[Closed] Epping/Redbridge

I work about 2 miles from an entrance into Epping forest - its ok but I find the woods around Broxbourne/Hoddesdon/Cheshunt/Paradise animal park much more interesting

exclusively use my on one single speed rigid if that give you an idea how the trails are

Cycle over to Ponders end train station and catch a train to any of those stations or up the lea valley path

Happy to show you around if you like, I think there's quite a few from that area on here

I'm not far from you so Epping is my local ride too. I have been buidling up a picture of the more interesting (blue) trails on trailforks recently, some even have jumps! Sadly most of the runs are quite short and interspersed with smooth boring fireroad but its worth having a good look around, I can still use 150mm of sus on a handful of trails if you go at them hard.

http://www.trailforks.com/region/epping-forest/

I haven't been to Broxbourne yet as I hear there is some issues with a private company blocking off the good stuff. Woudn't mind being shown around though.

Oh dear.

I'm an old hand at Epping and could show you about 50k of single track wi minimal fire road if you like.

Epping is great when dry,but once it gets wintery it is very very very muddy. Should be ok until November:-), fingers very crossed.
You can make a day of it and easily link Epping & broxbourne area with the Lea valley canal .
Fwiw Wormley woods is my fave part of "broxbourne" . Sadly, some of the interesting ,ahem,"features"have recently been demolished & signs stating "the mtb trail" is closed have been erected all over the shop! Boo hiss.

50k ! ? Is that all? 😉

What bike are you thinking of bringing down?

Danbury is also a 45min drive and its pretty easy to get to paces like Aston Hill, Swinley, Surrey Hills, PORC and Bedgebury depending on what flavour of trail you require.

Yeah sorry Senor J London is a small place...

Senor J - how recently is recently?

I was there two weeks ago and didn't see anything like that.

Kryton- I was just joshing. 🙂
Cha****ng -honest guv. about 2/3 weeks ago there was a Woodland trust sign near some "features" stating they were not permitted and would be removed - a week later, loads of wheel marks and the "features" were gone and several more signs ,at various parts of the singletrack.

We must be thinking of different features. I only get round there a few times a year now I live 200 miles away.

Are the Bushcraft lot still occupying part of Broxbourne Woods?

Senor j I know, I should have used a smiley 🙂

Weirdly I've only ridden Epping twice this year, but am now thinking of getting back in lieu of road miles for XC training.

Probably..The bit I'm referring to is South of Wormleybury brook - running West to east.
Bush craft have put loads of barbed wire perimeter fences up since last year.
Pah.

Thanks folks. Looks like I need to get a mountain bike down here and then get in touch. I was out on the road bike last night and took a spin through Epping after visiting Abridge and Theydon Bois. I hadn't realised that it was fairly hill around there so the mountain biking is probably a lot better than I'd been expecting.

What bike are you thinking of bringing down?

I was going to bring down my old Epic, which is set-up as a pretty lightweight XC bike but I have other options. Main candidates would either be a Soul, BFe or Enduro (and old S-works one with 100mm at each end). What sort of bike would be best?

OP ,I would bring an xc hardtail and buy some mud tyres for when it changes (everyone should experience at least one winter in Epping!)
Get in touch when you're sorted and I'm sure myself or kryton can sort a guided tour out.
I get a lot of afternoons free 🙂

Cheers - probably bring the Soul down then. We're used to mud but will be interesting to see how Epping compares to the Pentlands.

Will be in touch!

Count me in Senor J / epicsteve if you can. Email in profile.

I'd be happy to join in

email in profile

Cheers

Plumb

Do any of you locals do any road bike riding? I've been doing a bit of exploring and there seem to be a lot of nice quiet lanes not far to the North East. Took the road bike for a spin out to Toot Hill this morning but looks like I did the climb the wrong way round as there where loads of roadies climbing up from the Epping side.

I use a cx bike on the roads to link loads of off road stuff. There are loads of lovely quiet lanes into Hertfordshire and beyond. Not done much on the road around Epping though.

You can rack up some climbing surprisingly quickly out round Broxbourne, Bayford, Newgate Street, Essendon kind-of way - and it's mostly very pleasant.

You could ride through Epping Forest then head up towards Nazeing and through Broxbourne to get there.

Shout me if you use a GPS and want any routes.

Do any of you locals do any road bike riding? I've been doing a bit of exploring and there seem to be a lot of nice quiet lanes not far to the North East. Took the road bike for a spin out to Toot Hill this morning but looks like I did the climb the wrong way round as there where loads of roadies climbing up from the Epping side.

Yep, there's loads of good riding all the way up to Halstead, or crossing the Herts/Essex Borders. If you want a hill climb/reps around Epping Google Mott St, Avey Lane and the climb out of Theydon Bois toward Epping ending at the roundabout by the Miller & Carter restraunt, or further toward Epping town Bridge HIll / Ivy Chmineys road.

Thanks folks. I've done that climb from Theydon Bois up to the roundabout in the forest - it's a very decent climb. I'm in Repton Park and did a little loop that went from there out to Lambourne End, up Hoe Lane to Abridge then onto Theydon Bois and up into Epping Forest. Quite a fair amount of climbing on that bit. Favourite so far though are the lanes from Chipping Ongar over Toot Hill then back to Abridge. I'll definitely check out some of the other options mentioned as I working on my backside getting back used to some decent time in the saddle before joining up with one of the local clubs (I've been in contact with Crest CC as they do mountain and road biking so look a good option).

My wife and I had a walk through Epping Forest yesterday and it does look like there must be masses and masses of singletrack in there although it'd definitely help to have some local experience to navigate it. There were certainly plenty of mountain bikes out and about yesterday - even saw a fatbike in the car-park at the tea hut.

There were certainly plenty of mountain bikes out and about yesterday

There always is on a Sunday - I got MTBing proper by going up there 15 years ago, asking a group if I could join in and the rest history, we are still all mates.

I went out in the forest on Friday evening - its very fast and dry at the moment.

There's that much singletrack in Epping that in the years I rode there I don't think I ever did the same ride twice. I seriously recommend going out & getting lost, which is what was told to me when I first started riding because the truth is you can't actually get lost especially if you know the roads all around it.

Don't forget the forest goes all the way down to Forest Gate in East London, but as mentioned here it 'closes' soon so better be quick coz unless u have a SS don't even bother once the mud comes.

I ride down there from bishops Stortford quite regularly....it's my old stomping ground from the late 80's :0)

I still don't know half of it though, but the bottom tea hut provides fantastic sustenance!

If you guys head out on a weekend round Epping Forest I'd love to tag along please!

Or in the evening. Work normal office hours

same here, I'd like to tag along too please even though I have a full rigid 29er SS and I'm rubbish at mountain biking. Was out and about last night and for all the world it could have been southern california....

Blimey. Could be a real STW 'ting gwan.

Friday night anyone (lights needed after 7)? Or Sunday morning 11th? If it's the Sunday I can do a route with bacon and coffee in the middle.

Sadly I don't have a mountain bike down here at the moment but if a group gets going I'll definitely join in once I've brought one down.

Almost tempted to give it a go on my Roadrat though!

You can ride Epping on a CX especially in the dry, a road rat will be fine especially with drops.

New to the area too (well, within driving distance), been to epping a couple of times its great fun but it's easy to get lost on your own. Kryton - I'd be down for a Sunday ride.

I'm up for a Sunday morning ride on the 11 Sep & tempted by a Friday night ride, would have to test me batteries though..& check with the missus that she doesn't have something scheduled.
I'll probably sneak a couple of lunchtime/afternoon rides in before Friday if anyone is at a loose end. 🙂
I usually head into the forest at the Waterworks corner (Woodford) on the A406 , if that helps anyone out who lives South/near Walthamstow...for meeting up and going up towards High Beech and Karl's Tea hut.

You can ride Epping on a CX especially in the dry, a road rat will be fine especially with drops.

My Roadrat is set-up more as a commuter/tourer - flat bars, an Alfine hub and more road biased tyres. It'd be fine for the tracks in off-road but not the proper stuff.

Ah!

Other news, I'm posted to Wiltshire Friday for work so 11th remains the only current option for me, but I'm happy to organise that as there seems to be a few takers.

9:00am at Karls Tea Hut (High beach upper tea hut) with a 9:30 leaving time? Should have us sitting down for a bacon roll & coffee at 10:45, probably back before 12.30. Thats about 25k of singletrack, for those that want more I can extend the return loop adding 12k/1hr to it if wanted?

That should get us all the "classic" Epping Forest runs in, including Pole Hill for views over London and its subsequent descent, out to Whipps Cross & back.

Is that the tea hut at the car-park near the visitor centre? If so then I might nip up on the road bike and say hello.

Used to live on Sth Woodford / Snaresbrook border.

Would agree that a rigid one speed is fine and that it's worth avoiding in winter; I used to head over to Thetford between November and April.

Unlikely to make the 11th, wife is doing the Pretty Muddy in Stratford so I'll have the kids unless I can find a babysitter

I'm completely game for a Friday night ride. I usually work from home on a Friday so can meet earlier than I could if I was coming back from the office

Lights always ready as all my local rides tend to be in the evening once the kids are in bed

I'll book in the 11th.
Ben-what's the earliest you can ride on Friday?
& Plumber -welcome to join & I've always want to learn more around broxbourne 🙂

this Friday is the exception to my rule, have to come into the office for a meeting 🙁

I could meet at 6pm on a normal Friday I reckon, traffic will be a bit annoying that's all

There's a regular ride from Bury Road carpark in Chingford that is well worth joining - it starts at 11am on Saturdays - rides last until about 4ish with a 2pm lunchstop - mileage varies on conditions - Epping can be very boggy in winter. It'll cover all the best singletrack in the forest regularly.

More info here: http://mbro35.co.uk/

Saw those, they look good actually

My main problem is riding time. My weekends are usually busy with 2 young kids, family close by and 2 dogs. Evenings are a good time for me to go riding but as a result I tend to end up going somewhere local - Trent Park via Hadley Wood is my main venue, nothing technical but it's easy and close

There's a regular ride from Bury Road carpark in Chingford that is well worth joining - it starts at 11am on Saturdays - rides last until about 4ish with a 2pm lunchstop - mileage varies on conditions - Epping can be very boggy in winter. It'll cover all the best singletrack in the forest regularly.

More info here: http://mbro35.co.uk/

When they say that it's a medium/fast ride and that anyone that can keep up is welcome do they actually mean fast or are they just trying to scare away any real beginners?

11th sounds good to me, looking forward to it.

Good news for the 11th - me and Senor J can share knowledge and get you a good ride.

Epicsteve - if you want a decent Essex lanes road ride I'm likely to ride 120k up to the Blue Egg Cafe at Halstead (famous biking cafe, you can google it) with breakfast / best cakes in Essex at the cafe before the return on the following weekend Might be a group from our club but it would be Z2 or just above nothing testing.

Good news for the 11th - me and Senor J can share knowledge and get you a good ride.

Yep, that works with me!

Do you ride from home? You might well ride past me, I'm in N20

Please do, I may be able make an evenin ride next week, and you might ride past me also - I'm Enfield and can show you a cut through to the bottom of Mott St also which might help if you don't already do it.

My usual route is East Finchley,Muswell hill ,either Wood Green or Turnpike Lane (always interesting) over to e17.
Today I went through Enfield,through the park next to library,Ponders End and across to chingford/pole hill. And back on route 1 from gunpowder park through whitewebbs (?,sometimes forget the names) and back for lovely Trent park singletrack.:-)

11th sounds excellent, many thanks for the offer to guide.

Epicsteve - if you want a decent Essex lanes road ride I'm likely to ride 120k up to the Blue Egg Cafe at Halstead (famous biking cafe, you can google it) with breakfast / best cakes in Essex at the cafe before the return on the following weekend Might be a group from our club but it would be Z2 or just above nothing testing.

Sounds great - going to take me a while to work up to that sort of distance though. I've barely sat my arse on a bike for about 5 years so am working my way up to being ok to do 30-50 mile social rides with one of the local clubs. Quite impressed with the local road bike stuff I've explored so far though - seems to be lots of nice quiet riding nearby.

A ride to Epping Forest sounds good all round!

The section in Turnpike Lane will certainly be interesting, I've always found the driving there to be questionable. One of the closest passes I've had was in Wood Green, driver was completely oblivious

If you're riding back from Trent Park towards East Finchley then you're likely to pass me in Whetstone, I'm near the High Road.

Some local insider knowledge would be great. I know the odd bit round me, there's a few cheeky footpaths around me that are popular with CX groups as there's nothing technical. I don't know my way around Epping at all, I've done a few bits around Enfield but have mainly stuck to the obvious places

Haven't been up to Broxbourne Woods in about 18 months, not since I heard about the bushcraft group blocking access

Work's a bit mental at the moment, likely to be unpredictable finishing times for the next couple of weeks. Would be game for something Friday 9th or 16th in the evening

9th & 16th I can currently do...

@epicsteve If you ride regularly you shouldn't have any problem with the pace - they stop at trail junctions as it's possible to get lost if you don't know the forest that well. They do a Wednesday evening ride too which is definitely a bit faster. Both rides normally end with a visit to the pub.

@epicsteve If you ride regularly you shouldn't have any problem with the pace - they stop at trail junctions as it's possible to get lost if you don't know the forest that well. They do a Wednesday evening ride too which is definitely a bit faster. Both rides normally end with a visit to the pub.

I've only been back riding regularly again for a couple of weeks but suspect I'd probably be fine fitness wise, especially as I'm doing a fair amount of road mileage at the moment. Just need to work out when I'm going back up to Edinburgh with the car so I can swap bikes and bring a mountain bike down - might be a few weeks before that happens though.

9&16 could be possible for me too. I'll keep an eye on here...
Ben- yes i ride from home.cx 90% of time.
i usually get to Trent park via new Southgate,there's a fair bit of quiet road&cycle route to get to Cockfosters.Then back through Barnet .Sometimes I drive there from work and include Wormley woods and/or Epping .

I'll keep an eye on the weather during the start of next week and post up on here

9th is probably a good plan A with the 16th as a back up plan

My CX option is my commuter now so I can ride a rigid MTB which is vaguely gravellish in set up or a hardtail. Both not geared that high right now though so I spin out at anything above 16mph...

Another question for the locals - what LBS would you recommend? Got a few changes I want made to my road bike and don't have the tools etc. down here to do them myself.

Stanley Bridge cycles, either at Waltham Abbey or Waltham Cross. I've had issues with every one of the others you could google.

I regularly ride up to Epping forest from Bethnal Green along the towpath or take the overground to Chingford. In the dry it's fast, rooty and good fun. Full sus ( Mount Vision) is totally overkill of course. As others have said you'll be grinding through mud when wet unless you stick to the gravelly tracks (which are tame).

I've never been around Broxbourne. Any GPX links?

Epicsteve - try Walthamstow cycles..... Good folk & friends of mine.
They have a face book page and collect & deliver etc.

Weather looking acceptable on Friday

I don't actually have a proper road bike, but if I did, I'd use my LBS which is Shorter Rochford. I've generally had pretty good help from them

(Technically my most local LBS is Halfords)

Couple of developments

16th is now out for me, wife is out for dinner
9th is also looking good on the weather front

How does a ride this Friday sound?

A little bump for anyone game for Friday

I'm tempted for Friday, need to check my lights are charged though. Still meeting at the tea hut?

epicsteve I have an old hardtail you could borrow if you wanted? Its a bit of a mish mash of parts, the shifter works in reverse and the tyres need pumping up, Not really had much use recently but it rides epping well enough from memory.

Is there still a group for Sunday 9:00 meet, 9:30 off?

Me
Senor J
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I'll be there on Sunday. I'm on a blue kona unit btw so give me a wave if I look lost.

Definitely can't make Sunday

Don't know my way around Epping so would be keen for a ride there

@pablogt - do you know your way around? I've only been there a few times. I found a few trails when I went there in the daylight, and did fireroad bashing last time I went (dark and wet!)

I will say Heavy rain is expected all day Saturday and Epping turns epically shite very quickly - prepares for a slow muddy wet ride...

When they say that it's a medium/fast ride and that anyone that can keep up is welcome do they actually mean fast or are they just trying to scare away any real beginners?

I have ridden with these guys about 4 years ago - not that fast after the first mad 50 minutes testosterone burn up - but I found them to be dull people generally and with a constant trail of newbies trying to prove something or other.......

I'm happy to join a Friday or sunday - cant do this sunday though

Happy to lead around Broxbourne or Ware areas, I mostly single speed these days

Just back from camping 🙂 ,I'm in for Sunday .
I can do Friday too Ben , but to make the most of it it would be best to get there soon as possible (pre dark).what time can you start? Rigid mtb will be ree't.
I doubt I would start from high beech..tbh ,more likely,cycle over to pole hill ,up to high beech ,& south to Woodford .
Back on the road through Walthamstow /Tottenham ?
It takes me about 45/50 min to get back from the forest .traffic light dependent .

epicsteve I have an old hardtail you could borrow if you wanted? Its a bit of a mish mash of parts, the shifter works in reverse and the tyres need pumping up, Not really had much use recently but it rides epping well enough from memory.

Thanks for the very kind offer but I think I'll hold off until I get one of my own bikes down here. It's not just the bike anyway, it's all the other riding gear as I really only have roadie kit down here at the moment.

No prob epicsteve, thought I'd offer before it rains 🙂

benp1, Yes I know my way around well enough to have a good time on mainly singletrack, so it should be an improvement on your last ride.

On the downside I had to book in some last min work down on the south coast on Friday so I'm at the mercy of the traffic as to when I get back.

Keep your fingers crossed and eyes on this thread.

What sort of time you thinking Senor J?

I've been working savagely in the last few weeks so plan to knock off earlier than normal, plus I'm at home

I'd like to get there in the light ideally as there's more chance I'll remember the route!

Sounds like we have a group of:
pablogt
plumber?
senor j
benp1

Any other takers?

I can be available from 1630 onwards (to leave n2).

If you're meeting somewhere accessible by road in the forest tomorrow let me know and I might take a spin up on the road bike to say hello as I'm WFH tomorrow anyway.

Just back in from a spin out on the road bike and spotted a couple of MTB riders crossing the roads between different bits of the forest.

I did the road climb from Abridge into Theydon Bois and up into the forest again tonight - definitely the biggest climb I've found in the area so far - and also the only one so far that's made me drop into the granny ring for a bit.

Ok Steve .see what happens...I was going to say, I'm totally flexible and could do a trot from Trent park say,out to wormley woods..broxbourne?if that's more inclusive...
Re hills - have a look for Epping green & Newgate street in Hertfordshire - just on the other side of the Lea valley(ish)- some good ones there.

Some more hills - Steve from Abridge divert yourself around a bit to come up into Theydon Bois from the bottom of Coopersale lane to add a few extras, recovery through TB high st before tackling the big one.

In Herts, come South straight up Newgate Street hill as Señor J suggest, turn right at the roundabout towards potters bar, heading up, across the cross, swoop down, up, down up, down up the "three sisters" (Carbon Hill & Vineyards road) into Northaw just outside Potter Bar. Another one for you is Robins' Nest Hill, used in our club TT 😈

I used to ride in Broxbourne Woods quite a bit but haven't been there in about 18 months since the bushcraft group got involved (and I stopped working in Welwyn)

I'll go with whatever option gets us the most people out for a ride! If it's evens would prefer Epping as I don't know it at all, not a massive preference though

Sorry, I can't get out as early as I first thought, wife is taking son for a swimming lesson so I have my daughter till she's home. Earliest i'll be able to leave is about 5:45pm (from Whetstone)

Ok Ben , looks like just us& my lights are charged...can you meet @1800 outside Bike&run in East Finchley ?
We can go through Wood Green towards White Hart lane , Tottenham marshes up the canal and over to pole hill.
Should be at high beech around 1945/2000.....
If you can do earlier let's know..