When my Brother Ian got his MTB last year, he was bitten by the cycling bug again and after a trip to Ae forest to introduce him to the delights of trail centres, he came up with a mad plan.
Ride all 7 of the blue runs in one day.
Sounds simple until you see how far apart the 7Stanes are spread over southern Scotland. This was going to need a long day, so we picked the 27th June to do it and roped in a friend who is a very keen MTBer. By now the ride had morphed into a Charity event and we approached a few local ones and the only one that seemed interested (enthusiastically!) was the Eden Valley Hospice. Fundraising began.
Training was increased, we rode more and more, mainly on road bikes as it's just easier to get out there and we felt fairly confident that we could do it, even if it took us from dawn until sunset. Just before the event, we felt good and the plan was to leave Carlisle shortly after dawn. Thomas had borrowed his works van, so that made it easier unpacking at each venue, he'd even brought a spare bike!
1- Newcastleton
The shortest of the blue routes, just over 3 miles long, it was a decent warm-up in the dull light of the early dawn just past 5am. It was chilly so we wasted no time getting out and moving to see how the legs would feel. OK as it happened and the singletrack here was as enjoyable as ever, but it also saw the first injury to the group. I messed up a bump, my foot was knocked off the pedal and I now have 4 gouges up my right shin from the pedal pins. Great!
2- Glentress
This is the toughest and longest route, so it was just as well that we were doing it early on. 11.2 miles and 1400ft of climbing makes it tough, but at least it wasn't all fire road climbing. We all enjoyed this one the most, it's a brilliant facility and every MTBer should get up here and try it. We had so much fun coming back down from the upper loop that we took a spin through the freeride park before dropping back down to the main car park. No injuries this time, but Ians' bike dropped its chain, which would happen a few times more before we were done.
3- Ae
Reasonable length at 8.2 miles, but only 500ft climbing, though what there is is steep. We opted out of a boring fire road climb and went up the first section of the red route that rejoins the blue just before they separate. After some more fire road, we came to a nice surprise. A very new looking bermed singletrack section that was loads of fun to ride. After that it joins up with the green for a very flat finish to the route. Not that we took it easy here, we hammered it along between the trees
. Ae does have a great cafe, so since it was lunchtime, we had the obligatory cake stop before moving on.
4- Mabie
This is probably the "worst" one. I say that because it's mostly fire road, but the single track section itself is actually very good, just there's not a lot of it. We had a mess about with some orange grade drops that we passed on the way in before it was straight back to the van and off! Here was where the second injury occurred with Thomas grinding to a halt and gashing his leg on the chainring
5- Dalbeattie
Now firmly into the afternoon and we have another long one. 10 miles and 850ft of climb, this is serious country and serious fun. The most technical of the blue runs, Dalbeattie is rocky and has some truly massive ones built into the red route. There's also quite a bit of wildlife. A Buzzard took flight right in front of us and floated serenely away, then we came upon a Deer around the next corner! They also like boardwalk here, there's a lot of it and it leads to rocky singletrack which is straightforward enough as long as you keep up a reasonable speed. We then sampled the delight of the red/blue "taster" loop which was equally excellent.
6- Kirroughtree
The legs were feeling it now and there was another long route ahead. 8.1 miles and 860ft of climbing soon made their presence felt. It's a beautiful place and the singletrack sections are a real blast to ride. It was getting harder to keep up a good pace and the legs were burning, but we had to get round, and get round we did. We had plenty of time in hand to finish the challenge now and only a short route awaited us to finish. Three tiring men clambered into the van for a short drive to the final hurdle.
7stanes gtr
7- Glentrool
Sadly there is currently a diversion here, which cuts out some of its best singletrack, but what remains is just brilliant. We dragged ourselves up the final fire road climb to the last singletrack section and I found my front mech was jammed. I was stuck on the small ring and really needed to be on the middle one. We had a look for a minute, but couldn't see what was jamming it. Never mind, it would just have to do, I would be a bit slower down the last bit that's all. Down we went and back to the van. The mech now worked again
so whatever it was, it had been shaken out.
And so, we were finished! A little after 8pm and there was no more riding left to do. After a final photo, there was the small matter of a 95 mile drive home.
We are already planning what to do for next year
More videos to follow!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFfzyigjybw
Ride all 7 of the blue runs in one day.
Sounds simple until you see how far apart the 7Stanes are spread over southern Scotland. This was going to need a long day, so we picked the 27th June to do it and roped in a friend who is a very keen MTBer. By now the ride had morphed into a Charity event and we approached a few local ones and the only one that seemed interested (enthusiastically!) was the Eden Valley Hospice. Fundraising began.
Training was increased, we rode more and more, mainly on road bikes as it's just easier to get out there and we felt fairly confident that we could do it, even if it took us from dawn until sunset. Just before the event, we felt good and the plan was to leave Carlisle shortly after dawn. Thomas had borrowed his works van, so that made it easier unpacking at each venue, he'd even brought a spare bike!
1- Newcastleton
The shortest of the blue routes, just over 3 miles long, it was a decent warm-up in the dull light of the early dawn just past 5am. It was chilly so we wasted no time getting out and moving to see how the legs would feel. OK as it happened and the singletrack here was as enjoyable as ever, but it also saw the first injury to the group. I messed up a bump, my foot was knocked off the pedal and I now have 4 gouges up my right shin from the pedal pins. Great!
2- Glentress
This is the toughest and longest route, so it was just as well that we were doing it early on. 11.2 miles and 1400ft of climbing makes it tough, but at least it wasn't all fire road climbing. We all enjoyed this one the most, it's a brilliant facility and every MTBer should get up here and try it. We had so much fun coming back down from the upper loop that we took a spin through the freeride park before dropping back down to the main car park. No injuries this time, but Ians' bike dropped its chain, which would happen a few times more before we were done.
3- Ae
Reasonable length at 8.2 miles, but only 500ft climbing, though what there is is steep. We opted out of a boring fire road climb and went up the first section of the red route that rejoins the blue just before they separate. After some more fire road, we came to a nice surprise. A very new looking bermed singletrack section that was loads of fun to ride. After that it joins up with the green for a very flat finish to the route. Not that we took it easy here, we hammered it along between the trees
. Ae does have a great cafe, so since it was lunchtime, we had the obligatory cake stop before moving on.4- Mabie
This is probably the "worst" one. I say that because it's mostly fire road, but the single track section itself is actually very good, just there's not a lot of it. We had a mess about with some orange grade drops that we passed on the way in before it was straight back to the van and off! Here was where the second injury occurred with Thomas grinding to a halt and gashing his leg on the chainring
5- Dalbeattie
Now firmly into the afternoon and we have another long one. 10 miles and 850ft of climb, this is serious country and serious fun. The most technical of the blue runs, Dalbeattie is rocky and has some truly massive ones built into the red route. There's also quite a bit of wildlife. A Buzzard took flight right in front of us and floated serenely away, then we came upon a Deer around the next corner! They also like boardwalk here, there's a lot of it and it leads to rocky singletrack which is straightforward enough as long as you keep up a reasonable speed. We then sampled the delight of the red/blue "taster" loop which was equally excellent.
6- Kirroughtree
The legs were feeling it now and there was another long route ahead. 8.1 miles and 860ft of climbing soon made their presence felt. It's a beautiful place and the singletrack sections are a real blast to ride. It was getting harder to keep up a good pace and the legs were burning, but we had to get round, and get round we did. We had plenty of time in hand to finish the challenge now and only a short route awaited us to finish. Three tiring men clambered into the van for a short drive to the final hurdle.
7- Glentrool
Sadly there is currently a diversion here, which cuts out some of its best singletrack, but what remains is just brilliant. We dragged ourselves up the final fire road climb to the last singletrack section and I found my front mech was jammed. I was stuck on the small ring and really needed to be on the middle one. We had a look for a minute, but couldn't see what was jamming it. Never mind, it would just have to do, I would be a bit slower down the last bit that's all. Down we went and back to the van. The mech now worked again
so whatever it was, it had been shaken out.And so, we were finished! A little after 8pm and there was no more riding left to do. After a final photo, there was the small matter of a 95 mile drive home.
We are already planning what to do for next year
More videos to follow!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFfzyigjybw
