Ben Nevis

No, no the trail centre, that would have been sensible.   Instead we got sent on a wild goose chase by this book which sent us up to the CIC hut (168722 - mostly a push), across to the Halfway Lochan (147724 - also mostly a push), then down the Tourist Path.   Even though it was a weekday in May this was still rammed with people but also extremely technical.  The people meant you had to ride it all on sight - no inspections.   The whole path is constructed of stone steps, but soem steps and quite big and some conceal wheel eating drainage ditches.   Rich rode about 60% of it, I rode about 20%.   Pushing your bike downhill with an audience who are telling you what a silly idea this is is no fun at all when they're right.   I definitley wouldn't recommend this route unless you like pushing your bike, you have a lot of confidence in your technical riding ability and you can find a very quiet day!

Strathpeffer

You can pick up a fairly comprehensive map from Square Wheels in Strathpeffer.   To be honest we didn't find that much to impress us.   There's some singletrack but it's sort of laid out between trees rather than built and as suhc has neither flow nor satisfyingly technical bits.   The rest is just easy walking trails.

Torridon

Another supposed must-go biking venue in Scotland is Torridon.   Actually it all seems to boil down to one route, and that rotue is bascially a 35km ride to get to the top of an awesome descent.   Start at the free campsite in Torridon village (905557 - a recommendation in itself, it even has free hot showers, though beware the village shop is never open at helpful tiems so bring supplies).   Follow the a road east to the top of Loch Clair (002581).   This is north Scotland so it's an A road with passing places and not too unpleasant (in fact the worst bit is drivers waiting patiently for you in passing places so you feel you need to hurry to let them go by....).   Follow the doubletrack along the east side of Loch Clair.   There's a bit of singletrack along the NE side of Loch Coulin to break it up.   Then climb steadily on doubletrack up the Coulin Pass (024500).   In theory the descent is on doubletrack too, but when we were there the Forestry Commission had diverted onto some newly built, slide-your-back-wheel-round-in-the-mud style singletrack which was entertaining.   Descend to join the road at Achnashellach Station (002482).   Curse the fact that one one has thought to build a cafe anywehre in this valley to feed hungry mountain bikers.   Follow the road SE to Coulags (957451) and set off into the hills again.   This climb is much worse and involves quite a lot of pushing.   Don't get too enthusiastic on the bits you can ride that you smash your back wheel on a drainage bar and disscovere that your pump is a bit shoddy.....   There is a bothy (940480) part way along.   The summit is Bealach la Nice (934508).   Then enjoy the descent all the way back to the campsite.   It's all single track.   Not desperatley technical but occasionally goes onto slickrock so you cna make it as hard as you like.   Is sustianed all the way down - lovely!

Glen Sligachan

The Sligachan circuit on Skye often pops up in "best routes in Scotland" features, but inspection of the map suggests a long day with loats of road, and further research suggests a lot of bog too.   Also, it was a really minging day, so we went to the distillery instead.   However, on the way back it looked like it was brightening up so we rode up Glen Slig (from 487298) up to Loch na Creitheach and back again.   You'll notice there's barely any ascent, but do not fear - this will be the most fun flat bit of mountain biking you will ever do.   The path does undulate a bit, so there's constant mini sized techy climbs and descents, which obviously become the opposite on the way back.   And plenty of drainage bars, but once you get confident about popping oveer them it's ok.   It doesn't have the satisfaction of a big mountain day, but once the Sligachan Hotel disappears round the corner it feels very remote!

Arran

Arran often seems to feature in country-wide biking guidebooks so we had to go and find out what all the fuss was about.   There are some excellent resources published by the Arran Bike Club.   However we didn't see a single rider the whole time!

Our first route was a variation on their Classic Route.   We had parental shuttle so started at South Kiscadale and cycled into point 7.   From here you pretty much cycle the famous Glenashdale Falls walk backwards (with occasional route finding difficulites as all the signs point the other way.....)   It is pleasant with not much technical challenge.   The waterfall is very impressive though - a huge drop and now a great viewing platform too!   After climbing up to Giants Graves (point 10) you then follow the forest road around the hillside to the start of the singletrack (point 12).   The singletrack isn't so much constructed as simply waymarked.   So it doesn't quite flow under the wheels properly and we had moments of wondering whether this was what we'd come all this way for.   After scooting back through Lamlash you can then do a pleasant singletrack climb up to point 18 - they've made a path by the side of the raod that just feels far enough away to feel remote.   I then followed the forest track to point 4.   Note this track has now extended so the road end is not a good navigational point!   It's very scenic with views over the Holy Isle.   However, the descent is a vague trail that is good fun but not awesome and reaches the road quite quickly to descend on tarmac.

The next day we tried the Laggan Route.  We were shuttled to point 2.   However, the descent from here is very vague.   We ended up puhsing downhill over tussocks......   From point 3, the biking on Arran became awesome.   The climb to point 5 was easy enough for rich to do but too hard for me.   So I pushed while rich bum-waggled his way into the distance.   The view on the far side into the Clyde is awesome and really adds atmosphere to the descent.   The final section is ridicolousloy steep so I ended up walking which was a sad finale.   But then you get beachside singletrack all the way to point 9 which is superb - all rideable.

Later that day (after a distillery tour....) we did  the Clauchlands Route.   Again with a cheating shuttle to south Corriegills we rode into point 3.   The descent from point 5 is great - it eases you into a false sense of security and then suddenly gets steep and technical!   After a climb back up to point 4/7 you descend towards Lamlash.   I was worried by the annotated warning but actualy the cliff top descent isn't exposed at all - it's singletrack sufficiently far away from the edge not to be worrying.   It's not terribly tehcnical but very atmospheric!

Fort William Witches Trails

We just had a sneaky evening here and managed to get in the World Champs trail.   It was pretty good with plenty of variety and some nice tech stuff.   The start was pretty hard to find (it's to the right of the gondola if you're looking up the hill).   Lots of sections seemed to be closed when we were there too - with this not even being posted at the trailhead.   But hopefully this isn't normal!

The Ciaran Path

Readers of MBR will be familar with the descent of the Ciaran Path into Kinlochleven, named their "Trail of the Year". We accessed the top by climbign the access road on the south side of the River Leven to Blackwater Reservoir. Eventually we realised that after 201605 the flat concreted pipes made for easier ascending than the loose undulating track - we were clearly not the first bikes to do so! Crossing the dam was easier than we imagined as although there is a fence to stop you doing so it is low not spiky. From the dam's northern end you follow singletrakc alongside more pipeline until the start of the Ciaran Path at 245608. The first part is ok - neither spectacular nor unpleasant. Then it gets loose - really loose, and massive rocks than you need speed to pass over. Think Chapel Gate (as was...) or Cavedale, but much longer. Occasionally it lets up, but not for long. There are two steep bedrock corners into river crossings, but these have massive exposure. There are two other worthwhile bits of bedorck riding. Then it starts going up! Fianlly the valley opens out and the last couple of kilometres were probably pleasant but by that stage we were too p*ssed off to enjoy it properly. P*ssed off with ourselves - for not being good enough riders to conquer the trail, p*ssed off with MBR for going on and on about how amazing this trail is, and p*ssed off with ourselves (again) for thinkign that confidence on trail centres equated to an ability to ride natural trails. It took us as long to descend as it did to climb, at one stage I got caught up by some walkers. In summary, I cannot recommend this trail unless you are much much better than me! (And still, Scotland must have better hard trails to offer?)

Cairngorms

We only did one trail in the Cairngorms - the descent from the top of the Burma Road (847129) into Ballinluig (865103) (South of Aviemore). The climb up the road is almost all rideable, though quite loose. The top part of the descent is not very steep and hence it is hard to keep momentum over all the rocks. It gradually steepens and keeps you on your toes with route choice. The final bit is really quite steep!

North Scotland Trail Centres

On a recent tour of Scotland we ticked off several of the trail centres.

Moray Monster was probably our least favourite. We rode two of the blue routes with some friends - Godzilla - which had a disappointing amount of fireraod descent, and Dragon's Trail, which was much better - more flowy with berms and genrle table tops. Then we went to find Pink Fluffy Bunny Rabbits which is graded orange/extreme. We approached it wiht caution, but in reality there were two big jumps (which were obvious and avoidable) and the rest were all rollable. After being cautious on our first go, we pushed up Mast Blast (didn't ride it but it looked very easy) for a second go.

Things improved when we got to Golspie This starts with a lovely singletrack climb. Then if you continue on the black route the climbing gets harder. Rich described it as "improbable looking but satisfyingly ridable". When it eventually becomes doubletrack to make the final climb you don't feel bad at all. The summit is very scenic, with views along white sand beaches. The black descent starts innocuously with berms, some small rollable jumps and some more technical rock ladders. A section of what looks like smooth rollers from a distance turn out to be rocky and steep. After the trail crosses over the deer fence on some northshore (with railings) the trail really starts to get technical although most of the sneak lines are rideable by mere mortals. The technicality increases until you are crying for mercy and doubting your riding skills. Rejoining the red is almost a relief, though there are still some black options and the trail is still excellent. It continues all the way down to the car park. Is this the best trail centre in the UK?

We didn't rate Learnie as highly, though it's possible that if we hadn't done it immediately after Golspie we might have rated it more highly. We rode Learnie Hill -the black route - only about 3km. It meanders in a occasionally indistinct way through a small section of forest. It changes from up to down relativley frequently and as such doesn't rerally seem to flow properly, especially if you are fussy about your saddle height like me! There are three or four rock ladders some of which are more improbable than others - though one of the red alternatives had soem "skidding your back wheel round the corner" moments.......

Our other favourite was Laggan. All four descents routes start with the same fireroad climb, which gets dull on the fourth time but the trails are worth it! The Black route is packed with "feature drops" - Rich onsighted them all and I rode all but one after inspection. The red routes are also good - technical enough, but still fast and fun. The bike park is great - really smooth berms and tabletops.