Monday 29 March 2010

glentress...

scotland isnt that big a country...you can drive from here in the south east corner to the north west coast in 5 hours easy...but it has alot to offer for offroad cycling,for myself owning a surly pugsley there`s the beaches and coast,then all the miles of natural trails created by walkers/sheep/cattle and all the recorded old historic rights of way,the old unmaintained roads...and in the last 10 years trail centres...

for those non mountainbikers reading trail centres are specific offroad cycling centres with purpose built manmade all weather tracks only open to cyclists and are usually loops of various lenghts and degrees of difficulty...from easy green to blue then longer red and black routes... trails are signed and numbered and have a specific name (spooky woods, pie run etc...) and theres escape routes- signs leading back to the shop and carpark if you`ve had enough...there is also many natural trails between the official trails so all routes can be mixed up...

most centres are on forestry commission woodland and have climbs followed by descents..


with no other traffic,one way direction,and purpose built there probably the safest place to ride fast...glentress is regaurded as the biggest and most popular centre of the 7 stanes centres in the south of scotland...and being all weather means trails are built on top of existing ground and drained so ridable all year round except deep snow/slush like this winter with the unusual snowfall...there is a big popularity with trail centres as they are ideal for folk who just want to drive, get in a 2-4 hour ride, then eat and go home- not everyone likes having to plan routes and sometimes ending up hiking along/up an unridable hillside that looked promising on a map beforehand,(though i do like it...as long as im outside...)also they save damage done to sensitive areas which can get overused in wet weather, i hear this alot about the pentland hills near edinburgh...
there is also other centres across the rest of scotland similar to GT with a similar set up...laggan wolf tracks and nevis range and my favpourite in the highlands is the highland wildcat trails at golspie... it has a long climb thats technical in places but a great 25 minute descent...
here at GT the red route is swoopy and bermed with table top type jumps you can jump or roll...while the longer black route is a bit more natural in places and provides more of a cardio workout...most folk wear knee and elbow armour if they like to get some airtime on the jumps of the freeride park and red route...


but armour isnt nessecery if you keep your wheels on the ground and either is an expensive bike...a good thing about cycling is you can do it to suit your budget...and cycling is a great leveller... and unlike many hobbies there is little snobbery and most folk are real friendly and helpfull if you need advice on getting started...
along the road is innerliethen centre which has a cracking more technical xc route with a long climb followed by amazing descents... i prefer innerliethen but GT has more of a social feel to it and a good place to meet up with friends and chat while riding..up and down hills!...

with the cafe which does top grub and a friendly bike shop...
here are some films of some descents at GT last saturday...
camera was set a bit low today as giro helmet was moving with the bumps and the squeaky noise is 3M snap velcro! so in future will use the jump lid which has the proper camera mount fitted with counter wieght and is more steady...

spooky woods descent...(red xc route)

GLENTRESS, spooky woods descent... from coastkid71 on Vimeo.



super G & hit squad hill...(red xc route)...bit mud on lense so did not upload to vimeo or youtube,but gives an idea of the trail...
click on thumbnail to watch...


double X & the bitch...(black xc route)


pie run & magic mushroom...(red xc route) uploaded to vimeo...

GLENTRESS, pie run & magic mushroom...(red route) from coastkid71 on Vimeo.



zoom or bust...(near trailpark)

GLENTRESS, zoom or bust.... from coastkid71 on Vimeo.




freeride...(red freeride)


a fun day...time for a new full suspension bike i thinks......

Sunday 28 March 2010

recipe for a nice weekend....

some healthy food for energy for the weekend...

a good nights sleep then after a big breakfast take this...

on a 50 minute drive on quiet scenic backroads down to the scottish borders...



to glentress...and meet old friends...

ride the wheels off your bike...and do a bit of this for 3 hours....
click on thumbnail for minute film...

catch up with other folk through the day and new friends at the cafe where you can scoff lots of nice food and mugs of tea then home for more food!...
go for a wee walk after dinner and watch a nice sunset...


then sit in front of a nice fire...

and enjoy some of this...

sleep well then after another big breakfast go for a ride on local trails to the beach on the pugsley...




enjoy yourself...even though high tide...


and soak up the scenery...

ride home and was pugsley,wash clothes and crash out in hot bath for a good hour...
spend evening lying in front of fire listening to favourite music and reading...

a lovely weekend...except missing the owner of these...

Thursday 25 March 2010

highland daytrip...Pt 5...film...

heres the film...enjoy the scenery...

highland daytrip..Pt 4 of 4...

time was getting on as we headed up to a view point above spean bridge...

looking north...

and the view south of the mamores with the north face of ben nevis just showing...

the view is from the commando memorial...



across the road is a flooded cold war ROC observation post!...

driving the scenic road up glen spean to loch laggan more snow was on the hilltops as we headed inland from the sea...

loch laggan is a hydro electric created loch...at the dam the water was calm...


i (ahem) jumped the fence for some pics and filming...



heading along the side of loch laggan there is a stately home you may have seen before if youve watched the tv series "monarch of the glen" which is filmed here...



at the east end of the loch is a sandy beach..i imagine unridden by a pugsley!...

sun was going down but still a lovely place to stop at before the drive south down the A9...

strathmashie falls...





alot of lichen on the rocks...



passing another cold war ROC observation post we drove south as the sun was setting for dalwhinnie and the A9 home...

with 120 miles still to go we had driven 375 miles...for myself revisited some lovely scenery and for hanneke she saw some of what scotland has to offer...and this is just a little bit of our country...will post the film soon...