[Closed] Swindon

Cranham woods are 20 minutes up the A419.

here isn't too far out:-
http://www.ibikeride.com/england/2057-bradbury-clumps

or here
http://www.moredirt.com/trail/United-Kingdom_South-West/West-Woods/761/

you are not far from the ridgeway (barbury castle). you can keep going either to avebury or to marlbrough downs also and do a loop.

as i sit here in my sunny office, i can tell you with hand on heart there is no nicer place to be right now.... 😯

why the hell would you want to come here? 😯 😯 😯

at my job interview to convince me my boss said
"swindon is great in 30 minutes you can get to Bristol, Oxford, Reading"
"so other places are great then?"

And he was lying even then; Oxford is an hour.

And what are these woods you talk about? (Stuck here thinking there's gotta be something up on those hills.)

http://www.mbswindon.co.uk/croft-trail/

why the hell would you want to come here?

Work, innit.

Where can we buy the "Molgrips UK Tour 2016" T-shirts?

As raceface says you're not far from The Ridgeway, believed to be Europe's oldest road. Also worth visiting is Fyfield Down:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyfield_Down

Embrace this magnificent and historical landscape, there is so much to see in this area.

The Wandsyke:

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Fyfield Down:

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Silbury Hill:

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That stuff looks good, if I'm there over the summer.

Put some hybrid tyres on and ride around the Cotswolds countryside and villages, assuming roads not clogged with tourists. Swindon is a place you generally drive past or around.

mol - give me a shout if you want any gpx's or specific route info. 🙂

Thanks 🙂 Gutted I lost the GPX from that ride we did at Swinley. Although much of that's not there any more.

http://www.flyupdownhill.co.uk/flyup-417-project/

Swindon is town that should be great but has been let down by the usual bad town planning. Ridingwise there in nothing that but it is in some wonderful country side. Ridgway and the downs, in any direction are excellent. I know over toward Wantage more but it a nice ride and it's very mint sauce.

Where is Brendogs Swindon?????????

What happened to your Litespeed CG?

Road riding is great around Swindon, MTB is OK but depends what you like riding. I love the Ridgeway around Fyfield on a dry day but the chalky ground can get claggy in the wet. The Croft trail is fun for an hour's blast. The local club MBSwindon are great and have quite a few social rides. Swindon itself is a functional town, great for kids but not much going on for grown ups - hence the "not far from Bristol/Bath" etc comments.

Nice pics of Silsbury hill could hardly see it Sunday from Avebury and the Wilts council have been busy grading part of the Byway across from Rockley back to Barbury Castle nice and flat wonderfull!!Swindon is lovely 😉

Good thing about Swindon is that although there are approx. 200,000 inhabitants very few of them venture outside of Swindon so you get the great countryside round about it to yourself.

Very true the Ridgeway seems way less busy these days than say 10 years ago and if you go over Flyfeild common and over that way to Albourne etc you hardly see a sole.

I lived in Wroughton for years and the Ridgeway was my haunt not the best riding but it was close
But being on Fyfield Down at sunrise in the summer is quite magical why tbh I do not know but try it hopefully you will see what I mean.
I have not ridden there for over 10 years but one day this summer I will venture away from the Quantocks for a ride down memory lane ( the loop out of Barbury) and check out ladder lane for old times sake

I'd bring the road bike.

Yes Mrblobby the road riding there was ace I have to agree

It is indeed. I know the Oxford / Newbury side well and there's loads of lovely quiet country lanes to ride. Not sure north and west of Swindon but you're not far by road bike from the Cotswolds so I'd guess there's some good riding over that way too.

All things considered it's not too bad. I did a 30 miler today that included Croft Trail and some of the Ridgeway stuff and it's drying out nicely. Also some good stuff half an hours drive away (or a good ride if you want to be out all day)around the Calne, Cherhill, Roundway area. And further afield we're not too far from CwmCarn, BPW, FoD, Swinley. It's not all gloom and doom!

check out ladder lane for old times sake

That brings back memories of the Red Planet shop rides. Been down Ladder Lane plenty of times but I never did manage to clean it on the way up

I ride from Swindon to West Woods, Savanacre forest, Liddington, Avebury and there is loads of ace stuff on the way. the trick is to pick the right months when either the mud is dry or the nettles are low. There is also a wide variety of trails from technical stuff to canal paths. I never feel the need to shove the bike in the car and love the fact I can pick MTB/road or CX and ahve an equally good day out on all of them. The best bit as others have mentioned is the solitude and sense of being somewhere really bloody old. Ride up to Liddington Hill on a crisp clear night and you'll know what I mean. As for the town, simply walk up the hill into Old Town and the Swindon myth fades away. A night in the Beehive will convince you that the place has as much character as anywhere else.

ps. the woods behind Nationwide are actually pretty good (but cheeky) for a quick blast on the way to Croft Trails

What happened to your Litespeed CG?

Hello beaker. Still have the Litespeed, won't part with that!

There used to be Spirt Hill nearby, but it looks as if it is closed at the moment.

http://www.spirthilltrail.uk.com/index.htm

Have to admit to being excited when Spirthill opened. The place had potential but due to a lack of any further investment from the farmer who owns the land it got worse instead of better. The official line is that they closed it due to insurance difficulties, I'm inclined to think it's more because us locals got fed up with it. I don't know anyone who's ridden it in the last 3 years

tis good to hear the nationwide woods are still fun

Checked out the map - the stuff on the downs to the South looks like a brilliant way to get the miles in on a summer's evening. Actually really looking forward to it!

Pick your route carefully mol as this is chalk territory. The Wansdyke can be hard going as it's grassy and, you never know, the short eared owls may still be there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wansdyke_(earthwork)

Do let us know how you get on. 😀

Might be time to get some 40c WTB Nanoraptors. And maybe some drop bars for the rigid 29er.

Head East young man, Lambournish/Berks Downs area, both sides A34 also Ridgeway out S and Canal(and or train) back or N and train

Absolutely outstanding couple of rides earlier this week. Zipping through remote countryside and across lonely downs, some really beautiful scenes, had to stop taking photos as it was taking far too long and my phone also ran out of battery 🙂

Looking at the map, there is so much of this kind of riding I think my only option is to keep planning from the map and exploring!

1) It looks like there's a bridleway in the river valley going West from Marlborough - worth doing?

2) Also there's a White Horse Trail (how many white horses are there?) SW of Wroughton, looks like it might be different - is it rideable?

3) Might it be worth going to Savernake Forest on that old railway?

What else need I know about? I'm going to be doing 3-4 hour rides hopefully on Monday and Tuesday nights starting on the South of Swindon.

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Told you it was gorgeous there! 😀 Let me have a think about your q's.

Savernake has some good singletrack, but very much needs exploration or knowledge - it's not been developed for cycling or walking really at all (which is part of the charm). You'll be spat out by the picnic site from the railway track which is as good a place to start as any, although it's a bit of a slog from Swindon proper (easy enough, but a time sink).

West Woods would be worth a drive and ride, especially to head out south to the top of Martinsell to admire the view (cheeky trail warning - never had any trouble though).

You might have to link the BW you're thinking about - I'd normally go over Fyfield Down that way rather than in the river valley, it's probably a bog fest this time of year with the springs up and horses out.

I know of 6 horses - Uffington, Cherhill, Marlborough, Hackpen, Westbury, Alton Barnes .. google White Horse Challenge if you have the road bike.

Go see Sean @ Bertie Maffoons in Marlborough if you are here any length of time. Might still be an evening group ride into the forest going on. I'd be happy to offer but I'm 30 minutes SE of Marlborough now and work is interfering with my free time :-/

oops forgot the Broad Town horse, make that 7

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Here's a challenge for you - go find this bad boy.

OK, you could ride over the Eastern side of the A346 by Ogbourne St George, some of those tracks are fine but can be overgrown. Do think that the climb on Smeathe's Ridge ie heading up to Barbury, is worth doing for the views.

I personally really like the ridge that's the far side of West Woods so Martinsell Hill, Huish Hill, Golden Ball Hill, Knap Hill. It does feel remote.

Do keep us updated on your Wiltshire adventures. 😀

Never heard of King of Limbs, is it ghoulish?

A few years ago I did a trail break ride from Swindon. 100k of dry Summer trails.
It was beautiful and was one of "those" special rides....love to repeat on a crosser tbh .
I think it went west along the ridgeway and anti clock wise ish.
BR off of here once had me (ooer) along the ridgeway from Wantage when it was sodden =grim.

If you follow me on Strava you can see where I end up CG 🙂

I see that trail you mention, would represent a long ride after work so I'll do it when I'm looking to push it. Maybe get some faster tyres 🙂

If you follow me on Strava you can see where I end up CG

Request just sent, interested in your Wiltshire rides. 🙂

cinnamon_girl said

.......The Ridgeway, believed to be Europe's oldest road....

So how did the people get here from Europe and beyond in the first place. Fly? 🙂

If you check out the map, wf, you will see what they mean. It's like the M4 corridor with all the hill forts and other infrastructure. Ironic since its within sight of the actual M4!

You can see enough of the landscape to realise why it was such an important road when you're up there.

So how did the people get here from Europe and beyond in the first place. Fly?

Devon to East Anglia is the complete route. Do I get a lamb chop for answering? 😉

Here's a suggestion. Ride out to or park up in Avebury. Then Wessex Ridgeway onto the Ridgeway proper then on to Sanctuary. Through or round East Kennet then get yourself onto Wansdyke/White Horse Trail and head west past Tan Hill. Great sense of wilderness here. At Morgans Hill turn east then north up to Cherhill Down. From Cherhill Down pop across the A4 and make for Windmill Hill then back to Avebury for tea and medals.

@cinnamon_girl thanks for the reminder. I was supposed to check the freezer to see if there are any chops left. 🙂
Let me know if you are ever in the Black Mountains and we can see what we can do for you.

@ welshfarmer - thank you, that's very kind. 🙂 Whilst you're here, and being very cheeky, may I just bump up this thread as your ears clearly weren't burning at the time!

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/telly-this-farming-life-and-what-a-superb-series

Did you manage to see any of these?

@ uponthedowns - excellent route and well worth riding.

Having grown up in the shadow of Liddington Hill, the comment that beat relates to riding around here is that it's a bit 'mint sauce'. It's great riding, but like most places in the UK, depending on the weather, it can be fun or hard work on endless bridleways, countless routes to explore, countryside rich in historical interest and the Ridgeway provides fantastic views. Swindon itself gets a bad rap but most good cycling is outside towns.

Nonetheless, you've got Victoria Hill for a decent road/Strava hill, link-ups through old town to the downs, cycle track Strava segment from Chissy to Marlborough. And my mate Sean at Bertie's in Marlborough does a 7am Saturday morning road ride before he opens the shop up and you can get a coffee and cake. Molgrips, get a GPS unit with OS map and start exploring...

@ cinnamon_girl thanks for the heads up on the thread. I did manage to watch 1 episode of "this farming life". Unfortunately it was on right in the middle of lambing time which is so intense & disruptive that I was unable to catch any others. The only one I saw was where the young couple were lambing in the snow and cold which was a bit too close to home! What I saw was very good though. I did plan on catching up on the i-player but like all these things never found the time. It will be back on again one day 🙂

molgrips. Another useful track back to Swindon is from Yatesbury. Follow the NCN from Avebury then do a right up Back Lane and there's a nice gravel track to Broad Town. I then loop round Uffcot to avoid some of the main road and drop down Elcombe to a cheeky path over the M4 then back on the railway track to Old Town.

Never heard of King of Limbs, is it ghoulish?

One of Savernakes 'named oaks' - finding all of them is a nice afternoon on a bike though when I were a lad there weren't no maps and we did it on Chippers and Choppers etc. etc. still all trees round there though!

Beautiful road ride last night, except for the bit between Hungerford and Ramsbury. WTF is with all those flies? Ergh!

PS MTB next week so will do some of the trail suggestions above

Am I going to regret going out in the rain tonight and tomorrow night? Mudbath?

I tried to do some of what DavidB suggested but the other way round, and ended up riding across fields of knee-high wheat, round field edges and having to climb over a barbed wire fence to get to a road. Bit of a fiasco.. but reminded me of being a teenager all the same 🙂

Is there any singletrack ish twisty turny upppy downy riding in the area?