Golfie? Has Mark Scott completed it mate?

by 18

Mark Scott’s goal was to ride every trail on the Golfie in one ride. That’s 44 trails by our reckoning. Did he succeed?

That’s a lot of calories. How many macaroni pies is that? IYKYK. How many Golfie laps or trails have you managed in one sitting? And were you actually riding come the end, or just death gripping and hoping for the best? Anyway, count us impressed with this effort and here’s the official PR.

Santa Cruz Bicycles press release:

Tales of derring-do have emanated from the Tweed Valley for thousands of years; from the brutal, lawless Border Reivers, to the fisherman who travelled the globe to sample Scotland’s finest Salmon river or the hardy, stoic mill workers of the 19th and 20th century, there have always been tales to tell, and a spirited bunch who would happily undertake acts to place themselves into folklore.

The Valleys laid back ebb and flow of everyday life, mixed with a topography that alights a sparkle in any two-wheeled pilots eye has seen mountain biking thrown into the mixing pot of it’s future history and tales.

The trail builders saw potential, the racers raced, and many under-sung heroes spent countless hours amongst the blocks of Sitka Spruce, slowly chipping, trimming and sculpting their artwork onto the slopes that surround Innerleithen.

So it was that the “Golfie” and its world class network of trails, or Caberston Forest and Cairn Hill if we’re being official, entered the nomenclature of every aspiring rider or trailer creator in Britain as a standard to aim for.

A short ride from the village centre, The Golfie, located above Innerleithen’s Golf course, is in a constant state of flux. Trails appear, then slowly fade from memory, only for others to emerge and alight the forest with sounds of joy. It is a dynamic place, shaped by those who care.

To ride every trail on this hill is a task few have attempted, let alone completed. Rising up to over 600m, to do so requires an insane level of fitness, and commitment. Then you need the “knowledge” – knowing of every trail on this hill, some dating back to the 80s, requires a local’s eye and support of those that have traced this expanse. The trails range from mellow-ish, through to EWS hard, and too hard for EWS, challenges. In short, it isn’t simply about fitness. You must be good. You must be liked by the community. You must be… mad.

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Orange Switch 6er. Stif Squatcher. Schwalbe Magic Mary Purple Addix front. Maxxis DHR II 3C MaxxTerra rear. Coil fan. Ebikes are not evil. I have been a writer for nigh on 20 years, a photographer for 25 years and a mountain biker for 30 years. I have written countless magazine and website features and route guides for the UK mountain bike press, most notably for the esteemed and highly regarded Singletrackworld. Although I am a Lancastrian, I freely admit that West Yorkshire is my favourite place to ride. Rarely a week goes by without me riding and exploring the South Pennines.

More posts from Ben

Home Forums Golfie? Has Mark Scott completed it mate?

Viewing 18 posts - 1 through 18 (of 18 total)
  • Golfie? Has Mark Scott completed it mate?
  • 1
    GavinB
    Full Member

    The completely random use of the apostrophe in that ‘press release’ is eye-watering.

    Great riding though!

    Kramer
    Free Member

    Essentially Everesting, but with hard technical trails for the descents.

    Chapeau.

    jimmy
    Full Member

    Good lord.

    nickc
    Full Member

    The completely random use of the apostrophe in that ‘press release’ is eye-watering

    Glad I wasn’t the only one twitching. It is both the random sprinkling; and absence that catches the eye.

    singlespeedstu
    Full Member

    A mate was telling me about this a few weeks back.
    Didn’t realise there was going to be a video.

    I have no idea how he found the will to keep going to do that.

    I can just about manage 2000 meters over there in one hit and by that point it’s pretty difficult to even hang on to the bike on the easier descents.

    Fair play to him that’s pretty impressive.

    stanley
    Full Member

    Quite an interesting writing style but appalling punctuation. It’s like something I would do to annoy my mum 🙂

    Great effort by the rider though.

    mc
    Free Member

    It’s all those evil trailbuilders’ faults 🙂

    2
    chrismac
    Full Member

    Good grief that many laps of that fire road would be soul destroying. Top effort

    stevedoc
    Free Member

    Well played that man . That fire road haunts me .

    intheborders
    Free Member

    #Monster

    Most I’ve managed is 7500ft, could barely hang on during my last descent – took 3 cafe stops too…

    GavinB
    Full Member

    I watched the film a few weeks back when it was shown at Thrive in Ballater, where Mark spoke about the ride, which was great to hear his perspective some time after the event.  Conditions looked really grim, which must have made endless slogs back up just soul destroying.

    It made me think, when I was riding there a few weeks back, whether he pushed back up some trails, rather than riding all the way around?  For example, the various Wolf trails all link into Lone Wolf – does anyone know if he pushed up some of them, rather than doing the longer pedal round?

    oldnpastit
    Full Member

    That is very impressive. Amazing sawtooth elevation chart at the end, bonkers!

    funkhouser
    Free Member

    @GavinB he’s pedaled back up the fire road every time according to his strava.

    mashr
    Full Member

    It made me think, when I was riding there a few weeks back, whether he pushed back up some trails, rather than riding all the way around? For example, the various Wolf trails all link into Lone Wolf – does anyone know if he pushed up some of them, rather than doing the longer pedal round?

    Any time I’ve pushed up a steep trail instead of taking a normal route it’s been followed by deep, deep, regret

    GavinB
    Full Member

    @GavinB he’s pedaled back up the fire road every time according to his strava.

    Wow, even more impressive ride in that case – mentally, that must take its toll.

    1
    arrpee
    Free Member

    I’m going to carve that elevation chart into a pumpkin tonight. Terrifying.

    stanfree
    Free Member

    I’d bet even after 44 trails and close on a 100 miles in the wet and the dark his ‘Final Fling’ time was still about 30 seconds faster than my best ever time. He’s a very talented rider.

    1
    Northwind
    Full Member

    Quick, someone knock in a new trail, throw some leaf litter on it to make it look older, and tell him “sorry mate you missed one, can’t believe you didn’t know about golfie classic Fermented Lammergeier though”

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