Ask anyone who's been green laning for years and they'll tell you it gets easier. Ask anyone in their first season and they'll tell you it's genuinely hard, not just physically, but in ways that don't get talked about much. Both things are true, and pretending the second one doesn't exist doesn't help anyone starting out.
The obvious hard part: you will get it wrong
Green laning has a real learning curve, and most of it gets learned by getting something wrong first. You'll stall on a slope, drop the bike in a rut, pick the wrong line through standing water, or simply run out of nerve halfway down a descent you'd already committed to. None of that is a sign you shouldn't be doing this. It's just what learning looks like, on a surface that gives you far less warning than tarmac does.
What makes this harder than it needs to be is riding a bike, or a lane, that's beyond what you're actually ready for. A rider on a manageable bike, tackling an easy lane, who drops it twice, has had a completely normal first outing. The same rider on a lane two grades too hard, on a bike they can't yet manage, has had a genuinely bad day that might put them off for good. Starting on the right lane, graded honestly and matched to what you and the bike can actually handle, matters more than almost anything else at this stage.
The part that doesn't get said out loud enough
Riding clubs and group rides are one of the best ways to learn this sport, and they can also be genuinely hit and miss for how welcoming they feel to someone turning up for the first time. That's not a criticism aimed at every club, or every rider. It's just honest: plenty of new riders have turned up to a meet, felt like an afterthought for the whole day, and not gone back.
It's worth understanding why this happens, because it usually isn't deliberate. Experienced riders have often built up years of trust with each other, with landowners, and with the access relationships that keep a lane open. A new rider is an unknown quantity, unknown skill level, unknown judgement, and there's a genuine worry that one bad decision on someone's first ride out could damage a relationship that took years to build. Groups also move at a pace, and slowing right down for someone new isn't always the plan for the day. None of that is unreasonable from where an established rider is standing.
It doesn't change how it feels from the other side, though. Understanding why a club can feel cliquish doesn't make it feel any less isolating if you're the one standing at the edge of the car park not quite sure who to talk to. Both things are true at once, and it's worth new riders knowing that if a first group ride felt off, it probably wasn't really about them, and it's genuinely not worth writing off the whole sport over one meet that didn't go well.
"I've seen it from both sides, a nervous new rider standing at the edge of a car park, and a group of experienced riders who genuinely aren't trying to be unfriendly, they're just riding the way they always have. Both things are real. If you've had one bad experience at a meet, it's worth trying again somewhere else before you decide the sport isn't for you."
— Mat Stuckey, founder of Holloway
What actually helps
- Message before you turn up. A quick message to whoever's organising a ride, asking honestly what pace and difficulty to expect, sorts out most bad-fit days before they happen. Most organisers would rather know than guess.
- Find one rider, not a whole club. A single experienced rider willing to ride alongside you at your pace teaches more, faster, and with far less pressure, than trying to keep up with a group of ten.
- Start with an organisation built around this. The Trail Riders Fellowship has regional groups, and it's worth being upfront that you're new when you get in touch.
- Ride solo on easy, well-graded lanes first. There's no rule that says learning has to happen in a group. Plenty of confident lane riders built their skills solo, on lanes well within their ability, before ever joining anyone else.
- Contribute early, even in a small way. Reporting a gate or grading a lane you've ridden doesn't require experience, and it's a genuinely good way to feel part of the community before you feel confident riding with it.
It gets easier, honestly
Every experienced lane rider was once the newest person in the car park. The learning curve is real, and so is the occasionally cold welcome, but neither lasts as long as it feels like it will at the time. Holloway's map and grading system are free to browse for exactly this reason, so you can pick lanes that actually suit where you are right now, rather than guessing and hoping. Holloway Premium, £20 a year, adds route planning and offline maps for whenever you're ready to go further.