Mountain Biking In The City

This is an event for those who’ve never ridden and those who’re good.  Guaranteed pleasure. We'll spend the first part of the morning on the purpose built skills zone at Phillips Park before lunch then we'll be moving onto the mountain bike trails on the adjacent Clayton Vale.

The area
The Clayton Vale mountain bike trails are a fantastic 12Km of urban MTB fun, with something for everyone. The colour coded trails are graded easy, moderate, difficult and extreme and the grades are designed to challenge the beginner through to the more experienced MTB rider. So have a look at the trail descriptions and see which ones are for you.

Phillips Park Skills Zone
Phillips Park, adjacent to British Cycling's Velodrome, has a purpose built MTB skills zone which is ideal for learning to ride a Mountain bike or for honing skills/practicing new ones before heading out on the trails.  The skills zone is right on the edge of Clayton Vale and you're off the zone and onto the trails in a couple of minutes.

The Trails
Clayton Vale Easy Rider     Route Colour: Pale blue     Graded: Easy
This is the easiest trail which links up with other grades on route to make a multitude of trail options. The ‘Easy Rider’ sweeps along the river Medlock through the centre of Clayton Vale Nature Reserve on a wide, flat path before climbing onto a narrower route with gentle, rollable, rideable MTB features.  This is an ideal route suitable for beginner riders and is designed to take many different types of bike.

Newton Heath Sidewinder     Route Colour: Dark blue     Graded: Moderate
The ‘Sidewinder’ is full of rollable, twisty, bermy fun! There are whoops, berms, cheeky adverse cambers interspersed with short, sharp climbs and descents. If you have no idea what any of these features are then ride it gently through first time around and then have more fun when you ride it again, you will just want to keep riding the ‘sidewinder’ as it’s just so much fun! The ‘sidewinder’ is packed full of features designed to keep a grin on your face, just make sure you keep hold of your bars as you wind your way from one section to another!

Urban Red Rock-it!     Route Colour: Red     Graded: Difficult
As the trail name suggests, the ‘Urban Red Rock-it’ is full of rock features and sections that will catch you out if have not got the right mix of MTB skills. The ‘Urban Red Rock-it’ is for the more experienced MTB rider, as it is packed full of more technically demanding features, with drop-offs  into  berms, steeper more demanding climbs, rock slabs and gnarly rock gardens, which are great fun if you have the skills to handle them and a white knuckle ride with real potential for buckaroo style off if you haven’t.  If you have the skills then give the ‘Urban Red Rock-it’ a blast.

Scorpion's Tail     Route Colour: Black      Graded: Extreme/Expert
For the expert, technically proficient riders there is a small section of black trail that will test your riding expertise and your nerve! You will need to be an expert rider and have a good quality mountain bike to tackle black sections of trail, there are small steps into this section, followed by rocky sections dropping into berms, tight, twisty and challenging, definitely not for the feint hearted and this section has a real sting in the tail should you get it wrong.  Full face helmet and body armour are highly recommended.