Fun: 30km upwards, unlimited

Cranfield doesn’t have any MTB rides as such, although you can of course ride anything on a mountain bike. The mountain bike trails are concentrated around Woburn, there are four woods described here all of which are different and link together to provide longer or shorter rides.

You could, of course drive you bike in a car or van to reach the woods, but it only takes 30 minutes to reach the trails, what’s an extra hour and 20km?

This post is going to identify ways to get to get there and back with link up trails.

The Route: You can of course just use roads, for the quickest solution dive down the hill beyond the airfield (which is a variant of sustrans51 – I’ll tell you the story sometime) through Salford and then on to Woburn Sands or Aspley Guise. But you have an off-road bike so why not leave the cars to it.

Leaving Cranfield through Rectory wood and then taking the gravel version of Route51 is the first option, but this works best, it’s faster, on the return. Instead follow the dead end to Wood End Farm, where the bridleway across the field joins up with Route51 at Holcote. Head left onto Salford Rd for a few hundred meters and then down to the end of Mill Lane. A short hop over the M1 and 421 leads across a non functional metalled cycle route through another field to meet a lane which goes to Aspley Guise.

After climbing to the junction turn right and fork left onto Wood Lane – which ends at the entrance to Aspley Wood!

Pop out of Aspley woods at either the top or bottom and Woburn proper is simply across the main road. Access is not difficult to find but on the return I like to blast down the Sandy Lane byway which is parallel to the road that leads up to the parking at the top.

My favourite way to enter the back woods would be to double back at the road junction after the golf club. There is a Bridleway starts here, so describing this entrance is legit.

Rushmere is a bit further on. Again there are a couple of options, by road to Little and then Great Brickhill, or turn left after crossing the A5. The road, starts as the slip road off the A5, then becomes the original Watling street, deteriorating all the time, until finally its just a tarmac track on the edge of the ‘motorway’. The track can be a bit overgrown but don’t be deterred, after a couple of hundred meters a farm track right leads to a bridleway which then takes lesser woods to the road skirting Rushmere Country Park. Now turn right until a private looking (its bridleway) gravelled road heads straight down into the woods.

Access: Sensitivities exist and have done for the 30 years I have ridden here. The trust does themselves no favours by charging £40 for a permit and then closing the trails because of some fall out with the pixies. Just be sensible eh. Technically permits are needed for Woburn and Rushmere, and technically trails (except the bridleways) are not allowed in Aspley or the Back Woods.

Strava segments and global heat map leave little to the imagination.

The Woods: I said each was different, they all have their own style of riding and trail. Aspley is flowing, fun and fast, although easy. The official trail at Woburn is quite long, with a few more technical bits. It twists around a lot and tests wide handlebar skills, there are a few drops and now even a mini rock garden. The BWs are more up and down. Rushmere is mellow, but would be fun for a newbie.

Rushmere and Woburn both have downhill/jump areas. See King of Spades on YouTube

Pros: It’s a long way to anything else comparable, yeah I know there’s also Chicksands, and these trails are great fun especially on a hard tail. Sandy soil dries quickly, some trails are fun-ridable just about all year round.

Cons: Rules are rules, try not to cause a problem, ride legal or stealthy for everyone’s health.