As the weather was looking sunny and mild (and we have already eaten far too many mince pies....) we felt it was only right to have an open group ride before Christmas. Our ride leader Seamus kindly planned and led the ride, starting and finishing from one of usual haunts, the Cafe in the Woods in Wendover Woods. The route was a new different route that used before, that took in a route over to Coombe Hill, running up and down the ridgeline twice in and around Coombe, Coblers Hill and Dunsmore before returning to Wendover for the inevitable cup of tea and piece of cake!
Sunshine and a thick frost (and minus five degrees....) gave us a beautiful crisp winters morning for our November open cross-country group ride starting at Coombe Hill Monument. Nine of us 'braved' the chilly temperatures for this ride; a great mix of some brand new faces, some club members and a couple of staff ride leaders too.
Read more: Chiltern Hills November 2015 Open XC Group Ride Report
A cracking morning set a great scene for our mix of new non-member visitor riders, existing club members and staff to head out on the trails in and around Ivinghoe for a circa fifteen mile loop.
Our September Chiltern Hills Open Group Ride received a lot of interest which was a fantastic start! Various local people registered for our ride and then couldn't attend but we still had a twelve strong team who attended, a great mixture of non-member visitor riders, club members and club staff. The ride was aimed at all riders from beginners right through to experienced riders fancying an afternoon blast out on the trails. ..
Read more: Chiltern Hills September Open XC Group Ride Report
The 'Ard Rock Enduro takes place in the stunning Yorkshire Dales National Park. The route takes in natural rcoky descents including rock strewn terrain only rideable during the event itself. All the riding is incorporated into a big day out in the Dales and is topped off with live music, local grub, beer and a BBQ or two!
The 'Ard Rock Enduro is fast becoming one of the most popular and exciting weekends on the mountain bike calendar, it was only a matter of time before BucksMTB members wanted in on the action!
Our monthly open cross country group ride took place on Saturday 20th June, starting and finishing at Coombe Hill Monument. Eight riders in total were due to attend, but we think the weather forecast put the vast majority off... four of us however, two new faces and two leaders did turn up to enjoy the mixed bag of English weather. Overcast skies did lead to sunny spells as well as patches of mist and that awful fine rain that just soaks you through...
One of our most popular club trips over the years has been our annual visit North to the Yorkshire Dales. Our annual pilgrimage always takes us to the Dales Bike Centre, a fantastic family run hub for the whole weekend. Advertised as the centre of trails The Dales Bike Centre packs plenty of B&B accommodation, catering, daytime café, twenty-four hour cake access, bike storage, a well equipped bike shop and an endless supply of ride recommendations all under the rooves of two beautifully restored traditional Yorkshire stone buildings. Did I also mention twenty-four cake access?!
A new location on our club trip calendar this year was the Shropshire Hills. A couple of club members had seen some articles and adverts for Shropshire mountain biking and also for the new local Shropshire Hills Mountain Bike And Outdoor Pursuit Centre setup. It was decided it was time to organise a new trip t'up North. After a few people had fallen by the wayside for life, work or injury we had seven people planned to head up for this trip.
As with most of our club trips they are planned on a flexible three day criteria where our members can attend any combination of a single, twin or all three days. Accommodation this time round was in the Hobbit-esque wooden camping pods based at the all encompassed trail centre setup include bike shop, accommodation, cafe and pub!
The Long Mynd, is part of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is a series of hills with steep gullies locally known as Batches. A lot of the main riding in the Shropshire Hills works with trails going up and down The Long Mynd ridge line. The local riding includes some infamous trails regularly utilised by magazines such as MBR and Singletrack who use the natural local singletrack trails for bike tests and elaborate photo shoots. There is a trail map available and all the trails have recently been waymarked and numbers from one to fifteeb for ease of navigating. No GPS required.
Our latest open group ride took place on Sunday 22nd February, starting from Wendover Woods main car park. Ten riders attending including a mix of great individuals including some first time visitors, returning visitor riders, club members and a couple of members of staff.
Our route took us from Wendover via Hale up into the Coombe Hill area for a fun figure or eight loop before looping back via a different route to Wendover again for tea and cake at the Cafe! Trail conditions were wet, very wet, but were generally riding quite well as it was wet sloopy mud not the nightmare sticky stuff that leaves your wheels stuck fast! A BucksMTB group ride wouldn't be a complete without a few mechanicals, a few tweaks here and there and a couple of punctures enroute (both fixed in record time...) we made fairly good progress around the route. Heavy rain was forecast for the afternoon, and I must say we timed in perfectly, arriving back at the Cafe just as the first few rain drops fell. Due to the rain we did miss our regular group photo shot unfortunately. We've clearly also set a new record for how many people you can get cowering under one pub umbrella on a standard sized picnic bench.
Thanks to all who planned, led and attending the ride. Our next open ride for visitors and club members is on the 1st March starting from Marsworth reservoir, please see our ride events page for more details.
Club members Dave, Kevin & Adam braved the weather and snowfall to meet up at Coed-y-Brenin on a cold day in January for some fun in the Welsh mountains. The rain, wind, sleet, hail & snow all added to the fun. The day was started by riding the red graded Dragons Back, followed by lunch back at the coed-y-brenin visitors centre. After lunch, Kevin & Adam rode the black graded Tarw trail.
