chewk – why so funny? I am a middleaged man content in my life and relationships

just trying to help folk out and avoid the reek of testosterone on this thread

if you're flying into Prestwick, I would recommend missing out Glentress and drive up the West Coast to Glencoe/Fort William. I think you can hire bikes in Alpine Bikes in Glasgow- if not you will be able to hire them in Off-Beat bikes in Fort William.

Fantastic riding up there with a good mixture of natural and man made trails which easliy beats anything Glentress has to offer. From there up to Torridon for a couple of days and then over to Aviemore.

Aviemore has reasonable bike shops and the folks will be able to advise of good routes.

Kenny Wilson's book Mountain Bike Scotland is a good starting point. (although I've found some of the routes to be painful MXCT)

It's worth posting on here when you've got a rough idea of where you're going to visit.

PS Get some midgie protection.

PS Get some midgie protection.

And disguise yourselves as Brummie bricklayers if you want a peaceful trip.
Hejdor!

Vad heter den starkrest björn i välden och hans fiende så ni kan prova ni är svensk? Jag bara skoja ocj hoppas min svenska är inte så dålig. Hoppas ni har en bra tid men aktar sig för scotta som inte se så många kvinnor. Lika till.

From Prestiwck airport, I would second the recommendation not to head straight for Glentress – if you want trail centres, head south to Kirroughtree (near Newton Stewart) or prefreably, head north to Fort William and the more northerly trail centres and natural riding

I have just spend a week in Scotland and can't recommend it enough.
I stayed in Aviemore. Good advice can be asked at bothy bikes. I have the maps they sell and could probably post them to you if you promise either to post them back, or to post them to someone else on here that may need them.
I think Laggan is worth a trip too as they rent bikes as well and it's not too far from Aviemore.
Drop me a line if you want me to post you the map. As jeremy said, keeping an eye open on the forum for Scottish rides might be worth it.

But again Scotland is very good. Need more switchback though 😉

aktar sig för scotta som inte se så många kvinnor

🙂 Men de som interessera sig så jattemycket av den har thread ar ju typiska engelskmannen eller hur? M.- just nu bo I Edinbugh men har semester I Jämtland am ende Juli (men tyvarr far inte cykla).

If you are looking to hire bikes, the trail centres in the south have local shops, and typically will cost around £20-30 per day for a hardtail. In the Higlands there are fewer towns and less options, but there are good shops (t.ex) in Aviemore and Fort William (the Scottish equivalents of sälen and åre- Fort William also has a gondola (kabinban) and 2 good downhill tracks), and one in Strathpuffer if you go that far north (good for the other trail centres (ie designed for bikes) that Bunnyhop mentioned. I'm not sure if it is cheaper to pick up a bike for the week at the first place you visit, rather than travel round and hyring a new one each day though…

Your plan of riding in the south (7 Stanes), Mid-West (Glencoe/Lochaber/Fort William) and Cairngorm areas seems live it gives plenty of variety and options for just over a week's riding. I'd still recommend somewhere further north or on one of the islands if you have the chance, but for a short trip it might be tricky. Still you can always come back.

Try here:

http://www.scottishmountainbike.com/

This gives you a map and list of the man made trail centres.

If I was doing a Scotland Trip I would probably plan around the man made trail centres and then plan some wild natural routes from there (best source of info for natural routes is the local bike shop). The trail centres tend to be mostly in forest, so on wet and windy days they are sheltered, they are also sign posted, so no need for map reading.

Fort William/Glencoe is definitely worth visiting.
http://www.nevisrange.co.uk/

Maria,
what did I tell you? See us men are weak and predictable. Have fun, I'm off to Gothenburg this weekend

En andra röst för Fort William här! 'The Witches Trail' är jätte god, tycker jag.

@ couch_potato – "Men de som interessera sig så jattemycket av den har thread ar ju typiska engelskmannen eller hur?" Precis!

Lycka till!

Yes Zarquon, you were so right! Very entertaining. 😆 Everyone else: it was Zarquon that recommended me to try this site, and this is what he wrote on the Swedish equivalent (happymtb.org), where I first published a thread: "If you speak English try the folks on here http://www.singletrackworld.com who will be falling all over themselves to help you, particularly if they find out you are female and Swedish." Hahaha!

Anywho, in addition to a big laugh I have received great tips and information from a lot of people, and we now have a really good idea of where to go. Thanks again everybody. 🙂

//Maria aka Miss S aka The Bricklayer

Bricklayer, if you post up your route and timetable, you may find folks on here going in the same direction that could offer you a lift.

Hi Miss Stumpjumper, hope you have a great time. I've been thinking about going to Sweden, If you have any tips for riding (single track), or web sites.Only found Are so far, but enjoy hols first.
Cheer baa

Thanks mcmoonter, but we're renting a car. I'm just about to renting it, just going to decide what car company to rent from and what car to rent. So keep an eye for a car with driving problems – you drive on the wrong side of the road, the steering wheel is on the wrong side as is the gear lever… Where is this roadtrip going to end???

baa: Åre is great (I used to work at a ski resort there!) and they have a so called mayhem festival, I think, which is all about mountainbiking. BUT it's quite far up north… I've already recommended Säfsen, where I went two weeks ago: http://www.safsen.se/info.asp/id/4030 It was great!
Or check out Sälen: http://www.salen.se/In_summer.asp (boring website)
Or Funäsdalen: http://www.funasdalen.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=497&Itemid=371 (boring website)
Or any of these places: http://www.langloppscupen.com/ (website only in Swedish I'm afraid)
Or simply just post a thread on http://www.happymtb.org and you will get great help.

Good luck and enjoy your vacation. 8)

//Maria

Cheers for the links
baa

Maria, don't go to Glentress, you won't be able to move for the hoards of male STW forum dwellers desperate to guide you round! 😉

Perfect! That means we won't have to bother about getting lost in Glentress then. 😉

Did anyone see any pics yet?! 🙄