Drumlanrig planning thread!

Pretty sure he is on his holidays poland i think.

so that what happens when I don't log in for a few days - missed a ride I could have attended

- how did it go?

Gaz you mentioned entrance fees, maybe we should post entrance fees and parking fees on the main thread, nothing worse than a money surprise on arrival.

Yeah! £5 PER HEAD not PER CAR but no parking charge

.

3 days to be precise, sorry Dyna.
Aye, I've just back from holiday and going to Poland this time for two weeks.
Just making some brake from computer, internet and RB as well.
I'm not 100% sure at the moment I'm up for this, I'll let you know chaps in a next week.

Righto

there are a few asking if anyone is doing a Saturday ride in the area, I can't make it but if anyone is, it might be good to let the visitors know.

I'll get there saturday evening as I have a "beatles" gig to attend in the afternoon.

Drumlanrig trail map (sorry about the quality):



Blue Trails, 9km. Marked with a 6 on the trail signs.
I think they're mostly fire roads and I'm really only including them for completeness.

Red Trails, 20km. Marked with a 7 on the trail signs.
The meat of the ride. Plenty rooty and technical, right from the start. High spirits and old tyres are going to cause quite a few spills if it's wet. NOTE: The dotted line bail out at Kiln Knowe near the start for those who bite off more than they can chew.

Black Trails, 8km. Marked with a 8 on the trail signs.

From the recce, one suggestion would be to do the red route until Carse Wood, then finish on the black, since it avoids ending the ride by cycling back up the castle drive.

Then lunch.

Then back out again, this time adding in the black section at the start for those that fancy it.

Wheres my 2 mile section / get out clause

Joking aside, that is the offical bail-out route. You've got the initial landy track climb up Echo Knowe, then you dive straight down and into a short bit of rooty single track. Then another landy track climb and some more rooty single track... By then, you'll know if you're up for the rest of it.

Technically, it really is straight in at the deep end, especially when wet. People that approach it with the same sort of speed as a modern trail center are in for a rude awakening... The red isn't called 'Old School' for nothing...

The Drum will sort out the genuine old schoolers from the wanabe old schoolers. Thankfully I'm the former (I still ride all bikes be they full sus etc like a rigid thus messing up a new bikes handling ) and love the twisty trails. There are less gut busting climbs than say GT so if you pace yourself I reckon most fitness levels can cope.