Swinley Mountain Biking by Train

on 15 January 2008.

Went for a ride at Swinley Forest ( http://www.gorrick.com/swinley/ ) and decided to try getting there by train.

So woke up at 08:30 got dressed in my riding gear packed my bag with the necessary flapjacks and bananas along with any spare tools, innertubes etc I might need for a typical days riding. Left the flat (in Blackheath area) and rode to Lewisham to meet my mate Mark on the 09:27 from Lewisham into Waterloo East. After a mad dash because I was riding to Lewisham thinking I had bags of time then looking at the watch only to realise I actually had 5 minutes to get there, I made it to the front carriage where we had arranged to meet. Walked from Waterloo East to Waterloo main station. All we needed now was for the third member of our party Rai to turn up, Mark was getting nervous as we didn't have long to go till the train was due to leave. Just at the last minute Rai turns up.

Bought our tickets, then went to get the train to Martin's Heron. Strolled down towards the front of the train looking for an empty area for the 3 bikes but got bored, hopped onboard and hoped it wouldn't get busy. Mark went the loo and found a nice big area to store the bikes. Definitely worth walking till you find the disabled loo area as there's bags of room for up-to 4 bikes I would say.

Takes about an hour from Waterloo to Martin's heron and that includes the 10 minutes sat at Twickenham where the trains sets off in the same direction you came from. Don't do what I did if you have a gps and watch your progress only to realise that the track your on is going to go the wrong way. The 10 minute wait is so your driver can change ends of the train I guess. On arriving at Martin's Heron leave the train and there is a footpath from the platform to the road to The Discovery Centre. Definitely worth consulting a map if you have one to ensure you have the right direction. It takes about 10 minutes tops to ride to the centre.

Once at the centre make sure you pay your £1.50 for the cycle permit for the day. Now I could try and tell you about what areas of the forest we went to, however this would be useless as I don't have a clue but there are maps that you can buy from the centre or downloadable from the site above. What I will say is just get out there and explore, it won't be long before you see some other bikers riding around. Either follow them for a while or get chatting with them, most people are a friendly bunch ( we all share the same passion after all). When we were there it was a little muddy which shaved a bit of speed off, nothing to do with the fact I haven't been out on the bike for getting on two months lol. Oh ok it might be a combination of the two factors!

Now that's my attempt to tell you all how easy it is to get to a great centre from central London without your own transport, so come on get out on the train and get riding!

Phil

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