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Anyone ridden the tracks likely to be used for the SES round in September? I seen Cathro and Hutchens having some real positive stuff to say about the riding, just wondering if it's worth the short ferry over for a days riding?.
No but I doubt they're hard to find. Steep hill with good fireroad access and I guess most branch off from there.
Some bits on Strava
https://www.strava.com/segments/11656260
https://www.strava.com/segments/6359759
https://www.strava.com/segments/10296686
It's one of our diggers' local spots, he's talking a [i]very[/i] good game. Looking forward to the race, should be a grand weekend- wee boat trip, have a look at some trees at benmore, oh aye, and a bit of bike racing but hopefully that won't spoil it 😆
he's talking a very good game
They did the same about Kelburn though 😆
Word is very positive though I suspect it'll be a nightmare in bad weather. Not that that ever happens round that way...
Use then most weeks. 5 mile cycle to the ferry at Gourock then a 25 min crossing. The guys in the cowal mountain bike club have put a lot of time and effort in. I Really should go lend a hand some time...
They did the same about Kelburn though
To be fair, none of the actual trailbuilders at Kelburn did, only the stooges in command!
Edit - looking at those strava segments up there, even shorter than Kelburn too! Plenty time left to build more though, to be fair....
There was never any chance of Kelburn hosting a round of the Scottish enduro, poor access and the longest descent is a max of 2 minutes.
Edit - looking at those strava segments up there, even shorter than Kelburn too! Plenty time left to build more though, to be fair...
True but it's more the surrounding terrain that gives options. i didn't think those would be the stages alone as there's more than enough hill above or below them to create longer stages
There was never any chance of Kelburn hosting a round of the Scottish enduro, poor access and the longest descent is a max of 2 minutes.
It wasn't limited to Kelburn though Gregor, original suggestions were that the douglas park, kelburn and Fairlie trails were all part of the plan. Tbh - to me the descents were never the limiting factor, they had plenty of time to fire in some rough cut stuff off of the top of the hill, away above the current trails. The harder part would have been that there are no climbs to access the top of the hill.
Anyway, that's all in the past. I'm looking forward to trying out the Dunoon stuff, trails sound good and a nice wee ferry jaunt always adds to the weekend.....
I'll be heading over shortly with one of guys who rides in my local hills just across the water in Greenock, he rides with the Cowal guys,it all sounds promising, hoping so anyway, would be good to have some good trails closer to home, I have been over once or twice in the past over the years but never really found much but you could see the massive potential.
Good stuff dd, look forward to a wee ride report.
They're ace and it's very easy to have a big day in the hills riding them. In the Dunoon enduro last October we put in as many minutes descent as the SES rounds were putting in to their rounds last year.
Is it easy enough to ride from the ferry to the trails? Just thinking it might be cheaper that way rather than taking the car across.
Yep you can easily ride to the trails from either boat. I really enjoy the trails over here and am lucky to have them on the doorstep. Linking some of them up should give some scope for longer runs for the stages. The SXC race seemed to go down well as did the last enduro.
Quite handy from Glasgow; I'll need to head down for an explore. Would be good to see some of the trails up on trailforks.
Ferry being only 5 mins from me and a free afternoon I decided to head over yesterday and have a look around, quite easy to find the main trails,I had a fair idea where they were from previous visits over the years to the area, you can see the amount of effort that been put into these trails, I would imagine they could be a nightmare in the wet, theres also wee offshoots of loamy singletrack in and around the Bishops Glen which is basically the same area,Im going to head back over today now I have my bearings and to ride the stuff I never had to the time to do yesterday...£8:60 return on the ferry btw, was a fiver lasttime I was over, you can get them a little cheaper from the shop in Gourock though.
Need more pics Brian! #ringoffire 😆
I'm hoping to head over on Tuesday. No prior knowledge so any tips for trails finding would be appreciated.
Well that turned out to be a pretty awesome day, not one trail I didnt enjoy, got 35km and over 1100m climbing out of and not one trail repeated, still a few I never got in,was pretty busy over there today,amazing what one wee video can do 🙂 locals said they've never seen it like that ever, kept bumping into folk Ive seen at various enduro events over the last couple of years, seriously worth a visit, can see me being a regular visitor,
Nobeerinthefridge never took many photos, maybe need to hook up and head over, #steviesorefingers is looking for a visit as well 🙂
YoKaiser the best of the trails all basically start on the same hill, I just switched on strava, at the start of a trail to get my bearings , from there I kinna knew where the other started
I couldn't believe how busy it was today! Like you say one wee video......
YoKaiser post up on the Cowal Mountain Bike Facebook page. Someone might be able to show you around.
me and my mates had an awesome days riding there yesterday,and don't think we scratched the surface,not to far from clydebank and the trails were running so quick,met a few lads who seemed to enjoy it,and two local lads who were on the look out for the bearded gang. :p
we'll be back up for sure!!
Superb Brian, need to get a wee day over with yersel and sairfingers!