Had a blast last weekend at Swinley Forest in Berkshire. Rode Saturday and Sunday and got a tour of some of the best bits on Saturday by one of the locals. Even after riding there for about eight hours over the two days I feel that I have only really scratched the surface as ther are so many great trails there, most of them not published on maps. I got to ride all of the downhill trails from Surrey Hill several times, no idea what their names are but things like Labyrinth, Babymaker and Rollercoaster were banded about and also had a great time in Jump Gully honing my jump skills on the purpose built hip jumps, table top and double.
I can't help thinking that Swinley Forest has the kind of riding that Sherwood Pines could easily have if only it stopped concentrating on building "family" trails which are just not needed there. (What is wrong with the fire roads?) I know they do some trail building there but it seems to be sporadic at best. There used to be the Dual Descender which had to be closed due to some find of great archaeological importance or something and we were promised a new one. Well where is it? It certainly didn't exist last time I was there! In the meantime I am now in the bizarre position of looking forward to going down to stay with the Mother-in-Law again for another thrash around Swinley.
I can't help thinking that Swinley Forest has the kind of riding that Sherwood Pines could easily have if only it stopped concentrating on building "family" trails which are just not needed there. (What is wrong with the fire roads?) I know they do some trail building there but it seems to be sporadic at best. There used to be the Dual Descender which had to be closed due to some find of great archaeological importance or something and we were promised a new one. Well where is it? It certainly didn't exist last time I was there! In the meantime I am now in the bizarre position of looking forward to going down to stay with the Mother-in-Law again for another thrash around Swinley.