Glentress Red and Blue

Finally got the opportunity to ride the Glentress Red and see what all the fuss is about......   And Spooky Woods is very very good.   A perfect combination of drops, tables and berms.   To ride it fast you have to keep pumping it at every opportunity.   And it is satisfying long so by the bottom your legs are aching!   The other sections on the red and blue are all pretty good, but it's Spooky Woods which I think makes it the most talked about trail centre in the country!

Drumlanrig

We really loved Drumlanrig.   The philosophy of the place is pretty cool - basically the Duke who owns it decided to get some mountain bike trail built on his estate.   More landowners like him are needed!   The downside is you're meant to pay to get in - £6 each!   We were advised to park in the lay-by just before the bridge on the way in.   But from here you still have to cycle past the entrance booth/carpark where we got nobbled for the entrance fee as well as having had an extra long cycle....   With more cunning use of the map you should be able to work out a way to avoid it.   Or just pay, enjoy the trails and wander round the gardens after too (we had a 6 hour drive ahaead of us so had to get moving!)

Anyway, the trails are great - really narrow rooty singletrack that wiggles on and on!   Feels very different to other trail centres - very little stone and no big climbs or descents.   Undulates a lot so definitely have an uppy downy steapost.   Lots of tech stuff to keep you on your toes, and long enough to make you really tired!   Even some Alpine swithcbacks!   Really good - we'll definitely be back!

Innerleithen

Innerleithen is next to one of the most talked about trail centres in the country.   It is however surprisingly quiet!   The car park is full of downhillers using the uplift service.   These provide good entertainment as the first climb goes right next to the downhill tracks.   After this the climb goes on for quite a while to a nice summit feeling top.   The descent was maybe a bit disappointing considering the overall reputation of the 7Stanes.   There's some nice flowy stuff at the top.   Then a black option with some nice technical stuff.   Then another section with some big drops that all have sneak lines.   So overall "nice" but not stunning.

Kirroughtree in winter conditions

After searchign the entirety of Scotland, we finally came to the conclusion that Kirroughtree was the most in condition trail centre. The car park was closed, and all the fireroads were too icy to cycle, but the singletrack was rideable! Well, apart from odd bits in the open and most of the rock bits which were covered in a layer of verglas.

As before it flowed awesomely, and there werte more little rocky challenges than I remembered (maybe because I had to get off for all of them as they were icy rocks of doom...) We even did a bit of the black. It starts with a tricky ascent which I didn't think would be much fun without the snow! Then Hansel and Gretel is a lovley flowy bit - not really black. Hissing Syd was more rocky and hence lots of bits were unridebale in those conditions. Can't wait to return in better conditions!

Ooh, also a rare photo of me riding something black graded:

Pollok Park, Glasgow

Having excitedly arrived at Glentress, only to find it under 8" snow, we were somewhat downhearted. A friend suggested we head to Pollok Park in Glasgow, where the snow was somewhat slushier. Whilst obviously not a patch on Glentress (at least from what I've heard, we still await the opportunity to ride there....) It provided a good quick blast. There are three trails, each about 1.5km long. The green is flat but windy. The blue is windy with hills, and the red is like the blue but has optional obstacles, including jumps and skinnies. There's also a black run which cuts from the high leg of the blue to the low leg, and has some bigger berms and obstacles.

Seven Stanes

Dalbeattie is my current favourite trail centre. It has smooth single track with obstacles, spaced just far enough to allow recovery in between. It undulates up and down hills, rather than having any massive climbs. It has some classic features including “the slab” (not for mere mortals), “rock don’t roll” a section of rock slabs (and the trail is laid out so that you can go round again and again!) and lots of skinnies near the end, although all the skinnies have massive consequences, so no good for practicing.

Kirroughtree is Rich’s favourite trail centre, and probably my second favourite. The red route starts off on the blue, which for those used to southern trail grades seems like a bit of a disappointment. Until you realize that in Scotland, blue is still windy single track, just without any obstacles, and it just gets more fun the faster you ride! The red continues the fun, but with more obstacles. There’s also a black here which we didn’t have time for but is on our hit list.

Mabie is another great trail centre nearby. I recall some incredibly bumpy sections which were no fun on a hardtail – these may have bedded down now. There is also a final descent with black options, which I didn’t take. Nice cafe.

Ae was a bit of a disappointment – at the end it just seems to fizzle in to muddy bridleways, and the only outstanding bit I can recall is a bermed descent in the middle. But this could be that it was the fourth Stane we went to in three days, and really, Ae would be outstanding if it were any further south! Nice cafe.

Camping it this part of the world is a bit of a nightmare. All the campsites are family orientated with prices to match. And southern Scottish pubs are no match for their northern English or Scottish counterparts. So I have nowhere to recommend!