flowing singletrack weaving its way around the top of the hill - with a couple of hundred feet of altitude on your near left - is quite exhilarating.

Choices, choices. With only the final descent back to the car to attend to, there are choices to make. From the common atop Leckhampton hill make your way to the Bridleway. This descends at quite a fast rate but as it plateaus by the old lime kilns there are a number of downhill runs on offer which aren't overly obvious and have differing levels of extremeness. If in doubt ask someone for the most suitable line - as there is fun to be had on each. Its a befitting end to a super trail.

You can, of course, push back up and have another go too.