see how your legs feel when you have the option half way round loop 1.
This, the very very best bits are in loop 1, loop two can be hell on a very windy day, but it is nonetheless a great extension and should be done if possible. Machno remains one of my alltime favourite trails, and will be ruined if they ever put a cafe there. Stop in the village if you happen to catch anything open, a lovely little place that just seems dead. Very sad.
Marin – has to be done, it was one of the very first trail centres, and should be ridden as much as a historic footnote to the rest of your riding as anything else. It complies with the fire road up, ST down mantra, with a disproportionate ratio of the first compared to the latter. But in amongst it all are some of the best sections in the UK. Just try to savour those, and not hold the rest of the trail against it.