Living in Northamptonshire it is always a joy to find somewhere decent to ride off road that is not a major trek. We have Woburn, Cannock and the Chilterns, but it was not until recently I had thought about the Malvern Hills.
Once again it was Singletrack Forum that provided the route - a kind local posted a tracklog file. After our day off to ride the new Cannock loop some weeks ago we had been pondering another break from routine. It was not until the last minute that we opted for Malvern and despite a late start we were parked and ready to roll by the middle of the day.
The Malvern Hills are just south of Worcester and are a high, thin ridge standing in what is otherwise a flat landscape. Our start point was Great Malvern and one the attractions of this area is that you are never far from a pub or Café :-) The area is riddled with paths and bridleways and even on this weekday there were plenty of people out walking.
Initially my GPS let us down and "dangerous" was very patient while I tried to find the initial upwards climb - in the end I gave up and turned to the map for guidance. It was not too long before we were enjoying the first of many stunning views before heading off down some very sweet natural singletrack. Navigation was tricky at times, particularly with such a narrow area and so many choices, but I think we stuck fairly close to the downloaded route. Conditions were very dry and hot, so the surface was lose in places. Some of the climbs were severe and the odd bit of walking was needed.
Despite the temptation we had resisted stopping to refuel until Wynds Point - where there is a choice of pub or café. It is possible to pick up the return route here, but we carried on exploring South along Millennium Hill. The character changed at the Southern extreme with more woodland and the first 'wetness' we had found - there was also a stunning pool in the hillside used by locals for swimming. Must admit I thought we had done the route the wrong way round at this stage because the return leg was a very steep slog on foot that would have been 'fun' the other way round - but when I checked later we were on track.
Our legs were getting quite tired by now, so it was a relief to see that much of the return leg appeared to be at a lower level - this included a brilliant switchback descent where I found the use of rear brake was needed.
With the end not far away the GPS pointed us to a narrow hillside climb, the temptation was to give this a miss as the map showed an easy bridleway route back to the car park. We foolishly went for the climb and soon regretted the choice as it became a steep 'mountain goat' switchback track then an even narrower adverse camber singletrack climb where I decided to examine the hillside undergrowth more closely :-( . Needless to say it was great to get back to the car and reflect on what had been an epic ride on some fabulous trails. Certainly need to go back and explore some more...
As a last minute decision my choice of bike was the Duster - it was the best choice for the climbs without doubt, but worked well overall with no loss of comfort.
This was supposed to be the antidote to the lack of riding in the wet summer, a date had to be picked out and I was being optimistic and hoping for a drier autumn. It did not happen, for once the forecast was spot-on – Periods of heavy rain, wind and low cloud.
Full marks to our small posse who turned up and did the ride regardless without complaint.
The advice is to allow 6 hours for the ride, which seems a lot for 23 miles, but when you see the terrain it starts to make sense.
We set off from the Castle Inn at Pengenfford and soon met our first tough climb and were off pushing up lose rocks. After skirting the base of the hills now towering above us we made a choice to push up y Grib rather than the steep rocky climb a little further round at y Das, thinking it might be easier in the wet. It was still a tough walk with the wind and rain cutting hard by the time we reached the top. Promised views were only briefly glimpsed through the wind blown cloud – we had already climbed 1000ft.
We were grateful to be cranking again across a moorland track and soon picked up the ‘proper’ route again and the long steady descent to Grwyne Fawr reservoir – this was welcome, but not easy in places with much lose rock and slippy ruts – it tested us all, but was great fun. This eventually brought us out in valley bottom with another ‘big hill’ looming over us – I think hearts may have been sinking a bit at this point, but up we went on forest fire roads thankfully zigzagging. The GPS then pointed us up a track to the right and once again we were off and pushing until we reached a remote and narrow hillside singetrack. Another short push brought to the top of Crug Mawr and the start of a brilliant downhill, well it would have been if it had not been for the conditions and all took it very easy this time :-(
The optional lunch stop at Llanbedr was not taken, the preference was to keep going this time. It was quite relief to be back on predictable tarmac for a while as we started the gradual ascent – the tracklog show this to last for 6½ miles in all. On a clear day it would have been a bearable with some great scenery, on this day it was a real slog at times. We passed a group carrying an injured dog back to civilization who wished us the best of luck as we headed ever upwards.
The wet and grime had taken its toll on Dozers chain by this point and all the lube had gone, luckily Farqui had packed some Purple Extreme and a quick squirt restored the gears sufficiently to get to the top.
Needless to say we were all weary by the time we got to the top and the prospect of a fast downhill blast was not that appealing, so we picked our way carefully down what would be challenging on a dry day and sensibly chose to dismount in places not wanting any last minute injuries. As the descent levelled out it did not get any easier with unrelenting lose rock to negotiate rattling our teeth all the way to the bottom!
What a relief to get back to the Castle Inn change into dry clothes and get into the warm bar for a much needed pint. Sadly the hot food we had also hoped for was not available.
What can I say? Well I am not sure about the others, but I am glad I did the ride and had a real sense of achievement getting round unscathed. It is a real ‘Killer’ loop as had been promised through some stunning, wild countryside. Sadly we did not get the views promised. On balance, one to do in better weather, but picking the right time would be more luck than judgement this year.
Posse: Dozer- Canyon; Farqui – 5-Spot; Pete – Cannondale Scalpel; Uphilla – 5-Spot
Mechanicals Dozer, chain suck?
Weather: Almost as bad as it gets.
Living in Northamptonshire it is always a joy to find somewhere decent to ride off road that is not a major trek. We have Woburn, Cannock and the Chilterns, but it was not until recently I had thought about the Malvern Hills. 
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