ASHTON COURT, BRISTOL
We swing by our local riding spot for a reminder that you don’t always have to get in the car to ind great trails
Anyone who’s lived in Bristol will know how the city sucks you in. Its vibrant, buzzing diversity, once experienced, is hard to leave. OK, so we might be a little biased, being based here ourselves, but given that we can’t all live in the mountains, MBUK’s hometown isn’t a bad alternative. South Wales, the Forest of Dean and the Mendips are all less than an hour’s drive away, or venture a little further and the choice of trail centres, bike parks and natural trails grows even bigger. But with such a diverse range of spots on the menu, it can be easy to overlook what’s right in front of us.
Literally on the doorstep of the city, across the iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge, is Ashton Court Estate, a place that’s been ridden on fat tyres since fat tyres existed. In 2002 it became home to one of the UK’s first urban trail centres, with a 6.5km loop called the Nova Trail that attracts a whole spectrum of riders. We’re always amazed by the number of people you see riding here, in any weather and on any day of the week. But this popularity takes its toll on the trail surface. Sporadic maintenance has kept things running, but earlier this year the beaten-up old Nova received a welcome makeover, overseen by the guys from Pedal Progression bike shop and carried out by willing volunteers from the Bristol biking scene. During the build we managed to sneak out of the office to swing some spades for a few hours, and even before it was finished it was looking prime. Now that the dust has settled and
Alright, me babber?
It’s a rare treat to be able to ride from the door to a photoshoot, rather than load a van and sit in traffic, so we relish the short pedal across the city, even if it is all uphill. We’re headed for Pedal Progression HQ, slap bang in the middle of Ashton Court. It may not be a glitzy showroom filled with carbon bling, but this place is arguably the hub of the Bristol scene. Directors Sam Fowler and Matt Legg-Bagg are the kind of guys every MTB community needs – proactive, full of infectious enthusiasm and always encouraging people to get together to make things happen. Besides running the shop and coaching, they’ve coordinated the digging here and at other local spots, and even find time on the odd summer evening to put on a bit of mates’ race dual action. Needless to say, they’re stoked to be showing us around their freshly-groomed handiwork today, so it’s helmets on and straight into the woods.
In less than 10 seconds we’ve got grins plastered across our faces as we chase Sam, Matt and their
GRAVE LAND THE‘ RIP PING VELCRO’ SOUND AS WE BOUNCE LEFT AND RIGHT BETWEEN THE BERMS
mate Ollie, who also works at the shop, into a fast, snaking run of corners. Popping off crests, we relish the zip of tyres on hardpacked gravel and the ‘ripping Velcro’ sound as we bounce left and right between the berms. The technicality isn’t extreme, but emulating the pace of these guys who know every inch of every turn, while squinting through the dappled sunlight flickering through the trees, is plenty enough to hold our attention.
Local trail-building firm Architrail were originally responsible for fashioning the flow here and they’ve been involved in the rebuild too – squeezing in days between the big-budget tarmac pump tracks they’re working on with Claudio Calouri, under the alias Velosolutions UK. Sam’s had a fair bit of design input too, but he laughs that his imagination often runs wild and he has to rein his ideas back in and remember that it’s a blue-grade trail they’re designing, not a bike park. Given that Ashton Court has to appeal to such a broad spectrum of abilities, we reckon they’ve done a stellar job, especially considering the lack of gradient. Before, when the trail was becoming worn out, it was sometimes a difficult job trying to keep momentum over the flat, rubbly surface, with heart thumping and legs burning. But it’s impossible to complain about the newly reshaped features and fresh carpet of smooth surfacing we’re faced with today.
Gurt lush
One of the Nova’s highlights is the Quarry Trail, which takes its name from the quarry that it ducks and weaves along the edge of. Again, it’s filled with interlinking turns, small drops and rollers, some of which can definitely be doubled up if you’re equally quick-thinking and rapid-riding. Tucked in behind the guys in train formation, we marvel at the pace they carry around a tight left-hander, dipping shoulders in synchronised unison around a tree at precisely the right moment. We follow suit, almost feeling the brush of bark on our shoulders as we contort our bodies and will our hands away from the anchors. It feels flat out, which is
a wonder, given that we’re barely going downhill. Thanks to the smooth, fast-rolling surface no pedal strokes are required, just a few well-timed pumps. After Ashton Court’s only real climb – on rocky doubletrack through open parkland – we’re catapulted into another series of berms, arcing their way through a lush green meadow. With the sun shining down we can’t resist a couple of runs before heading back into the woods, where Sam demonstrates his ability to get the bike sideways off the most innocuous-looking tiny rollers.
He puts on a similar performance when we cross the road into Leigh Woods and takes us up through the line of jumps that he’s built for coaching. Although they’re only small tabletops, they’re perfect for getting people comfortable with having their wheels off the ground – the hang-up in many a rider’s repertoire. Leigh Woods is home to another trail loop, similar in style to the Nova, called Yer Tiz (translated from West Country dialect as “here it is”). It’s a pretty rough, flat, lung-busting affair though. Sam says he’d love to get it up to the standard of Ashton Court, but with one trail, plus a young family to look after, he’s got enough on his plate. He mentions that Pedal Progression are hoping to finish off the Nova Trail facelift later this year, and once that’s done we reckon this loop will be about as good as you can get in the space of 6.5km and a mere 40m of vertical.
We’ve had a blast today and have ripped round so fast that the sun’s still high in the sky. While we could drop into town and head for the office, the lure of blue skies and dry trails is too hard to resist. Just one more lap… or maybe two? Work can wait.
SAM DEMONSTRATES HIS ABILITY TO GET THE BIKE SIDE WAYS OFF THE MOST INNOCUOUS LOOKING TINY ROLLERS