Bike epic on the Long Mynd

The Long Mynd is not too far away from me, around an hour by train, and I’d read loads about the quality of MTB riding there, so I recently decided to take the bike for a blast there. Readers of Trail will know of Tom Hutton, and he has written many guide books on MTBing in Wales, and the Long Mynd was a “bonus” route in one of them – not in Wales, but so good it would be a travesty to omit it!

It stands proudly above the town of Church Stretton, a pretty little town just Southeast of Shrewsbury, and has some fantastic scenery nearby – Wenlock Edge guards the opposite flank of the town, and the Wrekin and Stiperstones are both fairly close by. Its well known for the gliding club on the summit, and is well used by paragliders and microlights too, but is less well known for its MTB routs, except perhaps amongst locals........

I caught the train from town on a dry Saturday morning that promised a good day,and the forecast looked good. The train was delayed by nearly an hour after it broke down near Machynlleth, and I nearly gave up and went for a spin elsewhere, but was glad I persisted. It duly came, and I got to Church Stretton by 11am. I was worried I would have to cut my ride short so as to be home at a sensible time, but set of thinking I’d cross that particular bridge when I came to it. Right now, I was focused on heading to Carding Mill Valley, and the first climb of the day – and what a climb!! Now, I may be new to this MTB malarkey, but I know what the granny ring is! So, granny ring selected, I tried to get going on the climb – no chance every time I pushed the pedals the front wheel lifted off the ground, all the bike wanted to do was wheelie! There were two nice young ladies watching and having a bit of a giggle by now, so in the end I gave up, got off and pushed most of that first climb!! More skills practice needed, Phil!

The picture above shows the view back down to Carding Mill Valley, and is a bit deceptive, it’s a lot steeper than it looks. With the first climb of the day out of the way, I set off acoss the top on some wonderful singletrack, heading for Pole Bank and the viewpoint there. The views were stunning. I could see Cader Idris in the distance, it’s massive bulk and the sinister outline of Cyfrwy Arete unmistakeable. The Clywidian Hills were prominent, as were the hills closer to my home, Plynlimon being the most obvious. All around the Long Mynd is flat, and this heightened the view to the distant hills and mountains.

I lingered a while to take some photos, and then headed off to my next waypoint, the marker post that marks the junction with the bridleway heading down to Stanbatch. This was a steep descent, and strewn with loose rocks and some tight switchbacks, but was a fun descent. For years, I had seen mountain bikers pushing, carrying or riding their steeds to the top of some big hills and could never understand the attraction – until today. When I got to the bottom of the Stanbatch descent, brake discs smoking, I knew. And I was grinning like a Cheshire cat, buzzing on adrenaline and glad that I had joined that particular band of outdoors folk.

Another bridleway linked to the next section and ran past a farm, the bridleway itself very muddy in places and with some deep puddles. I grit my teeth and went at them full pelt, mud and water flying everywhere and caking both me and the bike. I hadn’t been this muddy since I was about ten years old, and I was loving it. And so the the next climb, another very steep descent on road back up to the gliding club, and past the area that the paragliders use to get airborne. The sky was thick with them and bought some colourful contrast to the skies. At the top, after another push I’m afraid, I headed past the gliding club and over to the start of what I had really come for – the Minton Batch descent. I had read about it a lot, how good it was, but also how dangerous it could be if you were reckless, and had watched lots of helmet camera footage of it. A few offs on some of them, but nothing serious, and I was keen to get it under my belt. So, off I went, the bike bouncing over the rocky start, and weaving through the ruts that suggested it was fairly popular. 

And then down, ever faster and with the brake

covered, I flew down the lovely flowing singletrack that is really narrow in places and has a steep drop to one side in parts – I didn’t look that way! I was too focused on the track ahead, and picking my line. Sheep on the track were scattering everywhere, and a few walkers stopped to watch my fly past, through fords on over a few short rocky drops. I was having a ball. I stopped very briefly to take a picture back up the trail, then screamed on past the farm, and down to the road, it was over all too soon.

A short ride along the road took me back into the forestry, and another long climb to do, but I knew it was the last climb so I attacked it. Near the top, I noticed a track coming down from the forest and a large puddle where it met the road....... time for some fun then!! So, I set the camera up on the mini tripod in the middle of the fire road, out the self timer on 30 secs and legged it up the track with the bike. Turned around and flew back down, and I was gutted to see it flash a split second before I hit the water. No way was I doing that again, so I packed up the camera and carried on. It was a good picture, but not really what I wanted! 

Back across the top again, and a lunch stop at a lovely and quiet spot overlooking Wenlock Edge I fed my face and soaked up the views in the sunshine. And then came the last descent of the day, across the Northern end of the mountain, and then down into the valley that runs down to All Stretton. The top part of this descent was a fast flowing ride on wide grassy track, then steepening and some rocky parts interspersed with the grass that took me by surprise, so it was a case of lifting the front wheel up and jumping it. Fantastic! The next part was very narrow singletrack that cut down the contours in a straight line, and this proved to be the only time today I made a real mess of it. There were three lads waiting down the bottom to ride up the track I was coming down. And, as you do, I let the bike rip. I was doing really well too, till I hit a very narrow part of the track, barely wider than the wheels, and a rock in the path made me swerve – to much, and I could feel the bike heading towards the very steep drop to my left. I jammed the anchors on and the bike came to a sharpish halt, thanks heavens for disc brakes! I passed the lads with a knowing smile, and cracked on, down into All Sretton, and finally back to the station to wait for my train.

I sat waiting for the train, and with my MP3 player now blasting my eardrums, I started reliving the descents, my grin getting ever wider. Anyone looking at me must have thought I’d been let out on day release!

If you are ever stuck for a new place to get out and ride the MTB, don’t overlook the Long Mynd – its a full day out with some awesome riding, and I cant wait to go back.