Bike
MTB
Chicksands Bike Park: Everything you need to know
After an easily accessible all-weather park? With 4X, dual slalom, dirt jumps, downhill and even a Thai takeaway, this Bedfordshire spot could be perfect for you.
Chicksands Bike Park is home to a great range of terrain and mountain bike features. With a national standard 4X track, downhill trails, progressive dirt jumps and dual slalom course on offer, it’s the perfect location to test the waters of a new discipline and improve your skills.
Opening times: 6:00-22:00
Cost: £5/day; £75/year
Trail grades: blue, red, black
Uplift: No
With no strict operating times, the wide variety of all-weather trails are accessible from dusk to dawn and ready to ride year-round, making it a good option for winter riding.
Located in the Forest of Rowney Warren, Bedfordshire, Chicksands is accessible from many areas of the UK, while being particularly handy for London and the South of England.
The trails
The national standard 4X track is an opportunity to get competitive with your mates over high speed doubles, tabletops, big berms and step ups. If you want to take it a bit steadier, all the jumps are rollable, so it’s manageable even if you’re just cruising.
There are three sets of dirt jumps on offer, ranging from a 2-3ft tabletop jump, a middle set of three doubles and a gnarlier range of 4-6fters with gaps of 10-15ft.
The bike park also has a choice of two downhill tracks – The Bull Run and The Snake Run – that both sit on the severe end of the spectrum, therefore full-face helmets and body armour are strongly recommended. While both trails are relatively short, the host of technical features are enough to challenge all levels of riders.
The Bull Run’s three-metre drop at the start of this track sets the tone for what's to come. Expect bomb holes, large gap jumps and tight turns. The Snake Run is more technical still, with bomb holes and large gap jumps as well rough roots and sweeping berms.
With little to no chicken runs, many of the technical features are unavoidable, so make sure you’re comfortable taking on this level of riding before launching yourself down these trails.
Chicksand’s dual slalom course – Old Faithful – is the easiest track on offer, so it’s a great starting point for anyone looking to improve their mountain bike skills. It’s equally as fun for more experienced riders to rip along, with its sweeping berms and fun-sized jumps.
Finally, although no longer maintained by Chicksands, there are two cross country trails available. These trails are situated outside of the bike park and therefore free of charge to ride.
Facilities, equipment hire and coaching
Outside of parking and toilets, there's not really much in the way of facilities at the bike park, although it's worth keeping an eye out for the Truly Thai food van at the weekends – it's hailed by the locals for dishing out some of the best noodles going!
It might not be on-site, but specialist mountain bike workshop, Brink, is just around the corner from the park. Pop in if you need to tweak your rig, want to treat yourself to an upgrade or fancy taking a demo bike from the likes of Santa Cruz, Juliana or Specialized out for a spin. It will cost you £50 but the shop will kindly knock that off the asking price if you do decide it's the bike for you.
If you feel like you want to progress your riding, it's possible to book a session with local MTB coach Tom Dowie. He runs a range of group sessions for all levels of riders and even offers one-to-one tuition from £40 per hour.
Where to stay
If you want to turn your Saturday session at Chicksands into a weekend spent exploring other nearby gems (Woburn Sands is another local highlight), then there are plenty of options to choose from in the areas surrounding Bedford and Milton Keynes.
