Ride report courtesy of Gerry Cleary, photos by Mark:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/glasgowmountainbikeclub/sets/72157626190038985/
“Folks,
Good turnout today with 13 riders at the Menteiths after John Bennie’s suggestion earlier in the week.
Myself and Simon Simpson left Kirki at 8:30 on the cross bikes to ride over to Aberfoyle via Mugdock, Croftamie and Gartmore. We were making good time until I had bad puncture problems just outside Gartmore. We phoned the rest of the bunch at Aberfoyle and they made a start on the journey with Big John (Sam’s Man) and Marky Mark leading the way into the very muddy Menthieths loop. Unfortunately for Jacqui and Alison they had to wait at Aberfoyle with the mountain bikes.
We managed to regroup at the picnic bench just after the lochs and grab a quick breather. Shortly after that, John led Anne and Mike (King of Trackstands) to his bikeshop (Wheels) and sorted them out with a rear mech hanger. Soon after, Mark needed to bail and catch Lyndsey who had been road biking in Lanzarote. The rest of us headed to The Byre and lots of high performance sports beer and chips were consumed, even by Neil who eventually succumbed to the temptation of a bowl of chips. There was some chat about some doing the Finglas loop but this was quickly squashed after talking to another couple of riders who informed us that they only just managed to ride 30% of it due to the snow.
After lunch, Simon could not resist the temptation of some tarmac and dragged Jacquii over the Dukes to return to Aberfoyle. John led the rest of us back through the forest tracks to the trails just above Go-Ape where Sam was now in her element. This then just left a gentle descent into Aberfoyle. Arriving back at the carpark, Gary and Grant quickly loaded their bikes into John Bennie’s van and made a dash to the ice-cream shop for the drive back to Glasgow.
In the car park, we then met Pistol Pete, Andy Mac and Derek who looked much cleaner after riding the Dukes and Katrine loop on the cross bikes.
A great ride today, stuff to suit everyone and hopefully we will have plenty more good rides.
Cheers
Gerry”
