Agree with you there Tandem! Although I've found a great ingredient to any trip, be it on foot or on the mountainbike, is actually going somewhere.

The feeling of moving from point A to point B is much more exciting if you know you won't be returning to point A again, why means point B can be much further away, or much harder to get to…

It's a great book, but not if your idea of mountain biking is following arrows round a well groomed trail centre with a nice cafe at the end. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just not the sort of riding KW's book is about.

Which is exactly why I got it 🙂

TJ – inspiring post and one I wholeheartedly agree with. I love the feeling of spending five hours on a miserable trudge through a bog to discover a sliver of sheep track that makes the whole thing worthwhile

Nothing beats the beautiful 5 mile downhill singletrack I spotted on teh map – to find there was no trace of it on the ground. walked a mile to a ruin thining the track might be more visible from there – it wasn't. 5 miles of walking and the odd bit of riding. grrrrrrrrrr

However I have also found fantastic bits of trail in fantastic locations – from the stalkers paths at Glen feshie to an old doubletrack in Glen Garry to nights camped miles from anywhere and miles and miles of great singletrack.

TandemJeremy – Member

Nothing beats the beautiful 5 mile downhill singletrack I spotted on teh map – to find there was no trace of it on the ground

That'll be the old "dashed line does not a path make" problem, inherited from the diligence of the Scottish Rights of Way Society. I've had the same on many occasions, it's character building stuff 😀

In fact they've published an entire book of 'not paths' which I constantly refer to for tips despite past experiences…

In fact they've published an entire book of 'not paths' which I constantly refer to for tips despite past experiences…

Scottish Hill Tracks? That is a classic book of not paths. Strangely irresistable though, isn't it?

Scottish hill tracks is great for walking / trekking

I suspect that unless you publish a guide book of trail centres, there will always be complaints about pushing and having to take the rough with the smooth. Some of the best rides I have ever done have involved hikey bikey which would be enough to put many off. I suspect that if you come from a hill walking background or are from the mountain biking era from a time before trail centres, you're arguably less likely to be bothered when you have to get off and carry. Sometimes just being out in the wilderness is enough to keep you smiling.

I remember sending some riders on a trail round Braemar which several friends I have ridden with over the years rated as a classic technical challenge to get the juices flowing. When they returned, some of the faces were, shall we say, a bit sour! One mans gnadgery slow speed tech fest is anothers miserable carry. You just can't please all the people all the time.

As for routes changing, that is sadly true. I hear that Glen Ample has bee sanitised, I experienced the improvents at the end of Glen Kinglas last Spring and that much of the rocky Auchendrain descent has been flattened. Similarly, the Dunkeld route has lost a fine section of singletrack in the name of improved access! Aresbiscuits!

As for KW's book, I rate it hugely. I like the fact that it doesn't stick to easy trails and that sometimes you have to work for the good stuff.

Cheers

Sanny

Just back from a week MTBing in the gloriously sunny Highlands – with Kenny’s infamous book.

What I like: the brevity of the text (get the OS map), matter of fact descriptions (no ‘radical dude!’ rubbish), some amazing and inspirational rides.

What I don’t like: some route grading is woefully inconsistent, and when Kenny says it might be ‘challenging’ it can often be translated as ‘Danny MacKaskill found it hard’.

By way of an example. The Inshriach single track route gets ‘Advanced’ (red) and seemed to me to be spot on. The Loch Fada route also got ‘Advanced’ and the final descent down Glen Biannasdail is largely unridable. Now, I realise this might be because I am too shit – but I really cannot see how anyone could truly ride a majority of this descent. I reckoned it was almost as hard as the Ciaran path (given Expert+ in Kenny’s book – and one I got sandbagged on by the evil Glentress girls a few years back, before anyone told me they were competitive DH-ers!).

In balance though, Wilson’s book is about having adventures. This means taking everything the wilds can throw at you. Yes, I would like better grading and realistic descriptions of terrain, but just attempting the routes will get you into some fantastic places.

WillC9999, If you’re finished with the book I’d happily buy it off you (or anyone else!). I’ve had a wanted ad in the classified for a few weeks but not response.

If you hadn’t seen it WillC, Kenny Wilson has acknowledged that Lochan Fada descent description was a bit of a fk up, and that he should have been more explicit that it was very testing:

http://www.mountainbikescotland.com/guidebookupdates.html

There’s actually very few of these clear mis-descriptions in the book IMO / E. It’s v consistent once you understand where the author is coming from with his assessments. If KW says challenging climb, then he’s not messing about.
Carron Valley is another exception, but I’m guessing he’s mates with the lads who built it so has to big it up.

Garry – thanks for this, I hadn’t seen it and it makes complete sense. My ego is somewhat rebuilt! Shame this info didn’t make it into the first edition but there you go. As Kenny suggests the ‘there and back’ route would would still make a cracking ride – the single track section was great (the kind of thing trail centre builders aspire to).

As I said, I find Kenny’s book inspirational. It led to an experiemental attempt to link the Feshie and Tromie by tracks. This was also a bit of a fk up – but still a great day out and any irritation at carrying *down* a very boggy hill soon removed by a slab of Inshriach cake 🙂