I’ve been walking and riding up and down there for decades and have witnessed, like many others, the way that the trail has seriously degraded over the last 10 years. The ‘sad and boggy’ bit is in a particularly hideous state due to misguided attempts at ‘trail maintenance’ and folk riding there when it’s way too wet.
I rarely ride the main route now, as on most nice dry days, the path is really busy with walkers and a new breed of Strava knobs who appear hell bent on leathering it down the hill, scattering everyone before them while they film themselves on their GoPros. The fact is, the place is so close to Stirling and so accessible, that something needed to be done before the entire hillside ended up in the Forth.
So fair play, it’ll channel the walkers onto the main route, giving them a nice path to walk on, (they were here first). It’ll give the Strava knobs and GoPro knobs something robust to practise their skidding skills and obnoxious entitled fanny skills on, whilst tarring everyone else in the mountain biking community with their brush, (something they excel at). And finally, it’ll give large parts of the hill a rest and chance to recover.
I’m actually kind of interested to see what the path will be like in a few years time, once it’s bedded in and had a good few winters working at it. Might tempt me back onto the main line for the odd night ride, rather than the alternatives that I currently use! 🙂