The Exmoor Explorer is a non-competitive, cross-country mountain biking event around beautiful Exmoor.
It’s an event I’ve done quite a few times now and keep going back just because it has such a nice and friendly vibe to it. There is no pressure to be fast and if you need to walk sections that is never a problem – it’s more of a personal challenge.
This year they changed the set up slightly which was a really positive step forward and will help make the event more accessible to different standards of mountain bikers. So this year there was three loops, each of around 12 miles, offering 12, 24 and 36-mile options in and around the National Park. You don’t even have choose before you start so you can see how you feel on the day!
We always go down the night before and make a weekend of it – the event puts on camping facilities and we pop to a local pub for some light refreshments! This year the start/finish was at the Minehead Rugby Club – who are great hosts.
The morning of the event arrived and we woke up to blue skies and sunshine, hurrah! Always makes more riding more fun! The first loop was brilliant – we headed through Minehead and out the other side and rode the tracks and bridleways that over look the coast. There were some really amazing views and it was very much a straight up and down route so once you had reached the top you knew the fun part was coming up!
I still felt good after the first loop so chose to continue and do the second loop. The second loop headed south-west from Minehead mostly through woodland. It was a good loop but quite meandering – it always seemed like you were heading uphill without the downhill reward! Still good fun but a lot of peddling which was tiring. I decided to call it a day when I got back and rewarded myself with a cheeky half in the sunshine!
Check out where we went on Strava
Fancy taking part in 2015? See you there! Look out on http://www.exmoorexplorer.com for entry details.
Have you been to Exmoor Explorer? What did you think of the event? Tweet @ownthetrail