[Closed] Golspie trails

There's the 'ladder' black climb which i wouldn't ever consider on an SS. Otherwise I think it would be OK, if thats your thing...

The top section of the black is pretty technical, I remember thinking similar to Laggan. It consists of obstacles rather than a long, technical trail. Like bouldering rather than routes, as a climbing analogy.

Its very good.

This [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/riding-north-of-golspie ]recent thread[/url] might be useful - pics etc.

Aint rode it myself though.

cheers rob - were you on the STW clova ride ?

Iain Cs photos look good , Ive been forewarned about the lactate ladder and promised a pint if i can clean it - good job i dont really drink cause i ont think ill see tht pint ! - putting an 18 back on my 29er for the weekend though.

If its remotely like laggan i aint taking my merida up - it just wouldnt be fun ! the rig is the fun bike !

tr - wasn't on that Clova ride, think that was during a severe hiatus from the forum while work went bollocks-mental!

An xc racing-mate did Golspie on his RockyM Vertex 70, reckoned he just couldn't find the flow of the place & it would've been far better on my pitch. He did recommend Balblair for stunning use of the bedrock, if you've time for 2 courses!

tr, lactic ladder is short so you won't die if you have to carry it! The next bit of climb is a steep fireroad which might be unpleasant on a SS but you might 'enoy' that? You can miss that whole top section out but I'd recommend doing it at least once.

The descent is amazing. It's not like Laggan with big rocky chutes although there are a few sections like that. There's lots jumps and drops mixed up with little trialsy corners and chutes. Towards the bottom it gets smooth and fast.

If it was me and I had two bikes I'd take the 'fun' one!

I love Golspie! It's 15mins from my parents house so my Christmas break means lots of biking. Got to try Balblair this year too.

im up that way every weekend in november and january-february and march... - ill be riding lots.

Missus has been posted to invergordon and inverness highschools

Golspie and contin this weekend - will check balblair out - heard good things about it !

I rode it on a geared inbred, it was brilliant. I don;t reckon I'd be able to ride my SS up the lactic ladder, it was tough going - and excellent piece of trail, technically demanding with enough interest so that you don;t notice the height gain, stunning views from the top, an a gobsmackingly good descent to finish.

Balblair is good, but not in the same league

tr, I'll be there for a bit in January I think, if you fancy someone to ride with give me a shout. It might be worth getting in touch with Gordymac and the fyrishbikes guys, they're totally friendly, ride from Alness or InverG and might just show you some of the best natural stuff in the country!

Contin is ace too. Best bet there is to pop into Square Wheels and join the shop ride. A good bunch of guys and they know those trails better than anyone. The shop's a total Aladins cave too!

Invergordon is... well actually I know some people that live there so I'll just say that it's better than Alness!

ridden contin plenty and know the area ok - 3 puffers do that to a man !

Spoken to Colin olden about riding up there with the fyrish boys but i think because its me n the missus riding it will just have to be me and the missus rather than a crowd

Steve at square wheels is due me 25 quids worth of product as part of a prize for puffer lite - might go and see this aladins cave - never been in - always shut when im racing

aye doug the meridas a 21lb race machine - already twisted one set of lowers - taking it to a trail center where i might jump it etc probably not the best idea....

Hi Terry

Give us a shout and myself and Ewan can show you our finest trails with or without your missus. What is she doing in the schools?

Doug Very tactical ;o)

Gordymac

trainee teacher gordy

probably be the weekend of the 21st before im free to ride on my jack jones but i wouldnt mind riding with you guys - may have to bring the merida for that - purely to keep up with ewan !

Terry, drop us a line when you're going up. It's fab and only a couple of hours for us. It's like a combination of Spooky wood on steroids and Laggan black toned down. There are chicken runs for all the drops, so Jayne will be ok, just check everything out first then go back up and do it again with flow. Will definitely be more fun on a full suss. Lactic Ladder is a fun test of your tech climbing skills.
Will just go and find a link for my Flickr (jojoa1) to post, where there are a good few pics of Golspie.

jo going up on saturday to golspie. Would be convincing for jayne also as she has a tendancy not to listen to me - who would 😉

[url] http://www.flickr.com/photos/jocarda1/sets/ [/url]

Some in the 'Scotland visit' set of Golspie and Balblair from when Matt took his cousin up North.

Ah, wouldn't manage Saturday as have to be at home at 5 for Corran to be dropped off. Another time soon though 🙂

love those sunsets at the end jo ! some good looking trails there (as far as trailcenters go ! ) - that konas warrenty is void though - he appears to be riding it !

yeah im sure we will be back if its as good as folk say !

Looks ace can't wait to go!

The sunsets are from the back of the house. Regularly get qyite stunning ones, oh and you can see Golspie across the water on a clear day! 🙂

The Kona's quite a spindly racy thing ain't it. It's Matt's cousin's. He has it set up [b]very[/b] racy with a flipped stem so he was brave taking it on some of the trails they rode.

Lactic Ladder is hard enough on a geared bike, I'd hate to think what its like on a SS! Black route is very good, however the most fun is the swoopy bit on the red route 🙂

Balblair is also very nice! Well worth a visit.

Typical Balblair riding:
[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gingerfox/1430040178/

yeah i dont think taking the missus to balblair would be a good idea - might visit my self though !

expect stuff like this:
[img] [/img]

We might be there on Sat too. Here's a couple of vids from our trips to Golspie. Not the greatest quality but will give you an idea. I wouldn't like to do the climb on a SS and I reckon you'd run out of gear on the descents which may ruin the experience. IMO of course 🙂

http://www.youtube.com/user/suburbanManiac#p/u/18/3DOH20_6elc

http://www.youtube.com/user/suburbanManiac#p/u/17/5ZLNKlaYs9o

Might well be at Golspie or Balblair as well over the next few days.

Terry- both me and Chris have ridden Golspie on our Scales.

however, there's a climb called the Lactic Ladder which'd be a bugger on the SS, and the descent, while not as techie as Laggan, has a few reasonably sized drops, some techie bits and some big jumps that you just aren't going to enjoy properly on that piece of Taiwanese Tat you ride.

lol lukey - thats rich coming from an ex scale owner .....

2 guesses why i say that 😉

Are both those guesses Oli related?

Or were you just tired of seeing them beat you 😉

i love living withing an hour of golspie and balblair....

lol - fed up lapping them with broken chains 😉

That was my first race 🙄

what at laggan and drumlanrig ?

laggan was my first race also 😉 was it heartbraking to get beat by someone on a 1998 bike 😉

Love you really luke !

reminds me - i really should do some racing in 2010 !

this post is gay!!

Jjo - have you and matt done Torridon without telling the rest of the stw (scottish) possie?? > flickr acc

Raddog, Matt was there with his cousin for a male bonding trip. I was at home slaving over a hot stove and keeping house.

(Some of the above post may be untrue, mainly the bits about stoves and housekeeping)

greig your gay ! you seen that tour du ben nevis ? me and goan reckon thatd be right up your street ! XC ride with timed sections (predominantly doonhills ! )

yeah dont lie jo - i know you were making the wains busk for there dinner !

(Some of the above post may be untrue, mainly the bits about stoves and housekeeping)

and the staying at home bit!!!

greig your gay ! you seen that tour du ben nevis ? me and goan reckon thatd be right up your street ! XC ride with timed sections (predominantly doonhills ! )

No, not yet, but i may take a quick peep at it. Next year maybe for racing for me, we'll see, though i do like the longer distance 'events' better........ seem more chilled atmosphere!

The Lactic Ladder is no problem on a SS bike, quite a nice walk actually.

Neil ex Square Wheels has ridden most of it on his SS, just one stop I believe.

but.... Neil is a machine....

he cant be used as an example...

fwiw terry.
your merida is fine round there. chris/luke had fun at the dawn raid up there on race bikes.

[img] [/img]
i found it fine on mine.

If there's going to be a proper north (not the southern north that they mistakenly call north down south) STW bonding session at Golspie or Balblair soon then I'm probably up for it. Get it in before the end of Nov and you can laugh at my comedy mouser.

[url=

Vid[/url]

I've cleaned the ladder several times SS 32:18.
It helps being as fat as me because this allows you to put lots of pressure on the pedals. 🙂 (Think there may actually be an element of truth in this)

Big sticky tubeless tyres help too.

epicyclo - where is big neil now ? shame hes gone !

32:18 is a ladys gear if your on a 26er 😉 im going to put 32:18 back on my 29er for it - been riding 32:16 on it all summer

well that wasnt as hard as you guys made out ...either that or its been made easier recently .

cleaned it first time on 32:18 on the 29er - reckon id have made it on my normal 32:16

some good stuff on the downhills though decked it on the woodwork in the trees , it was wet - i jumped onto it from the trail , and the wheels just went out from under me and landed about 6 foot down the banking as i slid down the woodwork on my ass

hey, I saw you today, I was the kid behind the counter in squarewheels that lent you the stuff....