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I have an early meeting near Chobham the second week in January and should be finished around 11:30 so I wondered if it was worth taking a bike and having a spin around Swinley on my back to the M4.
Worth it or not?
Surely it can't be worse than Cannock Chase? I stopped off there on Saturday on my way back from Scotland (weather was appalling at GT) and I rode "Follow the Dog" and it was by far the worst trail centre route I have ever ridden - boring with little or no technical sections. There were a lot of diversions so maybe I rode it at a bad time?
If you didn't like Cannock then I would stay well clear of Swinley.
I rode it a second time thinking it couldn't be that dull?
I was sadly mistaken
Swinley can vary according to the pace you take it at - if you push a pace from the start to make a loop of it then it is fairly enjoyable and also somewhat mentally challenging 🙂
Same with the old swinley before the trails were remade - nothing particularly technical but a good XC workout.
Gooner, what kind of riding do you like?
If it's more gravity orientated or technical decents then it's not for you, if you like a pedal fest XC type of grueling loop then fill your boots.
Personally I'd rather stay in bed on a Sunday morning if Swinley was the only option
I prefer the more gravity orientated routes with plenty of technical sections but the less "interesting" are enjoyable to me as I can ride them fast and improve my fitness.
If you like sessioning short downhills, single track and jump lines then the clubhouse trails (as far from the Look Loom Out car park as the marked trails go) are good for 2-3 hours. Park on the other side (near Bagshot) to get to the fun bits quickest.
If you like XC then the Blue / Red loop is decent, if not particularly technical.
Not sure why Swinley get so many snarky comments, it is what it is, there are lots of other good places to ride within an hour of it, but it offers easily accessible, multi skill level options.
It will be far less painful and more enjoyable
This.
Or drive to the Surrey Hills/Hindhead and ride there.
Personally id forget about Swinley and drive 30 mins from Chobham to Peaslake and go ride the Surrey Hills
Been to Swinley 5-6 times in my life and i dont think ive ever truely enjoyed it, even when 5 of us were on e-mtb's in Turbo mode blasting around and mucking about
Other option is go ride Deepcut and Tunnel Hill in Frimley Green (park up at Basingstoke Canal by the cafe)
You only regret the rides you don't do ... except for Swinley.
Tedious, flat and boring, and that was with riding it on my Stooge which usually brings a smile to my face. Didn't help I'd been at Surrey Hills the day before and it was a very poor comparison to that.
And i.dont get me wrong I'm not needing gnar to keep me happy, non-technical flowy singletrack is great. Noodling along taking in the scenery is amazing. Rinse and repeat tight bends through identikit plantation blocks is meh. All just too forced and unnatural feeling.
Well worth it for an hours ride. Might be quite muddy but still a nice route.
Some will say its tedious but they're just the lazy ebikers that want 5 star routes all the time that only go downhill and don't know how to climb.
Yes, you have to pedal but it it a bike trail so what do you expect? (sorry e bikers) pedalling means putting pressure on the cranks for an extended period of time and getting out of breath.
Swinleys a good trail/xc route. I've driven 1.5 hours to get there and not disappointed.
It’s 5 minutes from my house by bike so I’m going to defend it.
it’s great fun for what it is, a selection of quite pedally trails, only a few of which will work if you just roll into them.
I think I’m with mjskme, if you can’t get some enjoyment out of the trails there, you aren’t trying hard enough.
Some people seem to love to hate it - I know people who are far better jumpers (and riders in general) than I am, yet they will decry the swinley trails as dull, when I know for sure they haven’t cleared all the doubles etc on the blue and red.
It isn’t the greatest riding in the world, but it is weatherproof, with waymarked official trails, and easily accessible from the m3, m4 and m25. Seems ideal for the OP wanting a quick solo blast in January following a work trip.
will add though, first half of the blue is closed for logging currently.
Miserable people. I’m going to give you some advice. Never, ever ride Therford if you have an issue with Swinley. You’re likely to be found out in the woods trying to saw through your wrists with a multi tool.
I'd say it's worth it, if only for the experience so you know what it's like for future reference.
I've always thought to get some enjoyment out of Swinley it needs to be ridden at a decent pace. Be that via XC racer or battery bike it doesn't matter. Showing up with a trail/enduro sled and bimbling round will be a dull slog for the most part. Despite not much elevation change in the area the route constantly undulates, so it's fairly hard work at a good lick. Of course at weekends it's often too busy to hammer it. There are some good trails as well as the basic route.
The place has been infested with puddles (nearly hub deep troughs) the few times I've been in recent years. It did appear some drainage work had been done when I was there last though?
From the moment Swinley got surfaced about 12(?) years ago my main issue has been the surface itself. Really odd choice of aggregate for a mountain bike trail because it's full of little pebbles, which aren't very grippy in the wet.
From the moment Swinley got surfaced about 12(?) years ago my main issue has been the surface itself. Really odd choice of aggregate for a mountain bike trail because it’s full of little pebbles, which aren’t very grippy in the wet.
Crown Estate rules are that trails have to be surfaced using materials from within the forest hence the use of ‘ginge’. And you’re right, on the fast parts surfaced it it it’s hard to trust really pushing the front wheel into a corner for fear of it drifting on the stoney surface.
It’s alright for a quick blast about if you’re passing. It hasn’t got much hill to work with so it’s very much up and down little gradients most of the time. An ideal bike would be something short travel at both ends that’s an efficient pedaller .
It’s good for an xc style full on blat. It’s not technical nor has much in the way of gradient but if you want to red line your HR & work a trail for speed it’s a lot of fun. Best done on an xc bike - anything else will suck the fun out of it. I’ve had many fun rides at Swinley.
Are Baby Maker and the Labyrinth still useable? Cos I was thinking of taking my beginner rider gf round Swinley, but thought those trails might be tough going for her. It's not all flat and boring.
If Labyrinth is where I think it is (about 2/3 of the way round the red, with the 6/7 trails that all start in a clearing and bomb down through the woods, one of them being part of the 'proper' red trail) then it's still there and always a group of people up there sessioning the various trails whenever I've been there. I really quite enjoy it to be honest! The section that is on the red trail has a few rooty drops (rollable) and slightly rutted/narrow sections but a friend did it on his second 'proper' mountain bike ride on a 100m hardtail with no dropper and he only moaned a little bit afterwards.
The only section I don't really enjoy is the first ~third of the red, we usually do the first section of the Blue then Tank Traps and the new jump line section onto the Red, follow that until right at the end really and do the last ~third of the Blue back to the cafe.
Some really nice swoopy sections on both and enough technical XC type bits to keep it fun for me. If the weather hasn't been amazing and I just want to get out for a couple of hours I really quite enjoy it, just don't think it's going to be like a mini BPW or Surrey Hills. It is what you make it to an extent.
Are Baby Maker and the Labyrinth still useable
Yes - there's been a lot of work in that area with a couple of fun new lines off the top.
The stuff on the other side of the fire road is unofficial and therefore out of bounds and shouldn't be ridden. At all. Ever.
go ride Deepcut
I wouldn't bother with Deepcut, most of the time the army have it fenced off.
IMHO Swinley is great considering the terrain, there aren't any big hills so you're always going to be limited as far as downhill sections are concerned. There's not much in life that's free and I think its fantastic that there's this free cycling facility so readily accessible.
MBUK (other magazines are available) recently had details of a ride around Chobham Common but I'd much prefer Swinley.
I've been twice - once on the HT and once on the eeb.
Preferred it much more on the ebike
Wouldn't bother going back again though unless I was actually passing
It's local-ish to me, as above it's fun as long as you're happy to pedal to keep the speed / enjoyment up. Most of the trails undulate and even the longer "descents" are a minute to 90s on average so if you're expecting to stop and natter at the begining and end of each one you'll be there for days.
Pedal hard and focus on the lap time rather than segments.
Some bits like the first 1/3 of the red are hard work as they're so tight and twisty. And being flat you can't just let off the brakes to recover speed if you get a corner wrong.
The last bit of the red (that sort of used to be stickler) is crap though. I can't decide if it's just not possible to get enough speed into those jumps, of if it's just that they come at the top of a climb so I'm too knackered to sprint for them.
N.b. if you don't like Cannock you probably won't like Swinley.
I went to Swinley last Thursday and really enjoyed it. Sunny, muddy and wet but enjoyable. I did the red route but must have got lost as rode just under 14 miles (I think I was on the edge of Bagshot at one stage) and did 1,375ft of climbing! Not very technical but easy to ride and good for increasing fitness - especially if you get lost! Not sure I would drive from home just to ride it but if it was on my doorstep I would definitely ride it regularly.
I will be back next month and hopefully just do the red route.
1,375ft of climbing!
How did you manage that?! Did you in fact find a portal to the Lake District?!
My super snippy response to why people seem to like dumping on Swinley is "Because it is not in Wales or Scotland". Yeah, I said it.
As a guy in his 40's with self acknowledged lower end skills Swinley is enough for me to have fun and try and push some of the things I can do. The Bikini jumpline is enough for me to get my teeth into on my 100mm XC hardtail. My 13 year old lad also really enjoys the place, he'll even suffer the pedalling/climbing to get some of the downs and jumps. I know full well he wants to go to Bike Park Wales and there's a risk that once he does Swinley might feel a bit meh after, but not everywhere on the planet can be Morzine/Whistler...
Went there new year's eve and without even trying covered 13.5 miles and 1,400ft of climbing. Was there in March for an even shorter ride with some young kids from a bike club and did over 1,000ft. It's not Bonneville.
1375ft / 14miles sounds about right if you do a couple of laps of the clubhouse trails, it's about 12.5miles / 975ft if you just do one lap of the official trails, so if you followed a gpx that included babymaker, bikini car wash etc.
last summer I got 750m vertical after work - that was pretty much riding directly to, and lapping the clubhouse trails (may have been 4 times down each one, not sure) until I was cooked, then home via the best bits of the blue, about 2.5 - 3 hours total. Picking the "best bits" out of swinley and crowthorne, without repeats, I can get 500m out of a 2 hour ride.
thisisnotaspoonFree Member
1375ft / 14miles sounds about right if you do a couple of laps of the clubhouse trails, it’s about 12.5miles / 975ft if you just do one lap of the official trails, so if you followed a gpx that included babymaker, bikini car wash etc.
Jeez, fair enough then - it never *felt* that hilly when I used to go regularly. I always liked it, it felt very similar to Cannock, but fast-flowing decent trails. The biggest challenge was always trying to find the trails, til I got myself a map
Jeez, fair enough then – it never *felt* that hilly when I used to go regularly. I always liked it, it felt very similar to Cannock, but fast-flowing decent trails. The biggest challenge was always trying to find the trails, til I got myself a map
It's changed a bit since the days of permits and the unofficial maps. There's now a signposted route.
~300m of climbing still isn't much mind you!
It probably feels less psychologically because you don't ever do more than 40m of climbing (Labyrinth to the clubhouse) in one go. OTOH I think it feels a lot harder than the numbers suggest because particularly the first half of the Red is flat but hard work. Getting from Lower Star Post to the Devils Highway gate (the start of the old Seagull) is 2m in elevation, but feels like a really tough 10 minutes through all those rooty corners!
~300m of climbing still isn’t much mind you!
It probably feels less psychologically because you don’t ever do more than 40m of climbing
It's enough for most people in 14 miles, and gives lie to the oft-repeated line about not having enough elevation to be fun. My most local trails have 80m overall height gain*, but that's enough to have tough climbs and technically demanding descents that aren't over in a blink. (And don't have you slaloming around a handful of trees, gaining 2m of height, just to tick the distance box.)
*plenty of trails on hillsides with a 30m drop - these are steep, techy and not at all suitable for being ridden by too many wheels! 😀
Nice to see so many people defending Swinley. I live a 10 minute ride from the forest and love it over there, although I don't ride as much as I should. It's never been on a par with places like Wales, Scotland, Peaks, or even Surrey Hills, but it's close and can be as easy/hard/boring/exciting as you make it. For those that hate it, stay away! We don't need grumbly folks round these parts.
~300m of climbing still isn’t much mind you!
It probably feels less psychologically because you don’t ever do more than 40m of climbing
I used to do a lot of the Gorrick XC races, they used Swinley regularly and it's deceptively hilly. I remember doing a 6hr XC enduro there and blasting the first 2 laps in the big ring, the next 2 laps mostly in the middle ring and by the final 2 laps, the climbs were down in the granny ring. (you can tell how long ago it was, it was the days of triple chainsets!)
There might never be more than about 40m of climbing on one go but a few laps of the place and you'll have 1500m total elevation gain easily. I used to really like it but then it was quite changeable with the maze of trails, some of which would be great, others would be a massive rut so every time you went you were finding new routes. We used to do night rides there a fair bit, it always felt like a fairly safe option. Train out to Martin's Heron, ride over, a few laps until the lights were fading then back to the station.
Only ridden the new waymarked trails a couple of times, I rarely have a MTB when I'm visiting London now.
Just a word regarding Swinley at the moment.... I was riding there this morning. A lot of forestry/logging is going on at the moment.
Several of the Blue route trails look totally different as so many trees have been removed. The actual trails seem to be unaffected and are rideable. Several Red route trails are closed due to logging and Kevlar is closed for trail maintenance.
Some fireroads are a right mess as are the areas immediately bordering some fireroads.
Swinley always gets a hard time on here and I don't really understand why. It is a forest in Bracknell that is free to use, has some trails that are OK to ride and gets some maintenance.
Yes it isn't a destination to travel hundreds of miles to or to spend a week riding but if you are passing and dont have anywhere else to ride, you'd be mad not to have a quick spin around.
Honestly the worst caca there is . The dullest most sterile trails in the universe. Like walking around asda…
I present to you...Thetford Forest...for the win here.
Stayed in Bagshot for a year or two for work and rode swinley A LOT in those times. I’m guilty of giving the place a hard time, really hated the full loop, just used to session the good bits.
however I returned recently with an e-bike and blasted round it in boost - holy shit that was fun!!!
Oh yeah, way better on an ebike. The flat twisty boring bits are now flat out and fun.
Im sure some xc god will be along to tell me I'm wrong, and it's my fault for not having a body fat % less than 5?
I've ridden it 5-6 times as it's not too far away. It's good in that it's a 1 way signposted trail through a nice forest/heath, separated from other trail users. There's precious little of that in the south. Yes, it benefits lots of pedalling, which i'm happy with and that's what most of my riding is anyway.
But I can see why it doesn't appeal to some, as it has a trail centre image but doesn't flow the same way as other traditional trail centres (i.e. pedalling, virtually no gravity descent). So it's largely about expectation. The biggest negative can be the trail surface though, as mentioned before. It's compacted 'ginger' gravel, that gets a bit slippy/inconsistent in the wet because of it's round stone content, and because the surface sometimes sits on top of the ground level, so you're on a strangely cambered lump of trail that doesn't always match the direction/lean of the bike you desire. Think of a miniature fire road, and it's a bit like that at times.
Aside from that, and the grittiness getting to your components, it's a good option for winter when much else in the area is filth/underwater.