Birdlip from another direction
Doing a Birlip ride from Sheepscombe seems a little strange at first, why start at the bottom of the hill and have to ride up to the trails? Well the answer to that is two fold, firstly there is a great pub in Sheepscombe, the Butchers Arms. Secondly the descent back down into Sheepscombe is defiantly worth doing, a nice rocky number.
This shares a lot of trails with Cranham and you have the option to add trails as you feel like. We ride this as part of Wednesday night rides and vary which trails we do depending on the time of year, weather, mechanicals and what takes our fancy.
The climb on the forest road out of Sheepscombe can be muddy at time, although recently this has improved. The final climb is much the same although it does tend to be muddy most of the time.
The trails at Birdlip are a mixture of steep, jumps, and flowing single track, so enough for everyone to enjoy. Having spent as much time as you like at the Birdlip trails, it's time to return to Sheepscombe. The route back goes through Cranham, there is an option at this point to use the Teachers descent (see Cranham).
It's then mostly uphill for a while before the final descent, there are only two real climbs on the ride. The final descent starts in Saltridge woods goes into open fields and then into a final rocky fling that brings you out by the pub for a well earned pint.
Birdlip route
| Distance | 18km |
| Time | 2-3hrs |
| Climbing | 600m |
| Starting location | Sheepscombe |
| Pubs, cafes | The Butchers Arms, Sheepscombe |
| Parking | On street |
| Route | View route on Strava View route on Garmin Download GPX |
| Photos | View Photos on Flickr |
| Videos | View Videos on YouTube |
Did you ride this route? Comment here!