Our rides and where to check out

In Leeds we are blessed with the best of both worlds; go one way and you have the city and all the benefits of urbanized living, with shops, university, restaurants etc, and head just a few miles the other direction towards Otley and one has mile after mile of tranquil countryside. As a cycling club, this suits us down to the ground.

As a club which specializes in both Mountain Biking and Road riding, we have fantastic and varied routes for both disciplines. Here I will explain some of the best spots to head to.

MTB


Meanwood
This is where many of our MTB rides head, beginning just one mile from Headingley. Meanwood is a mixture of fast but technical single track, steep climbs and fire road. It is great to have a blast round, improve your handling skills and discover some hidden sections. At the far side of the wood is a place we call "Adel jumps". This is constantly being built and improved and has a wicked section of jumps and berms.

Stainburn
Located about 11-12 miles out of Leeds on the far side of Poole, is the hill-top Stainburn Forest, dubbed by many as the most technical MTB trails in the country. Although small, there are a number of trails here to improve and test your technical skills, with steep climbs and descents, North Shore and more. It is a fairly flat ride out from Leeds, with a monster hill climb to reach the forest. Recommended.

Road


Almost all of our road rides head from Leeds towards Otley and Ilkley. The best roads generally to reach Otley run to the right hand side of Leeds road and pass alongside the picturesque setting of the Harewood estate.

From here, one reaches the Poole road which passes through Arthington. A great ride which features some rolling hills takes you up to Armscliffe Crag and round to Poole.

Another option is to head through Poole, and towards Leathley, over Norwood Edge climb and out into the Yorkshire Dales, towards Summerbridge and Pateley Bridge. This again is a long rolling road that gives access to some great climbs such as Greenhow Hill.

To extend the above ride, we like to head further to a place called Grassington which is a very pleasant village for a coffee stop. The roads are quiet and rolling, with some awesome views, climbs and descents.

A final favourite of ours leads us beyond Ilkley and towards the roads in the Bolton Abbey area. This is a slightly less hilly means of heading to Grassington, taking in fantastic settings of Bardon on Scale and Burnsall. Before reaching Grassington, it is possible to take the road all the way to Skipton, which is another place worth a visit if you have the legs to get there.

We'll hopefully be showing you many of these places and more on our future rides. Feel free to take these places as milestones and create your own routes to ride. There are some great roads to play with!