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So I'm going up to the Borders to visit the other half's parents and she mentioned I could take my bike! result! they live near Kelso so can anyone recommend a good place to ride around the area? I don't mind a drive of about an hour. I prefer red/black routes, I ride the afan, cwncarn and the forest of dean regularly.
thanks
Obvious easy place would be to say drive over to Innerliethen and Glentress for trail centres. You'd need someone with a bit of local knowledge to tell you about natural rides.
There is stuff at the north end of the Cheviots (Wooler, Yetholm)
Trail centres are easy but the riding 'off piste' will blow your mind if you like red/black stuff - to get the best out of it in a day a guide from Dirt School, GoWhere Scotland or Ridelines will see you right otherwise check Strava with an OS map or ask in iCycles or Alpine Bikes.
As said earlier for a first (easy) visit go to either Glentress or Innerleithen and follow the trails.
Otherwise look on Strava for the off-piste stuff at both GT and Inners and also at the Golfie, Yair and Thornielee.
Closest riding to Kelso is riding up in the Cheviots from Morebattle or Yeltholm. It's about a 15 min drive from Kelo. Innerleithan is a 45 min drive away and Glentress a wee bit more.
The Cheviots are big hills, and you feel very 'remote' on them - definitely an 'experience' to have though.
Be warned, if the weather is crap they're a seriously crap place to be.
There are a set of hills between Kelso and Inners/GT, the Eildons - also check out the Strava sections. Enough for a couple of hours.
If its sunny and dusty.
Gypsy Glen and don't touch the brakes.
Best at dawn or sunset
Bonus with going to the Tweed valley is getting an amazing sausage roll from Coleman's deli in Peebles!
thanks for the replies, will probably just head to glentress this time around then maybe get a guide and do the off-piste stuff next time.
There is lots of very accessible off-piste at Glentress that you can easily add in to the normal routes - certainly worth looking into if you want a sample
Gypsy glen but you need the brakes for the gates, just not the grassy off camber left hand corner, braking there will have you sliding into the long grass.
onehundredthidiot - lol 😉
I held the gate open for my mate who sped through at something approaching warp speed. I remember thinking he was going to go down and thanks to the frost he was still approaching warp speed as he slid along on his backside still attached to his bike.
The offpiste at Inners/Golfie is easy to find - I went to spectate at the Tweedlove Enduro and unsuspecting found myself descending Boner on the Sunday which was certainly 'interesting' on a rigid fatbike 😯
Has no-one mentioned Yair? Some lovely stuff there if you're prepared to look for it (and provided its dry as it's horrendous in the wet).....it's certainly not trail centre-ish.
Is Yair any good juizm? Quite fancy exploring it.
Any thoughts on Jedburgh- I'm thinking of going there tonight.
I rode Yair for the first time a few weeks ago with a local and absolutely loved it, back up in August and it'll definitely be a return visit. Its easy to find the trails with a gps as well as they're not all littered on top of each other and difficult to find.
[i]Any thoughts on Jedburgh- I'm thinking of going there tonight. [/i]
If you know where the singletrack stuff is, it's great. If you don't, then where you riding? 😉
Drumlanrig is well worth a half day. Marked trails but has a very natural feel to it and is unlikely to be rammed like Glentress and Inners.
It's also the best part of a three hour drive from Kelso though!!Drumlanrig is well worth a half day. Marked trails but has a very natural feel to it and is unlikely to be rammed like Glentress and Inners.
Another vote for Gypsy Glen - rode it for the first time last weekend as part of the SMBO event - fantastic.
Only a half day ride, so can get a lap of the GT red in the afternoon too.