A route I keep returning to every winter is some variation on the theme of Kinbuck (home of Deviate Cycles) to Dunblane, Doune, Bridge of Allan and back again. In parts this hugs the banks of the Allan Water, the River Teith, the Ardoch and if time permits can pick up some lovely stuff around the Forth as well.
This year though I was very excited to check out some new sections further upstream on the River Teith, I had spotted some faint smudges on Strava heatmap and had committed to checking them out, but then a friendly local spotted a ride invite I had posted on FB and confirmed my suspicions, there were trails in those woods!
This always started as a 'winter gravel ride' but this year fell firmly into the category of CX, the trails were ridiculously slippy and I hit the deck more than once having merely thought slightly askance, only to have the front wheel wash out (Terreno Mix 38s, good tyres but not CX mud tyres!). Once I got my eye in this just made the whole ride all the more fun, and thankfully my woeful performances on the CX course over the last couple of months seem to have translated into reasonable fitness and handling on the sloppy winter trails.
I was glad of the foam inserts though, I clunked my way over an awful lot of roots.
Conclusion: one for the perverts, but if you like your trails tech, rooty, slippy, pedally and with a non-zero chance of falling in a river, you might like this one.
https://www.strava.com/routes/3430782717596650932
Edit: I forgot to mention the mandatory bracken bashing section down from the A84 back to the River Teith, following the west bank of the Annet Burn. It's not too painful, I tried to stay close to the burn but hit lots of windfall, I think if you hug the wall at the edge of the field the going would be easier, or even hop the wall and descend the field edge, it looks like an equestrian XC course of sorts. The burn looked pretty impassable, sadly there was apparently once a bridge here but no longer.
Looks perfect for a xc bike.
Looks perfect for a xc bike.
Yes very true, although given the choice between the sharper handling of a CX bike vs. an XC MTB, I think I would still take the CX bike, after riding drop bar more this year I've noticed that even my relatively old school steep geometry Superfly feels clumsy in comparison. I probably just need to re-adjust to it.
Nice to have the luxury of choice though!
My dodgy wrist and old back wouldn't thank me attempting that on the gravel bike but it looks a great alternative to my normal winch n plummet riding.
I thought in the second photo that you had a slick rear tyre which was brave! Then realised it was a mudguard photo’d at a weird angle.
I thought in the second photo that you had a slick rear tyre which was brave! Then realised it was a mudguard photo’d at a weird angle.
😂
To be honest that mudguard was virtually redundant, not sure I ever picked up enough speed for the spray to reach my bum 🙄
Reminds me of after work exploring in the area. One such trip got interesting when a gamey was buzzing around looking for me in a wood south of the Teith Just west of the westernmost part of the track on the map. Was in there gathering grid square photos for that site, and you never quite know what reception you are going to get in a Perthshire woodland. I sat for a while inside a woodland block and heard the bike going around in circles before I made an unopposed exit.
Ha! I followed a bunch of trails (or so I thought) at the end of the ride, near Dunblane.
There was virtually nothing on the ground but the Strava heatmap sort of led me to a variety of pheasant feeders, suspect the gamekeeper has been uploading from his smar****ch 😂
Excellent.
Group of us are going to follow some of these trails tomorrow night on the eebs.
I hope it's ones you already know! Would hate to be responsible for any hernias lifting e-bikes through windfall... 😬
Och. We'll be fine 🙂
Had a go at this today with a friend. Started in BofA and got as far as Buchany before doubling back.
Are you sure there's a trail there?
Excellent wee adventure through a bunch of stuff I'd not done before, so thanks for the imspiration.
Bugger, sorry Stirling! I thought I had described that portion but only in an FB post on Gravel Bike Scotland.
As you join the road at the top of the Kilmadock Cemetery path, you turn left (I just stayed on the grass verge) and then turn again through a knackered old farm gate.
You basically need to follow the field wall down to the river, there's no trail but it's relatively clear and passable. There is some sort of old road that follows the burn more closely, I followed this but there were a lot of fallen trees to clamber through. Once you get down to the river there's an old gate through the fence with a tree fallen across it, so a slightly awkward scramble, but then you pick up the good singletrack again to the Lanrick bridge.
You got as far as the road, you can see where I descended back to the Teith but stay closer to the western boundary of that wee strip.
Trail along north bank to the bridge was great.
Trail along south bank was 'interesting' but ultimately turned into a very north-shore-esque tip toe along fallen trees to bypass a ruined bridge.
Turn uphill and right at the big ruined house instead and pick up the route again 👍
Cheers.
We were on eebs so the fact we skipped the north-shore-esque bit is probably a good thing 🙂
That and we wanted to find a coffee shop.
The track branching right (following the green markup) avoids the sketchiness.
Having said that, following the south bank on foot might be an interesting exercise, I ended up at a big Victorian looking structure which was the inlet for the Deanston Distillery Lade, quite cool just to stumble across. You can see though that the trail peters out at that point so had to double back.
I’m loving that the sweat filter censors ‘smar****ch’