Bedgebury Forest

[Chris71]

Anyone been mountain biking at Bedgebury?

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-6ljhu5

Apparently there's 12km of single track, a mini North Shore section and a freeride area. I haven't been yet, but sounds good for somehwere half an hour from the M25.

[option click]

I've been, although the singletrack was unrideable in many places due to the deep, gloopy mud (Jan).
Worth giving it a go, but park elsewhere and ride in, as the £7 car park charge is outrageous!

It's a very family-oriented place, so you always need to look out for Sunday bimblers and/or small wobbling children around any corners!

1/2 hour from M25 gets you to Leith Hill - much more extensive and better riding IMHO

Edited by option click on Tuesday 21st April 15:40

[Chris71]

Ah, doesn't sound so promising, is there anywhere else around the M25 you'd recommend? Particularly anywhere with purpose built MTB trails?

[sjg]

I went in the really early days of that singletrack loop, which was fun enough but a bit short and rather muddy in places. Been meaning to go back as it's just down the road from my parents - not sure it would justify a trip from north London down there given how much other good riding there is in between.

[option click]

Leith Hill / Coldharbour has a North Shore trail.
My sense of direction is appalling so I couldn't direct you to it - I'm sure someone will be along shortly to point it out though.

[Chris71]

I usually ride in Broxbourne woods and the adjoining Hertford Heath. No specific trails, but excellent for local woods on the outskirts of London.

The reason Bedgebury came up is that the friend I usually go riding with has just moved nearby and is keen to give it a go, but if I'm heading round the M25 I guess anywhere else on the way would be of interest.

[vanman]

I ride there quite a lot,it's not bad,nothing technical tho and as mentioned park outide and ride in rather than pay £7.50 to park.
You can combine the bedgebury ride with a loop of Bewl water which makes it a longer ride.

[okgo]

option click said:

Leith Hill / Coldharbour has a North Shore trail.
My sense of direction is appalling so I couldn't direct you to it - I'm sure someone will be along shortly to point it out though.

Down the south of the M25 near Dorking.

[Chris71]

So what do we reckon? Is it likely to be fairly rideable next weekend, or should I take the water wings?

[option click]

okgo said:

option click said:

Leith Hill / Coldharbour has a North Shore trail.
My sense of direction is appalling so I couldn't direct you to it - I'm sure someone will be along shortly to point it out though.

Down the south of the M25 near Dorking.

Thanks for that - I know where Leith Hill is, just not sure of exactly where the trail is

[.Adam.]

Chris71 said:

So what do we reckon? Is it likely to be fairly rideable next weekend, or should I take the water wings?

I was there this Sunday just gone, and it was fine, there was a bit of mud, but nothing too deep or gloopy, assuming it doesn't rain again, it should be drier still at the weekend.

[Chris71]

Me and a mate went to take a look yesterday and the verdict was pretty good - perhaps not worth the 180 mile round trip from North London, but well worth looking into it if you were local I reckon. My thoughts were...

• Almost entirely singletrack, virtually nothing else on the red route, which was a real bonus
• No prolonged climbs (good if you're a fat git like me )
• It was all pretty dry when we went and the surface was good on the single track sections, however some of the fire roads had obviously been very churned up not so long ago
• Singletrack, on the whole was quite good fun. There wasn't any seriously technical stuff, although there were a couple of small jumps and (rollable) drops, plus plenty of roots to liven things up
• A lot of the sections are quite short, so it's a little difficult to get into a flow
• Predictably quite a lot of slow traffic - families etc.
• The only real annoyance was the truly commical (lack of) signposting. On more than one occasion we came to a Y-junction where the options were left and right, only for the arrow to point straight on. On other occasions there simply was no arrow...
• The freeride area (basically a spot of mini North shore and a short 4X track) was good fun, but rather limited in area and variety
• At 13km the whole thing is probably a little short for serious riders, although, that said, I found it quite addequate for the first group ride of the year

On the whole it was much as expected - not (yet) a serious competitor to the Welsh trail centres, but more fun than the local woods. I wouldn't bother travelling specifically to visit it, but well worth a look if you're in the area.

Edited by Chris71 on Monday 27th April 11:02