Putting The “Sun” In Sunday (Drumlanrig Ride Report)

Sunday 3rd July

A hot and sunny day beckoned so answering the email call from Skinny Simon four of us opted for the shortish drive and headed down to Drumlanrig for a spin round the trails.  Unfortunately Simon the Instigator couldn’t make it in the end (roof repairs taking longer than planned).

Ross, Grant, Ryszard and myself met up at a civilised 10:30am and after some pre-ride caffeine and glove shopping faff we hit the trails………. kind of.  Before we’d even left the car park my rear mech did it’s exploding trick again caused by seized jockey wheel.  The bolt through the jockey wheel was being loosened off when the jockey wheel rotated, caused by a seized bushing.  Some persuasion and oil later and we started out on the red trail.

Bone dry, fast and unslippery roots were the order of the day!  The first sections of black drew a few surprised comments that the drop off was larger than any of us remembered.  With summer in full swing the trails were a bit overgrown at the side making the single track even narrower looking than normal and the grass at the edges concealed hidden roots, stumps and rocks so you had to stay alert and watch the trails!  Grant took us up a wee detour that I’d never noticed before.  It had an amazing view out over Drumlanrig Castle and the estate.  We quietly enjoyed the view, drenched in sweat!

View of Drumlanrig Castle

As we continued round the red/black trails we barely saw any mud and only a handful of other riders.  The trails continued to fly along quickly and the techy sections on the black were a joy to ride.  Without having to worry about slippery roots you could be more confident and go for the more ambitious lines knowing that if you just kept the speed up and avoided the biggest roots you’d clear the sections.

Ross Gets Some Tabletop Air

Tight, rooty turns, rooty drop offs, rooty climbs and fast hardpacked trails in between – fantastic.  And a beautiful forest to ride around too – not like the rigidly structured pine plantations of some other trail centres.  With the rootiness as unrelenting as the heat we were glad to be under the cover of the forest for most of the day and I was starting to dream of a cold drink from the cafe.  Starting to feel a little drained (well, me at least!) we headed along the final rooty run back to the car park to chill out in the sun for a while and mull over how long the good weather will last……………. til Tuesday, Grant informed us!

Ryszard

Despite the £5 per head charge for getting in to Drumlanrig the trail and forest doesn’t disappoint.  Especially on such a sunny day!  Simon: thanks for instigating it – sorry you couldn’t make it along, maybe next time eh?

Grant

Graham

Fort William – Sun 10th July

Folks,

Myself and Alison are planning to go to Fort William next week. The plan is to camp on the Saturday night (Loch Linnhe) and stay B&B on the Sunday night. On the Sunday we are planning to ride from Fort William on the Westie to Kinlochleven, up the landrover past Mamore Lodge to the river crossing. We will then return to Fort William via the same route. Plenty of options, e.g. techier riders could do the Ciaran Path at Kinlochleven instead of the track up past Mamore Lodge and we could re-group at the Ice Factor. Plan is to leave the Glen Nevis Vistor Centre at 10:00 AM PROMPT. Let us know if you are interested. Not sure what our plan is for the Monday yet. Cheers Gerry

Lakes Weekend 29th July-1st August

Hi folks,

Just a reminder about the lakes trip. This trip is definately going ahead.

The campsite is here:

http://www.baysbrownfarm.com/

Its in a wee village called Chapel Stile, just 7 miles from Ambleside. Takes about 2.5 hours to drive from Glasgow, so those who just want a weekend can manage it too. For those who don’t fancy camping, there is lots of choice of B&B’s, and a hostel in Ambleside. The village has one country pub, and another one a mile away.

The thinking is that there is loads of choice of riding down here, including road stuff, so don’t be put off. Its as much about a social weekend away somewhere very nice as it is about the riding.

For those wanting mega stuff, there’s the High Road near Ullswater which is about 20 mins away, and there is lots of choice for single track too.

Anyway, more the merrier, mixed abilities/bike types welcome.

If this hasn’t persuaded you its a good idea, jsut remember very few midges down there! Can’t say the same for the ticks, mind.

Me, Dawn, John and Ryz are definately going (unless Iron (Wo)Man kills Dawn next week!) And, a couple of biking mates from Wales.

Sam

Navigation Skills Course

Hi Folks,

As per requests at the AGM, we’re arranging to make some navigation skills training available to all club members.  Given the nature of the sport I see this as key to becoming a more competent mountain biker and is a skill that could be useful in many areas outside of mountain biking.

The Trainers:
Maria (Maz) and Martin Frater – have extensive experience in outdoors training and leading groups in mountain environments and have previously taught at the Dounan’s Outdoor Centre in Aberfoyle.

Course Structure:

  • Theory session: 2 – 2.5 hour session in the club hall
  • Practical session: 4 hour session in the Trossachs (Callander/Aberfoyle area) putting into practice what the classroom session has covered.

The intention is to make the course as practical as possible so you have a chance to absorb and cement the navigation skills and make them useful on future rides (Trailquest anyone??).

Course Content:

  • Getting to know a map – important features
  • Map Scales
  • Setting a map
  • Intoduction to “The Compass”
  • Taking Grid Bearings
  • Taking Magnetic Bearings
  • Magnetic Variation

By the end of the session you should be happy in your own navigation ability in basic summer conditions.

 Proposed Dates:
Theory: Wed 13th July

Practical: Sat 16th July

 Don’t worry if you’re interested but can’t make these dates.  Assuming the initial sessions go well, we’ll be running future classes to ensure that as many paid up members as possible have access to the training.  Maz and Martin are quite flexible on the courses so, depending on the level of interest, we could run a couple of classroom sessions first followed by 1 practical session at a later date.

Costs:

  • TBC but maximum of £10 per session (max of 1 theory and 1 practical session per member)

We’d look for this contribution towards the costs for employing 2 qualified and experienced trainers for delivering up to 6.5 hours of professional training with a low student:trainer ratio.  For comparison, a similar course from Tiso would cost you £65.  The club will fund the balance of the course fees.  To make this good value for the club ideally we require at least 8 people to sign up for each session.

Next Steps:

  • Advise if you are able to attend the theory class only or both the theory AND practical session  (Sorry: no practical without having done the classroom one first!!)
  • If you can’t attend the first session but are interested in future sessions then please let me know and I’ll keep a note.

In summary, I think this is a great opportunity to get some really useful training in essential skills which will keep you safe in the hills and give you the confidence to tackle a few “epic” rides this summer.

 Cheers,

 Graham

Rides This Week (w/c 27/6)

Rides This Week:

Tuesday ride:  Local Ride, departs St Andrews Hall Car Park, Milngavie, 7pm

Wednesday introductory ride:  Local Ride, departs St Andrews Hall Car Park, Milngavie, 7:00pm

Wednesday ride:  Dumgoyne Extended, departs War Memorial, Blanefield, 7:30pm

Thursday ride:  Road ride, departs St Andrews Hall Car Park, Milngavie, 6:30pm prompt. Duration: 1.5 – 2hrs

Sunday ride:  Local Ride, departs St Andrews Hall Car Park, Milngavie, 9am – or, alternatively, suggest a ride for Sunday!

 

Rides calendar for July & August will be posted shortly.

Beginner Ride Rota – Volunteers Needed Please

Hello all,

The Beginner Rides which started at the beginning of May have, so far been very successful.  We’ve increased our membership and introduced more women to the club (I have to put that in for the equal opportunities part).  To continue with the rides, we need your help with running these rides. 

We’re looking for volunteers to help for a couple of hours out on a Wednesday night.  So far we’ve been allocating two club members to a ride and you’ll have access to tea & biccies in the club hall afterwards along with the jet wash. 

So far, the majority of volunteers have been committee members along with a few dedicated & willing club members……….you know who you are, thank you.

It’s a great opportunity to introduce folk to the club, along with the social aspects of getting together in the club hall.  So, put your name forward and let us know if a particular Wednesday is good for you or not.

Many thanks

Barry

Alpine Club Night – Tuesday 28th of June

Hi all,

Alpine Bikes at St Georges Cross are running a club night for our paid members next Tuesday (I know that a large majority of our members actually ride on that day…..so see below).

They are offering 20% off parts, accessories, clothing etc and 10% off new bikes.  The shop closes as normal at 6pm, but re-opens 6.30pm – 9.30pm for our members.

As the Tuesday riders will miss out, we have agreed with Alpine that if you are to order anything before the club night, pay a deposit, they’ll run it through with the discounts applied on the Tuesday.  So you can in theory, show up today and purchase an item and the discount will be honoured.  Unfortunately, they won’t be able to take orders with that discount applied after the 28th of June.  So fill yer boots!

It’s a great chance to meet a few of the new faces in the team and build relationships with these guys. 

Regards

Barry

sneaky ‘wee’ sunday night ride

Tim & I decided to work off some of the beer and chips/kebabs we had consumed at the Edinburgh Real Ale Festival on Friday. Tim was keen to do the Whangie but I managed to persuade him to try something different, the descent off the ridge between Dumgoyne and Strathblane. We took in the riverslide along the way and down the Westie which they have ‘improved’ so there is no losing the front wheel, axle deep in mud, but the old railway path was just as wet as ever. The big climb up was repaid with a fantastic sunset and views over Loch Lomond. There then followed a certain amount of bog trotting, yes it has been particularly wet recently, following various and vague quad bike tracks. Saddles down, glasses on to try and keep the mud out of your eyes, but the real difficulty was keeping the sun out our eyes as we headed down. At this point Tim announces that his front brake isn’t working too well. Hmmm we are now well and truly committed as we reached the edge as the path drops out of sight and Tim’s jaw drops. Thankfully Tim’s new grippy tyres compensated for the lack of braking as he ripped down past me. Running home on empty tanks, Tim suggested it would make a good sunday morning ride.