Kirroughtree - If you live in Scotland you must try this!!!
I am a huge fan of the routes at Ae Forest, Mabie and Dalbeattie which I visit at least once a month when I'm in the Dumfries area and they are all great routes.
My local is Glentress where the red route is tremendous fun if you can cope with the 20-30min of dull fire track sections before you reach the final ascent to spooky wood... from there on it is really good.
My favorite however, has to go to one that I tried for the first time last weekend - the awesome 31km red/black route at Kirroughtree... wow! Right from the car park you hit really interesting climbs with a good mix of leg work and technical features reminiscant of those you'd find at Dalbeattie. From there the fun really begins as you flow through some quick winding sessions with frequent granite features to keep you on your toes and some really quite tricky/intimidating step ups and chutes.
Once you finish all but the last section of the red route you have the option of heading on to the black trail... if you are tired and have sore legs by this point I recommend leaving the black until next time! Having said that, the majority of the black route is at high level red grade difficulty with only a handful of proper black grade features. These features cannot really be avoided unless you get off the bike and walk them, so for maximum enjoyment get the shin/elbow pads on and have a pop!
There are some truly evil feature available for the talented among you to try. The most notable of which is McMoab which in itself took me 20 mins! This is primarily because it requires skills akin to trials riding, and frankly I ain't that good! If you have the balance and bike control for it I'm certain you'll rave about this section.
I could go on and on (as if I hadn't already) but I can sum it up with 1 line -
You must get the bikes on the rack, drive to Ayrshire and thank me for the tip afterwards!
Happy biking,
BB.
My local is Glentress where the red route is tremendous fun if you can cope with the 20-30min of dull fire track sections before you reach the final ascent to spooky wood... from there on it is really good.
My favorite however, has to go to one that I tried for the first time last weekend - the awesome 31km red/black route at Kirroughtree... wow! Right from the car park you hit really interesting climbs with a good mix of leg work and technical features reminiscant of those you'd find at Dalbeattie. From there the fun really begins as you flow through some quick winding sessions with frequent granite features to keep you on your toes and some really quite tricky/intimidating step ups and chutes.
Once you finish all but the last section of the red route you have the option of heading on to the black trail... if you are tired and have sore legs by this point I recommend leaving the black until next time! Having said that, the majority of the black route is at high level red grade difficulty with only a handful of proper black grade features. These features cannot really be avoided unless you get off the bike and walk them, so for maximum enjoyment get the shin/elbow pads on and have a pop!
There are some truly evil feature available for the talented among you to try. The most notable of which is McMoab which in itself took me 20 mins! This is primarily because it requires skills akin to trials riding, and frankly I ain't that good! If you have the balance and bike control for it I'm certain you'll rave about this section.
I could go on and on (as if I hadn't already) but I can sum it up with 1 line -
You must get the bikes on the rack, drive to Ayrshire and thank me for the tip afterwards!
Happy biking,
BB.
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Specialized Stumpjumper, 07
Genisis Altitude 30, 09
Giant XTC4, 04
The rest of it is awesome, my local is 'tress too and i loved Kirroughtree. The black bit is soooooo good, some of the drop offs up the top section just appear from nowhere and chuck you straight off. Can't wat to try it again next year!
+ cheap road/commuting bike
Orange Patriot 66 FR
Clubroost XC-4 (retired)
Pinkbike
My Biking Videos
+ cheap road/commuting bike
Mabie has a double diamond black run called the Kona Darkside. Can't comment for reasons hinted at in the statement above though.
Orange Patriot 66 FR
Clubroost XC-4 (retired)
Pinkbike
My Biking Videos
Help for Heroes
JayPic