was out scoping out places to build trails last night , it occured to me , no ones been out and built anything – is that through no one rides there or is the forestry ranger a **** towards folk building stuff ? ? I know of about 40kms of singletrack (walkers tracks) in the woods that requires about similar in fireroad romping to link it

im not talking the big air jumps and seesaws they built in swanley but flowing naturally built singletrack through the trees a bit like drumlanrig

identified a few spots that im going to start work on over winter droping from about 450m to the valley floor following some feint deer tracks that exist already , rode the section last night , needs some clearing of debris and some sections need a bit of fettling with a mattock to get ride of the wheel sized holes that suck you in – then watercourse permitting down the valley. back onto the fire road

If ive got the wrong end of the stick and there are 100s of kms of craftily hidden singletrack then is anyone willing to show a new resident around 😉

Now where to buy a new mattock !

There is only one DH type track that I am aware of.

As for dealing with the FC… my advice is build what you want to ride… tell nobody and post nothing about it anywhere.

ha , i know about the dh tracks dont worry

i have no intentions of posting where im riding(its a big place 😉 ) , more what i was trying to do was draw out the locals and see if they fancy some trail building 😉

what got me was even on the damp singletracks there are no tire marks at all 🙁 its like a ghost town.

Ideal for trail building ;)- once its built and discovered by accident i bet they come 😉

my referance to the FC wasnt so much as dealing with them for requesting permission – more that if they found it are they liable to destroy it out of spite than anything else. we had a chap like that at my last set of trails.

Aye, the DH loons have been busy 🙄

It's a quiet enough area that as long as your not silly I would not expect problems. Much like Swanley used to be… for years mine were the only tracks I would ever see… oh to go back to those days 8)
The Drumtochty challenge is the only bike event that happens in that forest but I don't know if they tend to stick to the fireroads or plan in singletrack (not my cup of tea you see).
Some of our gang were talking about adding XC trails to the current DH trail network… but I suspect much of that excitement over new trails and will end up as empty talk.

I think it's a great area to build if it's on your doorstep… but getting other folk to come and build with you might be difficult as many of us have trail projects closer to where we live 😉

From my experience getting help with trail building is a very sharp double edged sword!

aye – no worrys messiah

done the drumtochty challenge a few times and thats where i came across most of the trails i know.

i wasnt so much looking for folk to leave their areas to come build – it was an i often see cars with good bikes on in the village- auchenblae and wondered where they go … not had an opportunity to speak to owners only been here a week and i live outside the village – in drumtochty its self

We are blessed with so many trails that most of us don't need to travel far to find something. I usually bike from the house but if I am going to throw the bike in the car for a half hour drive to the trails I will go where I know is amazing rather than head for an explore and a scratch about (I wish I had the time to explore again… maybe as my kids get older and can join me?).

Sounds like you've got yourself a little spot of Nirvana planned – enjoy… and once you've got something needing bedding in give us a shout 😆

not long to wait messiah, most of the recent stuff i have unearthed comes from walks with kids/dogs, you need a dog…

I agree I am going back to roots the jumpy things was good while it was there to score it off the list so to speak but flowy singletrack that links together is excellent. The linking up short sections for loops or prolonged sections of smileness are what makes it special!

Wait until you go out with the kids and see how much enjoyment they get from it, thats the grit in the eye moment 🙂

I don't live too far away from Drumtotchty and have often thought there may be some good riding there so, based on these posts, thought it to be worth a venture. Your trails must be well hidden trail_rat, because after 2 1/2 hours of fireroad thrashing starting from the Drumtotchy north carpark, I found absolutely zero singletrack. Highlight was the trail up to Goyle hill and subsequent descent. I'm looking for new riding areas and would be interested in helping out with creating a trail network there. Having spoken to the Forestry regarding bike trails, its the big doubles and north shore that they normally take action on due to potential litigation. A well worn dear track also ridden on by mountain bikes is unlikely to grab their attention. You just have to be prepared for your creations being ruined by tree harvesting.

>As for dealing with the FC… my advice is build what you want to ride… tell nobody and post nothing about it anywhere. <

Amen.

So far the OP's thread is looking like a great way of the FC tracking him down 😉

so you think that they are going to go search an area the size of drumtochty for the trails i built that look little more than than as you say well used deer path 😉

you must be a barrel of laughs at a party !

PDM goyle hill is right behind my house its 30 mins of pure climb from my front door to there. did you find the singletrack off the side – just after the deep water on the trail ? – that i will note was nothing more than a deer track i did not "build" it 😉

if the forestry want to "find" that they will because i popped out onto some fire road next to a truck being loaded with wood by a digger !

Firstly macdougall & masson in Stonehaven for the tools. They've got everything you could need.

Hey I aint trying to prove whether the FC will find your trails or not but sticking things on the net is generally a good way of alerting them to activity in their area.

You can take the advice or leave it 😉

i wont be posting specifics thats for sure – drumtochty is a vast area – drumtochty fettersso ,swanley and durris all merge together – when i say drumtochty thats the area i mean ……

*slow hand clap*

… and now if anyone searches for any of those places up pops this thread.

*slow hand clap*

I know that – does it matter – if i start giving out grid referances then we can worry perhaps?

i mean look on any os map – the names are printed there too … hell its even on the forestrys website !

much like in the way that innerleithen and glentress have hundreds of hidden trails that you dont see when riding the trails – youll never find them all MWHAHAHAHAHAHA

Ooops… I missed the winky 😉

😀

trailblazing in malabo at the moment anyway …..

Unless trail rat builds some massive trail centre the forestry aint gonna do much! A few trails in the woods will be pretty hard to find unless you just happen to come across them, or a local takes you round them.

Even if you did search for them, and know the area it will still be hard to find a trail in the forest!

People are just a bit parnanoid nowadys!

bit like when we went looking before i moved up there eh MS 😀 – found a varied selection with a smidgen of local knowledge (having done the drumtochty challenge a few times) but nothing linked up at the time 😀

Yeah exactly. You can come across trails but usually have no idea where they start or end.

Will get you to guide me round some when your back. As long as its Single speedable! Only bike I enjoy using at the moment!