GMBC Strikes Back (An Ochil Hills Ride Report)

So.  The Ochils.  It’s a GMBC “classic ride” (before my time).  It’s one that long-term club members (OK, Pete Morgan at least) talk about and get all misty eyed with tales of big climbs, great views and steep descents.  First, some history; last year Elizabeth, Jack, Dawn and myself decided to have a go at it.  We attempted it on a muggy, humid day where the tops of the Ochils were obscured by mist/fog/cloud and a hasty descent veering away from a fenceline saw us hopelessly lost and we spent about 2.5 – 3hours tramping about in the bog and moors before giving up and returning to Tillicoultry.  Ochils 1  : GMBC nil.  When Elizabeth suggested a re-match I was up for it.  What would happen this time??9 of us (Tom, Ieva, Ryszard, Elizabeth, Sam, GraemeB, DavieM & Davie’s pal Alan, and myself) met up in Tillicoultry where the blue skies of Glasgow had been replaced by patchy cloud, some of it grey, some of it hugging the hills – “was this going to be a repeat of last year’s ride?” I wondered.  We set off towards Dollar as a pleasant and flat warm-up before the frontal assault up the Ochils.  It was another muggy, fairly still day so when the road turned upwards it wasn’t long before the sweat started to pour – for me at least; Tom & Davie made it look easy.  The reward was the first glimpse of views down to the valley and Castle Campbell as the path climbed up into the hills.

The ascent gave way to undulating tracks through the glen with a fairly hard surface which wasn’t as wet as I’d expected.  The trail wound it’s way through the valley with views of Glen Quey reservoir.  As the route was new to most of us there was some map faff and a bit of route finding.  At Glen Quey Elizabeth opted to return as it was obvious the combination of a late start and faffing meant she’d miss an appointment later in the afternoon.  From Glen Quey we descended round to Glen Devon following some bridleway-type tracks, a bit chewed up by horses but firm enough in most places to get through and a few nice twists and turns on the descent too.  As Tom pointed out, it would probably be a quagmire after a wet spell.

After a brief wrong turn up a farm track and having to drag Ieva away from pillaging all the wild raspberries we picked up the trail through Glen Devon and the route started to wind its way around to the back of the Ochils via Glen Sherrup.  By this time the cloud had eased off a bit and the riding over the grassy path into a quiet valley leading up to Glen Devon was beautiful.  We were about halfway round by this point and GraemeB was struggling with climbs, his legs only being used to occasional weeknight jaunts round Mugdock.  This ride couldn’t be more different from the usual local riding so fair play to Graeme for sticking with it.  Lots of encouragement and DavieM’s Haribo was on offer to keep his spirits up.

We then picked up the tracks round Glen Devon and the eagle-eyed Sam spotted a fishing hut offering teas & coffees – ideal!  It was a great chance to chill out for a bit before the final push up over the Ochils.  It was clear from the map that this bit was going to be a bit of a challenge.  Singletrack over an expansive moor and the profile of the Ochils often makes it hard to see far as the contours undulate and the rolling shape of the hills makes landmarks less easy to spot.  We perservered up in the general direction and eventually the hike-a-bike found us on a quad bike track over the grassy moors undulating upwards towards the watershead at Maddy Moss.

By this point Graeme was a broken man.  There had been a few low speed tumbles, and cramp in his tired legs.  I was a bit concerned about what I knew was coming – (for me at least) the highlight of the day which was the epic finish into Tillicoultry down a narrow, twisty, rutted piece of singletrack (like a tobogan run as DavieM pointed out!) where the glen drops steeply to the right.  Any mistakes or loss of concentration would find you scrubbing a wheel on the edge of the trail and you’re off down the slope.

The sun was out and with the descent stretching off into the glen DavieM was off like a greyhound chasing a rabbit.  It takes a while to get your head into the right gear for this type of riding when you’ve been used to wider, less steep trails all day.  The descent is top notch though.  It rolls along the contours for a while, hugging the side of the glen like some sort of natural pump track, little twists and turns here and there.  In my head it sounded a bit like this:

“Pedal, pedal, freewheel, keep pedals level, lean the bike one way to avoid catching a pedal, flick it the other way to avoid that narrow bit, oops, pump down here, now freewheel up this bit, yikes sharp turn, watch your pedals in the narrow rut, yikes, keep thinking left, don’t fall right, keep the tyre away from the edge, pedal, pedal, pedal, wow, look at the view opening up, man, where’s Davie, ooh, photo opportunity, stop, gather thoughts, take photo, carry on, pump, pump, pump, freewheel, man this is awesome, how much fun, eeek, is that Graeme? Shit. He’s fallen.  Shit.  He’s landed in nettles, ooh, that’ll nip!”  And not a dock leaf to be seen anywhere…….

Yes, his tough day got a bit tougher, adding 3rd degree nettle rash to his list of woes.  Funny thing is, it seemed to give him an adrenalin rush (or was that the shock to the system) and he started to nail the trail after that – maybe there’s stimulating properties to nettles that re-awaken the mind – who needs Red Bull, eh?

As the trail contoured round towards Tillicoultry we had epic views of a sunny Forth valley open up before us.  At this point the trail changes from contouring to steep and rocky as it begins a headlong plummet back into town.  There are tight, technical rocky sections and such great views – but you need to keep your eyes down.  A few tight switchbacks and a flight of stairs and you’re back in town before you know it.  All that was left to do was to enjoy the buzz of an epic day out in the hills with some great company and realise why it’s a classic club route.

Ochils 1  :  GMBC 1

Maybe, let’s make it best of 3??