7Stanes Wkend

Why ? In their annual awards, the IMBA has once again acknowledged the Scottish trails. This time as "Global Superstars", awarding 'em A+. The Scot's also beat Wales in last years awards and as we all love Afan, etc it seems logical that we ought to experiment with some north of the border action.

Where ? Scottish borders, north west of Carlisle. There are 5 juicy trail centres, with their own mix of trails, that are less than 60 miles apart (Newton Stewart -> Thornhill). Compared to 155 miles between Afan in south Wales and Betws-y-Coed in the north. Details of the 7 "stones" trail centres can be found at the Scottish Forestry Commission website.

When ? Weekend of May 11th thru 14th, although you may attend on any day ;-) I figure that another long wkend (Friday through Monday) is best for most considering the "slightly" long travel times/distance - for some of us at least. Chipmunk & I intend to be in the area for a week, now Friday to Friday (not Weds-Weds as initially plan'd due to accom restrictions). As for the travel, it ain't as bad as some might think as it's mostly autobahn- here's some comparison mileages for's ya;

• Dalbeattie; is 316 miles from Westoning, or 202 miles, Westoning -> Afan
• Dalbeattie; is 227 miles from Mansfield , or 204 miles, Mansfield -> Afan

Who ? If you'd like to ride such legends as "The Slab", "Spooky Wood", "Jabberwocky" or "Britney Spears" :-O then feel free to join us. Clicky here for a list of who's game for some quality northern exposure (accommodation and provisional ride list to follow).

Waymarks ? At the moment we're truly spoilt for a choice of routes as each centre has numerous listed. I'm not proposing to take in every trail at every centre (that'd be madness) probably choosing from the 5 most eastern venues. Unlike Wales, these routes all appear to have decent grading system akin to skiing (pic), so it should be fairly easy to decide what to ride. Whilst I dig up more trail info, have a butchers at some fab vids, checkout Categories, Scotland (in the sidebar) and hear what "Toons" (our local rep) has recently commented; I’ve ridden the following 7 Stanes;

• Glentress Black - first one I ever did and was blown away, very good
• AE Red - I loved AE, big berms, table tops, has long sections of fire road but the end is quality
• Mabie Red - its ok, short and not that much fun
• Dalbeattie Red - it’s getting better all the time and it’s got some fun sections
• Kirroughtree Red\Black - this has to be the best man made trail in the UK with loads and loads of single track that just keeps on going. bloody brilliant
• Newcastleton Red - not very long and probs only worth it, if you’re in the area\passing

Toons also has details and rides of these northern trails listed over at his blog.

SheCycles has just published a list of additions/amendments to all the 7 Stanes trails and also provides an insight to each. It looks like they've been busy oop north. You'll find the official FC trail work list here.

Who's game ? At the moment we have; Baggy, Darren, DDave, Farq's, Rob, Roger, Toons and Uphilla. Chipmunk will also be around and we'll most likely ride a few of the tamer trails before/after the main bulk of the posse pass thru...I don't want to scare my honey with all your pant'in & grunt'in !