Rocks and roots: mountain biking in the UK

Coming into mountain biking from climbing and kayaking, where all routes/rivers come with a star rating, I have found it really hard to discern good routes/trails from merely mediocre ones. Lots of guidebooks and magazines seem to try and achieve an even spread of routes across the country, though in reality there's huge swathes of the country which have no technical biking at all. This blog is an attempt to describe the biking I've enjoyed the most (and which bits have been truly awful).

Introduction - how this blog works

The idea of this blog is to share some of my favourite bits of mountain biking with the world. Principally so that you too can enjoy the bits I've enjoyed. And avoid the bits I've hated. So many people have given us advice on biking since we started - what bikes to buy, where to ride, how to ride. So this is my chance to feed a bit back to that body of knowledge.

I'd really welcome your comments - what have I raved about that you thought was awful? What gems did I miss when I visited your local riding spot? Is a bit that I said was awful actually sweet singletrack in the summer or when you're riding well? Comments will help this resource be improved for all readers, and also give me some hints as to where to ride next!

I've written a load about what we've ridden over the last year, and grouped it geographically. My plan is to add to it in the future, hopefully using the tags to keep each region together, though I haven't quite worked out how it will work yet. I may just need to start all over again in a year to keep things organised more sensibly - I'm not really sure a blog is the most sensible format - but it seems the best for me as I'm not terribly motivated to learn any more code than the day job necessitates.

Sunday, 31 October 2010

Return to Italy

Went back to Italy with the guys from Rivierabike. I cannot recommend these guys enough. Fantastic riding - three days around Molini, one a bit further along the coast to the East and one above San Remo.