carron valley ( scotland )

rockhopper09
rockhopper09 Posts: 21
edited July 2009 in Routes
over the hot weekend me and few friends decided to take a trip carron valley to sample the trails.

the weather was excellent, the trails were dry and fast... which is strange for scotland..

some good techincal stuff and the jumps where fun, apart for the last one out of eight of them... totally miss timed the landing... wallop over the handlebar.... grazed arm and damaged pride.... never mind life goes on...



here is some info on the location and directions

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/carronva ... ey-map.pdf

Comments

  • infoxicated
    infoxicated Posts: 73
    Thinking about heading over this afternoon - it's about an hour away from me.

    Would you say the trails are suitable for someone who isn't too fit?

    I'm going to take my brother with me, but he's a bit of a porker and hasn't done much riding. He did manage a 14k loop with me a couple of weeks back, but had to push up steeper climbs.

    // some time later

    Well, to answer my own question... no, it's not suitable for someone who isn't fit!

    My brother really struggled on the climbs and had to push up all but the flattest parts.

    It is a cracking trail overall, though. The only issue was when we reached a pair of sign posts - one saying "pipedream" and pointing to the left, the other pointing to the right saying "the runaway" with a P for parking sign. I sent my brother off to the right because I figured that Pipedream was the skills section.

    Not so - it was nice short blast with berms that then spat me out at a point in the trail we'd reached about half an hour beforehand, meaning I had to do that part of the route again in order to catch up with my brother! :lol:

    I didn't mind so much because I had bags of energy left and really fancied doing The Cannonball Run part again, which was excellent. My brother actually took a wrong turning and ended up back at the car park inspite of himself. I'm glad he didn't attempt The Runaway, because it's a very fast trail featuring umpteen high double jumps and he would have killed himself on it.
  • woodywmb
    woodywmb Posts: 669
    INFOXICATED: Have you tried the paths above Cochno - just a few miles from Helensburgh? Don't go by the dearth of trails on the OS map. There are loads of unmarked paths around Jaw Reservoir. MTBers, ramblers and quad bikers were all over the place.

    Check this for views:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/65034686@N ... 4751/show/
    http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1296598/
  • infoxicated
    infoxicated Posts: 73
    No, actually, never been up there, although I was up Dunbarton Castle back in February and I remember thinking that those hills looked inviting.

    Thanks for the tip - I'll need to look into that. :)
  • chuckd
    chuckd Posts: 105
    Woodywmb wrote:
    INFOXICATED: Have you tried the paths above Cochno - just a few miles from Helensburgh? Don't go by the dearth of trails on the OS map. There are loads of unmarked paths around Jaw Reservoir. MTBers, ramblers and quad bikers were all over the place.

    Check this for views:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/65034686@N ... 4751/show/

    Where do you access these routes from? I live in Glasgow and I'm looking for some trails a bit more local than Glentress.

    Cheers
  • woodywmb
    woodywmb Posts: 669
    Start from Old Kilpatrick station and work your way along the Antonine Wall path (through farmer's field - but signed for walking). This leads onto a housing scheme at Duntocher where you simply follow any of the roads going up the way - on to the Cochno Farm road. Or park at Bowling and cycle along the canal, turning off just after the Erskine Bridge to start the climb up the hill. If you're adventurous you can go up a track directly from Bowling to Loch Humphrey (nearer Dumbarton) then cross the moor to Cochno Reservoir and return the opposite way round. These routes were featured in one of the mags a few months back. Have appealed for back copy - but no one albe to help. Well, so far!
    http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1296598/
  • chuckd
    chuckd Posts: 105
    Thanks woody, I might give it a try this week.
  • infoxicated
    infoxicated Posts: 73
    I'll need to give that a try, too - parking at Bowling and going from there sounds like a good plan, or even getting the train up to Dumbarton and dodging glass on the cycle path until I get there. 8)
  • chuckd
    chuckd Posts: 105
    Looks like a bit of climb, is it a difficult climb fitness wise?
  • woodywmb
    woodywmb Posts: 669
    Nope.
    http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1296598/

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