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Ex-Balerno, now Aviemore. Regrets? Not moving sooner (back to your comment about jobs).
Grey air. One of my abiding memories of visits to Aberdeen is that everyone smokes, all of the time.
Was that during the first oil boom in the 70s Scotroutes? Aye definitely not the good old days
Kelburn trails are a no-go these days. Landowners decided they didn’t want them in the end
Not quite true on both counts, they're still there, just not actively being maintained any more as Nick the trailbuilder moved to Fife. If he hadn't moved, they'd still be going, landowners never actually binned the trails.
They're not the best trails in the area anyway, there's better up on the moor, and kelburn can be tacked on at the end.
@Mashr, @mcj78, @squirrelking, let's get a ride sorted soon.
Interesting, last thing I can remember seeing about them was a “stay away” type post from the guys on the old Facebook page (now deleted by the look of it?)
Sadly an increase in number of children means I don’t actually ride a bike. @philjunior seems to be alarmingly close to me too though
Sounds interesting, Fairlie moor? I go over there on the road bike every now & again and often wondered if theres any trails up there - was a guy new to the area asking about MTB trails on a local FB page & I messaged him about some of the stuff around the village, he sounded keen so might be another one interested!
Gimme a PM @mcj78, could meet at Dalry, then we can get the train, no driving needed.
Mashr, mon oot tae play. 😋
Always up for a ride if work allows, I'm on shifts anyway so no hassle figuring out in advance.
@mcj78 There's a FB group doing occasional rides from Largs and Fairlie as well (North Ayrshire Mountain Biking). Last one was up and down Crosbie and Kaim Hills then down to Southannan Glen (I bailed on Kaim because I was freezing and didn't have a jacket or dinner before I left)
Always love the excitement of whether I'll get through Lochwinnoch or gamble on the Boag road.
Pakora's? India Gate in Dunblane. Om nom nom.
I recall riding misty law once, was pretty good, many years ago, lovely views.
Pakora’s? India Gate in Dunblane. Om nom nom.
Can't beat a cheese & tomato pizza and chips from Papas. Was never allowed to order so we used to hide in the rhododendron bushes at the school entrance and wait for the delivery van 😀
Ha, this thread made me laugh.
Everywhere has its pros and cons. Depends what sort of place you are used to living too I guess.
I'm from Edinburgh, it's a much nicer place to.live than it was when I was growing up, loads of places to eat and drink, not all pretentious and expensive. Just avoid most places on George Street.
It often comes high lists of best cities to live in. The main downside is property is expensive, some of the cheaper commuter towns just outside the bypass are best avoided. But East Lothian is generally nice. North Berwick is popular but not much cheaper than Edinburgh.
I work with loads of guys mostly from the north east and they're always go on about loving Edinburgh. And honestly August is my favourite time of year here. I don't live or commute through the centre so that probably helps.
And like others said, Pentland hills for local trails in summer is good, bit boggy in winter bit it's not too far to the tweed valley.
Talking of the tweed valley, the Borders are really nice, you could live somewhere along the Borders railway route so can commute easily to Edinburgh and be 15min from tweed valley trails.
Stirling looks like a wee Edinburgh, I get the feeling it's a pretty quiet town. The countryside north from there is beautiful and loads of trails plus not far from Aviemore.
Stirling not far from Aviemore !! It's nearer to Carlisle and it's in England
I lived in Edinburgh for over 20 years and it's great, but with it getting very run down, expensive and airbnbs taking over the place I'm not sure I'd live there again. The buses are great but the traffic is horrendous. It's great having the Pentlands on your doorstep. Midlothian and East Lothian are really good.
Lived in Peebles for the best part of a year, it's a nice town and probably great for raising a family but I didn't really enjoy it. I feel the locals are pretty sick of mountain bikers and to a degree the bikers themselves are kind of a phoney rab jacket/VW van veneer on the top thinking they own the place. There's not really any good pubs and the commute to Edinburgh really was a chore especially in winter. So much of your day spent sitting in a metal box and ironically it meant there wasn't really any more time to ride in the evening than when I just lived in Edinburgh. And I've never lived anywhere with so much dog mess everywhere.
Originally from north of Inverness and don't have much bad to say about that part of the world! Inverness itself isn't what it used to be and the hospital is struggling but some of the villages outside are great. Winter is long and dark but the summer is remarkably dry and it's still light out when you go to bed. Having the proper Highlands in reach is superb.
Dunfermline? Fife life! Half hour to Edinburgh or Perth, an hour to Glasgow and Dundee. In terms of biking just over an hour to the Tweed Valley, 2 and a bit to Aviemore, Dunkeld 45 minutes. Some ok stuff locally at Blairadam and Benarty Hill, also the Lomond Hills and Pitmedden is good too, half hour away. The road riding is very good as well, some nice runs up over Knockhill and Glendevon.
The town itself is expanding quickly, presumably to cater for folk who can’t afford to buy in Edinburgh, although it’s a small town centre. Nice new library and good park and there’s plenty for kids to do in terms of variety of clubs/sport. East neuk is nice for a day out.
My wife secured a job in Inverness yesterday. We are in the process of buying a house within commuting distance of there anyway and thought we would have another 18 months waiting to move into it (my job comes with accommodation so we had this luxury) so this is a bit of a bolt from the blue. Good news is I have an interview on Wednesday and we are travelling together up for her to iron out terms and conditions (and actually meet them, all been via video conference so far!) and me to do the interview. The big issue is the interview on Wednesday is for literally the only job within 150 miles I am qualified to do. If I bollox it up I might be riding my bike a lot but which sounds great but is not sustainable.The pressure is massively on – which is why I am on here procrastinating rather than sorting out my presentation.
Update - quite a 48hrs in the Convert household. I was offered the job I was going for; accepted and resigned my current role this afternoon. Mrs C negotiated her role and accepted and resigned too. What is the chance of a couple moving 600 miles and getting a really good job each in the same week, with the house you were buying already exactly half way between the two? She is starting beginning of June and I'm following 6 weeks later. So it's off to Nairnshire for us. It's all become very real all of a sudden!
Watch out for the 'what car/pickup for 4 season back country highland commuting with a bike in the back?' thread coming your way very soon.
Welcome to the Highlands.
Soon remote will mean Edinburgh... 🙂
****ing ace!
Welcome to mountain bike heaven. So much riding in all directions. Don't know the stuff out forres and Elgin way so well but loads of local spots to enjoy. Not far from Inverness where you could ride forever and never get bored. Trails there are on another level. And plenty more spots further north.
The choices are endless
Amazing!
Great news, well played convert_household.
Now, about that 'rent a room at weekends to stw'ers' you mentioned a few pages back 😉
Cool! Hope the move goes well.
As above! great stuff, along the road in Elgin. Plenty of tracks and trails to keep you happy - shout up when you get the move sorted!
Welcome to the best wee country in the world..
On top of everything else spoken about in his thread, we've finally got a ski season kicking off now too. My morning commute by fatty into Dundee was over some very snowy Sidlaws this morning. Happy days..
Stirling not far from Aviemore !! It’s nearer to Carlisle and it’s in England
By 1.3 miles...
Watch out for the ‘what car/pickup for 4 season back country highland commuting with a bike in the back?’ thread coming your way very soon.
Aberdeenshire - but you can get by fine in a Civic. Just look for the winter tyres threads that pop up every October.
Winter Commute
this just popped up on my twitter feed. Stirling.
The op will most likely end up in kilbarchan🤑
If it was me, I'd plump for somewhere like Montrose (very briefly lived there as a kid) and enjoy the less strenuous coastal trails. Doesn't look too far by car to reach the Cairngorms?
Montrose, Stonehaven, Arrrghbroth are pretty dire although when the sky is misty Dunnottar castle is quite impressive. Maybe Peterheid Fraserburg or Rosehearty if your tough
Pe’erheed or the Broch? Jeez, not tough, mental you mean. A knowledge of Latvian will go a long way towards integration in the better parts though.
Arbroath has the added bonus of the local burr is just so ****ing whiney... comfy?
Good stuff, half the family are in Forres and Nairn, lots of scenery and good stuff, but it is a cold place compared to the rest of the UK!
Remember to support your local team as well, Forres Mechanics!
Think we're going to take a drive up to Stirling next friday and have a mooch about.
Any recommendations of where to head for and what to do?
Think we'll be leaving the bikes at home for once as we already kind of know that there local riding to be had and it might be more productive to experience the more day to day stuff.
Any areas in and around Stirling we should take a look at?
Any bike shops, pubs and food places?
Any one local that we could meet up with for a beer/food/chat?
I know of an stw’er who is moving from Stirling soon....
Do they want to buy a house in K'ford? 😜
It's got full on garage security for their bike collection.
Hasn't she gone already Houns?
Hmm think K’ford May just lose out to their idyllic new place
Ponsnay/Cradleybonk/Owdill?
😁
In my view, Brewdog on Baker Street is the best pub.
Best Cafe is The Burgh on King Street. A good selection of restaurants and bistros depending on what kind you like.
Town centre is small and bog standard, but nice to sit at a pavement café in the sunshine and pretend to be on holiday with all the tourist's foreign languages.
Great access to cites of Glasgow and Edinburgh and the Trossachs on the doorstep. Highlands only a couple of hours away (depending on where you consider the Highlands to start... 😉)
Bridge of Allan and Dunblane are nice and both have a few nice pubs and eateries.
If you are buying, check flooding history. Recent flash flooding affected low lying areas and historic flood areas have housing on them. It's a massive alluvial plain with the Forth meandering through it.
Cambusbarron is a nice place to live and close enough to walk into town.
I running away from everything urban to live on Ardnamurchan in 4 weeks, but it's not the location that has led me to that.
And as if by magic 🙂
Cheers jojo.
Where did you live?
General area. I'm not stalking you.
Hey jo - good luck with the move. Hope it works out!
I was in Cambusbarron (backing onto the fab trails) for 5yrs. Currently in Causewayhead (foot of the Wallace Monument).
Both a 2.5/3k walk to the town centre and very nice areas. Causewayhead prone to flooding,though I've only had my garage flood since being here.
Thanks jojo.
Any areas in and around Stirling we should take a look at?
When your up have a mooch around the Falkiek area lots of nice bits with cheaper housing than Stirling - also see The Kelpies and The Falkirk Wheel.
There are bike trails at Callendar Estate in the Falkirk area and Carron Valley trails are 20 minutes to the West. Of course neither of these are particulary challenging and as a result are derided by many 😃
Thanks fruitbat.
Any areas in and around Stirling we should take a look at?
Kings Park, St Ninians, Hospital area to Cambusbarron is worth a wander for house / nice area to live. Walk to town and station still.
As jojoa1 points out, some new housing is barely above the water table. The pre 1980's housing tends to be better for this.
Wander around BofA high street, if you have time take a walk up in Mine Woods behind BofA or even train to Dunblane and walk back to BofA.
Bike shops - velo44 or Stirling cycles in Stirling, Roots cycles in Doune and then Stirling bike doctor for great repairs and servicing (shocks as well).
As jojoa1 said, middle of town is nice enough, pretty standard fare, with nice areas up towards the castle with a few more independent shops and cafes.