[Closed] Ae cafe' closed?

Been shut a while. Friend in the area advised it was because of cost of rent /rates on premises and lack of daily visitors makes it difficult to run profitably.he looked at numbers and could not see it paying.
Richard

Double post sorry
Richard

It's a real shame. The guys had obviously put a lot of effort in to make it successful, and I reckon if it had actually been in the car park it would've been sustainable, but being where it was it was just too easy to drive past.

www.ae7blog.wordpress.com

i'm going to stick this out there and suggest that there's a link* between people people who like blues/easy reds, and people who will spend money in the cafe.

the Ae blue run is rubbish - a total waste of time

the Ae red run is hard work compared to mabie.

so all the customers go to Mabie/Glenress.

(*i might be wrong, but i won't be going back to Ae until there's a blue run my girlfriend can get excited about; 15k, easy swoopy interesting climbs, long swoopy descents)

which is a shame - because the start of the first (red) climb at Ae is superb.

I'd rather not ride my bike again than have to ride Ae. Awful place.

Agree with comments about blue and red , we rode last month with some friends. It' just felt like an endless slog to get round the red. A few nice flows of singletrack and a descent towards the end but nothing to write home about. I guess visitors use the other Stanes nearby. We all loved Dalbeattie as a contrast to Ae.

Just about to be re-opened, new tender for lease is being processed atm....

Having spent quite a bit of time at AeI can assure you that the stw views on Ae are not shared by the many visitors I have spoken to

With the new wind farm being constructed at the far end between Bran Burn and the Edge sections there are proposals for 2 new sections of trail. 1 joining Bran Burn to the Edge and then a climb from the Edge up towards the Stane somewhere. Not seen any plans but know it is being discussed
Have said it before and will say it again that if the 1/2 the amount of effort put into GT went into the D&G Stanes then they would be as good as some people think GT is 🙄

Some of the issues Rob encountered were lack of investment in the trails, countless trail closures due to harvesting, some due to trail erosion caused by the weather, the winter weather making impossible to get to the trail head, Amey preventing any road side signage etc..... How big is the signage for GT!!

I was disappointed to find the cafe closed when we were there in April but I enjoyed the riding. There's nowt wrong with having to work hard at a trail Ctr in my opinion. Fingers crossed for the new cafe/shop folk. It would help if, as mentioned above, cafe and main parking were in the same place.

Sorry Trekster but I know more people that don't like Ae than do. The general opinion being that it just doesn't flow. Even the new section seems poorly thought out, with berms where you don't need them and nothing where you do.

Drumlanrig's hardly had any money spent on it, but Rick's done a great job there. Ae just seems to be so close to being a good ride, but just falls short for some reason.

The "descend" sign at the start of Omega Man is completely unforgivable of course 😉

I like Ae. Of the 7 Stanes I've ridden, it has the most "natural" and "out there" feel to it. Of course, that's probably why so many folk on here don't like it.

legend - Member

The "descend" sign at the start of Omega Man is completely unforgivable of course

Not just me then 😆

I need to get back to Ae and see if I'm still as unimpressed with it... I couldn't call it bad, I had a perfectly nice ride but it's right close to Dalbeattie, Mabie and Drum, and not too far from KT, so it's got a hard job to do to compete with that.

Ae for me is a tricky trail centre. When its hot its brilliant, you have to ride it fast to really appreciate it, but if you can get some speed up, do say an hour lap, then its pretty fun. When its wet and miserable and you feel 'off' its a disaster of a place, feels like your fighting the trail all the time. The difficulty is, and its been said, when you have a porsche, ferrari and lamborghini garage so close, why would you buy a maserati??

Th DH runs are good fun.

for me unforgivable is the fact they used to try and use a kettle to make tea for 30 people, they ran out of cake frequently and never really had that much going on.

Economics of the place may be tough but get the basics right - tea & cake in less than 20mins please.

The trails are fun too

Having spent quite a bit of time at AeI can assure you that the stw views on Ae are not shared by the many visitors I have spoken to

you're speaking to the wrong people.

of course the people who [u]are[/u] there like it - that's why they're there.

you need to speak to the people who don't go there - and ask them what they think.

where will you find these people? - i'll let you figure that one out... 🙂

Th DH runs are good fun.

yes they are, but i bet i can sell more food/drink to families with kids than you can to Dhers with ply-lined race vans...

good luck to all at Ae - i have fond memories.

I like Ae too, rather a lot in fact, because:

a)its hard work, the feeling of having done meaningful exercise
b)its a bit wilder than the other 7, more of an untamed feel
c)its a very varied route

I like Ae even though my buddy broke his hip there and hasn't really ridden since 🙁

legend - Member
Sorry Trekster but I know more people that don't like Ae than do. The general opinion being that it just doesn't flow. Even the new section seems poorly thought out, with berms where you don't need them and nothing where you do.

Drumlanrig's hardly had any money spent on it, but Rick's done a great job there. Ae just seems to be so close to being a good ride, but just falls short for some reason.

you need to speak to the people who don't go there - and ask them what they think.

where will you find these people? - i'll let you figure that one out...

Even the new section seems poorly thought out, with berms

hhmmm I get the feeling that there's been another "new" section added since I was last there

I like Ae as well.

I like the fact its hard work and a bit rough round the edges.

Some of the sections are a bit meh but its got plenty of good bits as well

Personally I'd rather go to Ae than Dalbeattie, just not enough of the trail points down at Dalbeatie to make it worth the extra half hour drive.

The "descend" sign at the start of Omega Man is completely unforgivable of course

This is very true though!

This thread reminds me to stop off there next time I'm passing. I've only been twice. The first in 2004 was my first ever visit to a trail centre and absolutely loved it. It seemed freakishly manicured but weirdly remote at the same time. I then went in I think 2009 and thought is was rubbish. Didn't seem to flow like I remembered it, in fact it was like a totally different place. Half the bermed bits were so washed away and weather damaged that getting enough speed up to actually need a berm was never going to happen.

Last time I was there on a silly long travel hardtail thing though. It seemed to be a place specifically designed for xc bikes with dropper posts and a strava mentality!

I like Ae

They need to include Shredder in the red route

Half the bermed bits were so washed away and weather damaged

legend - Member
hhmmm I get the feeling that there's been another "new" section added since I was last there

To add to the red turn right onto the forest road after the first climb and follow forest road. Descend blue, turn right onto forest road. Follow forest road to pick up blue through the trees and then back up the first climb and carry on along the red route 😆
Or do it at the end of the ride by retracing trail as above from end of last boardwalk 💡