Over the years we’ve happily allowed people to bring their pets (well dogs) along with them on club rides, but we’ve come to realise that as much fun as it is to ride with your mutt it’s not exactly a recipe for the most enjoyable ride all round. Even the best trail dogs can be unpredictable and make other riders feel nervous, not to mention scare the local wildlife of which there’s quite a lot.
So, from today onwards we won’t be allowing any pets on BCC organised rides.
Thanks
This month I’ll be leading a ride across the Quantock hills starting from Triscombe car park. To avoid parking issues we’ll aim to leave The Cheese and Grain car park Frome by 8am.
As always you will need a good quality, well maintained bike with plenty of brake pad material, a helmet and suitable clothing (No Denim!!) and spares i.e. – spare tubes, power links etc. There is no bike shop or cafe on site!
We will car pool as much as possible to keep costs down, can anyone who can drive and take bikes and passengers please let us know.
Meet: Frome Cheese & Grain 07:45
Distance: 14-18 miles (can add more if need be 
)
Climbing: Plenty!
Time: 2.5 – 4hrs (I expect it to be more like 4hrs)
These tails aren’t officially graded, I personally don’t think the trails I intend using are anymore technical than the trails we use around Longleat on our Tuesday night rides with the exception of ‘The Chimney’ which you wont have to ride if you’re not confident.
Description
The Quantock Hills are an area of wilderness and tranquility. Panoramic views lead you through coast, heath and combe. Explore and you will find rocky Jurassic coastline, exposed heathland summits, deep wooded combes, undulating farmland and attractive villages all within this protected landscape.
The Quantock Hills are an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which means that its distinctive character, natural beauty and cultural heritage are so outstanding that it is in the nation’s interest to safeguard them.
Our ride will lead us in and out of various combs as we make our way across the hills so expect plenty of climbing and have a good meal the night before and a good breakfast the morning of our ride. We will reach the farthest point from our cars about lunchtime and wont be passing any shops so bring something to eat with you and plenty to drink.
Whatever the weather forecast on the day you will need to wear something windproof as an outer layer and / or carry a waterproof, the weather can changer quickly and at this time of year there Will be a cold wind!
Gareth suggested a Saturday ride on the club forum which evolved ( as these things seem to ) into a small group of us going of to Swinley forest in Surrey to check out the trails.
Swinley, BTW is actually closer than you – or at least I – would have imagined and only about an hour and half away.
We arrived at about 9.30 and after a brief interlude to put a chain on Gareths bike and allow those who hadn’t previously booked an online permit to get one ( £2 ) from the visitor centre, we set off to explore the myriad trails on offer.
The party consisted of Mark, Juliet, Kevin,Andrew,Steve,Gareth and Pete and we floundered around a while trying to find the “good stuff” and asking directions of the locals.
When we eventually got it together we found there were trails everywhere, we would follow a twisty ribbon of singletrack for a while until we popped out onto a junction and then it was a quick look around before diving back off down another promising looking trail.
The trails were refreshingly firm and the climbs short and sweet , the worst part of the day was being continuously offered equally tempting choices at every junction and fork in the trail – a really hellish day in paradise !
We eventually headed back to the cars with my rear tyre patched with gaffer tape and Gareth on a single speed thanks to his prehistoric chain finally biting back and tearing his rear mech off!
Thanks to all involved but especially Gareth for giving us so many opportunities to make our ” reader tips” bodges a reality and Juliet for the baby wipes ( DO they make them from real babies ?)
