Drumlanrig Castle Trail Map

flyingdoonhamer

You can find a trail map of Drumlanrig Castle here

http://www.hollygarden.co.cc

I done the red route recently. Wasn't too impressed. All the 7 Stanes Routes ar so much better.

BoardinBob

flyingdoonhamer wrote:

You can find a trail map of Drumlanrig Castle here

http://www.hollygarden.co.cc/drumlanrig.html

I done the red route recently. Wasn't too impressed. All the 7 Stanes Routes ar so much better.

Define "better"

Drumlanrig is old school, twisty, rooty, singletrack. There's nothing like that at any of the 7 Stanes.

flyingdoonhamer

If your after twisty rooty singletrack Glentress has it. And on hills too, offering an exciting ride. Drumlanrig is pretty flat.

If you do visit the Drumlanrig course ..... Don't do the skills loop. It's in a field full of sheep - It took me ages to get the sheep shit off my tyres and frame. It's incredibly sticky stuff.

The best part about Drumlanrig is the bike museum. Features loads of old bikes and accessories. It also has a replica of Kirkpatrick McMillan's 'Velocipede'. Well worth the visit.

BoardinBob

There's nothing at Glentress that's remotely like Drumlanrig :?

GT, while fun, is all super smooth motorway.

Drumlanrig is flat but it's a real test of bike skill.

Both brilliant in their own way.

adun1408

The black route at glentress was'nt super smooth motorway the last time i was there.

trailpuppet

as a Doonhamer I have to agree with flyingdoonhamer re Drum. Although it could be classed as one of my locals I only go if the rest of my biking buddies are going, not through choice.

May be "old school" but like the current Stanes trails how long before erosion takes it`s toll and surfacing is a must. It already has a few surfaced areas. It is man-made after all, there was nothing there before the Rangers created it.

busta gonad

Drumlanrig is a good loop, no thrills and spills but proper old school, rooty singletrack. If you are looking at getting air, give a wide birth. Probably the only really looking gnarly bit is that short section of north shore over the mini ravine.

BoardinBob

trailpuppet wrote:

May be "old school" but like the current Stanes trails how long before erosion takes it`s toll and surfacing is a must. It already has a few surfaced areas. It is man-made after all, there was nothing there before the Rangers created it.

There was plenty there before Rik created the trails. Vast parts of the trails were reclaimed from lost paths throughout the estate that were used by estate workers in past centuries.

At places like GT, the speed gained from the descents carries you over the trail with ease.

At Drumlanrig you don't have the benefit of gravity.

AlasdairMc

flyingdoonhamer wrote:

If your after twisty rooty singletrack Glentress has it.

No it doesn't, at least not on the marked trails. There are very few parts in Glentress that I would consider technical, the only roots are on the Pie Run and even then they've been sanitised somewhat recently.

Northwind

There's roots elsewhere in glentress... End of magic mushroom, just before the little bridge and on that climb straight after. I think there's bits in mushroom pie, and there's a couple of rooty corners somewhere, falla brae maybe? But yeah, they're incidental, not like drumlanrig. Roots are hard to preserve if you're building with diggers. They're a pain in the balls if you're digging by hand frankly.

trailpuppet

"Vast parts of the trails were reclaimed from lost paths "..this I already knew, can`t say more :roll:

lucieandpaul

Drumlanrig is actually only 25min drive from me, yet ive never ridden there, just visited the grounds before.

With the 7 Stanes literally on my doorstep i am spoilt for choice so havent ventured "far" cycling lol

Going there on Sunday weather permitting, and if my knee is any better.

trailpuppet

"the only roots are on the Pie Run and even then they've been sanitised somewhat recently."...possibly because they were downright dangerous and only rideable by very experienced riders, not the clientele GT attracts.
Last time I rode through there was a group standing and all I heard was "ahhh so that's how it`s done".. I`m sure none of them would ever be able to by the expressions on their faces. It is the type of run that doing it for the first time could end in serious injury if taken at "normal" pace.

cee

Northwind wrote:

There's roots elsewhere in glentress... End of magic mushroom, just before the little bridge and on that climb straight after. I think there's bits in mushroom pie, and there's a couple of rooty corners somewhere, falla brae maybe? But yeah, they're incidental, not like drumlanrig. Roots are hard to preserve if you're building with diggers. They're a pain in the balls if you're digging by hand frankly.

last time I was there they had sanitised the rootiest bit....before that wee bridge...

it is smooth concrete now and in my opinion they have ruined that corner. its flat.

the pie run bit through the tree is defo the rootiest bit on the red (theres some good rocky stuff on the black before the britany spears descent)...but as said, they have made the gaps between the tree wider at points to give an easier line choice through the roots.

Two mates of mine have done the red route on a tandem with rigid forks....thats how smooth it is

Northwind

Concrete? WTF? There is no concrete surface anywhere at GT. What you're riding on is rocks and dirt, and the occasional bit of wood,nothing else. Except the PVC tube halfway up sair fecht

I hate the term "sanitised", the corner we're talking about was raised as a concern because it was so out of character and broke the flow of pie run completely. Personally I think it was bad design, I didn't have too much trouble with the corner itself (in the dry at least) but it could almost have been built to catch people out.

I'm all for more technical riding- I agree that GT is a bit too simple in a lot of places, quite a lot of it just feels like empty space- but there's technical features and then there's ambushes. I reckon if they'd taken that same corner and dropped it in, say, Falla Brae, it's have caused a lot less problems but where it was, it was massively unpopular and caused a lot of trouble.

At the end of the day, if you want more say in the trails, then I'll see you by the ranger station, every second saturday

Northwind

adun1408 wrote:

The black route at glentress was'nt super smooth motorway the last time i was there.

QFT! Just did it today for the first time, it's like the surface of the moon in places. Also has some pretty nadgery technical riding on it. I totally lost track of the names but the entrance to the wormhole , the top of Ewok Village After The Stormtroopers Nuked It, and The Bitch are pretty interesting. Particularily the scrabbly rocky bit halfway down The Bitch, it's as far from "super smooth motorway" as I'd like to ride on a hardtail.

Weirdly, I'd not ridden the new black section Zoom or Bust til today, despite the fact that I've been helping build it It's also quite techy in places, lots of interesting roots and stones. Should be good when it's all done. It's not all that black mind, maybe dark red.

double h

flyingdoonhamer
last time me and my bro done it we both thought it was pretty shit.

Northwind

Just back from my first trip to Drumlanrig... Loved it, though I wasn't riding very well so I don't think I got the best out of it. I can see why people might not be too impressed by the red, it's got some really nice riding but there's not an awful lot to it, and maybe a bit of a lack of variety. Especially as one bit's closed for logging just now. I enjoyed it but quite a lot just slipped past me without much impact.

But the black's ace, lots of interesting riding... have to admit I didn't ride a couple of the trickier descents though- mainly because of the lack of set-up, I'm not good with joining up techy bits so if I don't have a nice approach to a feature I'm less likely to take it on, and there's a lot of bits like that there- I'd have much preferred to have the sections a little more broken up with recovery distance between, and smoother approach lines for the nastier stuff, so that I can get my head set up. But that's just trail centre rider's laziness.

I'd definately recommend it, it's got a very different feel to most trail centres and I can understand why it's not for everyone- not much speed, no sense of scale, not much air (for mortals at least)... And I did feel a definate lack of flow, maybe I'm too used to long climbs and long descents but it felt very very stop-start (especially with saddle adjustments for the tricky bits, etc)

But it's a lovely bit of trailbuilding, much more natural feeling (though don't be fooled, a lot of work's gone into that surface and the choice of routes) and some stretches are just excellent. And a truly beautiful place to ride too, after industrial forestry and bleak hillsides it's nice to ride somewhere genuinely pretty. I didn't have enough attention to spare to really look around as much as I'd like, mind.

Of the 7 stanes I've ridden, I'd probably sooner go to any tbh, but that's not to say I'll not be back at drumlanrig when the mood takes me. It's like the natural singletrack I grew up riding with the gain turned up

trailpuppet

"have to admit I didn't ride a couple of the trickier descents though- mainly because of the lack of set-up,"

And that is just the very problem when trying to advise people on what the riding is like.

To give an example I rode there last summer with a guy on a Santa Cruz Heckler. He like you found some sections difficult at first but after a bit of a demo and some tuition he managed to ride most techy bits. I on the other hand was riding a 14yr old Bontrager and can ride all obstacles on those trails. But I have been riding a while!!!

Northwind

I'm pretty sure I have the technical ability to ride it all, certainly there's nothing I wouldn't at least attempt normally but like I say, I just found the lack of setup opportunities a problem- frinstance one of the rooty descents has a tight switchback straight before, and no recovery space so you're straight from one techy bit to another, and not neccesarily bang on your chosen line. I remember that one well from the 4 attempts I had before I gave up, got stuck in the exact same place halfway down every damn time

But I think it's just me being a bit soft and too used to being coddled by trail centres The problem wasn't skill, just the whole mental approach thing, I'm too used to being able to give myself a little psyche up and a deep breath before trying something tougher. I could really feel the mental effort it took to keep on trying this stuff taking its toll, which I've never felt for a second at GT. Which is good.

And it did add to the charm, GT always has that "We built this so you can ride it" feel, Drumlanrig has an edge of "We don't care all that much if you can ride it, but isn't it cool?" And it is.

kiwilad

Living in South West Scotland and thus 7 staines country, I get to ride most of the trails above regularly and have to stick up for Drumlanrig here. It most definitely isn't the fast rolling surfaced wide trails found elsewhere, but that I think is the point. The tight and twisty natural type trails offer an interesting alternative/addition to what else is out there. The Glentress type of trail has been built to create flow for the rider. Drumlanrig requires a minimum level of skill (and fitness) to be able to flow and as such will provide a greater challenge to people used to having the trail laid out in front of them. I don't question the skill or fitness required for Glentress type trails but it is a simple drag your butt up then enjoy the down rather than having to focus and work all the time. I have seen this trail cleaned by many riders on rigid bikes and they manage to find incredible flow.

I'd recommend Drumlanrig to anyone, as long as they approach it for what it is rather than what they see every other day. It most definitely has it's place.

Northwind

kiwilad wrote:

I'd recommend Drumlanrig to anyone, as long as they approach it for what it is rather than what they see every other day. It most definitely has it's place.

Well said... It's not better or worse than, say, GT, it's too different to compare. (heh, apart from the one completely out of place double jump!) On the other hand... Maybe we shouldn't big it up too much, if too many people go then it'll soon get trashed