Balmaha Weekend Away – Ride Report

Last weekend saw the return of the Balmaha weekend away which is rapidly becoming a staple of the club calendar.  With the focus definitely being on the social aspect of the trip we started as we meant to continue – with a pre-ride getogether at one of the club’s sponsors, Bullands cafe in Milngavie.  Cups of tea and coffee and the odd bacon roll later and our group of 25 riders were off, heading out along the Westie.  Despite the chill everyone was in good spirits as we looked forward to the ride, a good dose of banter and tasty food at the Oak Tree Inn.

Frosty Scenery En Route To Balmaha

The ride out along the WHW was nothing technical, just had to keep your wits about you riding over the patches of sheet ice.  Beyond the Beech Tree there was some top teamwork keeping the group moving through all the gates until we reached the road just outside Drymen.  Arriving at Drymen we were met by Groundskeeper John who had done the essential task of couriering the overnight bags to Balmaha before cycling back to meet us.

The group then split into 3 properly hardcore groups – the hardcore riders, the hardcore soup & cake eaters and the hardcore drinkers.  This is what’s great about this sort of ride – there’s something to suit everyone.  Personally consuming 2 pints of beer while standing beside the roasting hot log burner in the pub suited me just fine!

The hardcore riders didn’t stop for long in Drymen and pushed on towards Conic Hill with enough daylight to have a go at some lochside trails or make it to the Oak Tree to beat the rush for showers and beers.  The hardcore soup and cake eaters relaxed and enjoyed their cafe stop before taking the road round to Balmaha or trails up Conic Hill.  Meanwhile us hardcore drinkers consumed the pints and stocked up on bravado before heading out into the hazy mid-afternoon to “own” Conic Hill.

I Can See The Pub From 'Ere!

About 20mins after leaving the pub 3 of us had managed to crash……………… on the fireroad through Garabhan Forest!  And I can tell you that 2 pints is not enough for me to numb the pain of stacking it onto a frozen solid fireroad.  We continued up the climb behind Conic Hill and lost the view in the clouds.  With the light and the bravado fading thoughts were starting to turn to getting to the pub, a pint and a hot meal!  The ride down was an interesting mix of steep techy rocky path, ice, snow, steep wet grass (*), steep slippery mud and off camber wet roots.  By the time we rejoined the WHW by the loch we’d all taken a tumble and were caked in mud and it was with some relief that we rolled in to the Oak Tree for the showers and to meet the rest of the groups for a cold pint in the warm bar!  Socialising continued over with a slap up meal of tasty grub and puddings (including a birthday Mars bar cheesecake for Grant!) all washed down with a few more cold drinks while being serenaded by Simon “Buble” Simpson and Rueben “Ziggy” Millward.

The next day saw the group split again – those who had the legs for it (Mark, Lyndsey, Gav, Tony and Zoe) headed back up over Conic Hill while the rest of the riders retraced the WHW to Dumgoyne before doing the pipe track and gowk stane trails and storming into Bullands for a cuppa and a piece of cake…… or 2 (Paivi!!).

As per the previous year’s trips the banter and social aspect was top notch and you make it the trip you want – with as much riding or socialising as you see fit.  Thanks to Dawn again for organising and a big thank you to John for sorting out the logistics again.  Another fun club weekend away – looking forward to a few more throughout the year!

(* what tyres for wet grass?)

More photos.