So how many times do you think "I'm going to go riding" and immediately start piling all your gear into the back of the car? Quite often I would guess - It certainly had started to feel like that to me!

I guess that hikes in fuel prices started making me think about whether or not I needed to do a journey before I did it. Don't get me wrong, I'm blessed living here in Swansea I've got a surfeit of great riding within an hours drive, so was never driving very far with my two wheels in the boot - but it was starting to cost me more every time I did.

So that led me to thinking back to when I first started mountain biking, when I couldn't drive. Or when I was a student in Glasgow and couldn't afford to drive. I always used to ride straight out of my front door, and head for my nearest trails. Why wasn't I doing this now? Well probably because Afan is only 20 minutes drive away made it a good reason to drive there... doesn't it? No. It doesn't. Its there, and it great - but what is just round the corner? Do you know what riding there is within a miles ride of your door? My guess is that a lot of people don't. I didn't - I was new to the area, so I kind of had an excuse. But if you've lived in your current home for more than 6 months, what's your excuse?

So I made it my mission to learn my new area, find all the local trails - there are ALWAYS local trails to be ridden - wherever you live - you just need to look! So I looked and I found, and I keep finding. So some of them are a let down, some are hub deep in mud, some are covered in broken glass, burnt out scooters and brambles - but some are absolutely magic - beautiful, technical, swooping bits of singletrack - often down the back of a housing estate, or through the middle of a patch of wasteland.

They'll definitely give you a different view of your area - here's a stunning view of the end of Swansea Bay that I came across by following a white line on a map. So get out to the shops and buy yourself a map - the OS Explorer 1:25000 ones are brilliant - they give every last little bit of detail - even where peoples garden walls are! Get yourself acquainted with your local riding, explore and experiment, and feel good that you didn't get into your car to drive to a trail head.