balfa the descent from the winfarm starts as switchback allweather track about 4 ft wide then goes down a steep forestry road,glad of disc brakes down there in the pouring rain!,there is i think a few different trails descend down through the woods into Carradale aswell as the signed Way, i passed one called crow wood,lovely west coast mossy woods there,bound to be some good singletrack on those hills with all the cows and sheep,

thanks, for once i took the advice of a non cyclist person at Tarbert tourist information centre re the last section,often they dont realise where a bike can go!,but sounds like he was right!,my sisters partner is a hill runner who has ran all of the Way and said it wouldnt be much fun with a bike,
down in the S.E. corner of Landranger sheet 68 is a small hill called "the Bastard" :lol: that i would have liked to visit, reckon the way to Campbeltown would be ok to do on a cyclocross bike,a bike with panniers and even a bob trailer as only i think 3 styles,
found a nice trail to Kilmore too on an old road across the Knap penulsia near the holiday house my sisters family stayed,will post that up when typed up,that last post took a while :o

did he fall out a plane?, or was he run over by a surly pugsley? :o

househusband – Member

Get a life, KINGTUT, and don't be such a bore – maybe, just maybe, you could be happy for him?

He's been a member for a year and a half; it's not as if he's just joined STW purely to post this and seek publicity.
well said HH!
my relatives stay nearby (irvine) so may look by sometime…who gives a s*** about punctuation… my blogs proof of that!,
nice staff,good service and a decent brew opens my wallet… good luck and feel lucky your working doing something you love!,

driest many have seen the trails up here,even the south west coast was dry last week (Argyll) it did rain but just dampened the dust, cant ever imagine a hosepipe ban up here though! :o

the old cannondales (pre 2005) used to come up a bit small so if you rode a medium with most bikes a large was perfect,after around 2005 dale sizes are the same as most makes,
im 5ft 11" and had a medium prophet which was perfect,expect the same generation rush to be the same,
my super v 6" travel with RP3 finishes on ebay this evening…grab your self a bargin (shameless plug) :wink:

i think the shock was greatly improved and didnt blow through as quick, dunno if it was the change of can or the TF magic :o,
they can revalve them to reduce this if you jump them alot, my mate reckons my air pikes were too soft making it pitch on its front on steep roll ins…im 5ft 11" and found the medium quite small, i would buy another again but only after having a shot on a large frame,it would also have a coil shock and fork and polished finish as the paint wore quickly…
im now missing it a bit reading all this! :cry:

my heckler had the large air can float shock,when the shock stuck i sent it to TF tuned and they swapped it out for a regular size can,and it was alot better after that and recommend getting it done,Tim Flooks said it was a fault with alot of the large can floats, heres some pics of it,quite light with hope stuff,XT gears,

and i did have alot of fun on it :o

yep me too…size 8 and fit as… :lol:
does look awful muddy down there…its a drought here in scotland :o

this is real funny as i just sold a heckler as was very dissapointed…felt out its dept up at Golspie feeling very light at the back end while my friend on a s works enduro rolled the drops no problems while i front manualled them with no choice!,and at innerliethen on DH trails its float shock just wasnt responsive enough….sorry to sound negative…its a good frame-a classic, but pushed at vertical stuff it just didnt inspire confidence…
funnily i replaced a cannondale prophet 140mm travel RP3 for the santa cruz and i now reckon it was a way better frameset…now all the stuff is on a a £165 456 frame…imagine that… :o

and you said my frame bag was ugly but compared to that fat ass pic…come on… :lol:

not the trail but the beach…this is sam the Hungarian Vizsla…a dog i often dogsit…



heres some film of him…part 1 of 2…

why not ride the corrie pass on a hardtail?
deft ride it south to north…ive done the pass a zillion times in the good old days on motorbikes and first on a mtb in 1991, theres an open case here by the way on either legal or not on a motorised form of transport as it hasnt been legally challanged in a court of law…if you phone highland counci they will tell you it is legally still an unmaintained road so is drivable-but it is also an ancient monument so if you are caught damaging said road then that is a legal offence…i remmember it was blocked to 4×4 users by the Fort Augustas side landowners in the early 90s by posts after the scottish landrover club asked permission to drive the pass…,what followed was there own fault as they had an orginised 30 odd line of motors drive over…
some walkers photographed this-with some owners (underage) kids having a shot driving the landys and there was a big write up in the scotsman blameing damage to the road which didnt go down well with the ramblers :lol:,there was also alot of damage done to the descent down to Fort Augustas from a cast iron drainpipe smashed by it is believed the land owner to exaggerate the damage caused by 4×4 users… :lol: now im a cycling tree hugger i only recommend walking or cycling the route :o

Little tones your link isnt working?
meanwhile some more PBF…
beach patrol…

coastkid – the train idea sounds good – I'll look into it. How many days did you take to do the whole thing and were you bivvying?

we did it old school with panniers and ultimate peapod tents.. took us around 5 days but we did have a carryout every night as were young and daft :lol:
reckon could do it with a bob trailer easy if you want to carry lots of stuff…
thinking of doing it mid winter as enough bothys now and will be deserted and doing a proper blog post/flicker set of the whole route for peoples reference :o

haha quality!…jimmy shand and his laccy band :o
+1 on the silencers song..classic
and cant beat some of this driving up through glencoe to skye…
peat bog faeries
a friend made this, if you dont like these pics then you live on the wrong island!..simply stunning
will have this tune on driving up over rannoch moor tomorrow…worth the detour to Oban…

nice pics Kit! :o

perfect balfa, sister and family staying west of Tarbet for the week so will have a few days arount Tarbet/Lochgilphead so will check that out too, thanks :o

I did it way back in 91/92 and there was some bike a hike up hills and was quite remote in places(excellent!).
As mentioned its originaly a walkers route so mostly twin tracks and grassy ways with a bit heather louping in places down in Galloway.
From Moffat onwards it gets better for cycling and is scenic up past St Marys Loch and over the Minchmoor where it passes the 3 Brethen Cairns,then its all fine and ridable at my end from lauder to cockburnspath…nice up around twinlaw cairns and at the river at Abby st Bathans.
I imagine the western end has improved paths now…ive since done the eastern end alot as it finishes just down the road at Cockburnspath,can get a train at Dunbar- ridable to there from Co-path along the coast on the John Muir Way,im sure you can get along the coast now to Berwick Upon Tweed now on the North Sea Way if you want to get a train return,
oh visit cove harbour too after you finish,its lovely down there on a warm day

thanks balfa, will do a report when i get back :o

simonfbarnes – Member

for ultimate comfort cant beat the epid designs frame bag

good grief – I don't usually care much about how a thing looks but that is ghastly :roll:

beats back ache :lol:

bump…so no one biked this trail?
ok, brother in law has run the 87 miles over 3 days so have rough idea what to expect..will post report next weekend :o

ive got a Karrimor rush air back pack which i think is way better than any camelback as my back dosnt sweat with it on, the 3 litre bladder slides into its own sleeve so no farting about with bladders…
for ultimate comfort cant beat the epid designs frame bag :o

re-the SUW, has more ascents and descents than the west highland way,isnt as flat as folk think,
i dont have garim,gps etc…just good old maps :o
i would suggest a route to Bigger then up to St Marys Loch and up to Innerliethen and over to Gorebridge to Haddington and down the old A1 to Dunbar, im just up the road from Dunbar so feel free to pop in for a brew :o

i often ride in the sea estuarys on my beach bike :o which is rusting as expected but none other bikes have rusted i own, i live inland from the coast now but close enough to still smell the salt air,
and i ride alot on coastal trails (user name may give that away).
if you never plan on getting a frame you own powder coated then coat the insides with a spray wax through the air holes left from when it was welded together,alot of people use waxol,i use castrol motorcycle chain wax,heat the cans in hot water first,use the little red nozzle and straw to spray it in the weld vent holes,do the hokey cokey withit then wipe any excess that runs out and job done :o
if you plan to powder coat a frame at a later date than GT85 or similar every so often is fine, powder coaters will heat the frame to bake it and wax will melt and run out making an awful mess and cause alot of swearing!

here is some film on my last motorbike (yamaha TTR 600r belgrada
1st tryout with tachyon camera`s, and using 3M snap velcro
tachyon 2010 XC camera 1st tryout; motorcycle ride part 2 of 1
and before that offroad up lammerlaw at sunset using a compact cannon with gorrila pod…
yamaha ttr -sunset trailride,
im wearing my stig suit in both :o god i miss trailriding :|

steve sadly ive recently sold my motorbike…i see a restless natives uprising in the hills soon!

[/quote]Surf-Mat – Member

"I don't get it myself. Unless you're very good indeed and can justify making a vid, why video yourself?"

Unless you're very good, why ride a bike? It's still fun. It's not about having people watch your videos and think you're a riding god. My most popular vid is just messing around in the snow, there's some half-decent riding in it but it's mainly just pretty. Cutting the videos is a nice way to spend an hour as well, sifting through music tracks I never listen to and all that.
Also my camera projects some sort of weird protective effect that means nobody ever crashes in front of me

im no riding god…and dont think i am… maybe experianced thats all but i record trails and stuff because once i used to ride motorcycles offroad in scotland…something that is seriously taboo nowadays..we went some amazing places on old historic roads and drove roads etc…for example,
the devils staircase… we went from tyndrum all the way to Ft william offroad on saturday evenings to not annoy walkers…
fort Augustas to clunie dam then onto kyle of lochalsh..all offroad in a day,
the 40 mile drove road through Glen carron…
corryairick pass dozons of times,
peebles to st marys loch and onto yarrow,(had permission for that route)
120 mile days in 12 hours over the cheviot hills…
a coast to coast trailride 3/4 offroad in 18 hours for a friend dieing from cancer…(portpatrick to seacliff (east lothian)
i could go on but i have just an hour of video (but no video player) from over 10 years of doing this and a shoe box full of pics…
but film of these places we went with good friends would be priceless…one of which is sadly not here anymore to enjoy what we do…
which is why i make as many films as i can nowadays…
i dont make films now with affordable cameras for an ego trip or anything but because one day i can look back at the fun in my life…
if they inspire someone else to go ride there bike then thats only a good thing,
and through making films ive won cameras,met a hot dutch girl :o and made alot of friends too..real nice genuine friends too,
but i cant help it folk keep crashing infront of me when im filming!, :lol:

steve that view looks good with a rider behind…
i did a wee film today down the beach,helmet cameras can be used hand held aswell and on bike etc then mixed up with landscape views and even stills and timelapse to break up and make films interesting :o
todays mid summer beachride

heres mine, coastrider[/url]
mostly about being out and about here in S.E, Scotland, cycling on the coast,local trails,history,group rides and films made…used to post weekly but they get addictive and post 2-3 times a week now :o
heres some good bike related blogs,

MnBicycle commuter[/url]

The Welsh Ride Thing…[/url]

Trio`s adventures[/url]

Gnarlingburg spokejunkie[/url]

Red bikes[/url]

10 miles per pint…so its an 80 mile night then :lol:
i never have more than eight pints cycling as cant recognise kerbs after that amount… :o

i had a yellow one of these with a big hit rear end and 6" junior Ts on it and it was wicked…it had the BETD fork brace also to allow 3" nokians up front!, got pics somewhere and wil post when i find/scan them,
sorry for side hijack steve but im selling this if any retro geeks reading this..same idea but single pivot, a 99 super v with raven swingam and RP3 giving 6" travel but unlike the DH super V which used a sachs rear disc caliper this takes regular calipers..£200 cash and take it away…

i always wonder why they dont have (small) information signs at watersheds…only walking books tell you these things,
and why has Edinburgh area have so high a council tax when it has so much water on tap too? never knew there were so many resovoirs up there! :o

Resin42, happy healing, your a lucky laddie falling down there head first and walking away…next time give me some pre warning and i will get the camera ready!, :o

you wont need a light mid summer in the highlands!, half dark for just a few hours,
alpkit bivvy bag & silk liner and the midge net, i always pack a spare merino LS top for long days,be ideal to change into to sleep ,
if weather turns foul head for a bothy,farm shed,
carry oat cakes and jam for breakfast :o

do you mean 3M snap velcro?, the white stuff at £10 a meter on ebay?,it works for smoothish stuff but camera can be secured properly using extra strips-just leave the peel off backing on..also use it for frame shots of gears,hubs,suspension etc… :o
used it for over a year now on a tachyon xc sports camera…

13thfloormonk – Member

needs a berm there!

Don't even think it…

Where does the Kintyre way lead?

Kintyre way is from Tarbet down to Campbelltown with an extra bit out to Macrihanish beach, 87 miles and cuts from coast to coast down the penulsia,gonna take a lazy 3 days with 2 nights in the bivvy
my sister and family are through there next week at a cottage so i can get a lift back to Lochgilphead after a day at the beach with the kids

here is the Kyntyre Way website

here is the mech with the chain…never seen that before!

next week im off through to lochgilphead to bivi ride the Kintyre Way…pump track would be fun though :o
heres film of scalectrix,ridden off the brakes on a hardtail :o
i used the centre heather to scrub a bit speed before that left hander…
needs a berm there!, cant beat bombing through the heather, :o

scalectricx

great night out folks, thanks Druidh for a great route,
tonight another abyss crash,a puncture and a MECHcanical…all group bonding :o
nice to meet some new faces too.
working on scalectrix film…
heres some pics…
21 blokes and the womans group…