Forest of Dean

We've not got to the Forest of Dean before as the trail is really short and it never seems worth the drive. But we were aiming for South Wales, and got put off part way by the weather. There is a really short cross country loop - just 5km. But plenty of rooty challenges and some fun berms.

However, there's also some downhill courses. We tried a couple - "Endo" which was really short and mostly about sliding your bike round off-camber corners (which I happen to enjoy) and a couple of table tops at the bottom. The second was the longer "Ski run" which had some good techy stuff at the top, and some fun table tops and berms at the bottom (all rollable).

Cannock - now awesome!

So, Cannock has had a complete rebuild and is now one of the best trail centres in the country - to rival Dalbeattie, Kirroughtree and Coed y Brenin IMHO. No online trail map yet, but I would estimate the trail is around 24km long with around 900m of climbing.

It starts on the old Follow the Dog route. Then, after the first major climb, you have the option to keep following the dog, or start chasing the monkey. You have an awesome descent down some proper alpine switchbacks, then cross the railway (with many warnign signs etc) and main road (no warnign signs, much more dangerous....... Anyway, all new trail across the road, a series of singletrack climbs and increasingly impressive descents, with awesome berms and optional black lines.

Back over the road and back onto the old Follow the Dog again. Then, just before the fast descent you cross another road and do a whole new section of trail, finshing with some awesome rollers. (And you're left thinking "how could they afford to ditch so many good existing trail sections?")

So overall, an awesome experience - though quite tiring as all the climbs are singletrack!

Sherwood Pines - now with waymarks

The current need for easy "flowy" biking had us returning to Sherwood Pines. We haven't been here since they way-marked the trails, so were looking forward to a low-brain-power day on some pleasant trail. What a disappointment. It started well, with some flowing trail out of the car park. Then the mud started. Gooey mud that destroys your flow and occasionally forces you to walk over bits. There were some dry bits, but there were no fun trail features - berms, jumps, drop-offs etc. In fact, some of the corners may well have been off-camber. And some of the waymarks seemed to be missing, leaving you guessing. It feels like they've just way-marked the exisiting network of singletrack without considering the effect of thousands of extra bike wheels or doing any innovative trail building. The bike park is a bit more promising, and there clearly is more single track to explore if you don't mind getting lost. In general, if you're from East Anglia, save yourself the drive and go to Thetford - the trails there are better maintained and more fun. If you're not from East Anglia, then there's a lot better riding somewhere nearer to you!

Cannock in the wet

Went to Cannock Chase yesterday (it was the only non-snowy location we could find). It was a lot muddier than I believed it could be - a really gritty mud that destroys bikes and coats everything.... But traction was actually ok. And it is such great trail - really awesome sections and not too much fireroad. Still sections closed but looking forward to the Phase 2 which opens soon.

Midlands

Cannock Chase provides some excellent entertainment. The Follow the Dog trail is just 10km long, so you really need to do it two or three times to fill a day. But it has some varied sections – no rocks or roots, but windy singletrack and berms. And a really friendly bike shop. You can park on Marquis Drive to avoid paying the Forestry Commission charges. Can be a good alternative when the weather in the Peaks is unpleasant.

We haven’t been to Sherwood Pines since the new black route was signed. However, our previous explorations suggested a some good quality single track. It only has one section with contours though, so can be a bit like Thetford.