Trails Galore

I’m back. As predicted I was rubbish at doing anything for Monday, but now I can give you all the news of the weekend’s riding.

First-up was a revisit with a twist. I rode my favourite trails in the Forest of Dean and Cwm Carn back-to-back and very hard. Both were amazing, and both were tough. Both also left me smiling and battered, with legs aching right through the next day. There is something fulfilling about pushing it fast and powerfully and stopping for nothing on either ride and leaving yourself feeling worked hard. I also enjoy over taking people on the way round.

To follow up I finally rode the new trails at Ashton Court in Bristol. I’ve been meaning to get onto these rebuilt routes for a while and had an opportunity to get there at last.

I set off trying to pick holes in the trails, thinking I wished the berms were higher, and the drops bigger, and that it only felt like the blue route in the Forest of Dean. Then two things happened. Firstly I hit the red-graded bits of the trail, which need some real skill to ride fast, and secondly I realised I was being ridiculous comparing them to big trail centres in the countryside. This is a quality trail, in the middle of a big city, it’s cleverly designed to test fast, skilled riders but be ridable for the families and kids I saw all around the loop. The red sections have big enough obstacles to worry you and the switchbacked berms at times make you trust everything as you throw the bike through. Top quality fun in a ridiculously convenient location. What more could you possibly want. For a blast round at short notice there’s very little better.

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