After about an hour's predictable A-road voyage from Chicksands, I was nearing Thetford Forest Park. I passed a big airforce base before arriving at the centre and the small villages I passed in the car looked really interesting too. I'd never been to East Anglia properly before and with the blue skies giving a certain springtime quality to the light, good weather, and a very open feel to the woods once I was there it had a similar vibe to holidays in France.
Straight away the centre reminded me of Sherwood Pines in its layout and approach to proving the visitor with facilities. There was quite a drive from the road to the large naturally finished car parks, situated some way into the woods, with both a large grassy area for families and BBQs and a decent visitors centre and cafe with outdoor seating. This area also had a cool piece of art showing all the layers of the earth in the area and some of the archaeological finds.
The bike was put together in short order and I immediately found the trail signs. For a pleasant change the signage was excellent. Occasionally it was hard to tell the colour of the posts apart but nothing like the worst offending centres! How can it be so hard to make green, blue and black look different? Perhaps mountain bike trails could do with taking a cue from snow sports and using symbols as well as colour to set the markers apart. One for the future I suppose.
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| A genuine section of Black graded trail, get the body armour quick! Admittedly this stuff was in the minority |
Thetford is really flat. I pedalled the entire length of the trail almost from beginning to end! The ground was undulating the whole way and the trails were pretty rutted but were dry and super fast on the day that I was there. Don't get me wrong though, the trail was so much fun! The bike flowed as I pumped and pedalled my way through the terrain, the sense of momentum was immense! No idea whether it was by luck or by design but Thetford is home to some serious flow. It was pretty incredible really!
As there are a few trails in the Forest, the family groups and people there on rental bikes seemed to have taken the hint and the red trail that I started on was pretty devoid of other riders. I did catch up to people a few times, but more often than not they let me past fairly quickly.
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| There was a very chilled atmosphere in the forest that day |
The trails seemed good for beginners because of the the lack of hills and the presence of some good flow but I was really aware that the more I put in, the more I got out of the tracks. Both the read and the black felt about the same to me in terms of how technical they were. The red has a few machine made / heavily reinforced sections with little berms and small rollers, while the black felt more natural throughout.
I found it really easy to get 'in the zone' while riding at Thetford. Perhaps it was the flowing, uninterrupted routes combined with the limited height gain / loss. It was like I was riding on autopilot; just dealing automatically with the trails as they unfolded. Mountain bike zen where nothing else interferes with your thoughts and you're intent on the ride. It was really nice.
One of the latter downhill sections, dubbed the Beast, was a rollercoaster ride of awesome that made me perk up and pay attention. It had a natural singletrack feel to it, with mini bomb holes and roots you could catch air off. Felt very old school and was over too soon.
Thetford is pretty out of the way and it's definitely not somewhere I would have thought to go if not for this project, but I'm 100% glad I did. Hitting the red and the black together make this worth the trip.
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