[Closed] Malvern Hills - enough riding for a weekend?

You'll be disappointed if you're after anything particularly thrilling and there's no real MTB trails.

Will depend if you mind riding the same bit a few times really but then I used to ride the area a couple of times a week and didn't get too bored. It was on my doorstep mind.

Check [url= http://www.backontrack-bikes.com/home.html ]HERE[/url] for a couple of routes

Not ridden there a lot to say if there enough riding in the area for a day & half (but not on the hills themselves IMO) but it has a bad rep for biker v walker interface, so I'd suggest your asking for trouble (more annoying busy bodies than actual out right violence) going at the weekend. Usual recommendations are for early/late in the day or mid week rides.

Probably best to treat the Malverns as an xc type of day and just enjoy riding the length of the ridge so to speak - lovely views to be had on a clear day... Can't imagine there's much downhill type stuff to keep one occupied all day ... I heard there is some fun to be had mind ..

there's no real MTB trails.

If you mean there's no man made trails then that's quite true. Otherwise Im not sure what you mean?

You can make a good day of it on the malverns but it's not really expansive enough for a full weekend. If the extra mileage doesn't put you off then the malverns as the filling in a forest of Dean / long mynd sandwich would make a grand time.

If you mean there's no man made trails then that's quite true. Otherwise I'm not sure what you mean?

Just that there's nothing specifically made fro MTBs like there is over the forest (using that for ref as an FOD uplift was mentioned in OP). It's just some nice up and down on some fairly rocky terrain (so long as you keep away from the extreme southern end) meaning it's pretty weather sure and fast.

Basically there's lots of challenging riding available but there's little in the way of bumps and jumps.

There's a couple of secret man made trails 😉
I ride the hills every week but avoid the weekend if possible. There are some really nice runs down if you don't mind the climb up but you can't really go at them at the weekend due to walkers with kids/loose dogs.
There are some relatively tracks that aren't regular walking paths too.
As stoner says, do FoD, long Mynd then do an evening ride on the Malverns..

Theres some really good riding on the Malverns from steep/techy single track to more open xc scenic stuff. Unfortunately I don't think you'd find the good bits in a weekend unless you can find someone to show you round.

As mentioned above they're best avoided on a sunny weekend. It's not so much the locals/dog walkers who are 99% a happy and friendly bunch (as long as you're not riding like a dick!) but more the townies that flock to the hills to get their dose of fresh air who look down their nose at you very disapprovingly.

Depending where you're coming from there are some good riding to be had in the area, a lot to explore out side of the graded stuff at FoD, Staunton has some fantastic ride, the Wyre forest has some nice natural single track, and loads of other smaller spots to explore - quite lucky really!

There's a couple of secret man made trails

There are indeed 😉

[i]Just that there's nothing specifically made fro MTBs like there is over the forest .... It's just some nice up and down on some fairly rocky terrain [/i]

Sounds perfect.

Just as a counter to the angry red sock thing; until I moved away, I'd ridden on the hills a few times a week (including weekends) for over 10 years and never had a single issue. So long as you give dogs a wide berth and don't take the pi.. rovenbial on the obvious [b]no cycling[/b] footpaths you should be fine.

As mentioned above there are some great bits of riding up there but they're hard to find without a guide. I remember taking some friends over there a couple of years ago to show them some different riding and got a bit lost trying to find one of my old favourite root sections, very embaressing.

I've just remembered that there were a few DH type trails above a certain large body of water which were quite fun but that was in the times of GT LTS DHs and I think the landowners got a bit fed up of the building and put wire fences up everywhere which kind of spoiled the fun a bit.

I'm keeping an eye on this one

As an ex-local I regularly hosted weekends of riding for visiting friends; the most common format was a day doing from the Wyche southwards - it's a lot of riding and a lot of hills if you go the interesting ways right to the end - then the second day doing some of the more techy bits at the northern end (up to the Beacon, the clocktower track and various bits on the sides of the hills).

Throw in a few visits to the several pubs conveniently placed around the hills and it's got everything for a cracking weekend.

Just don't do it on a bank holiday unless you're really careful with your routes.

Hah! Jamesfts I've just worked out who you are 🙂

Thanks guys.

We'll get enough DH lite mincing done on the Friday so

just some nice up and down on some fairly rocky terrain

And we're from the New Forest so know all about riding sensitively around dog walkers / horse riders / nimbys 😀

This is planned for October so may be a bit quieter on the hills by then. Just back from the Long Mynd which was great (must go back when visibility on top > 30ft though)

[b]phiiiil[/b] - don't suppose you have a gpx or 'owt of typical route(s) you'd do, do you?

@IHN. Drop me an email when you're coming and I'll gladly show you around
steve_dees@ hotmail dot com

Hah! Jamesfts I've just worked out who you are

Hi Mark! 😀

Worth having a nose around on Strava if you've an account, plenty of people using it and good for sniffing out the more popular 'off the beaten track' sections.

Steve - out of interest are you on about some of the sneaky stuff around the Ledbury/Gullet Quary end of the hills?

As a beginner I am unsure whether I would even make it up the path from the North Hill/Clock Tower car park. I live a fifteen minutes drive from the hills but am yet to psyche myself up for a ride. Going to give the easy route on the BackOnTrack website a go soon though.

James, no, apparently there is a bit of a track buy the stone circle between north hill and the beacon..
Not been over to gullet quarry for ages as I live the other end..

wot stevied said 🙂

The East side of the Hills from North Hill all along to Castlemorton/Hollybed Common is a nice varied ride, there's a few places in the Suckley Hills and around Ledbury also

By October you should be past the peak of the mass walkers.

Sound recommendations from all of the above and with particular emphasisis that this week's free Malvern 'news' paper includes a particularly one-sided ranty article about dangerous bikers terrorising walkers! Undoubtedly some heightened awareness over the next month or so ...

Ah the old Gazette going at it again is it? It's a story that never gets old 😉

I ride there once or twice week. Generally when there are a lot less walkers about. Loads of cheeky/hidden stuff there. And some fun, rocky descents if you get a run at them. Day and a half would be a stretch (it's a small area really) but you can have a big day out from end to end. Bring your climbing legs.

I've just come back from a ride. It was lovely 🙂

Not the Gazette but the local midweek freebie. I'm sure the Gazette will be on to it next though, ba$tard$.

Well, I didn't write to the paper, but ( for more balance) yrs truly did have a good old moan on here a few days ago about same. Being both a local rider and a walker (with family), I can say with no exaggeration that there are numerous, regularly occuring careless D/H-lite/have-a-go twunts threatening both mtb-other users relations and personal safety.

This is a loyalty thing, it erodes it for me and you as a biker who also bears the complaints/brunt by proxy, and it wrecks it for my wife and I as we have to recently avoid favourite walks on the hills after numerous near-misses. It's not always one-sided, but the experience for me has been heavily weighted. I am more often greeted or simply ignored as a biker than I am challenged/endangered as a walker. That might not be everyone's experience but it is mine (increasingly) in the last ten years.

[quote=Malvern Rider ]I can say with no exagerration that there are numerous, regular, selfishly downhilling twunts threatening both mtb-other users relations and personal safety.
...
That might not be everyone's experience but it is mine (increasingly) in the last ten years.

Really? Where and when do you walk on the hills? Because I've never ever encountered somebody riding dangerously on the hills, OK so I don't walk but I have run on pretty much every path on the whole range of hills as well as biking. However I have been bitten by dogs twice whilst riding (oh and once whilst running) and had people being rude to me whilst I was riding very slowly behind them waiting for a place to pass.

Not just my experience, but seemingly also that of my bike club, which has quite a few other people in it who also walk and run on the hills

The Observer "article" is a particularly poor example of the genre.

Of course really, I've been an MTBr since 1989, have names for my bikes, live to be outdoors, and enjoy scrupulous honesty. All these things I value. As stated, my experience may be different from others.

Walk there about three times a week, cycle twice. Varying times.

We used to walk the dog (harmless little pooch, now seriously freaked out by bikes) in a circuit on the small pebbly path from Summer Hill down to the Wyche, through the gorse, twerps literally nearly flattened us a couple of times on this one, not going into gory details as anyone can guess what a bike's width path on steep blind bends offers to both walkers and bikers. Additionally there are *many* elderly frail/ish walkers on the Malverns. When walking we now stick to the west side of central Worcs beacon/Wych easy access trail, or often drive elsewhere altogether, ie Castlemorton. Easy Access trail is not without some idiots too. Idiots on both sides, but I ride carefully and learn the trails, as no doubt do most here. I detest the us vs them mentality drummed up by militant walkers or bikers and appreciate courteous/careful walkers or bikers. It's really that simple.

Love riding the Malverns, love people enjoying the Malverns, long may it continue. I'm sure aracer and I don't want to ban dog walkers or cyclists because of our experiences. Responsible ambassadors for both breeds encouraged because my arse isn't sore on this fence. 🙂