Going to Glentress, don't know what to expect on red route

Aldo001

Hi guys
I'm going to Glentress in a couple of days and want to know a bit more info about the Red run. How big are the jumps (if there are some) and can I take my £300 hardtail down it? Should I take it slower at first?
Thanks
Allyn

BoardinBob

It's a fair slog from the bottom car park to the top of spooky wood but it's downhill all the way after that. In fact it's a pretty brutal climb, especially after Pennel's Vennel.

You'll be fine on a hardtail. The trail surface is generally pretty smooth all round. The only real jumps come at the very start of spooky wood but they're fine and you can miss them by sticking to the right hand side.

Aldo001

Cool thanks
Climbing isn't good

Northwind

I suppose it's going to depend a bit on exactly what £300 hardtail it is, it's perfectly possible to spend that much and get something horrible Though I did GT red on my £300 carrera without any issues from the bike. It'd be capable of the black for that matter, though it might not be much fun.

The main thing about the red is that it's designed with visibility and approachability in mind- you'll never be riding up at high speed to some unknown mad thing, you'll see it first. It's also designed so that you can roll every jump on the main red, though it's worth saying here that it's harder to roll some of them than it is to just jump them. There's no shame in using the chicken runs but it's a bit of a shame to miss out. It's a very approachable trail, very much by design, a confident and competent rider could do every part first time I reckon but personally I didn't, I didn't trust my ability til I'd seen it all.

And yes, it is a pretty long and continuous climb! But don't be tempted to drive up to the top car park, it just means you either miss out the best bit of the red (Falla Brae) or you have to ride back up at the end when you're shattered. Just take it easy, stop when you need to.

Hum, what else. Ah, well, Pennel's Vennel is the first red descent and it's a great introduction- no proper jumps but if you can get down pennel's without terrifying yourself that's a good indication that you'll be fine around the rest of the red.

Oh, the last thing... If you look at the map you'll see there's a bypass for part of the red called Pie Run, which means you can skip some fireroad and 2 descents. I'd say don't bother, the main route is probably better and Pie Run is a bit iffy if it's been wet sometimes. But it's there as an option should you be tiring. The nice thing is, the very last part- Mushroom Pie- can be ridden seperately, and should be, it's fantastic- what you do is, when you get to the top of Magic Mushroom, instead of diving down there you just go up the fireroad to the cormer, and there to your right is the entrance, it's about a minute's slow climb and drops you straight back at Magic Mushroom. Don't miss it, it's lovely, swoopy and handcut.

And enjoy it! GT gets some sarky comments but the red is an absolutely classic trail, well worth the visit.

Aldo001

suppose it's going to depend a bit on exactly what £300 hardtail it is

The bikes a Revolution from Edinburgh bike shop... Its not bad and its taken a lot of abuse (jumping stuff) for three years so it'll hopefully be fine.

And yes, it is a pretty long and continuous climb! But don't be tempted to drive up to the top car park, it just means you either miss out the best bit of the red (Falla Brae) or you have to ride back up at the end when you're shattered. Just take it easy, stop when you need to.

At least we're going on a weekday so there wont be too many people to laugh at me puffing and panting
How long does the climb generally take?

Oh, the last thing... If you look at the map you'll see there's a bypass for part of the red called Pie Run, which means you can skip some fireroad and 2 descents. I'd say don't bother, the main route is probably better and Pie Run is a bit iffy if it's been wet sometimes. But it's there as an option should you be tiring. The nice thing is, the very last part- Mushroom Pie- can be ridden seperately, and should be, it's fantastic- what you do is, when you get to the top of Magic Mushroom, instead of diving down there you just go up the fireroad to the cormer, and there to your right is the entrance, it's about a minute's slow climb and drops you straight back at Magic Mushroom. Don't miss it, it's lovely, swoopy and handcut.

Yeah I don't want to miss out on anything! Thanks for the Mushroom Pie tip as well

Thanks for the awesome write up, I'm up for it now!!!

neil_sheehan2000

I'd say the climb will take a farily easy hour to an hour and a half, depending on how many breaks you take, etc. Also, you can miss about half of the Red climb if you follow the easier Blue route up- the Blue and Red (and Black) are all the same route up to the top carpark anyway. Then, at the top carpark, follow the blue route up until you get onto the fireroad. Follow the fireroad up and you'll see that the Blue route goes right and the fireroad carries on left. Follow the road left and this will join up with the last bit of the Red climb. It's not as compicated as it sounds (check the map) and it makes things a bit easier. [EDIT: almost everything I've said so far is rubbish- apologies! Just looked at the map; the shortcut is: follow the blue route up from the top carpark, and it joins the red route later]

You can also pretty much just push your bike up a forest road from the start of the free-ride runs by the top car park- this is about a 15-20 minute walk and, depending on how quick you are to climb, is probably quicker (and easier) than riding up. Again, check the map, but you want to follow the forest road by the start of the (closed) wallride section which is signposted 'Radio Station'. After a bit you'll get to a fork in the road (by this point you'll probably be pushing) and you want to go right here. Then just push your bike up 'til it opens out and you see the entrance to Spooky Wood.

Hope this isn't all too complicated, but if you don't like riding up hills it pays to take the path of least resistance!

Ghengis

FUN FUN FUN! I went up there in April on my Rockhopper. Being my 1st time I thought I'd be way out of my league, especially when guys (and girls) were taking full suss rigs with 6+ inches of suspension off their cars. My bro took his £300 ish Giant.

We both set off thinking this is going to be tough but once you get going it's a fairly steady climb. Lots of interesting bits to take your mind off it. We also found that we were overtaking people on full suss simply because of the weight advantage - certainly not the athletic ability. It is a fair pull to the top but take your time and enjoy it. Once there the fun really starts -imagine all your favourite bits of natural trail rolled into one big route. Spooky woods is simply outstanding and once you get the feel for the berms the speed you can carry is unbelievable. We did the red, had some lunch and then did the blue. I have to say I really enjoyed the blue run and the bits at the end are excellent - some of the best jumps I've ever done and nice easy landings which don't kill your bike.

Have fun - I only hope it's not busy with it being school holidays.

neil_sheehan2000

p.s- almost forgot to mention- you can do Spooky Wood as many times as you want. Once you're at the bottom of the section, instead of carrying on on the next bit, go down the forest road, then take your first right onto another forest road. You'll discover a pressing need to get off your bike and walk before too long. The road flattens out eventually, and you'll notice a track leading uphill to the right. Go up it and you're back at the start of Spooky Wood again- hurrah!

Northwind

Aldo001 wrote:

The bikes a Revolution from Edinburgh bike shop... Its not bad and its taken a lot of abuse (jumping stuff) for three years so it'll hopefully be fine.

Yeah, no bother.

How long does the climb generally take?

FOREVER

Aldo001

^
Thanks Ghengis and Neil for your inputs as well

FuzzySime

Im heading down on thursday for my first time with my new rockhopper. Have heard good things about GT so really looking forward to it

:twisted:

not looking forward to the climbs though.....

Aldo001

FuzzySime wrote:

Im heading down on thursday for my first time with my new rockhopper. Have heard good things about GT so really looking forward to it

:twisted:

not looking forward to the climbs though.....

Aww man, if you go on Friday we could have tea and biscuits together...
And you could mock (probably) the sheer awesomness of my riding skillzzzz

Northwind

The thing about the climb is that probably over 9/10ths of all the pedalling required for the entire red is right at the start (I bust my rear mech halfway down spooky woods once and ended up freewheeling the whole rest of the way down, I had to push with my foot a few times and get off and push just twice all the way down). So yeah it's a bit tiring, especially if you're not used to sustained climbs, but don't worry too much if you feel like you might die. Just keep a wee bit in reserve for the short ups.

FuzzySime

i would never knock anyone skillz mate!! especially as mine are poop!

im just starting out on my mtb adventure and loving it so far. Its not all about how good you are, but getting out there and having fun.....and trying not to kill myself in the process.

Bring on those climbs

Anonymous

You'll have a blast! And your bike will be fine. Can't wait to go back to Glentress.

BoardinBob

Pennels Vennel and the following ascent are the most challenging sections but they can be bypassed and you can re-join the red at the start of the Spooky Wood climb. When you reach the top car park and you ride up the fireroad, you'll get to the entrance to Pennels Vennel on the right hand side. Instead of joining that section just keep on going up the fireroad and you'll eventually meet up with the red trail at a picnic table next to the start of the spooky wood climb. The ascent after Pennels Vennel is the toughest climb especially if you're inexperienced. Rough surface, very steep in places, sharp hairpins and seems to goes on forever. It's always quite soul destroying when you get to the top of the singletrack climb and it spits you out onto a fireroad that seems to stretch for miles and is pretty steep.

schmako

Just be glad you've chosen not to do the black

tompug

I did Glentress Red route top to bottom 4 days ago, I will be uploading helmet cam footage from spookywood to trail head, basically top to bottom on the red.

As for a £300 bike doing it, children on £50 Halfords bikes do it, you will be fine.

Just to put you off though, here is my little bro doing a comedy fall on the super g.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3oesolrdss

I'll upload the full top to bottom in HD when I can be bothered.

Stoo61

Go and do it, do it all, why avoid stuff when you dont know its there yet. Do the whole red once, climbs n all, then decide after if you want to do it again without.

I had to push a bit up the loooong fire road, something about fire roads just so boring that my legs give in earlier.

Tompug....that was a classic fall, glad it wasnt too serious hahaha

kryptonick

I think I may be heading down from Fife tomorrow, pulled a muscle at basketball training this week, so will need to see how sore it is in the morning. If I go I think I may attempt the red, I've always just been up and down the blue a few times whenever I go.

Some of the bigger obstacles on the blue/red sections still freak me out and I go around though, maybe I should master them before I go to the red route proper?

Paulie W

A couple of questions: I havent done Glentress for a couple of years now but prior to that had been several times over 3 or 4 years. Each time I went it seemed a little bit busier (admittedly I've always gone in the summer and often on a weekend) and the trail a little more worn (which sometimes made it a bit more sketchy and exciting but sometimes spoilt the flow). As a consequence, since then I have tended to head out to Kirroughtree, Dalbeattie, Mabie and Ae or gone further north (the fantastic Golspie or the less fantastic Learnie) when the opportunity of a Scotland trip has arisen.

What's the current state of the Glentress trails (red and black)? And is it still just as busy?

Stoo61

kryptonick wrote:

I think I may be heading down from Fife tomorrow, pulled a muscle at basketball training this week, so will need to see how sore it is in the morning. If I go I think I may attempt the red, I've always just been up and down the blue a few times whenever I go.

Some of the bigger obstacles on the blue/red sections still freak me out and I go around though, maybe I should master them before I go to the red route proper?

Nah just do the red, take it easy if needs be. Go oooooooonnn man....

Northwind

BoardinBob wrote:

Pennels Vennel and the following ascent are the most challenging sections but they can be bypassed and you can re-join the red at the start of the Spooky Wood climb.

Yeah, Pennel's Vennel was partly designed as a qualifier- it's better to find out you can't deal with the red right at the start, than once you're up caresman hill, easier access for the ambulances But still, I say ride it, it's an ace bit of trail and a good start for the red, and it's a useful gauge of ability- if you can do pennel's vennel you can do the whole red.

BoardinBob wrote:

It's always quite soul destroying when you get to the top of the singletrack climb and it spits you out onto a fireroad that seems to stretch for miles and is pretty steep.

I hates me that fire road. There's one exactly the same at innerleithen, only going left to right instead of right to left. If you look carefully, it's surfaced not with rocks, but with the broken shards of mens souls.

Aldo001

Northwind wrote:

If you look carefully, it's surfaced not with rocks, but with the broken shards of mens souls.

That is one of the best lines I have read on the internet ever!!!

Stoo61

Right, i've got a mental picture of the whole red run but don't know the names of the sections so.....does someone want to show off and name them one by one?.....or I could go on the hub in the forest website....

jazid

Hi ya - I'm heading up there in September/October and cant wait.

My skills are only average despite years of riding - but looking at some of the youtube vids, the trails seem much more technical than the Afan routes? Am I right?

Aldo001

Went to GT today and did the red run. It was fekin awesome!!!
I got round without falling off my bike but fell of the track twice
One of them was just going pretty much straight on off the side of a berm into some grass
The other was when I just went straight on through some tres and back onto the track
My bike didnt fall apart (just) :P
The Millionares shortbread is freakin amazing as are the toasties.
I saw some kid go over the handlebars at the trail head at the Hub. It was hilarious. He said "Dad stop" his dad stopped and he wasnt expecting it somehow and he went over the handlebars. He then blamed his dad for it all
Magic Mushroom was magic lol
I missed the Mushroom Pie unfortunately. It dawned on me after Magic Mushroom where MP was . It is just up the road from the entrance of MM yeah?
Im going next friday as well so ill go to it then.
The best part is going past people with like FF helmets and Full sussers lol!
I'll probs be slower next week as I will know what to expect!
All the riders were very friendly and said hi and thanks. (Especially the two women that I let past me on a climb one of whom said "Fat Bird coming through" lol