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Me and ChrisL are in tomintoul just now, we've done pretty much everything at Glenlivet, heartbreak ridge and mastermind, aboyne and laggan so far, but now we're too tired to make decisions. Main options are tarland and pitfichie. I've never been to either, Chris knows pitfichie a bit.
Usually I'm looking for #enduro gnar but frankly we've had a lot of that so I'm fine with something chill. Speaking of chill, the heat is absolutely killing ChrisL so if I try and make him do any more awful climbs I will be killed. Tbf each of the last 4 days riding has been my biggest ride this year and I'm a wee bit faded
Oh also neither of us can jump for shit so tarland's signature move won't work for us, so it becomes a lot about what else is good there
So, any advice much appreciated!
Your description of what you want says Tarland all day long.
I like them both but they are polar opposites. Pitfichie is pretty natural and rocky / steep.
Tarland is just a big smooth flow trail but still fun.
all the jumps are rollable so no need to worry about ability.
Tarland also has toilets and very close coffee shops etc
Only been to both once. I'd 100% go to Pitfichie again, Tarland I thought was pretty dull but then I'm not into jumps and flow.
Pitfichie is more natural, Tarland is more man made trail centre.
Nothing at Tarland is particularly technical, but don’t think that means it’s easy to ride fast. Only big jumps are on the black trail, which is very easily avoided.
Trails are a lot of fun and easy to navigate. One main climb are all trails sprout off of it. I usually climb up and do the Pittenderich trails, then climb up to the top of High Pressure, to finish with the long descent to the car park. This keeps a lot of your height in the bank
Pitfichie is very wide. You kind of have to traverse the forest to get from one trail to another.
Either would be a good choice, just depends what you’re after.
what klunky and fathomer say
Tarland is not technical, but with so many corners it is a giggle IMO. You definitely will want to rerun a few sections as you never get a series of corners quite right..
Consider Durris if you want something between the two. Natural but easy laps that go past the car.
Pitfichie without question, but then I much prefer natural trails.
Tarland is great too, but the climb to High Pressure is a slog and you'll get passed by the same ebikers countless times before you eventually get a run down (which is one of the reasons I ended up buying mine!). That being said, it's probably the best option for a chilled ride.
If you're still in the area tomorrow then the Lecht will be open with chairlift uplift.
In the end we went to Pitfichie, I'm pretty sure we both think this was the right decision. All the climbs were brutal to my knackered legs but the descents were all great and Slippy Willie was probably for me the best trail I've ridden this week and I think it rated very highly for Northwind too.
The main descents we rode were (according to Trailforks) Green Hill, Slippy Willy, the right-hand DH trail/Phoenix DH, Badger's Box and Evil Deeds.
Not a bad tour of 'Fichie. If you're heading south tomorrow, I'd recommend a stop off at Drumtochty. I got shown round there for the first time in 5 years or so a few weeks back. It's amazing. Serpent and Cooper's Way were two we did that made me wish I had my ebike to repeat.
We are heading home today but we are also pretty worn out so the plan is to do a little bit of riding at Glenlivet on the trails near the car park before driving south. Exploring somewhere new is probably beyond what my legs can do currently!
Thanks all, I don't think there were any bad options tbh but as Chris says Pitfichie absolutely delivered. Jaggy bushes aside! Slippy Willy was a highlight of the week, brilliant to ride and so unique, I'll remember that for ages. I want to take the fatbike and rock crawler it. And how good is the dh into phoenix? All the gnar you want but still totally doable by mortals, such good trail crafting.
Best week's self-powered riding I've ever had in the UK and not by a little bit. Going to sleep for a week now.
You had an awesome weather week for it.
It was a little bit too hot for me, but it was certainly better that than cold and driech!
