Hi,

On Monday I will be heading North from the Peak and want to bike in the Borders so thinking of Ae, Mabie or Drumlanrig. Looking for a couple of hours riding, any advice. Usually drive on by but thought we ought to have a dabble having not ridden any of these places. Any suggestion as to which one, what are the conditions likely to be like under tyres?
Probably go Wolftrax or Glenmore on Tuesday, need to work the rest of the week, but will probably fit in a Ryvoan round before breakfast fingers crossed.

Thanks for the advice in advance.

Paul.

I would say Ae out of those three – do you need to stick close to the M74? I'd really not recommend Mabie; I've only ridden it once and found it very underwhelming. Really mediocre, actually. There's folk on here who rate it highly, though, so maybe it has some hidden charm. Kirroughtree is the real quality in Dunfries, but it's an hour off the M74.
Drumlanrig is good for a spin, but not much more than that. It would be unconciousable to drive north from England and hit Drumlanrig as your first ride in Scotland. There are 500 drumlanrigs up and down the UK – just ride out of your road and aim for the trees.

Forget Drumlanrig at this time of year. All other Stanes are all weather trails (you only need to worry if the snow is more than a foot deep) so no need to worry about tyres. It is more a case of what type of riding you are after. If you can explain that, then the posse will speak. Dont forget Dalbeattie too which is rockier but top fun too.

FFS Simon, hopefully the OP isn't scared of a little mud and the odd puddle!
I agree with Garry, it's not like Drumlanrig even has any real gradient. save yourself some fuel and go to Warncliffe.

Neither of those three are in the Borders, they're all in D & G. I pretty much disagree with everything that Garry_Lager and GW say about those three places too.

Go up the A7 from Carlisle and head to Inners, then on upto Laggan Via Edinburgh.

FWIW there`s a rally through Ae on Sunday, so some of the "link sections" may be <cough> interesting </cough>

GW – in my humble opinion Drumlanrig just doesnt flow. It's not like a proper centre like the Stanes as every so often you get loads of roots which you have to get off and walk over, so yeah, given the obstacles that interrupt the flow of the ride best avoid huh? Add in all the mud and damp and yeah, no place for a bike really in my mind 🙂

ha ha ha… Brilliant!! 😆

WTF 🙄

Garry_Lager – I felt like that about Mabie but was shown some more natural trails to add in and that changed my prespective entirely and as a night ride location just brilliant.

Of the three I'd choose Mabie, but then if you're going there then you might as well drive the extra half hour and go to Dalbeattie, which is far better than the three trails you mention.

OP any time folks on here ask which trails to ride in D&G it spawns a heated black and white debate about which is the best. They are all good rides & worth a visit IMO, spoilt for choice really. Drumlanrig roots will certainly be a challenge in this weather, Mabie & Ae are easy to visit on your journey North. Mabie has plenty to offer if you know the local trails, Ae good for a longer blast but not everyones cup of tea, all three have cafes but Dumlanrig's might be shut this time of year?

every so often you get loads of roots which you have to get off and walk over

Best laugh I've had all week

Aye I can't work out if he's being serious or not!

wasn't impressed with Ae – I'd go to Glentress

wasn't impressed with Ae

QUESTION Does that not really mean you couldn`t ride it? /QUESTION

Thanks for the comments, here's the feedback:

Forest of Ae, very wet on Monday pm. Did the red route on my own except for the first section where the blue route leaves it to go down to the valley. It felt quite remote in the conditions. Used Spesh fast track tyres which were more than grippy enough on my Stumpy. Enjoyed the varied terrain, particularly the climb up 'the face', the board walk was a surprise at the top of the hill. Felt it didn't really flow for me and was rather lumpy/rough a bit of a bone shaker.
Laggan Wolftrax on Tuesday, thought it was very good but needed to do the routes multiple times to get a decent length of ride. Much more technical than Ae. Bike park was a big hoot! Converted my colleague who isn't into biking that much, it put a big smile on his face.
Glenmore on Wednesday, need to get more local info, didn't find a great deal of singletrack that was worth shouting about, but I believe it's there somewhere.

Paul.

There are 500 drumlanrigs up and down the UK

Utter drivel. Of course everyone has 15+ miles of rooty swoopy singletrack in their local woods.

every so often you get loads of roots which you have to get off and walk over

Whit?!!! Jesus wept…….

If you've not been to any of the trail centres around Dumfries before…. then any one of them are good for a blast, I personally like them all and visit each of them to keep things interesting..

I believe there doing some tree felling at Dalbettie at the moment so their are diversions in place.

Drumlanrig has some good rooty techy sections in it and has some excellent fast natural feeling singletrack, i felt the red trail was a bit too short… so planning too give the black a shot next time

Mabie is excellent at this time of year too, lots of varied terrain with some good climbs and fast sections… there are some good wet rooty sections to be had too, plus they have a cool 4x track…. you can easily loose an hr on that

Kirrie is well worth the drive 😀

Kirrie is well worth the drive

+1 kirrie is well worth the extra 'hour'

seriously looking for jobs in the newtn stewart area 🙂