After a winter spent dreaming of dusty trails, Trail Unknown started the 2018 summer season off with a guided weekend linking some of the best natural trails the UK has to offer in the hilly heaven of Devon that is Exmoor National Park.

​The idea of Trail Unknown is to find an amazingly beautiful area in the UK such as a national park or area of outstanding natural beauty, where we know there is a mysterious maze of magnificent single track. We put on a professional local guide who knows how to link the most talked about and least talked about tracks in the area. We get a load of awesome riders to join us who are supposedly customers but feel like mates, provide lunch from local produce and enjoy a full weekend of the best riding ever with not a worry in sight. ​ We even throw in a cheeky uplift from a local farmer sometimes. For 50 squidders a day, you can't go wrong.

It all began on Friday morning, meeting in the quaint English town of Porlock. Now if you've never been there, you must think of mega old pubs, colourful tea houses, little cottages, sea views, friendly old people who make delicious cheese and cider, deer, the second highest point in the south of England, soo many trails, and dreamy combes. A combe 'is a short valley or hollow on a hillside or coastline, especially in Southern England.' Exmoor is full of magical combes that twist and turn with the hill, where the ancient woodland is epic and the ground is just like the best ground ever to ride, so loose and yet with so much grip. Oh baby, it's all about the combes.. 

The riding in Exmoor is such a treat and blessed by over 500 meters of altitude at the legendary Dunkery Becon. From there you have a huge selection of sweeping trails from the open moorland that take you all the way down to sea level, through many a combe and sometimes with a few cheeky stream crossings that are always a fun challenge.

After a morning enjoying the hills, what more could you want than to turn up to a serene spot with lunch laid out ready for you? Because that's the kind of service you get with Trail Unknown. Cake and all.

We've got plenty more weekend trips coming up in 2018 to Exmoor, Dartmoor, the Peak District, Quantock Hills, with more dates and places always being added as requested. Our next trips are:

Peak District 28 - 29 July
Quantock Hills 5 - 6 August 

Being easily influenced is not a great trait for protecting your family’s honour. Sadly, at the South West Outdoor Festival 2017, I was that man. There we were, fresh from having thrown majestic shapes to the 7 piece ska band Crinkle Cuts, we decided to settle round the fire.

The idea was brief but powerful. The Cheddar Gorge trail marathon was the next morning and hey, a marathon can’t be that difficult, right? Fresh from a round of beers and with the taste of curry on my breath, I reasoned that:

A. A marathon couldn’t be that hard
B. I was promised an onion bhaji if I finished
C. I was easily influenced and in need of an adventure

The inevitable happened and I woke up confused with Marathons on my mind. I found an undefended can of beans and set off in search of running shoes. 1x pair of shoes that were two sizes too small later, I found the organiser man who gave me a free entry because there would be no way I would finish..thanks again Relish The Great Outdoors. I settled in for my pre race poop having just signed up to race. To my horror, the gun went off and I burst out of the portaloo pulling up my trousers to get stuck in.

Except I didn’t.

I ran the wrong way.

The crowd were on hand to laugh at me and point me in the right direction. I died a little inside. But I was still excited, ambitious and full of the desire to get this over and done with.

And so I ran.

And it hurt.

A lot.

And this was only 15 minutes in. 

6 hours later I was a changed man. But heading across the finish line. Broken, full of self loathing, and boasting the only case of a 23 year old with rapid onset arthritis and joint failure.

Like an angel from the mist, my bhaji man emerged (everyone else had left). Soggy and dissappointing to most, it was the greatest thing that had ever and will happen to my mouth. I ate. I cried. I regretted. 

I would do it all over again, a thousand times over.
​

That’s all for now folks. Keep supporting your local live music venue and bands! Make sure you know what guided mountain bike trips we’re running this year and enjoy riding your bikes to your new music.
Love, Tom 

For this installment of our 'Through the eyes of local' blog series, we asked local rider Jacob Martin what he loves about riding the Pembrokeshire National Park and why it is definitely worth a visit with your bike.

​From all across the county on any day the cloud has lifted high enough you can see a long set of unique hills. The highest point stands at 536m above sea level and one of the rocky outcrops about half way along was found to be the origin for some of the stone used to build Stonehenge. 
​
The Preseli Hills, or Mynyddoedd y Preseli as they are known in Welsh, are the home to some amazing cross country mountain biking which ranges from fast flowing natural singletrack to technical rocky climbs. This riding is on the bridleways and forest tracks that lace the hills and nearby Gwaun Valley. For those of us lucky enough to live nearby there are some great rides to do for an evening but there are also plenty of longer rides that can fill your day. The ridge ride is a nice ride that takes you from one end of the Preselis all the way to the other with views all the way to Snowdonia and even Ireland on the clearest days!

As a local, where would you recommend a visiting rider to go for an awesome day's ride?​
If you want to ride the Preseli ridge it is best to start in the small village of Rosebush taking the bridleway past the old quarry, through Pantmaenog forest and out onto the hills. You can then follow another bridleway obviously marked on an OS map (OL35) east along the full length of the hills towards Crymych. Alternatively for a shorter ride you can turn off at the halfway point.

There will be amazing views North across Cardigan bay and up to Snowdonia and one of the spectacular rocky outcrops you pass by is where the stone for Stonehenge came from as I mentioned earlier. You can then take the small and quiet country lanes back to the start where you can have some food in the small village pub called Tafarn Sinc. This ride is a total of about 15 miles and is great for any rider with mid level fitness and experience.

A huge thank you to Jacob Martin for this awesome article. If you'd be interested in a local guided ride, to join one of our upcoming guided weekend adventures or to write an article about your local riding spot, get in touch with Hugo or Tom here.

All that's good about this spectacular mountain! 

At the start of summer we headed over to Snowdon. So iconic it's got a national park named after it. Here's all that's epic about this monster and why it should be at the top of many mountain bikers must ride list!

The Rangers Track is up there with the most varied descent in the UK. The top starts with a series of huge stone steps, cross the train tracks and you're into warp speed, dodging rocks and flying down shaily shoots. Then your into the fast open grassland where you can weave and pop through the natural rollers of the mountain top. With no time to recover and just about time to slow down you fly into a steep rocky descent where speed is your friend...but the wrong line choice could see a nasty end to your days ride. After a few tight and technical switchbacks the mountain mellows out. You've thamed Snowdon and you're rewarded with some beautiful flowing singletrack with steep banks that you can hop and rip round. The Rangers Track is truly awesome. You can also ride Rhyd Ddu which is very gnarly and quite dangerous. The Telegraph valley that veers off Rangers is another great descent that's fast and flat out.  Finally Ilandberis Path which is the easiest way up, however its wide and quite strait so unless you just want to brake your speed PB I'd stick with the other tracks for the descent. Each are different and super fun. 

The climb of Snowdon is hard enough without a bike. Throw in some gale force winds and a bit of sideways rain and you're in for a real mission. To me this just adds to the adventure, some parts you're going to need to hike a bike, especially if you go up Rangers Path. Be prepared, capable map reading, plenty of warm clothes, first aid and snacks. People are caught out on Snowdon each year and you don't want to be amongst those! On a good day you can go up in about 2-3hrs and down in about 30 minutes. But my advice would leave plenty of time though as the weather can change quickly. Plus you'll want time to absorb those beautiful views at the top! 

I've been up Snowdon when you can hardly see  your feet let alone the views. It's a luck of the draw.. when the weather is bad you'll have less traffic on the trails..but you might get frozen to death. Luckily these pictures were taken on the worlds most perfect of days, thank you once again riding gods. You can see Ireland, Scotland, 24 counties of England, 29 lakes, 17 islands and the Isle of Man.................. Not bad eyy!  

It's rare in the UK to feel like your in the middle of no where. With mountains surrounding you.. unless you head over to Scotland. You sure feel humbled by Snowdon. At 1085m she's a beast! Going up Snowdon will get your adventure buds tingling and be sure to make you want to head out and ride some natural epics rather than a day at the bike park. 

This is mountain biking in its rawest form. You'll meet some interesting people at the top of Snowdon, the varying terrain, the beautiful views and some seriously fun trails. Legend has it the giant Rhitta Gawr once ruled the land but killed by King Arthur he now lies under Snowdon. This place is truly special and the fact you can only ride it at certain time periods of the year makes it extra special each time you go! ​I can guaranty plenty of high fives and near miss stories to share over a well earned pint at the Cwellyn Arms.

Thanks to Veloccino, Will Priest and Will King for the pictures

United by a love for nature and inspired by the spirit of adventure, we collaborated with  Carly Slade Yoga to put on a bike and yoga retreat in Exmoor National Park with the purpose of creating an adventure of both the physical world and the mind. The weekend was filled with outdoor yoga, guided meditations, ​mountain bike coaching, cycle rides through ancient oak forests, camp fires, nature immersed glamping, vegan food prepared for the guests all weekend long, dark sky walks, wild swimming and happy people. 

Our adventurers arrived on Friday evening to get to know each other with the friendly assistance of vegan burritos and a camp fire. We filled one of the bell tents with colourful rugs and pillows to act as a socialising area and for candle lit dining. There was also homemade vegan flapjack, cheeky.

Saturday morning began at sunrise with Carly leading an outdoor yoga class, which I was ready for with my unicorn rainbow godzilla leggings. As the whole weekend was themed around releasing our mind and bodies from the chains of regulated society and freeing our inner wild animals, during our yoga class Carly asked us to pretend to be wild mustangs and dance as we wish which brought a lot of joy to the circle. Another highlight of the class was when Carly asked us to sit, eyes closed and picture what we would look like with no restraints from society, personally I was picturing Tarzan looking back at me. By the end of the class both my body and my mind were full of warm energy and I was ready for breakfast and to get out on the bikes.

We started with a coaching session around the camp site teaching essential bike skills to make sure everyone was feeling confident enough to have fun while feeling safe on the bike, playing games that encouraged bike balance and safe braking. We set off across the moors and enjoyed views down to the sea and across to Wales. We then took one of my favourite tracks called Granny's Ride descending down to Horner through ancient woodlands. One of the best things about the natural tracks in Exmoor are that they can be enjoyed by beginners and experts alike. Half way down Carly taught us about the health benefits of forest bathing so we stopped off in a bed of ferns and bathed in a perfect patch of glorious sunshine, and climbed a tree!

After an impressively colourful lunch spread from Hugo, everyone set off down to explore some of the hidden wild swimming spots around Exmoor.  I say hidden but it was about 2km up the river from Horner towards pool bridge, go and find it! You can slide down the smooth rock into the water but I warn you, she ain't heated! 

​So we warmed up with a very safe LED version of fire skipping while we waited for our candle lit dinner - a sweet potato, cashew, spinach and cocunut curry, complete with naan breads off the fire! It was such a nice vibe all weekend, everybody was so relaxed and open with each other that it felt like we'd all been friends for years, I almost forgot these were 'guests' and this was meant to be 'working'.

That evening Carly had a special treat planned for us called Yoga Nidra, which was my highlight of the weekend. Yoga Nidra is a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping and is among the deepest possible states of relaxation while still maintaining full consciousness. Carly also made a chocolatey raw cacao drink, a recipe used by ancient native American cultures such as the Maya in ceremonies which made me feel pretty relaxed. We lay in a circle, eyes closed around our candle lit bell tent with the smell of sage filling the air. While in this state of consciousness, Carly asked us very personal and meaningful questions and we were to write the answers into our journals. I was transformed to an instinctive mindset where I felt I could answer questions with no double thought needed. I identified what made me happy and what was holding me back from being the person I wanted to be and through all my different answers to this question, the answer was always that I was holding myself back. The session was completed with a fire ceremony where we chanted mantras and burnt the paper we'd written our personal obstacles on. It felt very liberating and from the emotional energy in the group I could see everybody had been really moved by the evenings experience. Thank you Carly. The evening finished with a dark sky walk to star gaze.

The next morning kicked off with an early start and some early morning yoga. Thankfully Carly had anticipated all the right muscles that would need stretching out after our first days ride, such as the hip flexors and lower backs. After breakfast Hugo led the morning's coaching session, this time focusing on cornering and body positions. 

Hugo led a ride that flowed down along the river to the beautiful Horner and then out to the sea front where the group would end up at Porlock Weir where I had prepared lunch for them. They also got these fantastic pictures with TRAIL UNKNOWN written in the rocks, unfortunately they didn't spell 'unknown' right but i'll still give them a 10/10 for the love of it.

After lunch the hire bikes were collected and the group were driven back to the campsite, all except for one. A brave and determined young lady called Claire decided she was going to cycling back up the camp site and of course I would go with her. I think it was a little more uphill than she anticipated from sea level but she handled it like a trooper. Nearing the top, Claire shared with me some of her inner world difficulties. I shared with her some fitting words I'd learned from The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama and Desmund Tutu. I defined the difference between feelings and emotions and that by acting and sharing our feelings as we feel them with those around us, we stop ourselves bottling them where they build and store as deeper emotions. For the rest of the weekend I kept catching Claire openly sharing her feelings and it would make me smile. As if reflecting the shape of life itself, the ups and downs of the hills always bring out a person's true nature. Claire then descended the hardest track of the weekend and the amount of pride I had was overwhelming when we got to the bottom, followed by lots of hugs and whoops. Congrats Claire!

A huge thank you to Carly Slade for making the weekend so unique and meaningful, we will look forward to planning future bike and yoga weekends in 2018. If you can't wait till then, you can book us for  a private rewilding retreat or mountain bike trip if you have a minimum of five people by contacting us.

For this trip we headed to Runnage Farm right in the heart of Dartmoor. We arrived on Friday to a huge rainbow that covered the entirity of Dartmoor, that's an omen for good weather right? The awesome bunkhouse had an old english stone cottage mixed with an alpine chalet vibe and most importantly had a fully kitted out kitchen for Chef Brad to work his magic in!

We met up with the group of riders on Friday evening and we swiftly cracked open a few Jail Ales from the local Dartmoor Brewery and set about getting tucked into some sausages from the farm with mash, peas and proper gravy! Our local guide Simon from Granite Trails ran us through the route and we  finished the evening off under the stars around the fire. 

We awoke early Saturday morning to blue skies and Chef Brad's singing. I'm not sure he's quite ready for the X-factor but along with the smell of bacon, pastries and coffee wafting up through the rafters of the bunkhouse it sure got everyone up with a smile. 

When everyone was kitted up we headed into Soussons forest to warm the legs up. Our guest Matt had a mechanical 500m out of the farm, which is not what he wanted after travelling 6 hours the previous day to ride his bike. Luckily with a bit of brute force and good mechanic skills we got his bike back up and running and we headed up the near by tors to be treated by some flowing single track.  

We navigated our way over to Hound Tor for lunch where we met Tom and Brad who had laid out a wonderful spread of sandwiches overflowing with home made chutney, lettuce,  ham and chedder. Along with plenty of biscuits, fruit and energy bars washed down with some coffee and teas . 

This trip we had a whole host of great characters, most notably Scout the trail dog who ran about 10 times the distance of everyone else. As we headed back to the campsite, Scout and Rupert got in between a cow and her calf who fully charged at us. It was a rather exciting moment!

The best descent of the day was the descent off Hamel Down which was about 4km of downhill and for at least 20 seconds we had wild ponies galloping in front of us - the sort of special moment you only encounter when riding natural tracks in wild places. Meanwhile, Chef Brad and Hugo went for a wild swim and then began putting together a feast for the crew before they arrived. On Saturday nights menu was a Chicken and prawn curry! We light a fire and chowed down on some marshmallows before heading to bed. ​

For lunch we returned to Puppy palace and tucked into another full bodied spread full of that local chutney that Brad and Hugo had sourced from the local farm shops...that consisted of an honesty box  and an abundance of home made cakes, chutneys and jams...proper job! 

Thanks to everyone who made this weekend an amazing memory. We rode some great trails and shared some awesome stories around the campfire. Until next time Dartmoor! 
​
For our next trip we're heading back to Exmoor October 27th-29th - To find out more head to ​http://www.trailunknown.com/the-exmoor-adventure.html

Dear the mountain biking gods, thank you for saving 2017's best weather for Trail Unknown's second guided mountain bike adventure in Exmoor National Park! With dusty trails, stunning sunsets, lots of wonderfully cooked local food, it made for the perfect weekend adventure. For this trip we set up the bell tents at Spark Hayes camp site in Porlock for its awesome sea views, beautiful sunrises over the hills of Selworthy in the mornings and quick access down to the water to watch the sun setting in the evenings.

All nine of us met on Friday night at our camp site to enjoy Spanish cooked sausages from the local farm shop and the spectacular starry night skies of Exmoor around the fire. We had also managed to get our hands on a box of local cider. Now normally this is a dangerous quest, but after knocking on the front door of the 'brewery' and being greeted cautiously by the owner we managed to talk him into giving us a 10L box of his 2017 award winning medium cider, Gun Dog Millionaire. The next morning we had a delightful breakfast of fresh pastries, whortleberry jam, bacon and egg baps, porridge and cereals. Shame it was a climb out from the campsite... ​

We were lucky enough to spend the morning riding some of the steep and loamy tracks off the side of Porlock Hill, featuring track names such as Deer Alley and Friday Night Downhill. These natural flowing tracks took us through ancient woodland and were full of spots to take in the stunning views out to the sea. A big shout out to local shredder Luke, without a local in Exmoor you are as lost as a goat on a boat. 

We rode a beautiful path across the marsh lands, followed by a staggeringly direct route (sorry everybody) up to the top of Selworthy where Hugo and Chef Brad had set up a perfect lunch spot as a reward for the climb. The lunch featured local cave aged cheese (they wouldn't tell us where this cave was), local chutneys, ham from the butcher, among other treats such as caramel waffles mmm.

Saturday was concluded by a golden sunset enjoyed at the seas edge, a spiced sweet potato and five bean curry complete with mango chutney, poppadoms, sour cream and naan breads cooked over the fire. Everyone slept well that evening under the star lit skies.

After another blissful breakfast, the group set off to the top of the Moors where we enjoyed trails that ran alongside the purple heather coating the hills.  We dropped down into Hawkcoombe down a track which sweeps down the valley and into a magical forest where the trail runs next to a peaceful river. I had the pleasure of following and listening to the whoops of a very excited Jay down this trail, our first female mountain biker and ebiker on a Trail Unknown trip!

We finished on Sunday afternoon with a selection of scones, clotted cream and local jams and a closing ceremony where everybody was awarded a Trail Unknown tshirt for titles such as most photographic, best crash and most flare shorts... Thank you to Mark, Richard, Joe, Jay,  Luke and Chef Brad for making our second Trail Unknown weekend another fantastic adventure. 

​Fancy an Adventure?  
We have two upcoming trips in September or
Contact us to arrange private trips

​Prep Day 1: Thursday – Building Trail Unknown Island & The Ridge Line of Doom​

​​​We spent Thursday afternoon showing Rich Wilford  (owner of MTB Beds) why we love Exmoor and the scenic mountain bike tracks that flow dramatically along the sea edge.

Prep Day 2: ​Friday – Trail Unknown Island becomes an actual island & the first night of the trip!
​
We’d been warned this would be a wet day but we were so excited for our first customers to arrive in the evening that nothing could dampen our spirits. In the morning we did the biggest supermarket shop I've ever done (though I do recall the Shopland weekly shops were similar sized trolley mountains) and spent the afternoon making all of the final preparations to our awesome camp site – fairy lights, colourful rugs, bunting from Hugos mum, blankets, Alpkit beds, tea candle chandeliers, we had it all! Hugo and I were both so stoked showing each other all of the different unique and crazy cutlery sets we picked up from charity shops and car boot sales all over the country, rating them like they were top trumps.

The rain did not stop thundering down all day! Our wooden bridge with the cute little stream was now submerged under raging rapids and being smashed by giant logs!! There was a mix of concern and excitement to see whether this little bridge could hold the force of nature! Then the campsite owner came down and we egged him on to boldly park his mega pickup truck on the submerged bridge to anchor it down. The campsite was suddenly full of experts in fluid dynamics and civil engineering!

​​As if it was all an entertaining plan, the rain eased off at a perfect 5pm, the river starting flowing normally and our first customers began to show their happy faces. Brad, our merry South African chef for the weekend cooked up a BBQ bonanza and we all settled down around the fire and under the twinkling stars ready for the weekend of adventure ahead of us.

Saturday – The Exmoor Adventure Day 1
​
One by one, people woke up to a beautiful morning of golden sunshine and the smell of bacon and egg baps with fresh ground coffee in the air. Hugo, Brad and I had made sure we were first up and laid out the breakfast banquet with fresh croissants, muffins, fruit, cereals, tea, coffee and orange juice. 

Tom, our local guide for the weekend turned up at 9am and everyone set off by a relaxed 9.30am for the mornings ride with Hugo, finishing down by the sea at Porlock Weir. We also provided tonnes of fruit and snacks for everyone to fill their ride bags. Brad and I stayed back to pack away breakfast, bring some order to the campsite, get lunch ready and fit in a peaceful hour of slacklining. 

​After a solid 3 hours of morning riding everyone came back happy to find lunch laid out with fresh baguettes, hams, cheeses, coleslaw, potato salad, fruits, crisps, tea and coffee. The group relaxed for an hour before heading out for the afternoon ride, this time joined by Brad and I while Hugo tidied up. Tom took us on a right adventure, flowing over the moors and down through hidden combes filled with majestic forests that one would never find without the knowledge of a local expert. The afternoons ride finished with a natural slide down into the river, perfect for refreshing the muscles and mind. 

For Saturday's evening meal, Brad cooked up a storm with round after round of deeply flavoured sweetcorn, aubergine, courgette, peppers, chicken wings, burgers, sausages, garlic bread and even a couple of camembert wheels melted on the BBQ for dipping into. My mouth is watering as I type! 

​After dinner, Peter bundled us all into his family 4x4 and drove all nine of us off-road to the top of the Moors, complete with Zootropolis on the DVD screens, to watch the sunset over the sea with a few cold beers. We finished the evening off around a roaring fire and Trail Unknown gratefully received a lot of positive feedback for the day’s events. 

Sunday – The Exmoor Adventure Day 2
​
Again we woke early and set breakfast out the same as the day before. Hugo and I stayed back to start packing everything down and met everyone else at midday, driving to the top of the hill in the van armed with all the lunches ready to meet the group out on the trail. 

We finished the weekend off around 5pm on Sunday with plenty of time for everyone to get their bits together and get home. The trip was a huge success and Peter, the only chap on the trip who wasn’t already a friend of ours before the trip, said he’d had such a good time he’d like to book a Trail Unknown weekend for him and his friends to Wales in Spring 2018! A huge thank you to Brad our talented chef, to everyone who came and enjoyed the trip and to Dan, Ben and Tom at Exmoor Adventures for all helping us make our adventure a success!

​If you are interested in a guided mountain bike trip for you as an individual or as a group of friends, you can get in contact on 07597719507 or trailunknownuk@gmail.com