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Much of it?
Any good (I realise this is subjective!). But is it steep tech or mellow.
One of our group is less confident so trying to find somewhere they can ride easier trail Center stuff whilst enabling the rest to ride something a bit more interesting.
I really like GT off piste, lot of variation.
At the tamer end you’ve got Fairy Liquid, Empire of Dirt and Careless Whisper.
In the middle the likes of Cock Nostril, 5 Year Plan* (don’t get upset people, sticking to Trail Forks names for simplicity), Broon Troot and Zorro
Then Trailfairy Plan and Hammertime would be quite at home on the Golfie. With Thunderstruck and the Huntsman being similar but shorter.
Not necessarily the easiest to find your way between them though. Trailforks is a massive help
*possibly not accessible at the moment
Who the hell names these trails?
Sounds like you need a guide.
Yes there are some great off piste trails there, much better than the trail centre ones. The one that starts near the mast and is not very tech but flat out(don't know the name) is an awesome trail. Trailfairy plan is very steep so very different from the other one, plenty of variety more so than at golfie I'd say.
Thanks all. We rode Golfie today - some great trails there. Enduro there this weekend so will be busy.
It would be great if anyone is in the vicinity of Innerleithen and riding over the next few days and doesn’t mind hangers on for showing the off piste stuff (not necessarily GT), send me a PM!
I've tweaked my wrist or I'd come down. You can't go too wrong though. It almost all links and laps nicely into the red and black, much like inners it uses the trailcentre to get around . Careless Whisper, Huntsman and Thunderstruck are all basically on the same fireroad loop frinstance. Hammertime, Mast of Zorro, Plan B (Trailfairy Plan as some call it) and Five Year Plan all come off the black.
If it were me, I'd do Careless Whisper as a warmup, grind back up, probably do Thunderstruck, grind up the black and do Zorro or Plan B/Trailfairy Plan (zorro is a little easier but I reckon more fun), then if I felt I had the legs I'd go around the black a bit and do Five Year Plan and Broon Troot, otherwise I'd maybe do Huntsman and then work down by the Fort or Dave's Trail. That's not too full on in terms of challenge- Plan B is the hardest trail in that set mostly just because it's fallen apart a bit since we built it! But it's all great riding, characterful stuff as well to be a bit of a change from golfy steepruts. Though I should say I don't know exactly what's what with the closures and building now
Don't rule out doing chunks of the official trails either, they're feeling their age but still good. Frinstance doing the official blacks ewok village and the bitch then into offpiste ponduro is a classic wee set
Don't rule out doing bits of red and black though, it's all decent.
If you're still about in the week I can show you round a few locations.
sharkattack Full Member
Who the hell names these trails?
Broon Troot was probably named by Pete Laing, after a not entirely safe for work story he told.
The Glorious Five Year Plan was my suggestion.
B-Side I think got named by Mark Goodall, one of the rangers. Or at least he was involved in that conversation.
I think that Mild Peril was named by a vote of people on the Trailfairies Facebook page.
Mushroom Pie was named by a friend of mine called Matthew, who used to be a Trailfairy.
Thanks all. Had some fun on trailplanfairy and Hammertime! (Which was pretty dry) being my personal faves.
Not sure if the Bristolian that’s living in the borders now with his girlfriend that I met at the top of Hammertime is on here - thanks for the tips if you are - a great trail.
I think B-Side was Peter Douglas? Just because the trail absolutely refused to grow a name by itself so it became pretty much just a "we think this is a good name for any random trail". Mild Peril has to have been basically one of yours Chris. Trailfairy Plan I think is MC's fault, could be wrong but I think he put it on strava so that nobody else could jump in, and then the name stuck. (Happy Endings is I think because just enough of us have dirty minds while Andy Wardman is a beautiful innocent)
The Naming of Trails is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, trail must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the riders use daily,
Such as Spooky Wood, Falla Brae, Bitch or Good Game
Such as Sixtapod, Coal Not Dole, or Melted Welly
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gnarwhals, some for the tame:
Such as Dirt Merchant, Crank It Up, or Seven Year War
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a trail needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep all its turns perpendicular,
Or deberm his puddles, or drain his topside?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Flatlands or GBU, Y2K, Sheepskull
Such as Lone Wolf, Dances With Wolves, or Wolf Of Wall Street
Names that never belong to more than one trail.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover--
But THE TRAIL ITSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a trail in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
Its mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of its name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable
singular
Name.
Northwind Full Member
I think B-Side was Peter Douglas? Just because the trail absolutely refused to grow a name by itself so it became pretty much just a “we think this is a good name for any random trail”. Mild Peril has to have been basically one of yours Chris. Trailfairy Plan I think is MC’s fault, could be wrong but I think he put it on strava so that nobody else could jump in, and then the name stuck. (Happy Endings is I think because just enough of us have dirty minds while Andy Wardman is a beautiful innocent)
I missed the session where B Side was named so thanks for filling in that detail - I was probably told the result of the discussions by Mark. I'm fairly sure you're right about A Trailfairy Plan, MC stuck it on Strava to stop something like Hush Hush happening again. I'm sure he claims he can't change the name to B Side once that was agreed upon by the Trailfairies, but I've also heard it suggested he doesn't like that name and that's why it's not been changed...
I think I suggested 3 possible names for Mild Peril, and other names were proposed too. Mild Peril was probably one of mine, but I also liked 21 Reasons and Halfway to Peebles. I dimly recall I might have been part of the chat that produced Happy Ending too.
B-side came about, because it's the back side of Glentress, although I'm not sure who came up with it.
I did rename Trailfairy Plan on Strava, but somebody else copied it to Trailforks and it's never been changed.
If the relevant Trailforks mod reads this, perhaps he could change it?
Hush Hush did get changed to 5YP on Trailforks, but it's still HH on Strava.
Yeah, and while we're at it New York, New York at the Golfie was always Pussy Riot, how did that frikin happen? Okay, it's a much better name but still!
On the subject of trail names, Forestry and Land Scotland currently have a poll going for naming some of the new trails being built down the bottom of Glentress. Still due for opening sometime in June, and they do look like they'll be a lot of fun.
Shirley they should be named after some of Scotlands finest YouTubers and influencers, a little nod to all their selfless hard work. Or they could've been named after some of the faeries, like ChrisL, who gave up their weekends for years. A fanfare for the faeries.
Who the hell names these trails?
I don't know but I applaud whoever named "She's a Squirter" at Dalby.