Riding the 7 Stanes

I want to share my experience of a recent road trip of Scotland I did with Roger Gonzalez, the Vallnord resident pro rider in Andorra and the “Riders” magazine director from Catalunya, Alex Chavarria. I am a native Scot, but live in Barcelona. For years I have loved going to ride trails set up by the 7 Stanes and always make a point of visiting when I am back. I was therefore keen to show them that Fort William was only a small part of what Scotland has to offer, so we set off to investigate Scotland’s root treasures of mountain biking trails.

Story and pics inside,Fort William-

Many of you will no doubt have heard of Fort William. Its reputation as one of the toughest and most enduring DH events on the world circuit precedes it. The point of this road trip however was not to go to Fort William.

7Stanes-

About eight years ago as many of these trail centers were in the early stages of evolving the decision was taken by the Forestry Commission in Scotland to invest in a project that united the efforts of all trails being developed throughout the south of Scotland. The concept was to cover seven different areas. This gave rise to the name “the 7stanes”.

Mabie-

We only had time to cover four of the 7 Stanes. Our first destination was Mabie Forest in Dumfrieshire. Here we were met by Andy Hopkins, the overall manager of the 7stanes project. Andy has been involved from the beginning and he has put in a lot of his own blood and sweat over the years.


We soon set off to get a taste for what the Mabie trails had to offer with Andy and Clive Forth, a locally based pro-rider. Mabie is largely focused at the all round XC enduro rider, but with over 1km of wooden “northshore” style trails (Kona’s infamously named “Darkside”), bermed and fast rocky descents, the trails will bring a smile to the face of all levels of rider.

The quality of the trails are excellent and when you consider that during the last eight years almost four million pounds have been invested and the construction and maintenance of the trails across all 7stanes venues, it is no wonder why.

Ae-


After riding the morning at Mabie we headed to Ae forest. Ae is aimed at the more hardcore rider. Of course there are the usual green and blue graded routes for the novice riders, but the red and black and orange cater for those who prefer to spend just as much time in the air.

The Shredder-


The Shredder is the newly man-made 1 km Freeride course here offering a flowy and fast track with plenty of berms, kickers and a medium sized road gap halfway down. The main fun really begins at the bottom though where the track splits into two with the “black” option throwing you into two large doubles.

In addition to this there is a 9km and 13,5km Green and Blue route, a 24km Red route with black optional sections and a 1.6km traditional downhill route where the NPS series is raced. The old downhill track is for those who like the tracks rough and ready.

Kirroughtree-


Focused at the XC rider, Kirroughtree’s 17km red and 31km black trails instantly notable feature is its flow. It is easy to see how this is viewed by so many as Scotland’s most enjoyable course as you hardly notice the uphill cycle. It constantly carries momentum through the different levels making the climb a dream. Our guides Sam Hill (Appropriate name, and a woman too) and Mark of The Break Pad (the trail shop and BnB combined business) explained to us that this is because the trails were designed with the aid of GPS to identify the high and low contours of the land.

As you can imagine, the downhill and single track sections are therefore amazingly good fun. Flowy, twisty and fast with a few nice berms thrown in for good measure.

McMoab-

Kirroughtree’s other most famous feature is McMoab, a slick granite stone mass with arrows to show you the way over its glistening yet super tacky surface. This really challenges all riders and rewards those who can combine good climbing and balancing skills with a cool head for pointing the bike down steep gradients.


Glentress-


Glentress was next on the agenda. It is pretty much where man-made mountain biking trails in Scotland began some twenty years ago. The grandmother of the others.

Andy Wier (Andy #2) who oversees the Glentress and Innerleithen site was keen to show us how Glentress has progressed. Lessons have clearly been learned made from the construction of Kirroughtree as the newer ascents have the similar flowing characteristics.

Spooky Woods-

Andy took us round the main red 19km route, then offered to drive us back to the points we liked best. “Spooky Woods” was the obvious place to start, right at the top of the red route and descending the succession of jumps and berms over an open hill with the Scottish landscape below us was awesome.

The Freeride Zone-


Near the bottom of the hill next to the mid-level car park, there is the Glentress Freeride zone. It has some very well maintained table tops that take you down to the car park where it ends in a big box. There are also two opposing wall rides, some ladder drop offs, northshore and also some easier bermed trails with smaller jumps for beginners to learn on. The perfect place to come and learn and is nicely maintained for even the more experience rider to practice their style on.


Innerleithen-


Our journey was closing to an end. We still were yet to see the biggest attraction for the more hardcore rider. Innerleithen! Consisting of a technical XC 19km black and four National Points Series downhill tracks, nearby Innerleithen clearly caters for the more experienced rider.

Innerleithen demands skills and balls. Whether it is having the commitment to hit the berms and risers of the famous Caddon bank at full speed, staying off the brakes to clear the Whistler style seven meter doubles on “Make or Break” or tackling the super steep and technical NPS DH circuits, there is something here to challenge all levels of rider.

Anyway, I hope this article has given you all a good taste for what the 7 Stanes has to offer. It has to be ridden to be believed.

A big Shout out to the kind people who showed us great accommodations and hospitality during our stay:

Dumfies and Galloway - "The Brake Pad" in Castle Douglas See www.thebrakepad.com for more information or email [email protected]

Glentress & Innerleithen Top quality self catering apartments in Innerleithin run by Joy Jardine and you can expect excellent service here. Info at: [email protected] , www.tweedvalleyholidaylets.co.uk

For more info on the 7 Stanes, go to www.7stanes.gov.uk