New Playground

Today we headed out to a woodland that we had often talked about but hadn't got round to visiting. My buddy had done a brief exploration last weekend and found what he described as 'technical singletrack that you will just love'. Who could refuse...

We were going exploring and that usually means a lot of time off piste riding over whatever nature puts in our way. It was out with the big bikes and off we went.

Riding past the carpark and into the woodland we were aware of the looks from everyone walking dogs and pushing prams etc. As soon as we saw something that looked like a gap in the nettles in we went and we were soon off the main routes and into the thick of the action. Fallen trees, tree stumps and brushwood. By chance after about 5 metres we came across a line through the trees that looked like disused singletrack, up we went. After about 15 metres it morphed into a ribbon of dry dusty singletrack snaking through the trees, this was more like it - then it split into a two sections - which way to go? We did them both, twisty with dips, logs, stumps, root nests and fallen trees - my favorite riding. One trail led to another and although they appeared to be similar they were all in fact slightly different with varying steepness and type of dominant technical challenge, needless to say we had a great time. As we were trying to navigate our way out of the woods we came across a fairly new barbed wire fence that enclosed a section of trees, we could make out the tell-tale sign of a beaten singetrack - it would be disappointing to miss a good bit - so under it we went. Yep a singletrack playground -and not a soul in sight, we had the place to ourselves. Whoever built these trails thanks - they were great!

It has been too long since we did this type of ride, exploring and discovering new singletrack is one of lifes greatest rewards and we had an absolute blast. The aching muscles and calf's singing from nettle stings and brambles just added to the ambiance of the ride. A great day out - we only touched a small part of the woodland so we will return until we have mapped the whole area and are able to link the singletrack into one long route - watch this space.