Basically im thinking of going to Scotland with a couple of mates for a spot of biking. The kind of riding will be red/black trail standard; my mates have just started biking and can get around red trails with a bit of pushing down the more difficult stuff. Im a bit better though and dont want to get bored (i like jumps and pushing towards more downhill riding). The bike i will be taking is a spesh enduro with 170mm forks to give an idea of what im looking for.
Firstly how long to go for. Is a week too long? Is a weekend too short?
Secondly where to go. 7Stanes or somehwere different?
Thirdly where to stay? we will most likely be camping as b+b is too expensive for us students.
Any recommendations then?
James
Base yourself in Aviemore for a week and ride the natural stuff, Laggan, Fort William (if the gondola is still running), Golspie and Balblair.
Camp at the Rothiemurchus campsite.
isnt fort bill a bit extreme for me never mind my newbie mates.
Geoffj seems to have offered some sound advice.
You could look at doing one or more Stanes on the way up/ down.
Sounds like you could do Innerleithen and/or Glentress red one day, and depending on time Ae another, which is also quite jumpy, but all the jumps are rollable for your mates.
isnt fort bill a bit extreme for me never mind my newbie mates.
Not the downhill red.
could i spend a few days just doing the 7stanes? or is there not enough to ride? its just much closer to home than fort bill and id rather wait till next summer for fort bill when i might be good enough to tackle the downhill routes 😀
camp 1/2 week in peebles and do inners and GT rest of the week near dumfires and do k'tree, mabie and ae/dalbeatie, ur mates will love it, no map reading issues and you can make it more interesting by going faster
Plenty to do round the 7 stanes
Ae probably a good bet as there is an uplift service
Mabie has a decent free ride area and an easy red trail
Dalbeatie OK for some rockier red trail(with some good black options if you fancy it)
Kiroughtree more XC biased(but fantastic)
All the above is broadly Dumfries based
As others have said Innerleithen and Glentress(Peebles) have plenty to offer
Lots to do if you have the legs. We go up 2 or 3 times a week for 5 or 6 days but end up covering 120+ miles
Don't forget Drumlanrig in addition to the 7 Stanes.
If camping, then the Rosetta site at Pebbles is probably the best option in that area. You might want to splash out and get in touch with the Cross Keys Hotel though - they do good, budget accomodation and the owner is a cyclist.
If your mates are newbies I would not take them to fort william red. Looks rather more than red to me and IMO will have more fun elsewhare. I have not ridden it but that is the advice I have heard from folk who have.
Peebles for a few days / avimore for a few is not a bad bet tho. Glentress has loads of trails of all sorts and sets the standard for trail centre but with variety from the blue jumppark to the black trail.
easy to spend 3 days in Peebles - Glentress and innerleithan. Few more days well spent based around Dumfries.
I would say do one "natural" trail at least - Gypsy Glen from Peebles is a nice run or there are others
It would seem a shame not to go to the highlands tho
Get up to Ballater, try this place http://www.habitat-at-ballater.com/ and this site http://www.9zerofreewheelers.co.uk. 8)
Fort William's closed for the season, last weekend was the last for uplifts. It's brilliant and well worth a visit but not with your less experienced mates. It's a very very dark red, like coca cola, indistinguishable from black until you hold it up to the light and squint 😉
Thing is, if you're on an Enduro and downhill-oriented and your mates are noobs, there's no real middle ground there, if you take them to innerleithen they'll be killed but if you do glentress red, they'll be fine and you may fall asleep. Lots of good advice in this thread but if you want to ride with your mates it might not be a bad idea to bring an XC bike more suited to the reds, or hire one. Not essential but it might be a good idea.
ok looks like it may be a trip to peebles or dumfries for 3 days then. which would you recommend out of the two?
James
am i right in saying dumfires is ae and mabie whereas peebles is inners and glentress???
wel which are better then, inners and gt or ae and mabie???
In a week, you can easily do both centres - 2-3 days at each of Peebles and Dumfries - especially as you'll have less driving than would be the case if you were heading to the Highlands.
wel which of the two is better as i think we will seperate it into 2 seperate 3day trips.
just read the whole thread and out of the two choices you seem to have narrowed it down to go to peebles for GT and Inners!
I don't think there is a "better", just more/different. I'd go for Peebles first off. GT and Inners are very close together, plus you could fit in a loop of Gypsy Glen. Peebles is a fine wee town for an evening or two, so it would make for a very compact jaunt.
...and if you can stretch to £200 between you for a weekend's accommodation, go to tweed valley bike house in Innerleithen (also ideal for Glentress) rather than camping - much nicer!
How much of a beginner are the newbies? If they are beginners and they are doing red/blacks then they aren't newbies (unless they are walking all the bits they can't do - so a bit of a wsate of a cycle!).
If you are looking to ride graded trails then stay away from the natural stuff as most natural stuff has a mixture of everything in it...
Aviemore would be a good bet...
wel which of the two is better as i think we will seperate it into 2 seperate 3day trips.
Those from the East will say GT
Those from the West(me)will say Ae/Mabie/Dalbeattie/Kirroughtree.
Dumfries is a bigger town so more to do after biking unless you go up to Edinburgh from Peebles.
If your mates are newbies then 2hrs biking a day will be enough for them to enjoy without busting them.
he bike i will be taking is a spesh enduro with 170mm forks to give an idea of what im looking for.
[i]Find something smaller or suffer[/i][u]
Camping for Dumfries;
Google
Sandyhill
Kipford
Beeswing
Powfoot
Why not a Pod;
http://www.7stanes.com/mabie-c28.html
Or check that link for Marthrown of Mabie and pods at Gorsebank nr Dalbeattie.
Can sort you with more info later, off to GT with SimonRalli 😆
I'd go for glen tress and innerleithan - best for the type of riding you are after- big downs all round with graded freeride area etc.you also have alarge choice of excellent natural trails around - just ask inthe bike shops.Dalbeattie, kirroughtree and drumlanrig are a really good, but a good bit flatter in comparison are are defo more xc orientated (although ae has the downhill)