WRECKING CREW

The Shropshire Hills boast tough climbs and rocky descents, making for challenging and rewarding natural riding in a beautiful setting

We head to the Long Mynd in the Shropshire Hills and find social side-by-side riding, rapid singletrack and tyre-ruining rocks

Looking out across the stunning frozen landscape and basking in the sunlight that shines in on us through the van window, we share a flask of hot tea and know for sure that it was a good idea to come here to Shropshire. Finding the courage to put down our brews and step outside to prepare for the ride is another matter though. Guiding us today and giving us the ‘best of’ tour of the Long Mynd is the owner of The Trailhead bike shop in Shrewsbury, and one of the nicest men in UK mountain biking, Sandy Plenty. He’s brought along local pinner Josh Bennett and Marv Davies, one of Shropshire’s main trail builders. Sarah and I introduce ourselves to the guys, and while the welcomes are warm, the air is bitterly cold. The ground is frozen solid beneath our wheels, with a dusting of snow visible on the higher peaks.

The Long Mynd forms part of the Shropshire Hills AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and is an open moorland, most of which is managed by the National Trust. There’s a mix of shared bridleways and singletrack paths, all of which are natural – no diggers have been here sculpting lines out – which adds to the area’s charm. That’s not to say that we don’t enjoy manmade tracks too, but there’s something about riding natural trails that puts them in a

Natural flair

Once we’re out and riding we warm up pretty quickly, but we have to be on our guard from the off because the frozen grass is more than a touch slippery. One of the great things about this place is that there’s lots of open space on top of the hills, so you can ride side-by-side and chat – and talk up your riding game – before dropping into the next trail. The excitement must have got to us already, because when Sandy shouts, “The trail starts just past the sign!” our saddles drop and there’s a mad dash to reach the trailhead first.

We drop into the Batch Valley, one of the many steep-sided gullies around here. It’s a short-butsweet flowing trail, with plenty of rocks to keep us on our toes. Josh pops off them with youthful exuberance, while we try to stay smooth. This part of the trail is narrow so we play follow-the-

THER'S A MIX OF SHARED BRIDLE WAYS AND SINGLE TRACK PATHS, ALL OF WHICH ARE NATURAL NO DIGGERS HAVE BEEN HERE SCULPTING LINES OUT

Being able to ride side-by-side with your mates is a definite advantage of the Long Mynd

league of their own and is always guaranteed to slap a big, wide smile across our faces. Some of the routes are waymarked too, which is handy if you don’t have a local to show you the best bits.