Glorious Gravel: Forest of Bowland

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From Glorious Gravel

  • Date Sun 23rd May 2021
  • Location Slaidburn, Lancashire
  • Races 1 race

Event summary

Glorious Gravel presents the Forest of Bowland event, taking place on Sunday 23rd May 2021 in Clitheroe, Lancashire. This exciting ride offers participants the chance to experience the stunning scenery of the Ribble Valley and Bowland Fells, featuring a mix of paved roads, fire roads, and single-track trails. Starting in Slaidburn, riders will enjoy quiet lanes before tackling the challenging Salter Fell Road, offering breathtaking views along the old Roman Road route. After a coffee stop in Wray, cyclists will journey through Gisburn Forest, with easy single-track sections, before completing the 75km loop back to Slaidburn. Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to explore the North of England on two wheels with Glorious Gravel.

Glorious Gravel: Forest of Bowland

Sun 23rd May 2021

A cyclist wearing a helmet and casual biking gear rides along a gravel path through a lush, green forest. The surrounding trees and foliage create a peaceful, natural atmosphere. Light filters through the leaves, giving the scene a serene and refreshing feel.

Organiser's Description

Explore the beautiful scenery of the Ribble Valley and Bowland Fells with a ride mixing paved roads, fire roads and single-track trails. One of our favourite gravel rides in the North of England, this ride is packed with amazing views and a wide variety of terrain.

The route starts in the small town of Slaidburn on some quiet lanes before hitting the highlight towards the end of the route - Salter Fell Road, which follows most of the route of the old Roman Road. It’s a challenging gravel climb that will reward you with spectacular views in all directions, before a coffee stop in Wray.

We then ride on quiet country lanes and venture into the Gisburn Forest, which has a few technically easy (blue graded) single track sections, before returning to Slaidburn. A glorious 75km loop.

Races

  • Glorious Gravel: Forest of Bowland

    CLOSED
What's Included

GPX Files

Pre Ride Briefing

Two Feed Stops

Free coffee & post ride pint

Ride marshals supporting you on the route

Location

Slaidburn, Lancashire

How To Get There

Road Directions

Leave M6 Motorway at junction 31 and follow the A59 where Slaidburn will be signposted.

Public Transport Directions

Clitheroe Interchange is about 8 miles away.

Buses from the Interchange serve many of the surrounding major towns and a number of the smaller rural villages, including Slaidburn.

Rail services from the Interchange run to Rochdale via Blackburn and Manchester Victoria, and also through to Settle and Carlisle

Course Details

Starting in Slaidburn, we head back over the Bowland Fells on the amazing Salter Fell Road before a very well coffee stop in Wray. We then ride some quiet lanes before the route gets to the Gisburn Forest where we hit the gravel bike suitable tracks. As with all gravel rides, we check the routes constantly as things can change much more than on a road ride. The final route is subject to change and will be emailed to you one week before the ride with a full ride brief.

Timings

Start Time : From 7.45am

Finish time : Between 12pm and 2pm

Preparing For The Ride

Our events are open to all off-road bikes. While it is aimed primarily at gravel & adventure bikes, which are essentially fat tyred drop bar bikes, you are also most welcome on a mountain bike or cyclocross bike. We recommend a tyre width of 33+mm for most for our rides.

What to bring: You will be further from van support or facilities you would find in most towns than with our road trips, so it is advisable to take a little more with you: GPS device with route loaded; spare tube or tubeless plug, pump and/or CO2, mini tool, jacket and/or additional layers

We will email you the GPX route & a full breakdown of the route one week before the ride. Our route director will then be at the start to give you last minute advice and tips. You will be asked to select a start window which we will then confirm one week before the ride to ensure you roll out in group sizes based on current restrictions.

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Location

Slaidburn, Lancashire

Who's In

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Jaroslaw Pawlikowski

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