Off on a family holiday next week for ten nights and based near North Ballachulish.
In that time I am hoping to wangle 3 days riding or part days at the very least.
I have a list of possibilities but never having ridden in the area wouldn't mind a few pointers. I'll have a GPS and will be relying on that to plot known routes.
Looking for offroad, usually ride Peak District, Wales, Cannock etc so don't mind technical stuff but I will be riding on my lonesome so probably best to miss the really techy and remote stuff.
A ride on Skye - Open to suggestions of what is best
Fort Bill - Some Gondola runs and the XC stuff
Kinlochleven / Glencoe - Anything that stands out as must ride
Laggan - Is it worth the drive?
I also notice a few big mountains behind Ballachulish, anything worth looking at on those?
Appreciate it's fairly open but hopefully I've narrowed it down enough to get some suggestions. I will be finalising routes on Sunday.
Cheers
Much as I rarely go to trail centres I thought Laggan was better than most.
Hopefully you'll get the same weather that the HT550 had this week.
Most of the stuff I've done in Scotland has come from The Wild Trails book, some are excellent, one or two aren't
Kinlochleven- if you search for "dudes enduro" you'll get some great hits for loops out of the town. They are pretty harsh though- technically difficult in places but also as rough as big mags and sustained with it. It's far from the hardest stuff I ride but it's tougher on bike and rider IMO.
(if you get a wet day in the area, Kinlochleven is awesome, it's pretty exposed but it's relatively low level, the rides start at sea level... But also the kennels and grey mare's trails ride best when they're wet, the feeling of riding down a river is kind of hysterical.)
Cheers both, I did see the Enduro trails so may give those a blast. Presume it's all ridable and not closed off after the event?
Think I might go for the Sligachan out and back for Skye.
Is there enough at Fort Bill to keep a 130mm 29er FS happy?
Cheers
I like the trails at Laggan but given where you'll be staying and the other closer options on your shortlist it may not be the best use of your time.
The Laggan Black is superb, pretty unique as trail centre rides go. The other trails are pretty typical trail centre stuff. Fun enough, but nothing special.
Was really a wet weather back-up
There also seems to be a nice out and back over Loch Morar so this could be a substitute
Yeah, Loch Morar is my go-to recommendation for the area, it's old school though, lots of rocky bits etc, don't expect an easy ride!
Tonnes of stuff at Kinlochleven, virtually everything shown on the map is a good quality trail of some sort.
Stuff around Kinlochleven is definitely worth it.
Laggan is good, and there are some enduro trails on the other side, depends how much of a drive away it is for you. There's also some munros you can cycle up fairly nearby (I did Carn Ban Mor badly earlier in the year, if you actually hit the landrover track up it's all just about pedallable) - you could do that then have a play at Laggan on your way back. I'm not sure Laggan on its own would be worth the drive, but it is good fun.
Fort William will have plenty for you to be getting on with whether you get a gondola pass or not.
I wouldn't drive all the way from Balla to Skye for that Slig ride tbh, but if you just want to go to Skye, fair enough, But there's way better riding in close proximity to your base.
In true "recommend what you know fashion":
- Leave the car at Kinlochleven then head to Fort Bill via Loch Eilde Mor, Meall Mor and Lairig Leacach. This is a great day out getting into some good, remote terrain and finishing at Nevis Range. Fit people will no doubt claim you can do it there and back in a day, but not me 🙂 I don't remember anything too hard, but there were a few sections that I ended up walking on as well as a river crossing, natch.
- Go and get the car by following the West Highland Way from Fort Bill back to Kinlochleven. A shorter day but some lovely riding.
- Cow Hill - a surprisingly good (short) ride that is perfect for a summer's evening, do-able directly from Fort Bill
Fit wider bars. That will narrow the trails a bit.
That sounds fantastic stilltortoise, don't suppose you have a GPX?
And as for Skye, I imagine we will be over there for a day anyway, I'll just be cheeky and get the ride in rather than touring round etc.
Sorry no. It was done in the days before I carried anything other than a paper map and compass. If you're there this weekend you can finish that first ride halfway down the World Cup DH course 😉
[edit] Have a look on a map and it should be pretty easy to work out though.
@stilltortoise's route is the Tour of Ben Nevis which should be searchable. Unless there's been a huge amount of rain or snow melt then the river crossing at Luibelt (an old hunting lodge now in disrepair) is easy. If the river is very low then by moving upstream a little you should be able to get across dry shod.
Bone dry up that way this week.
Nearby: Park at Kinlochleven (KLL), go SE up the West Highland Way to the water pipe at 203604, then E on top of the pipe (it's boxed in with concrete slabs) to the Blackwater Dam. Up and across this, then return on the Ciaran path. Cracking day out, not hugely exposed to risk and close to your base.
Shorter: Park at Glencoe village. Use the Clachaig pub road to get as far up Glencoe as possible, then bits of trail near the busy main road (clearly visible) to keep heading up. At Allt na Feadh, join the WHW going NW, up and over the Devil's Staircase, then drop into KLL and return.
Longer: KLL to Loch Eilde Mor, Luibelt, Loch Treig, Gleann Iolarean, Chiarain Bothy, Blackwater & Ciaran.
The Tour de Ben Nevis route is of course do-able in a day but you have to get on with it. The idea above of making it an overnighter near Ft Bill/Nevis Range is a great one, with perhaps an added Cow Hill the second morning before returning to KLL on the WHW.
For bad weather (Wassat..?) see if the Ice Factor has re-opened in KLL.
Laggan is well worth the journey up. If your up that way to ride that then your as well hitting Aviemore & the trails on & around Rothiemurchus. Then it's a short drive to Glenlivet as well. Heaps in that one extended area.
Cheers all,
Plenty to ponder and research, which I will do with a bottle of red tomorrow night 😀
Cant bloody wait
Ciaran path always gets reviews but imo it's one of the least good trails around there. Less full on, mind so it's definitely got a place, and it's a really nice ride. (I spent ages rock-crawling around underneath the dam last time, but you probably can't always do that, the water was at a trickle. My favourite part of the day actually! Interesting how different the hills feel on that side, especially as you get further down the path.
Oh. Also, if you're driving to kinlochleven, do both roads, the german road along the north hugs the loch while the south road goes up, pretty different and both have fantastic views (the german road is just fantastic to drive, if you're into that- but I always remember doing it on the motorbike and thinking "if you screw this up, you'll drown..." And try and arrange to be at the bridge or around onich as sunset rolls in, it's one of the best views-from-a-road I've ever seen.
It's a stunning part of the country tbh, like a wee highlands microcosm.
Is there enough at Fort Bill to keep a 130mm 29er FS happy?
Not sure I'd want to ride the DH on such a machine, TBH. Unless you just want to be able to say you have.
From the north face car park at fort bill you could ride/push up to the CIC hut and ride back same way. That's a nice flowy, technical descent IIRC. Would take a few hours max so might be a good one to sneak into a family day.
A day on the gondola doing the red descent is wicked, average rider will be between 10 and 15 mins a run, you can easily get 8 runs in - take some sandwiches etc and eat on gondola.
You'll be amazed at how tiring all that descending is!
chakaping - MemberNot sure I'd want to ride the DH on such a machine, TBH. Unless you just want to be able to say you have.
I've enjoyed it on everything I've ridden it on tbh, it's a great trail in its own right. Hoping to get the fatbike up there later this year
Do the jumps have chicken lines?
Cant say im proficient in massive gap jumps 😀
There's been some changes since I last rode it, but everything rolls- some sections are closed off and detoured for public days to stop people dying on the big doon and the like 😆 (it's quite a bit harder to ride slowly and wheels-down, ironically...)
I feel like if you can comfortably ride the uplift red, you should be fine on the world cup. That's how it worked out for me anyway. But again, disclaimer, I haven't ridden the most up to date version, they might have lost their minds and made it inaccessible to mortals.
Oh. A thing worth knowing is that you can leave the world cup just before the bridge that goes over the puggy line, there's an old section that goes off on the right that links into the other trails- so you can skip the motorway where the big jumps all are. (it's not all big jumps, but if you're like me and can't do them, they feel like a bit of a waste of time and it's nice to have other options) You can also easily get from the uplift red to the world cup or vice versa just after the wall ride.