Wharfedale Track - Mountain Bike Trip

After talking about getting out and doing this track for many years, it finally happened on Sunday . This is touted as the best and longest stretch of single track in Canterbury - curving through the beech forests around Mount Oxford.







The complete loop is 75kms and takes around 7 hours. This is the most logical trip but if you're just into technical single track then the out and return trip to the saddle or huts (3 and 5 hours respectively) will be a more satisfying jaunt.

There were only two of us on this trip, myself and Andrew Trevelyan who has better single track skills than me so I was somewhat apprehensive as I seem to know a lot of people who have only done this ride once.

We adopted the normal plan of parking in Oxford to get the 10km road section done at the start. You ride west through the town and after 10km turn right into Woodstock Road. Continue until you hit Perhams Road where an AA sign indicates the start of the Wharfedale Track.
Spin up the road, opening and closing some gates on the way (always leave them as you find them). You'll eventually reach a car park at the road end. Cross the stile and enter the single track section.

Neither of us regarded ourselves as having much above average fitness so we were keeping the heart rate down with the prospect of seven hours in the saddle ahead.
The single track winds up through the forest to the saddle, I found most of it rideable but at one point managed to tumble off the track down a steep bank into the bush. This increased my caution as any serious injury once a couple of hours into the ride would be rather inconvenient. When in the backcountry on a mountain bike it can be easy to forget that the two hours you have just ridden is a very long walk in the event of a serious 'mechanical' or injury.

The descent form the saddle to the Wharfedale Hut is good fun with some quite tricky parts and some unrideable parts (for me). The area around the hut seemed to be some kind of sandfly meeting place so we didn't loiter. If you are just into single track you could return from here via the same route.

We took over 3 hours to get to the Wharfedale Hut but if you started at the car park it would be less. Personally, at this point I was happy to move onto 4WD track and relax a bit!

The route from here follows the Townshend river before joining the gravel road near the bridge over the Ashley river. Two decent hills are then negotiated before a quick few kms on the road back into Oxford. Despite the fatigue this section is very scenic with the spectacular Ashley Gorge far below.

All in all this was a very satisfying day out with a good balance of tricky stuff and pleasant scenic riding.