So I'll be in Gloucester for 4 montmonths from the start of July. Taking both road and mtn bikes with me ? . Not sure what good mtbing is near by? I know South Wales for Cym Carn etc is about 1.5 hours away? Wouldn't mind driving on my days off, would be nice to have ok riding for an hour in the evening or something like that. The Malvern Hills look close too? I have no real idea what the area offers though. Anyone wants to show me around at some stage I'd be grateful! ?
Above Gloucester good off-roading in Cranham/Lecky Hill.Painswick beacon.Your only 15miles away from the Forest of Dean.Gloucester canal with a X-bike as well.Loads of good hills near by up in the Cotswolds.Dont ride through Cheltenham a lot of plats in cars there great outside though.Cleeve hill etc.Tons of stuff around here.
Thanks Dobie. Be good to find out more about these, and or here from others too. Is there enough trails close by for a 4-6 hour mtb ride?
[url= https://www.strava.com/activities/156662255 ]https://www.strava.com/activities/156662255[/url]
does that answer the question? bare in mind you can easily get from Gloucester to Cheltenham off road as well. Really depends on what you like, also bear in mind you can pop down to the FoD.
Looks good mrmo but don't know how the bloody hell I'd find my way around it! Fancy showing me? ? . I like long climbs and long descents, but I'm not fussy really. Happy to ride what evers there!
How safe or unsafe are the roads for road biking?
FoD is best plenty of great local stuff and pedalaway area. Post up Im sure locals will help out
Be happy to show the singletrack
Contact bigfootmbc - we ride Cranham/Lecky/FoD etc. I'm in Stroud which is cracking for hills and hills (imo the best ones are road; always amazed at how lame the ToB route through Stroud was, given the hill climb classics around here), or Selsley/Standish/Haresfield Beacon for mtb. When you gaze at the Cotswold embankment from down in Glaarcester, just think to yourself: there are trails up there ... Happy to 'guide' on road but suggest you try Bigfoot for Wednesday or Saturday club rides.
Then you've got all the road riding in the foothills skirting the FoD....
Cheers guys. Is FoD a drive away? Or would it be an ok warmup on the road to get there.
Drive to FoD from Glos. unless your gnarr+.
Roads there safe enough?
I don't road ride, there is a very healthy road ride scene in the area, so I'd say as safe as anywhere else. Lovely country lanes throughout the Cotswolds that are off of the main trunk roads. Bring your MTB and road bike, you'll use both.
Michael,
Can only comment Re: off road,
Forest of Dean has purpose built trails that start at The pedalabikeaway centre which is relatively easy to find. The Forest of Dean is like the Bermuda Triangle if you don't know the area or don't have a local guide so the purpose built trails are a good start.
You'll find the location via Google.
Stroud valleys / Nailsworth has plenty of good climbs and descents, if you check out an OS map of the area you will see why.
There's a Wednesday night off road ride from Black 8 Bikes, Nailsworth which leaves 6.00 to 6.30pm. Couple of hours round the hills, usually about 10 riders and a fun ride rather than a race.
Malvern Hills not too far from Gloucester. You can ride around them all day on your MTB and do some big climbs. A lot of the descents are quite short but you can add in lots of bits to really get the most out of the area 🙂
Depends which bit of the city you're staying/working in, but IMHO Leckhampton is your best bet for a regular after work off road blast if you're on the West side (Longlevens), but it's worth driving over to maximise the fun as I've never been able to successfully find an off road route to link the city to Cheltenham.
The route above from mrmo, is good but more xc whereas Leckhampton and Cranham are a bit more trail.
I'll show you round Lecky of you like.
So moving on, it looks my accommodation will now be in Cheltenham. Not sure of exact address yet but should be finalised tomorrow.
Anyone fancy a spin anytime this week from Thursday to Sunday? Looks like I already have 4 days off and I've barely even started.
Also, recommendations on a local bike shop? Cheers.
"now be in Cheltenham"
Lecky is closest and rideable from 'nham centre, so long as you don't mind a bit of a climb up Leckhampton Hill. Look on Strava to find plenty of trails or go up there and follow your nose. Fun for some if you like steep / air time, but if you're more inclined to find xc then use Lecky hill as a warm-up but head on from Lecky over towards Cranham along the bridleways that go via Crickley Hill and Birdlip 'dog walking' area. There are also various variations on a Cheltenham - Malverns road loop.
Bike shops - Leisure Lakes in the centre is a good start. Evans in the southern part of Cheltenham, Slam69 in Gloucester, Noahs Ark and Black 8 Bikes in Stroud and various cornershop curios in all the towns.
I'm only on the road atm; waiting for 29er wheels to be built for the mtb. There's a bigfoot ride around Cleeve Hill on sunday morning which might be good for you - and a chance to meet some of the girls and boys that live and ride in Cheltenham:
http://www.bigfootmbc.co.uk/event/cleeve-hill-epic-and-a-pint-or-hot-chocolate/?instance_id=7892
If you are in Cheltenham you are much closer to the hills than Gloucester.If you are one side of Cheltenham you can access Cleeve Hill which is open grassland with plenty of B/Ways of it.Classic route is ride up Lecky Hill on the road then good left along Daisy Bank road then you can ride over Lecky Hill and XC to Birdlip wood[mind the funny men across the view point]to Cranham then Portway and onto Painswick Beacon.Did that Sunday Cranham was mostly dry.Roads are fine once out of Cheltenham.If you want really quiet roads go out towards Malvern/Ledbury/that way.Excellent LBS is Cheltenham cycles very good wheel builder wont make you a cup of tea but don't hold that against him do it yourself 😉
If you bother with Cranham, there's not much long descents or long climbs for that matter.
Popes wood is good for a bit of tight short lived DH with a steep chute at the top/start.
Lecky is worth going to if you want to get there easily and find your way found easily too.
Bear in mind Lecky is used as a himan cesspit the majority of time. I've seen it all up there. Hence why I don't bother anymore.
FOD is yet anither trail centre of course which brings hoards of folk who predominantly I see as getting in the way and I'm no fast rider uphill these days/at the moment.
Great landscape and reasonably freindly locals. It's got a chilled kinda atmosphere.
Sometimes I wish I lived somewhere where there are tracks that are endless (as you do) because the ones we have are pretty short lived off road that is.
My mistake re: typos, must be a Glaarstar thang! ;-d
