Leamington parkrun & MTB Trails: Mud 🌧️, Sweat 💦 & Gears ⚙️🚴!

February first, a chilly dawn start to parkrun day, our destination Leamington Spa.
Our plan for the day was simple: take our bikes on the train to Leamington, run Leamington parkrun, enjoy some breakfast, and then hit the mountain bike trails at Newbold Comyn.
Although Leamington is one of our local parkruns, it had been over five years since our last visit, and we'd never filmed here before. With Iona taking a rest day, repeating a previous run wasn’t an issue, making it the perfect opportunity for Ewan and me to return-and get in some mountain biking practice while we were at it.
Running the parkrun in muddy conditions brought back memories of cross-country races at Newbold Comyn. Thankfully, today there was no climbing Beacon Hill or face-planting in the infamous, smelly mud of "The Ditch"! The course is a single lap with a short but sharp climb early on, followed by a steady downhill stretch that rewards you with great views over Leamington.
One of the best parts of Leamington parkrun is the charity donation café at the club building. Luckily, they accept card payments (since I'd forgotten to bring cash!), so Ewan and I enjoyed some delicious ginger cake before heading up to the Newbold Comyn Arms for breakfast. With the fire burning, it was the perfect place to warm up before heading back out for some mountain biking.
The MTB trails at the park are a recent addition, opening in 2023, and are fantastic for those new to mountain biking or riding purpose-built trails. A far cry from my teenage years in the Lake District-where mountain biking meant tackling bridleways with no crafted berms or jumps-this park has everything from a beginner-friendly learning zone to red routes with jumps and winding singletrack through the trees. It was a great place for me to test whether I still had what it takes to handle the rough stuff!
We managed to ride every trail in the park before heading back to the station with just enough time to grab a coffee and cake before catching the train back to Coventry-a fabulous little adventure.
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Useful Links
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parkrun
www.parkrun.or...
Cafe
They host a charity donation cafe (hot and cold drinks and cakes) at the parkrun.
Then for breakfast, we went to Newbold Comyn Arms
www.newboldcom...
Newbold Comyn MTB Trails
www.warwickdc....
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About Ian, Iona and Family
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Each week on this channel Ian (Dad) and Iona share our little adventure experiences, often joined by Ewan (Iona’s older brother) and Ruth (Mum) too.
Our weekends often start with parkrun. Iona is on a non-repeat parkrun tourism streak having now visited over 100 different places since she started parkrunning. But we don’t just do parkun and dash home, we love exploring the area and often use bikes and trains for our travels to keep our carbon footprint low and because it adds to the adventure too. When school holidays arrive, longer adventures are possible with Ewan and Iona both being keen cycle tourists and mountain climbers!
So if you like heading outdoors and your idea of a perfect weekend includes parkrun, climbing a mountain or exploring new places on two wheels then we would love to have you join us on our adventures.
We’d love it if you subscribed so you can follow our journey and hopefully be inspired to get out the door and have your own little adventures. Do like and leave comments on our videos too on questions you might have or ideas for places to explore or adventures to go on.
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