Am about to get a new job that will give me plenty of time off ( hopefully)) and am moving to Ayr. Anyone know of any good riding in the immediate ( doorstep) area. Obviously great stuff further afield, but does anyone know what the local riding is like
Tvm
M

You need to buy a road bike.

Not great really. All stuff you need to link up to get a decent ride.

Road riding in the area is great though.

I’d be excited about moving out of ayr, not moving there lol

It’s pretty rough, but i’m not talking about the mountainbiking.

paging nobeerinthefridge to the thread 🙂

he’ll be along shortly talking about Fairlie Moor and various other gems, there is some great stuff if you know where to go, and he does !

Your not so far from the 7stainwes.

out the back of Girvan isn’t so bad.

http://www.mtbroutessws.com/mbkeymap2.html

Not my site and I’ve never used any of the routes but may be useful to you.

Ayrshire Alps!

nip across to arran from Ardrossan

Farlie moor, Arran and girven aren’t really ‘out the door’ though.

Search for craufardland just outside Kilmarnock it’s 25 mins outside Ayr it’s ok auchincruive just outside Ayr also has trails . About an hour and 10 mins to drumlanrig it’s fantastic. Cathrin braes is about 40 mins from Ayr ( commonwealth games trail) we go out regularly so if you like sprockets cycles on face book it will let you know where we are going and when also Ayrshire mountain bike group on Facebook .

Ok. Each in turn.

You need to buy a road bike.

I’d tend to agree, awesome road biking, but some good MTBing too.

I’d be excited about moving out of ayr, not moving there lol

You live in Glasgow, which is one of the few places in Scotland to actually have worse places for MTBing than Ayrshire.

It’s pretty rough, but i’m not talking about the mountainbiking.

Like any provincial town, Ayr has it’s rough bits, but some lovely areas too.

out the back of Girvan isn’t so bad.

It’s not so good either, and it’s 40 minutes drive, so much better within less of a drive

Farlie moor, Arran and girven aren’t really ‘out the door’ though.

Agreed, but I can ride to Fairlie from Ayr, takes about 90 minutes, or take the train to Dalry and ride up n over the moors, great pub at the end of some fantastic trails, and train home. 25 minutes away in the car. Arran is pretty good mtb wise, awesome for road biking too, and is a great day out with no driving involved.

Search for craufardland just outside Kilmarnock it’s 25 mins outside Ayr it’s ok auchincruive just outside Ayr also has trails . About an hour and 10 mins to drumlanrig it’s fantastic. Cathrin braes is about 40 mins from Ayr ( commonwealth games trail) we go out regularly so if you like sprockets cycles on face book it will let you know where we are going and when also Ayrshire mountain bike group on Facebook .

I wouldn’t wish either craufurdland or Cathkin on my worst enemies!. 😀

Tcomc1000, my email is in my profile, drop me an email when your coming, you’ll be very welcome to join us mate.

See, told you nobeer would turn up 😆

My shire senses were tingling Iain!

You live in Glasgow, which is one of the few places in Scotland to actually have worse places for MTBing than Ayrshire.

It’s pretty rough, but i’m not talking about the mountainbiking.

I live in Milngavie, nay Glasgow which has some fantastic offroad biking if you know where to go 🙂 All the folk from Ayr are inbreds!

Good luck with your move OP. 🙂

I’ve got a mate that stays in New Milns and there’s any amount of decent trails around that area and beyond, especially when you get out in the Ayrshire hills and beyond – buy an OS map and just go out and explore.

Fairlie moor

beware the doggers 😉

we barged in and took over one of their preferred destinations, and use it for the launching of pyrotechnics.

never ridden any trails up there though, but have always thought about taking bike along some time. see lots of mostly roadies going over the moor road though, and some MTBers probably using the road to get back from wherever.

heading in that direction this coming week.

You live in Glasgow, which is one of the few places in Scotland to actually have worse places for MTBing than Ayrshire

plenty of places to go off road in glasgow or near by. However, thats not what I ment by my post.

Thanks for all the info guys, much appreciated.
Il be bringing up my (shameful involuntary shiver) road bike as well as my mtb.
Cheers nobeer, il drop you a line when I move up in a few weeks.
Now for the really hard question- camra/ proper beer pubs in and around the local area? 🙂
M

I’ll show you those too!

Il be bringing up my (shameful involuntary shiver) road bike as well as my mtb.

Off road riding takes some planning – there lots of good bits, stringing the bits together takes some thought though. Straight out the door from Ayr you’ve got the river Ayr Way which doesn’t start off as a thrilling ride but the sections through Failford, Ballochmyle, Catrine and Sorn are all fun. Last time I looked there had been a fairly sizeable landslide blocking the route upstream from Stair (it was a fair while back and might have been fixed though)

But… Ayrshire is excellent for road riding and while planning has its rewards with off road its difficult to get it wrong on a road bike.

Cheers guys. Ok, next question. Climate…..do I need to bring every bit of wet weather / warmers item of clothing I own, or it is a hidden sun trap and no one lets on?( he said hopefully) 🙂

LOL 😛 currently sat at home 10 miles inland from Ayrshire and its 11 degrees, blowing a hoolie and horizontal rain ! It is summer though 😀

It rains now n again! 😯

Its on the wetter side of scotland. But it seems to get better weather than it might – Ayr gets roughly similar numbers of days of rain to glasgow but a lot less (about 30% to 40% less) rain actually falls.

Aye, Ayr gets far less rain than even a few miles inland.

Climate, well not sure what you’re used to but it’s like winter today and I guess that’s us until April 🙂

Craufurdland is 5 minutes from home for me, it’s great but muddy as hell but again you’re not going to spend a day riding there. There’s loads of bits galston, newmils, dundonald, new mtb bit at the wind farm at eaglesham, to name a few but it’s not ‘decent’ riding really.

As Gary says, not sure where you’re used to riding, but one positive is that we’re in striking distance of a whole gamut of awesome riding. Keswick and Aviemore both within 2.5 hours, Kirro, mabie, dalbeattie are all about 75 mins, drumlanrig 50 minutes, ae an hour, GT and Inners about 90 minutes. Also enjoying Stirling stuff ATM, just under an hour from here.

That’s a really broad spectrum of riding within striking distance for a day ride.

I stay in Symington and it is awesome for road biking round this way. Someone was telling me there are a few trails in Dundonald Woods.

There are trails in dundonald woods, not the easiest to link it all up, but some good stuff. Downside is that hillhead quarry have plans to remove most of the hill, so who knows how long the trails will be there. Used to do a wee bit of trail maint up there, don’t see the point now.

Now you tell me there’s trails in Dundonald Woods!!! I moved to Derbyshire to get decent trails!! 😉 😀

I told you before Hels, any time your back up!.