TAKE TO the TRAILS

Riding 'off-road' might look intimidating from the outside looking in - but it doesn't have to be, particularly when you're being shown the ropes by Phoenix Trails

- Ross Mowbray

Fancy a bit of trail riding but don't know where to start? With centres close to the legal-lane abundant Salisbury Plains, North Downs, West Pennines and Peak District, the good folks at Phoenix Trails have got you covered.

It's a spin-off of the ever-popular Phoenix Motorcycle Training school, which has 20-odd road-focused training centres and has built up an enviable reputation in over two decades in the game. The trail thing's a little more recent, but in that time they've carved out a little niche for themselves, focusing on legal trail-riding and practical skills that transfer to the road, in contrast to the abundance of centres offering more-extreme MX and Enduro experiences.

If you want to hone your skills, search out some top lanes, and have a belting day riding through some of the UK's best scenery, these guys are well worth a look. We spent a day meandering around on some Fantic XEF250 Trails just a stone's throw from Stonehenge, under the watchful eye of the Salisbury Plain Stig. Here's how we got on.

Winding my way through the Wiltshire countryside on the hunt for Phoenix Trails' Codford HQ, I found myself scanning the horizon trying to pick out some of the trails we'd be exploring throughout the day. I'm always doing that, even though it's actually very difficult to work out what's legal and what's not from a cursory glance.

That's part of the beauty of Phoenix; they know the area, they know the trails, and they know exactly how challenging they are. That means they can string together the perfect route, that pushes riders to try new things without being intimidating.