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  • Help me plan a big lads weekend – Fort Bill
  • crispo
    Free Member

    Next summer Mrs Crispo is away to the states for two weeks in July/August. Unfortunate going over to join her isn’t an option however while she is away I should be able to blag a day off and plan a 3 day weekend away with the lads.

    Something we had thought of would be doing a long weekend up to Fort Bill.

    We’re coming from all over so the thought of the sleeper was appealing. General plan was something along the lines of:

    Up on the train Friday night.
    Saturday ride the xc routes at Nevis Range as a warm up day.
    Sunday big natural rides, I’m talking full dayer with big mountains – any route suggestions?
    Monday uplift day riding mainly the red route but possibly dabble with the DH route.
    Sleeper train back Mondat night.

    Thoughts, pointers, worth it for a weekend and the price of the sleeper train!?

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    If there’s a crowd of you then hiring a car/van will work out a whole lot cheaper. It will, however, eat into your riding time.

    Tour de Ben Nevis would make a decent route straight from the door.

    Nobeerinthefridge
    Free Member

    What you have planned for the Monday, I’d do that on the Saturday too, Nevis XC ain’t worth that journey. A day on the red DH, as you say with a dabble on the big track, is a fine days biking. Tough going though tbf. Tour de Ben Nevis on the Sunday is a good shout too.

    crispo
    Free Member

    Blimey Tour de Ben Nevis is 70k! I’m not sure the whole group would manage that, I think 40-50k might be closer the limit. Anything more in that region?

    Other option could be to break it up. Take a van and meet up a bit further south to ride on the Saturday, continue up on Saturday evening, stay over and ride the uplift on the Sunday, then same on the way back? Ben Lomond? Stirling way?

    Nobeerinthefridge
    Free Member

    Train down to bridge of Orchy, ride up the WHW, divert off to do the ciaran path, and then up and over to Fort William. Prob about 30 miles?.

    Edit – get over to kinlochleven and ride all the trails used in the dudes enduro?

    here

    crispo
    Free Member

    Cheers, sounds interesting and worth a bit more research.

    What is there on the way up to break up the journey from the Borth west of England?

    thegreatape
    Free Member

    Well there is the pencil museum in Keswick. (Home to the worlds biggest colouring pencil).

    Northwind
    Full Member

    The XC trails at nevis range aren’t brilliant. They’re fine, like, and I like them more than most folks but they don’t really warrant a day or a big trip. Buuut, it works quite well with a train trip- nevis range is a bit of a ride from fort william but you can get onto the witches trails from the north face car park and ride in on the blue return, then at the end of the day ride out along the world champs’ xc route to get back south.

    (the waymarked 10 under the ben route is absolutely shit, it’s mostly fire road. There is good riding on it but it can all be worked into a lap of the witches XC and all you miss is miles of fire road and some incredibly dull pedally singletrack.)

    Much better riding down at kinlochleven, like nobeer mentioned- those “enduro trails” (walker’s paths) are fantastic, and easy to navigate too. And inexplicably, ride best in the pissing rain. Hard, mind. And not really accessible by car unless you want to do it as an overnight stay in kinloch and ride down and back. Ciaran path is massively overrated imo, it’s decent but it’s not even the best riding at kinlochleven.

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