The Forest of Dean is England’s oldest oak forest but I have to admit I had mostly read about it in mountain bike magazines as it has a large network of mountain bike tracks and so we thought we would hope for some dry weather and jump on our bikes for a couple of days.
As always we weren’t really sure what to expect and so booked a campsite which seemed fairly close to the action and drove on out there. On arrival at the campsite we were greeted by a lovely woman who was so nice and welcoming it was infectious and we were both very happy to have chosen this campsite. In fact it’s funny how someone’s attitude can help with an experience for we would both say that it was a fantastic campsite but in fact we couldn’t get our van level even with chocks and the 10 site park only had 2 toilets and 1 shower (that you had to feed 20p coins into to get hot water). Still we loved it.
The other way in which she helped massively was in the recommendation of things to do. She noticed our mountain bikes and asked what our plans were and she suggested that rather than heading off to the main cycle centre where the tracks were either too easy (wide flat paths just like a road) or too hard (think jumps and big drops off of rocks) we headed just outside the campsite to an area where her husband had built some lovely flowing tracks through the forest. Well we thought we would have a look.
We had wanted to go for a walk in the forest so set straight off after arrival to try and follow the directions we had been given to try and find the tracks. We soon found ourselves deep in the forest and started hunting around looking for evidence of bike tracks. After an hour or so of wandering about and then bumping into a couple of guys on their bikes we felt confident about heading out the next day to have a go.
Just as we got back to camp the rain started and we bunkered down in our huge rain proof gazebo and enjoyed some dinner while trying to stay dry and warm. It was definitely a reminder as to how different camping in autumn in England was going to be!
Having rained all night we were treated to beautiful blue clear skies the next day and so decided to go for a hike before we jumped on the bikes to let everything dry out a little.
The walk which had been recommended was straight out of the campsite again and wound itself through woodland farmland and the local villages. The woods were spectacular and almost magical. This coupled with the changing of the colours from green to reds and browns meant for a pretty special experience. It was fun too wandering through the fields dodging sheep and gazing out over the countryside. The only part which didn’t really impress was the village as it was not one of those old beautiful villages we have been treated to but a more industrial 1970s look. Still I bet the locals who live there don’t care as they get to enjoy living in a pretty beautiful part of the world.
Both feeling a little knackered after the walk we had a short rest and some food before heading off to have a go at these bike tracks. Now in Australia we don’t usually ride in wet conditions but we were told by our affable host that the best mountain bike days here involved returning home covered head to toe in mud!!! So we donned our wet weather gear and set off.
The tracks through the forest were wonderful and just the sort that we enjoy back in Australia. They wound around the trees allowing flowing turns and each time we did a track we could feel ourselves going a bit faster. I have no idea how the tracks were so dry but they were and I could only describe the conditions for riding as ideal and we thoroughly exhausted ourselves riding around all afternoon.
Definitely so glad we decided to stop off and enjoy the Forest of Dean and will definitely pencil in a return when we can stay for a little longer and explore a few more tracks. T