I'm going riding on Wednesday with a relatively new rider. They can do GT red without being phased by much, and the small drop in the freeride park and other trails like Betws Y Coed and the MBR at Coed-Y fairly comfortably.

We're after something that'll push them a bit but not scare them to death within 2 hours of Fife. Laggan is the obvious but as far as I know it's shut due to snow.

If anyone knows of any reasonably easy to navigate natural routes under 20 miles or a suitable trail centre (nothing seems obvious on the MB Scotland website- Inners is winning, but I'd like something new.)

Cheers.

Pitmedden isn't a trail center but has some nice riding in there. Thats natural stuff though and you may not want that 😉

you could get to Glantress in that time,,,,

Sorry, should've said, we did GT today so we don't want to go back there.

Don't mind natural at all.

Sidlaws?

Carron Valley
Blairadam

Dunkeld:
Glen Carr – http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Glengarr-Birnam-Himm
Loch Ordie (Short) – http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Loch-Ordie
Ladywell Plantation & Hermitage – http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Dunkeld-Medium-Route-including-Ladywell-Plantation

Will it be clear enough around Dunkeld at the minute? I was looking at a route in the December issue of MBR which looks alright but perhaps a bit too high for the snow line.

From what I remember of Loch Ordie, while it's doable in the snow the descent's a bit dull.

Dunkeld was rideable at the weekend. We did the ride up to Loch Ordie and back down again (although we didn't actually ride around the loch itself), conditions were pretty icy by the time we got up there. The return route is no longer a very nice piece of singletrack, it's been widened. Also a lot of walking at the start of the return – ridged ice, very nasty.

Not a particularly challenging ride though, but a still great day out. Pics (lots of pics, very image heavy) and writeup here: Retrobike – Dunkeld / Loch Ordie Ride – should give you an idea of the conditions.

Good beard quotient there Zigzag 69 😉

Good beard quotient there Zigzag 69

We did no bad on the dreadlock ratio too

It doesn't look disasterously bad- how difficult was the ice on the descent? Obviously on the climb you can just walk if it gets too sketchy but it'd be a shame to go all that way up for the DH to be icy.

The DH part wasn't too bad actually, I think we only had one guy stack it. It was the climb up away from Loch Ordie that was the worst part of the ride, a lot of walking.

Two things – there may well have been some more snow last night/today. Also think about doing the wee bit of track down through Drambuie Woods at the end of the ride instead of heading back to the car park. Nice fast (and not too challenging) track, just keep an eye out for patches of ice. Only downside is you need to follow the road back round to the car park once you reach the bottom.

That climb isn't nice, snow or otherwise.

Where do you join the track for Drambuie?

Map

Bottom of the Mill Dam, marked 'The Glack' on the map. You'll see a wee trail leading off to the left. You can miss a bit of the road section too, on the Crieff Hill corner, the fence next to the gate has been knocked down, so you can nip back into the forest. The trail's pretty boggy on the climb (bit more walking), but still beats the road.

Ah, yes, I know it. Thanks for all your help, I reckon we'll risk it pending the weather tonight.