Tom Scott will be leading a ride this Sunday to welcome in the Spring.
CHANGE OF TIME AND VENUE Due to a 10k race from Barbury Car Park we will be starting at Coate Water Car Park. We will be setting off at 9.30am BST
It’s a 25 mile ride from Coate Water heading off towards Marlborough before turning back and stopping in Avebury (for a brew, apparently) before climbing back up to the Ridgeway and returning back to Barbury.
Still not joined the club on a ride? This could be the ride for you.
Join us on a spin round one of our favourite local loops, Barbury/4 mile clump/Rockley/Hackpen hill. This ride will be able 20kms or 13 miles in old money.
This ride is novice friendly, as always we will ride at a pace suitable for everyone. There’s only a few small hills, but don’t worry if you have to get off and walk, it’s always a good excuse for a chat!
There are no cafes or shops on route so please bring food and drink with you.
Hope to see you there!
It’s been a couple of years since we’ve done a Fireworks Night ride, so about time we did it again. We will be starting main ride from Foxhill car park and be heading across the Hinton Downs and Peaks Downs towards Baydon/M4 then head Northwards up Bailey Hill to Weathercock Hill and along Odstone Down to rejoin the Ridgeway track. Provided a sufficient number hit the “join button” on Facebook, there will be a mid-ride mobile “coffee and cake” stop set up in car park at the top of Ashbury Hill. Once everyone is refreshed we will continue back along the Ridgeway to Foxhill.
With lots of the ride being on higher ground, the theory is we will get to see lots of fireworks all around us with plenty of big bangs.
This will be a novice friendly ride, and no one will be left behind, but please make your own mind up if you feel confident with this distance in the dark.
Based on the last one, expect crap, freezing cold weather, lots of mud and bottomless puddles…..but hopefully a few giggles
Bring front and back lights (essential), warm/waterproof clothing, basic spares and snacks/drinks as appropriate.
Aim to be back to Foxhill by 9:30/10:00, but this will be dependent on speed of group and duration of coffee and cake stop.
This weeks start will be from Covingham shops, next to the Messenger pub at 7.00pm. We will be at Coate water about 12 – 20 minutes later if you want to start there. Weather permitting ( poor weather then totally urban) we will ride up towards Barbury castle, across the fields to the old railway line then back through Chiseldon and on to the start point, basically the reverse direction of a well received ride we did a few weeks ago.
As always, novice friendly, but there will be a significant hill at about the halfway point, you are most welcome to join your ride leader in getting off your bike and pushing up it!
Housewives’ favourite Kristian Price is leading this ride which starts from the Mouldon hill car park on the edge of Swindon and moves into little visited territory towards the Cotswold water park. See the ride report from February 2012.
Mouldon Hill is planned to be the Southern end of the Swindon and Cricklade railway.
Starting near Tim’s house the ride will take you through Calne, out to Compton Bassett on the NCR 403, then on to Cherhill with around 350-400m of climbing.
There is a great rocky bridleway climb that we will also come down and also a descent from the Cherhill Monument, which will require some care.
Then off to some fun in the woods and bomb hole at Knoll Down, Beckhampton. We may also take a minor detour to Windmill Hill depending on time and weather/conditions – it’s nice up there if the sky is blue.
To confirm attendance or indicate suitable days then email tom at mbswindon co uk or post on the Facebook event.
We’ve visited Mudtrek five times since 2012 (see the latest write up). It’s one of our favourite places to stay for mountain biking weekends.
We got talking to Jay and Nikki last year after a long ride and somehow ended up volunteering to come and help build a skills park in the woods next to the barns. We’ve spent the last few years working on our own Croft Trail in Swindon.
We made a start last year. One day with at least five people would be enough to finish the surfacing of the basic trail.
The wood is 250m long, 20m wide and has a vertical drop of 25m, so it’s an average of 1 in 10 the whole way.
Accommodation on the Thursday night plus food is being provided free of charge by Mudtrek.
Trail building is hungry work so bring bonus food to keep you stoked up during the day.
It would be very helpful if you can bring a wheelbarrow and hand tools such as spade, mattock, shovel plus woodsaws. We have a load of tools that we’ll be bringing.
To confirm attendance or indicate suitable days then email tom at mbswindon co uk or post on the Facebook event.
This is a new date for a previously postponed event. Aiming for 2 days in the week Mon 18th – Fri 22nd of March 2013.
Updated photos of Jay’s digger action on Facebook and Flickr.
To confirm attendance or indicate suitable days then email tom at mbswindon co uk or post on the Facebook event page.
We visited Mudtrek three times in 2012 and it’s one of our favourite places to stay for mountain biking weekends. We’ve got two ride weekends there in 2013 (March & October).
We got talking to Jay and Nikki after a long ride and somehow ended up volunteering to come and help build a skills park in the woods next to the barns. We’ve spent the last few years working on our own Croft Trail in Swindon.
The wood is 250m long, 20m wide and has a vertical drop of 25m, so it’s an average of 1 in 10 the whole way. We reckon that it will be possible to build a fun line with bermed corners, rock drops, a few kickers and some optional wooden bits.
Food and accommodation is being provided free of charge by Mudtrek.
Accommodation is use of one of both barns plus spill over in the farmhouse (depending on numbers) inc bedding & towels.
Breakfast: Cereal, milk, toast, butter, jam, tea, coffee, sugar, orange juice plus Sausage Sarnies
Lunch Sat & Sun: Hot Soup & Rolls for Lunch on both days
Supper Fri & Sat: ie, Chicken Wings plus Chilli or Curry with Rice, Lasagne or Pasta Bake plus Sticky Toffee Pudding
Trail building is hungry work so bring bonus food to keep you stoked up during the day.
It would be very helpful if you can bring a wheelbarrow and hand tools such as spade, mattock, shovel plus woodsaws. We have a load of tools that we’ll be bringing.
To confirm attendance or indicate suitable days then email tom at mbswindon co uk or post on the Facebook event page.
Phil Allum has come up trumps with this route starting at Silbury Hill near Avebury.
The Route will be about 30 miles, and will take in a bit of the Wansdyke way through west woods. there will be a few big hills on the route and as such is not particularly novice friendly.
This is quite an epic ride, and recent rainfall may have rendered some of the route unridable, so Phil may need to make some ad-hoc changes on the day, this promises to be a memorable day in winter conditions.
More about Silbury Hill
Map of Start Point
Facebook Event Page
Some photos from the London Bike Show which was held at the Excel centre in London.
Getting there was a bit of challenge – 150 miles of motorway in the snow at an average speed of 40mph, hence about 4 hours.
We made some good contacts at the show. Keep a look out for more club discounts and sponsor updates for our new gravity race team (our xc race team have a Facebook page). We’re still interested in discussing sponsorship opportunities. Contact us if you can help.
