We pop down the M5 to check out Devon’s only trail centre, Haldon Forest, where DMR’s Ben Deakin shows us around – and we find some cheeky o -piste tracks
With blue and red trails, a pump track and more, this forest park near Exeter is a long-established beacon of mountain biking in the South West
As we stand by the trailside and Ben pushes back up and around the berm for another shot at the little trail feature he’s been sessioning, the sunlight piercing through the evergreens suddenly dims as a cloud drifts overhead. And it must be quite a cloud, because the light continues to drop until the forest is shrouded in a murky gloom. Just as we’re discussing the possibility of moving to a better-lit area for the next photo opportunity, the heavens open and we’re forced to shelter under a pine tree as a vicious, stinging hailstorm crashes through the woods around us. Ben, ever the optimist, gets an Insta-story going. “MBUK crew!” he yells with glee, pointing his phone towards the cowering team. I have to admit, his cheerfulness is infectious and I can’t help but laugh as we hurriedly get our coats on.
Inside knowledge
Today we’ve come to Haldon Forest Park near Exeter. This outdoor activity centre is a hugely popular venue for mountain biking in the far-from-mountainous South West of England. Pulling up into the car park on a rare sunny day at the arse-end of an extremely soggy winter, we have to stop for a minute and appreciate the view as we jump out of the van and prepare to gearup. To be treated to a vista like this one before we’ve even ridden anywhere is a bit unusual, but Haldon’s car park sits at the very top of its trail network. The practical upshot of this is that you can dive right into some amazing descents right from the off, when the energy coffers are nice and full. But of course, it does also mean that every ride ends with a climb.
While we’re getting our kit on, we meet up with our riding companion for the day, Ben
Deakin. This cheeky chappy and DMR-sponsored shredder is renowned for his larger-than-life personality and ‘Oi Oi!’ catchphrase, and he really knows how to squeeze every possible drop of fun out of a session, so we’re sure it’s going to be a ride to remember. We head over to the on-site bike shop and get some useful tips on how to make the most of our day. A local rider pulls us aside. “You didn’t hear this from me,” he says, “but if you were to have a little look around… here [points at the trail map], you might find some pretty cool off-piste stuff!” We make a note of this and, with photographer Ian safely aboard a freshly-hired e-bike, the faffing is officially complete and we’re on our way.
Fall in with the crowd
No sooner do we hit the connecting singletrack that’ll take us towards the red-graded ‘Ridge Ride’ trail loop than we find ourselves surrounded by riders of all ages, appearances and skill levels. One of the advantages of working
on a mountain biking magazine is that mid-week outings on quiet trails are pretty much standard procedure. This time though, it’s half term and Haldon is rammed. We’re used to basically having the place to ourselves, so it’s refreshing to see the trails buzzing with energy and activity. It does make getting photos a bit trickier though – and it doesn’t help that Ben has ‘Deakinator’ emblazoned across his jersey. “It’s Deaks!” some passing kids exclaim excitedly to each other. “Yo, Deaks!” Courteous as ever, Ben has to stop to exchange a smile, a wink and an “Oi Oi!” with everyone, so our progress is slow.
Ridge Ride kicks off with a short, stony descent, loaded with nice little drop-offs and lined with pedal-banging boulders. It serves as a nice little warm-up, before we’re spat out onto a wide fireroad. Next up is a casual little jaunt along to the top of the forest, to connect us to the next section of the loop. And we definitely need to take it easy here, because we’re sharing the fireroad with some pony-trekkers and don’t want to scare the animals (or their riders!). With the peace successfully kept, it’s back onto singletrack as the next part of the trail drops steeply into the forest. Off-camber is the name of the game here, as the hillside track inclines steeply down to our left. The recent reign of rain has transformed the pine-needle-carpeted forest floor into a death-slide of treacherous mulch (or at least that’s how it seems to me, as a relative beginner), but it’s certainly a lot of fun throwing ourselves down it, zipping over a web of tree roots as we go. Deaks shows us how it’s done when he halts proceedings to session a small rise in the trail, and the shapes he manages to pull would make anyone believe that it was a much larger one.
Think with your stomach
The red loop takes us further down the forested hillside until we pass the site of an old quarry. Here, the trail crew have been hard at work, tweaking things to add flow and make the trail more resistant to bad weather. Drainage channels criss-cross the track and the odd
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pipeline here and there serves as a launchpad for Ben and Jimmer. The ‘Ridge Ride Extreme’ optional black loop is sadly closed today due to recent storms, so instead we continue on the red route, down a wide, berm-heavy section to the bottom of the hill, which caps off our morning nicely, as our stomachs begin to growl orders for us to return to the cafe for lunch. Unfortunately, of course, there’s a fireroad climb and some flattish singletrack to conquer first. At least we have the thought of a hearty meal to spur us on – and spur us on it definitely does, because we’re catching our breath by the glow of the cafe’s wood-burning stove before we know it.
With an extremely generous spread of burger, chips and salad polished off, we’ve barely got any room left for the paving-slab-sized homemade flapjacks. Somehow though, we manage it, and we’re out of the door with enough time left to head back out and investigate that unofficial off-piste stuff we were tipped-off about. Ten minutes later, we’re far from the madding crowds, deep in the pine forest on the other side of the trail network. To say that this area is a gnarly, technical, root-infested playground that pushes me to the limits of my skill would be an understatement. But sadly, I can’t say any more than that, because we’re sworn to secrecy! Suffice it to say, we continue to explore these uncharted trails until the sky darkens and the hailstones begin to hammer on our helmets. Luckily, we’ve got Deaks and his Insta-stories to keep our spirits up.