welcome to the home of mountain biking and real ale drinking in the Clara Vale area

The Riding

We ride every Tuesday evening even when it’s brass monkey cold and the trails resemble Passchendale trenches. We meet at Clara Vale village around the Village Hall at 6pm. We keep a good brisk pace up and aim to ride for around 2-3 hours by which time we’re gagging for a brew.

The aim is to minimise the tarmac riding. Our rides largely encompass the technical woodland local trails such as Prudhoe Woods, Stocksfield Woods, Chopwell Woods, etc. These offer a huge variety of riding including steep climbs, swoopy singletrack and the technical sections. Although many of us hate tarmac, we do include a few miles of it to link the off-road sections together or to finish the ride with a sprint.

The pace is quite hard and, being based in the Tyne Valley, you always have to include a significant amount of heavy climbing to get onto the ridges. We try to maximise the off-road stuff. Kevin, the Route-Meister has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the trails around here and does his best, bless him, to provide a bit of variety. In the warmer months we might meet up elsewhere such as Waskerley or Hexhamshire as a special treat.

Further Afield

Being based in the Tyne Valley is fantastic as we are surrounded by superb XC locations within 1-2 hours drive. At the weekends we will try and get away to favourite haunts such as the 7 Stanes, The Cheviots, Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorks Moors and Hexhamshire Common.

Some of the lads are not averse to participating in XC race events in the Summer although some members would rather have their nether regions stapled to the saddle than participate in such hated stuff.

What sort of bike?

Bike-wise, a good, light, trail bike is recommended. You don’t need a full-susser - a hardtail will do fine. A decent 4” travel bike would be the ideal tool of choice for the riding we do. Most of us have expendable Winter bikes which helps keep our Summer bikes looking nice and bling.

What sort of kit?

Just the usual MTB stuff that you’d expect to see. Helmets are a must. In the Winter you will need a decent set of lights and some very warm clothing. Mud-specific tyres in the Winter are always a good idea for the trails we ride.