MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
On Friday we rode a loop around Bienn A'Ghlo.
We started in Blair Atholl, rode up the Tilt past the Falls of Tarf, up to Fealar Lodge, over to Daldu, over to the fork above Shinegag and home.
I wondered if the loop sometimes mentioned on here goes along the shore of Loch Loch? Is there a path over the watershed to Glen Tilt? Where would you cross the Tilt?
It was fun to see that all the cars in the Blair Atholl car park at 9am on Friday morning all belonged to mountainbikers all about to depart on an epic to somewhere. 😀
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The Loch Loch access road was built to retrieve a crashed military aircraft full of secret stuff (so the story goes). As far as I know, getting to Glen Tilt from there is a bit of a hike.
BTW you did the loop the wrong way round. Better to gain height on easy stuff up to Shinagag. Then you've got the plunge from Fealar to Tilt falls followed by an easy fast run back to Atholl.
BTW you did the loop the wrong way round. Better to gain height on easy stuff up to Shinagag. Then you've got the plunge from Fealar to Tilt falls followed by an easy fast run back to Atholl.
I've now ridden it both ways and I have to say I think the clockwise route would my preference. The descent from Fealar Lodge only gets interesting in the last km or so. I found the singletrack across to Shinegag pretty good. I've never enjoyed the tarmac climb up from Blair Atholl going anti clockwise and the shortcut to the singletrack after Shinegag is far easier to find riding clockwise. I enjoyed the climb up from The Falls of Tarf up to Fealar Lodge. Its a great 35 mile loop trying to make the best of a couple of Ks of singletrack in either direction.
Each to their own 😀
Each to their own
Fair enough. For me any kind of tarmac DH is not on. I once tried getting from Shinagag to Atholl via Glen Girnaig. Big mistake.
Actually Glen Tilt was my first ever MTB ride back in 1995. I hired a clunker of a bike from Atholl Activity Cycles which used to be located in the car park opposite the castle entrance. It was run by a retired copper Mr Stewart as I recall.
Second the clockwise direction: Shinegag singletrack descent the best bit of the ride IMO plus much harder to get lost going this way!
wondered if the loop sometimes mentioned on here goes along the shore of Loch Loch
Did this many moons ago along the east side of Loch Loch, there was barely a path to half way along the Loch (where there is a cracking camping spot on a wee peninsula in the Loch). I would imagine the west side would be too steep. From then on there's nothing but sheep tracks and heather. Steep drop (carry) into Glen TIlt and ford the Tilt. (EDIT - wouldn't recommend it)
BTW - The Loch Loch access road was there way before the plane crash.
Thanks for that folks. FWIW I've never experienced a tailwind down Glen Tilt. 😥
I like the route both ways as well but find that either way the finish is a bit anti climatic - the tarmac descent or the bosh down Glen Tilt, invariably into a 'nagging' head wind 😉