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Hi all,
Want to take a wee break away with my girlfriend, get away some where nice, stay in a B&B, and get some biking in (and maybe some hiking).
Plan is for the middle of March, either leave Friday evening (if so will probably camp that night) or Saturday morning, ride/hike on Saturday and Sunday, B&B somewhere Saturday night, and drive home Sunday night.
Located in Edinburgh, so thinking either somewhere down towards the Borders, or up into the Highlands.
I would say I'm a pretty competent biker, happy to ride most stuff (just not silly long XC epics), although my GF is fairly newish to biking, happy to get down most XC reds/blacks (whatever that means), but still building her confidence and fitness up.
Trail wise, currently thinking;
Golspie (supposedly amazing trail/views, but 4 hour drive. How hard is the black route? Also weather might be dodgy?)
Laggan (looks fun, bit closer, could try combine with Golspie?)
Fort William (know nothing about the XC trails there, any good? Could walk up Ben Nevis one day too)
Kirroughtree (looks fun again, but McMoab is on the black which I've heard is a bit of a trek, plus may be a bit hard for the SO?)
Mabie/Ae (done them before, although didn't do much of the XC, any thoughts?)
Anything else?
Also, accommodation wise, want something comfortable but definitely affordable (we're both students), so recommendations for places nearby would be great 🙂
Any input would be much appreciated 🙂
Ta, Duane. 🙂
no mention of inners or GT ?????
I live 40 minutes drive away from both, we can go there any time we want (as we did on Saturday and plan to next Saturday)... 🙂
Kielder maybe?
If you go as far as Golspie then you should do Balblair while you are there, you won't be disappointed.
Golspie is a fair old climb to the top and some of the rocky sections are reasonably difficult. There are lots of shortcuts if the full climb is too much and most features have an easier option.
Balblair is a beautiful xc ride...... Krembo (user name) has done a video that gives you a good idea what it is like (search this forum for it....although it is quite old now).
Would nt bother with ae or mabie the now both have tree felling and maintenance going on.
Is Kielder any good? Kind of of the opinion that in general, Scottish trails are better than English ones 😛
Didn't realise Balblair is so close to Golspie, so those two could definitely be possibles. I'm guessing the Golspie climb shortcuts still get you to the top right?
Also, forgot to say, the GF loves the freeride park at Glentress, so if theres some jumps/berms, even better.
Ta, Duane
Go to the Lakes.
Or Mabie and Kirroughtree would be a good combo if you wanted peace and quiet combined with some not-too-technical but fun singletrack.
It's easy to miss McMoab out btw.
The Golspie shortcuts are like ladder rungs. You leave the climb part way up to join the descent part way down....if that makes sense.
Re: McMoab, I meant I would like to ride it, but not if it's major effort to get to that section.
Hairy, oh OK, think I'd rather get to the top so we get the full descent.
I'm biased but I vote the Lakes too, get away from the trail centres for something a bit different. Whinlatter can give you the jumpy/bermy stuff too.
Forgot to say, I'm not really a map/compass/sun/stars kind of rider, so would much prefer a waymarked trail.
Oh, well the trail centres in the Lakes aren't really worth travelling far for compared to the Scottish ones IMO.
(MTFU and get out on some proper trails! :p - I'm sure someone on here would show you round some non waymarked trails, I would happily do so in the Lakes but I'm horribly out of fitness at the mo. )
I'm happy to do "proper" trails if I'm with a group, but can't be bothered spending half my time looking at a map upside down when it's raining when I've driven so far to ride there 😛
Any thoughts on Learnie?
wouldnt bother with kielder,bit of a let down
went to golspie last year,really good.we did laggan friday to break up the drive from fife,onwards to http://www.sleeperzzz.com/index.html our digs for the weekend,golspie on the saturday then a nice easy red at carbisdale on the sunday before heading home.top weekend!bit of a trek but worth it
Hi, I live close to learnie, bit of work there at the moment so there is only a few miles available, enjoyable but not epic. My personal favourite is Wolftrax, it sounds ideal for you and there is an amazing 'orange' section with really nice berms. Red run and black are both ace with excellent variety of surfaces.
Golspie is pretty good, sounds like you will both be well capable of getting to the top. I found the rocks a bit slippy last time I went.
Have been recommended Balblair several times but not made it yet. There is an amazing youth hostel in a castle close to there..Carbisdale Castle. There are trails there too.
So my reccomedation is stop at wolftrax for a loop of the red/orange, allow 1.5-2hours for that. It's just a small diversion off the A9, then carry on up to Carbisdale YH, prob another 2.5 hours drive, do Balblair. Prob need a few hours and fresh legs to tackle Golspie, it's only about 30- 45 mins from Carbisdale by memory.
Oh, I see Carbisdale is closed for refurbishment. Surely plenty of BBs and hotels around though
Thanks for the replies.
Think we've decided on Golspie/other local trails if time on Saturday, and Laggan/home on Sunday.
Bluepilot, what at Learnie is shut? What condition are the jumps in? And how do you know Carbisdale is shut?
Ta, Duane.
Hi Duane,
At Learnie, there are signs indicating the trails "over the road" are shut whilst forestry stuff happens. So that is Firth View (blue) and Learnie Hill (black). The jumps on the Orange "Bike Park" and the "Dirt Jump Area" are all fully useable.
I meant that Carbisdale Castle Youth Hostel was shut, not the trails. I found it out on the Youth Hostel website.
We are going to Balblair today, been wanting to go there for a while so quite excited!
Cheers
Golspie is a long old schlep from Embra - an hour north of Inverness!
Shirley there would be better options basing yourself in Aviemore or nearby?
Hi, We stayed here
http://www.sykescottages.co.uk/cottage/Northern-Highlands-Cairngorms-National-Park-Newtonmore/10-Monarch-Country-Apartments-7790.html
Close to laggan and cairngorms
OK..
Just back from first trip to Balblair. It is amazing. Do not miss it!
Afterwards we went to the hotel in Bonar Bridge for a pint and was well impressed by the friendliness of the locals. Might be a decent place to stay.