I'm in the dumfries part of the world at the moment and have no plans fir Friday afternoon and Saturday: which of these (or which combo) is best for some jeycore(!) action?

Cheers

for me Id hit Mabie first then head on over to Ae.. or Mabie then Drumlanrig..

Gotta be Mabie or Drumlanrig, Drumlanrig almost always rides well and is stupid fun in the wet.

Mabie in the morning, bite to eat at the cafe there, then over to Dalbeattie, or if you have the time, deffo drive down to Kirro, best stane IMHO.

National Champs are at Ae this weekend- a great chance to see the likes of Steve Peat and Gee Atherton coming down the hill at speed! XC courses I believe will be open aswell.
Have heard Drumlanrig is lethal in the wet but never been myself! Mabie is good fun for an evening ride but quite short compared to some of the other 7 stanes

+1 Kirrotree, best of the lot.

Mabie for fri afternoon

kirroughtree sat morning followed by dalbeattie in the afternoon.

Ae and drumlanrig are good but I reckon dalbeattie and kirroughtree are better.

Another vote for Kirroughtree.

Fav trail.

Hoping to get there tomorrow and do Ae and Mabie, but only because I've already done Drumlanrig and Kirroughtree. Those were both fantastic but I want to try the others.

Kirroughtree. Or Mabie and Dalbeattie, both very close together. Drumlanrig is a giggle to. Hell, do 'em all. 'cept Ae, its shite.

Dalbeattie, then Kirroughtree, then Drumlanrig, then Mabie.

Someone may be along shortly to say that they've fixed the last rubbish bit of Ae, in which case it probably doesn't matter which one you choose as they're all fun.

RRD – Member

"kirroughtree sat morning followed by dalbeattie in the afternoon."

Not to put a damper on this idea like but after doing the red/black at Kirroughree I'm good for nothing, it's a big ride- especially with McMoab in the middle to pull your legs off. I'm sure some people just stroll round it but I don't know anyone who does I think. I could mince round it extra-slow but where's the fun in that?

+1 Ae is shite that says it all

I'm a confessed Drumlanrig fan, more natural feel than the others. I rode at Dalbeattie (red route) before 10@Kirro last week and was a little underwhelmed – still fun though. Of the actual Stanes, Kirroughtree is defnitely the pick of them. For mine it's the best trail centre in the UK.

Ae blows goats. Drum. would be "interesting" in the wet on the black sections 🙂 Kirro is the place to be IMO.

Drumlanrig trails are lovely, classey kinda trails…however I prefer it in the dry as wet roots seem to be my nemisis (and it's very rooty in places). Great bike museam there and the curly haired dude in the bike shop is sound and took a brake lever off his SS for me after I snapped one in an off there a few weeks back.

I'd do Kirro if I was down that way or dalbeattie. Haven't tried Ae yet

As it happens I reckon I might do Inners as it's much closer to me and I haven't got round to going there yet.

Jezkidd – Member
I'm in the dumfries part of the world at the moment and have no plans fir Friday afternoon and Saturday: which of these (or which combo) is best for some jeycore(!) action?

Cheers

So am I, live here/there, so choice is spoilt/easy for me 😆

Between night shifts but could come out to play and show you round te "local" stuff @ Mabie on Sat if you have not made up your mind yet?

Start work @ 6pm, will keep an eye on thread.

jordie – Member
+1 Ae is shite that says it all

Ball Ocks

I did Dalbeattie red a week ago and was most unimpressed. Where are the downhills? Just as a bit is getting good it finishes and puts you on a fire road. It was just too uppie downy in short bits and difficult to get any rhythm on. Give me the Welsh centres any day.

Look closely at the map of Dalbettie, there are no hills 🙄

Dalbeattie was the 1st Stane built by the D&G trail crew(Andy Hopkins being the only survivor) at the very start of the project. Mostly all done by hand, shovel, pick and wheelbarrow until they got trained on the motorised wheelbarrows and much later mini diggers. 10 yrs on and with lots more knowledge on how things can be done I am sure all the &Stanes would be much better designed and built, shame the money has ran out 😕

Northwind – I was thinking the same doing Kirri Red/Black then heading to Dalbeattie would be a big ride, Kirri Red and then Dalbeattie can understand.

I think Dalbeattie is great – good variety in both trail and scenery and has loads of optional technical features.

Ae is brilliant. I'm generalising here but people who disagree tend to have gone there looking for GT style motorways only to find rocks (gasp!) and some drops.

For me Dalbeattie isn't the best but I can see why others would enjoy it.

Ae is brilliant. I'm generalising here but people who disagree tend to have gone there looking for GT style motorways only to find rocks (gasp!) and some drops.

For me Dalbeattie isn't the best but I can see why others would enjoy it.

Ae certainly is rocky – I found it pretty punishing on a hard tail. Overall, I just didn't find it flowed that well with the only really memorable bit being Omega Man at the end.

agree with you Rockplough. To get the best out of Dalbeattie you have to put some effort in + there are lots of "local" stuff. If you add the coastal path to a ride this adds 10ml or so to make a good day out.

A bunch of us rented a house in Rockcliffe over Hogmany a few years back – I remember walking a coastal path from Rockcliffe to Sandyhills – is this the coastal path you mean Trekster?

Yeah Exit forest at Colvend and then down to Portling through to Rockcliffe, back in at Colvend or through to Kipford and in at Barnbarroch.bit of hike`a bike so prbably not to everyones taste

hmm – it would be interesting if any of the local trails could lead you back to the Anchor in Kipford at the end of the route 😉

there is a nice rocky descent off the Rockcliffe to Kipford path, drops down onto a "private" road heading back into Kipford

Depends where you start. If starting at Kipford, Colvend or Rockcliffe(for cafes) as I sometimes do there are 2 entrances/exits from the forest. One at Colvend, follow brown walkers poles(beside hall)up dual access road. When you go through/around the gate after the last house there is a rough(horsey)track to your right off the turning point. Follow this, passing the old bothy, turn right onto forest road and join route. The other s at Barnbarroch, again follow brown walkers posts and jopin forest road through/around gate. \turn left uphill and join route on your right about 800mtrs ahead.

There is a track that takes you through the caravan park, best done when it is quiet tho!!!!

not ridden any others but -1 for Ae. some alright steep bits but overall it's just like a rough fire road with friction compensation slopes for downhills. The Omega man is O.K. and the shredder trail and new DH are good fun but the trail its self offers none of the fun of what I've heard/ seen of kirroughtree dalbeatie

OK, just back from Mabie and Ae so here's my own take…

Ae is, as widely reported, not very good. There's fun in there but you really have to work hard for it, a lot of the sections feel like they should be about 10% steeper so you're pedalling the downhills like mad just to get the trail to work, and constantly losing speed to the incredibly lumpy surfacing. I don't see me going back tbh, if they could condense all the good bits into a 10km lap it'd be pretty nice but it's 26km, 1/3d fire road and 1/3rd pretty ropey "singletrack", some of which you could drive a car along. Shame. Still, there are bits that'll stay with me, there's a really beautiful flowing section through trees about halfway round and Granny Green Love has some really nice moments too. But too much is just hard slog and too much is slightly disappointing. Omega Man is mince frankly and the Shredder's hard work, you need to know the trail I think as it's poorly sighted, so you're charging up on something but you don't know what. But it strikes me as not worth learning/

Mabie… Ah, but it's lovely in places. Like an extension to Kirroughtree red, with dabs of Drumlanrig. One bit reminded me so much of Talnotry Hill, only easier. At its best it's really damn good. But other bits were a slog, again, and there were too many bits where there was a chicken run and a proper line and no way to know which one you're on til you're committed, that's annoying. Mainly though the problem is it seems in really bad shape. Fair play it was soaking wet today but half the trail was under water or plastered in organic mud, it seemed like they'd surfaced parts of the trail with cow shit instead of stone. I get the feeling it's had a real lack of resources since it was built? But even then, I'm not sure, some basic stuff like drainage just wasn't working. Loads of potential though, but it needs knocked into shape and it really needs more trail.

I really enjoyed Mabie though. Ae, not so much. Can't see any reason to ride there with the local competition. Wish I'd just done a second lap of Mabie or gone up to Drum.

Take Trekster up on his offer to show you the secret stuff.

He showed us round Mabie and it was one of the best rides I've had in ages.

Cheers chaka, always enjoy meeting & riding with new people.

Jezkidd.
If you do fancy Mabie I will be around at 11ish, black Blue Pig. Ask Jemma(cafe chef)to txt me if I am not around.

Northwind.
The Ae conundrum will rage forever I think, seems it is a love/hate for quite a few riders. Rob & Steve at the shop have started a trailcare crew and are doing their best to keep this going with the help of FE and Tally from upliftscotland who is contracted for local trail maint and inspections. FE monitor web sites for any/all crits and do try their best to act. F.C.Ranger who posts occasionaly also keeps an eye open for anything to do with D&G trails. However resources are limited as you are probably aware.
Personaly I like all the D&G trails for different reasons. Living near Dfs I can ride out to both Ae & Mabie. Both Mabie and Dalbeattie use stuff we used to ride in the days long before 7Stanes. There were never any waymarked trails in Dalbeattie or Ae before then.

A bit late for this thread but if I could add that Drumlanrig is riding perfectly, the trails are extremely well drained after a wee bit shovel work earlier in the year and the recent rain has effectively compacted a lot off dust and gravel from the dry spell.

Wet roots – not a problem if you ride 'light' and pump the back slope !!

Drumlanrig is awesome in the rain, you are in the trees most of the time so don't get wet, and the mincers are cowering on the hard pack at K'tree. Perfect…

We stayed at Rockcliffe over the weekend and did the entrance bit by the old bothy Trekster mentions above. Did did Dalbeattie red and then Kirroughtree the next morning. Sunday went over to Ae to watch the DH championships…..great weekend!

dalbeattie is my fave.kirrie is good but doesnt live up to the hipe.

wonders where jezzkid went ❓