Swinley Forest MTB - What's It Really Like?
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- čas přidán 24. 07. 2024
- Firstly it's been so long. Swinley Forest is just shy of 50 miles from mine, and I cannot believe it's been almost 2 years since I last visited the place. Covid, work and just life in general has prevented me from hitting the tracks a Swinley. I'm always honest about things, it's not a place I consider among other areas to ride so unfortuntely it does fall under the radar at times.
That said it's a great day out. Just take Swinley for what it is though. It's trails for all levels and abilities, runs good all year round and have a big cafe for cake and tea afterwards. If you know where to go there's also enough off piste trails to keep you occupied. So in my eyes, it's actually a win win situation.
Parking is £6 all day and the trails are free to ride, so mke the most of it. Blue and Red sections can be fast paced, climbs hard in areas with some more technically demanding sections are what you should expect. Just enjoy the ride and my edit are my parting words.
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Provide some feedback about what you think of Swinley to assist others. Thanks all.....
What I will say is I lived 5 mins from here for about 4 years and was my local. It’s a great place to start off riding and for fitness if local, it’s also a very nice place to spend time outdoors generally and helped me clear my head through some tough times so holds a special place in my heart 😂
Great review buddy. I rode there for the first time this week. Enjoyed it despite the rain. No the most gnarly but great place to ride with my wife and family.
Looks spot on for what I'm looking for, just started mountain biking and I'm just turning 40. I've looked a Woburn and I don't feel I'm at that level and possibly never will be. This looks a lot more chilled where I can come with my mates and we can go for a nice ride without the surprise joggers and dog walkers.
Spot on review in my opinion. I was there once and yeah when I was riding blues I thought 'is that it really!?'. I nearly cried. But later I had some good fun on reds and off piste stuff. Also the place really wore me out, at the end of the day I was knackered of all the pedalling. Great review Mike.
What a great Great Video review! I live with this on my back door and i love it. Just did the Skinny on the North Shore this weekend for my first time well chuffed! With parents and kids on bikes everyone seems to be having a great time up here no matter the age. Cafe is on the up too aparently. Keep Rollin!
Thanks for the positive comment andrew 👍👍
Great content mate! Your overview is spot on imo, it's great for families, beginners and then has just enough to get the blood pumping. I'm a MTB noob from Reading with 2 young kids and this place is absolutely perfect for us all.
thanks for the nice comment buddy.
Great place for an introduction into MTB !! I took myself & my entry level budget full suspension bike there a few days ago & did a 2 hour ride around in 2c temperatures ! I was amazed with how may families & little kids were out & about. Started on the beginners (green) trail then onto the blue...one some sections i thought 'you need an e bike' but part of MTB is to challenge your fitness which this place does do. Will be going back soon !!
I like that it's a lot of short ups and downs compared to Surrey Hills where it's mostly long and very boring climbs back up after each downhill run. It's much more suited to short travel XC bikes and hard tails unless you are sessioning something like babymaker. The full blue red blue route is short enough to do at full gas all the way so good for getting your cardio in.
Awesome ride bro 😎
It is what it is. Been riding there for years, my nearest trail centre, but usually only ride there alone, when I just want to put some quick miles in. It’s quite good fun on the e-bike and you can do the lot in a power hour. The shop there do rides on Thursday evening, it’s fun in the dark as not very technical. Parking can be difficult at weekends so get there early. I’m not the biggest fan of the trail surface, it’s like a cobbled road for large sections, but that’s why it can be rode all year round.
All about the e-bike for sure! It's an ideal place for those learning and easing back into things, and as you say the exercise.
Do you have any tips for Surrey Hills? Like where to park and which trails? Never been, thanks!
@@bogged9820 Peaslake area is where you want to be for the more challenging downhill trails, but you can also do really long XC loops taking in Box Hill, Holmbury Hill, Hurtwood and Leith Hill
At the high point on the red trail round about red 20, their are multiple downhill trails such as Deerstalker and BabyMaker and a few older tracks which are not rode as much but sketchy and still very nice to ride!!
Mike explained it all to how I would explain it lol!!
I ride the blue here with my toddler on a shotgun seat, it's gnarly enough for him! 😂
I don't mind it for a training loop, then venture a little off piste if I want some excitement or loam. My 3 yr old loves riding shotgun on the top tube too - his favourite trail is red 25. 👍
It's 30 minutes from me and used to ride there with a few mates on hardtails. It's defo XC with a couple of tables thrown in. It's good for cranking the pedals and getting some cardio in. But Surrey Hills is also only 30 minutes from me, where I mainly ride on the full sus...so just don't bother with Swinley these days. I imagine a good place to go with the family though, if you're local.
we session 15 red and we Finnish the blue at the end like you did
we stay away from red downhill and session all the others
Like you say great for families, beginners and just for a blast.Bit like a McDonald's, not for everyone but one you've tried it once you know what you are going to get.
Been a few times, I tried it twice as I thought it couldn't really be as bad as I thought the first time...... I was wrong, I found it as dull as ditch water. I get its great for families to ride but for me I'd rather ride around the block and stay at home 😂👍 I think you hit the nail on the head with 'grind'
😂😂😂 Appreciate the honesty. 🤣🤣🤣
@@MikesMTBAdventures love your vids though Mike 👍👍
@@robertbransby all good mate. This place is hit and miss for so many riders. 👍👍
I think we’ve meet before, Such a good video! When is your next one?
I just subscribed to you..
Normally every Friday buddy
Baby maker was really the only good bit. Red15 can be fun. Parking is a nightmare if your not early.
The last few visits I really found mind numbing and I like pedalling 🤣 it’s not worth the 3 hour round trip that can increase if your stuck on the M25. I did enjoy the Swinduro event though and will take part next time it’s on. If it was on my doorstep I wouldn’t complain. There’s a lot more fun too be had on the Surrey hills 👌🏻
Dragged some mates up there. Took over an hour to get there. Two of them never rode again 🤣
😂😂😂 And dont speak to you anymore 🤣
Purgatory. If it was my local I’d ride there more often for fitness or getting a quick one in between shifts, but I have Bedgebury much nearer to me for that and that provides similar mileage, similar climbs and similar thrills while being genuinely more all weather riding and less mind numbing sections between mildly entertaining bits.
For me, it’s not worth driving past the Surrey Hills to get to it. But it can be a handy spot for beginners.
I’ve used it in the past to teach MTB courses for the Sea Cadets Corps and it worked well for that.
It’s good that Swinley exists… but it’s not really for me.
Thanks for this reply 👍👍
I ride when I'm working down there. It's a blast on an ebike in turbo as you can berm even the flat sections, but I wouldn't bother if on a normal bike. Babymaker etc are ok.
Don’t ride there in the winter, unless you wish to replace your drivetrain!
It's a very basic place to ride, the trails are not challenging at all even the 'babymaker' is tame with a small tabletop in the bottom section. There is one semi challenging piece of off piste just to the left of red 20, however the off piste stuff isn't liked by the bike hub Nazis and they regularly tape it all off.
.
Yes it's good for a chill out, but I don't know many riders with expensive bikes that want to chill 🤔
There are much better places to ride within short driving distance like Peaslake, Rogate, Deepcut and dare I say it QECP ?! If you don't have the ability to travel and this is all you have it's ideal but can get very boring.
Spot on buddy
Boring beyond belief. Really hate the surface too
Honesty is good dude. Thanks for sharing 👍👌