MTB in Scotland - WOW!

miss notax

Hello

Just got back (literally 1am this morning :shock: ) from 4 days MTBing in Scotland and it was absolutely AMAZING 8) We're back up there with friends for a week in June, so this was a sneaky look beforehand! We rode the red routes in Whinlatter in the Lake District, then Dalbeattie, Kirroughtree and Mabie in Scotland and they were all awesome.

Dalbeattie was my favourite (long and technical but SO MUCH FUN!), followed by Mabie, Whinlatter and Kirroughtree.... My riding has also come on so much as a result - I rode technical sections (especially Dalbeattie) that I never would have attempted before :shock:

The only let down was that Chris's bike needed a bit of tweaking yesterday (cassette and chain replacing) morning when we were just about to ride at Mabie. The bike shop on site was shut, so we drove back into Dumfries to one there. The lady mechanic wasn't very helpful and quoted 1.5 hours to do the work even when we said that we had to drive back home later that day so a speedy fix would be appreciated.... Chris also mentioned that his rear brake pads were pretty bad but not to worry about replacing them.

Well, duly collected the bike a bit later - they had replaced the pads as well as the other bits - and rode Mabie. Only 1/2 hour into the ride Chris's brakes wern't working properly and when we investigated we saw that the brake pads had fallen out - they can't have fixed them in properly :evil: So with only a front brake that was effectively the end of his ride (he did it, but obviously slowly and carefully).

We went back and they have us new pads, but it spolit the ride and meant that we could only do one ride yesterday as we then had to drive back home (New Forest). It could also have been a disaster if they had gone on one of the downhill sections...... :shock:

Anyway, can't wait to go back!!!!!

bungalistic

Nice work, I ride the 7stanes regularely and love them all. Shame you didn't get to ride mabie properly as it probably is my fave, though that could be due to the cafe being the best of all the stanes, a good bacon buttie followed by some amazing carrot cake hmmmmmm

The Northern Monkey

Awesome!!! glad you enjoyed it!
Riding in Scotland is at another level isn't it?! I loved it up there!

Shame about Chris's drive though

How did your back fare?

B

miss notax

Mabie was very very good - I rode it at my usual speed (probably pretty similar to Chris's 'slow and careful' speed) so at least I enjoyed it

And my back was fine actually thanks!! Bizarrely it's still seizing a bit doing 'nomal' things, but hurling myself down Scottish mountains was fine!

I am literally still grinning - that was the BEST MTBing I have ever done and I loved every second

cee

bigbenj_08 wrote:

Awesome!!! glad you enjoyed it!
Riding in Scotland is at another level isn't it?! I loved it up there!

Its because the weather is so crap up here that we were given all that trail to make up for it!

miss notax

The weather was kind to us - a bit of drizzle yesterday (Mabie) but ok for the rest!

The Northern Monkey

I actually prefer it a bit damp and chilly.

when its roasting i don't enjoy it as much... I over heat and its horrible!!

miss notax

bigbenj_08 wrote:

I actually prefer it a bit damp and chilly.

when its roasting i don't enjoy it as much... I over heat and its horrible!!

True! No rain is always nice though...

Off to Wales Monday / Tuesday next week to put my new skills to the test there - fingers crossed the rain stays away!

Mrs Toast

We're off to Glentress in July for our anniversary, but would like to take in a couple more of the 7Stanes trails, just got to find out how far apart they are.

*Goes off to the 7Stanes website*

Glad you had a great time!

lardarse rider

Whinlatter is in Cumbria. Which is in England.

sparkov

Glad you enjoyed it. I'm off to Glentress for the first time on Saturday and have very high hopes!

miss notax

lardarse rider wrote:

Whinlatter is in Cumbria. Which is in England.

Hence my first post where I say Whinletter in the Lake District and then the others in Scotland.....

Great riding there either way!!

cee

Mrs Toast wrote:

We're off to Glentress in July for our anniversary, but would like to take in a couple more of the 7Stanes trails, just got to find out how far apart they are.

*Goes off to the 7Stanes website*

Glad you had a great time!

Do the XC route at innerleithen....about 5 miles away....somewhere in between a red and a black, but with some optional black+ options....

The climb is pretty unrelenting, but the descent is one of the best in the country IMHO.

Also, if Glentress is busy, do the black route......you will only see a handful of others most of the way round, whearas the red will be festooned.

Jimbob_no5

cee wrote:

bigbenj_08 wrote:

Awesome!!! glad you enjoyed it!
Riding in Scotland is at another level isn't it?! I loved it up there!

Its because the weather is so crap up here that we were given all that trail to make up for it!

try been up inverness our local trails are nearly always wet

cee

so are ours......

and of course, due to the easterly location of the ness and ed.....that wind just never dies down does it!

megacityman

you cant beat living up here in the highlands, so many places to go within easy reach and the trails are usually quiet, though im expecting that to change quite a bit this year after that scotland special.

snotty badger

I recently ventured upto Mabie and loved the red route, can't recommend it enough.

I had a go on the Orange- Kona Darkside but got The Fear and wussed out early on :oops: I don't think a Pitch was exactly the right choice of bike for the job either

Probably have a drive upto Dalbeattie this month, just over an hour away so not too bad.

Mrs Toast

cee wrote:

Mrs Toast wrote:

We're off to Glentress in July for our anniversary, but would like to take in a couple more of the 7Stanes trails, just got to find out how far apart they are.

*Goes off to the 7Stanes website*

Glad you had a great time!

Do the XC route at innerleithen....about 5 miles away....somewhere in between a red and a black, but with some optional black+ options....

The climb is pretty unrelenting, but the descent is one of the best in the country IMHO.

Also, if Glentress is busy, do the black route......you will only see a handful of others most of the way round, whearas the red will be festooned.

Don't know if I'm quite ready for something that demanding, there's still stuff on the Dalby red I have to walk down! When we went there last year, I think they'd only just downgraded Innerleithen XC from black to red. I didn't even do Glentress red last time, as I was fairly new to the sport - definitely going to give it a crack this time though!

cee

Mrs Toast

fair enough.

another trail worth checking out then would be the Carron Valley trails in Stirlingshire.

Mrs Toast

cee wrote:

Mrs Toast

fair enough.

another trail worth checking out then would be the Carron Valley trails in Stirlingshire.

Woah, looked at the Carron Valley website, looks like the trails had a difficult birth... :shock:

Are there many trails over there?

trailpuppet

sarah75. tough luck on the pads situation. If you went to the shop I think you did the "lady" mech is usually pretty good. presuming pads were Hayes?

Of all the Stranes routes Inners is my least favourite due to that first never ending climb due to me also having a dodgy back. However once up the rest of the trail is worth the agony, more so than GT black imo.

if you or snotty badger want some local guidance next time tou are in the Dumfries area just pm me. if I`m not working would be happy to show you round some "alternative " trails.

phz

all this about scottish trails is good to hear

we have a cottage booked for july not too far from laggan wolftrax and are going to take the bikes on holiday with us ...

... i suspect the terrain might be a little different from what we are used to here in the fens

heehee

(although im 1/2 scots and cut my mountain biking teeth in yorkshire so i might be better prepared than zoe who only got into biking a few months ago and still thinks a hill is one of those things that slopes gently upwards at about 5 degrees for 300 metres ! )

slainte rob

lm_trek

The trails up north are just superb, 3 years on the bounce ive gone up to Fort William for a weeks holiday biking, its that good im going again this year!

Also off to Whinlatter next bank holiday, is it any good?? a mate is staying up there for his family holiday and ive been invited up on the Monday for a blast on the bikes! His wife is very forgiving of his biking hobby!

mountainroadie

glad you enjoyed it sarah75

schhhhhh dont tell everyone

Graydawg

Jimbob_no5 wrote:

cee wrote:

bigbenj_08 wrote:

Awesome!!! glad you enjoyed it!
Riding in Scotland is at another level isn't it?! I loved it up there!

Its because the weather is so crap up here that we were given all that trail to make up for it!

try been up inverness our local trails are nearly always wet

LOL - HEY !!!

We had a dry day yesteday!!!! Thats it.. summers over.... :roll:

Anonymous

cee wrote:

Its because the weather is so crap up here that we were given all that trail to make up for it!

I second that 100%......miles and miles of amazing countryside and trails to ride and discover....for the summer take that insect spray though you will need it.. ;-)

Try further north next time if you can, Highlands are ace, North East is great also, plus above inverness is great...loads on cycle scotland websites. more remote places so you need more suff in your pack

you can't beat a good days ride, a shower and a big glass of whisky though...pure buzz

cee

Mrs Toast wrote:

Woah, looked at the Carron Valley website, looks like the trails had a difficult birth... :shock:

Are there many trails over there?

A couple guys I know and go riding with every now and then were on the CV Development Group....I helped out with some filming for their openday video....

The first bit was easy for them...started great...good relations with everyone, and the first section of the trail got built. After that, you are right...it just got worse and worse, to the point where the development group have disbanded and will build no more.

The FC did make an undertaking to maintain whats there, but I do not know the details of that.

At the Carron Valley site, there is really only one (official) loop about 8km long, but I think it packs a lot in for that short distance, and you can have a few loops in the day.

It was built as a blue, but the bottom section has remained ungraded, due to the jumps, but everything can be rolled.

Remember the thing about Scotland is that there are unmarked trails everywhere. Go to the top of a hill and there will be a trail, whether man or sheepmade....

There are only a couple of places where you can't ride, due to the area being environmentally important, but these are mostly in the national parks.

Basically if you are passing through stirlingshire, it would be a shame to miss this little cracker of a trail.

Burkie

just to let you all know - if you are coming up/down to GT and the Scottish Borders, look out for some of the natural trails round about the area. There are dozens of great trails within half an hour of Peebles and you can ride all day without backtracking and still get back to your starting point. You will also get most of it to yourself! Not as dramatic scenery etc as the north of Scotland, but some fantastic riding right outside your back door.

lynseyf

cee wrote:

[
Also, if Glentress is busy, do the black route......you will only see a handful of others most of the way round, whearas the red will be festooned.

The thing is the trails are never that busy at Glentress. The car park can be absolutely heaving and there is usually a few folk standing around at the end of each little section but the amount of times someone passes you or you pass someone is tiny.

Northwind

Ooh, don't know about that, on the popular routes (ie the red, and the blue down from the carpark) it can be mobbed sometimes. Still not enough to be a problem. But it's still a great place to ride. And innerleithen just down the road too, which IMO knocks Glentress out of the ring, but is a lot harder.

Stoo61

Don't mention it.