CANNOCK CHASE & STILE COP
A stone’s throw from the UK’s second biggest city isn’t the place you’d expect to ind a mountain bike hotspot
Get out of the way!” There’s a breathless shout from the trail behind us. We all spin round and jump out of the way, just in time, as a guy comes sprinting past, hanging off the bike like Valentino Rossi, his back wheel sliding to nearly the point of crashing. “Strava,” laughs Dave, our guide for the day. “You get loads of trail centre heroes thinking they’re racers on this trail and going for King of the Mountain glory!”
The trail he’s talking about is the red-graded Monkey trail at Cannock Chase, and we’re at the highest point, looking down from the ridge above the last descent at the ribbon of singletrack turns awaiting us. We hit the pedals in pursuit of the Strava hunter and are soon laughing as we rail the berms and try our best to scrub the rollers. Midway down, there’s a fade-away drop that looks way too tempting to just roll off. We sacrifice our attempts at a KOM and stop to eye up the landing zone. Enduro racer Rob Williams is the first one up. We’ve managed to drag the flat-out Welshman away from his Valleys home today to show us his skills. He sprints in and pulls up, turning the bike sideways in the air to hip into the banking alongside the trail, some 20ft further down. Textbook stuff.
There aren’t a lot of particularly technical features on the Cannock trails, but we’ve been pretty impressed by what we’ve ridden so far. The trail builders have made the most of the limited altitude and created some fun, flowing descents. Even with the mellow nature of the trails, there’s no shortage of berms to rail, rollers to pump and roots and stumps to dodge, plus a few more technical manmade features to keep you on your toes. It’s the kind of riding that rewards a bit of effort – getting out of the saddle, using the ground to generate momentum and hitting the pedals at the right time keeps things faster and more fun. Let’s hear it for the boys Dave tells us that almost all the graft is put in by Chase Trails, a small group of volunteers who are tasked with keeping Cannock’s 35km of surfaced singletrack in prime condition. There are a few sections of trail that are looking a bit worn, but considering the volume of riders this place receives, we’d say they do a pretty good job.
Despite today being a rather grey and damp midwinter weekday, there are still a fair few riders out on the hill. Apparently on weekends in the summer the car park is overflowing and the trails are packed. As much as we appreciate the
trail builders’ hard work, we reckon they must all be running pretty narrow bars because the switchback descent down to the road on the Monkey trail snakes through some seriously tight tree gaps. It makes the section a little awkward to ride, but if you commit to brushing the ends of your bars on the bark, you’re rewarded with some fun turns to rail – as demonstrated by Rob and World Cup racer Katy Curd, who seem unfazed by the prospect of losing a pinkie!
From the road crossing, a short uphill leads you to the start of another traversing descent, which winds through dense pines and birches. Again, this section rewards commitment and it’s a good challenge to lay off the brakes and see if you can twist your body around the trunks at full speed. Bursting out of the trees, the trail carves some wider arcs, which just cry out for you to push the limits of traction. Dave leads us out and from the back of the train we’re enjoying watching everyone take slightly different lines – inside or outside in the turn, then pumping, gapping or manualling through the compressions.
Styling it up at Stile Cop
The faster speeds have got everyone excited to push the limits a bit more now, so Dave suggests we head over to the nearby Stile Cop for some more gravity-orientated riding. A short pedal later and we arrive in a copse that’s criss-crossed with intersecting lines, jumps and North Shore drops. Like kids at Christmas we excitedly run up the hill, eager to get wheels on the dirt.
We begin on ‘Snakes ’n’ Ladders’, which is just how you’d imagine it. The trail starts with fast, gullied-out singletrack, before dropping you down some short, steep, root-filled chutes and into a couple of North Shore ladder drops. Getting a feel for the woodwork, we stop to session a curved wallride on the next trail across. Soon we’re egging each other on and railing it as high as we dare, our wheels edging closer to the top on each run. The biggest feature at Stile Cop is a
fairly chunky stepdown with a short, flat lander. This doesn’t bother Rob – as a full-time racer, this stuff is bread and butter for him. On his first run he comes into the take-off pedalling flat-out, before hitting the lip and pushing the bar down in a perfect scrub. But even squashing the jump isn’t quite enough for the speed he’s going, and as the bike bottoms out, there’s a twang of snapping spokes from his front wheel.
Pure pro
After this we’re a bit hesitant, but Katy doesn’t seem bothered. Today is her first day back on the mountain bike in four months, after suffering a head injury during the World Cup season, but you wouldn’t know it from the way she’s riding. Not even batting an eyelid, she floats over the gap and hits the downslope as smooth as you like.
By now the low winter sun is starting to fade, and with half the original Cannock trail, Follow the Dog, still to ride, plus Rob’s front wheel jangling worryingly, we decide to head for home. The swoopy singletrack is a perfect end to the day. Beams of sunlight stream through the trees and we feel guilty for not stopping for some ‘golden hour’ photo opportunities. We arrive back at the vans and finally catch our breath, just as darkness begins to close in. A quick brew and then it’s time to bid the others farewell and hit the road. It doesn’t feel as if we’ve been driving long before the quiet tranquility of the woods is replaced by the noise and chaos of rush hour traffic. This is the beauty of riding at Cannock – it’s accessible escapism from hectic city life.