Cairngorms ( Ballater ) May '25.

[steven0555]

Was great meeting all of you today. Proper lucked out with the weather. Thanks very much for the assistance with Colin's tyre - managed to get it to hold pressure using a track pump so went and done storm and HBR again. Hope you have a good one at Tarland tomorrow.

 

[The Hodge]

Was great meeting all of you today. Proper lucked out with the weather. Thanks very much for the assistance with Colin's tyre - managed to get it to hold pressure using a track pump so went and done storm and HBR again. Hope you have a good one at Tarland tomorrow.View attachment 159991

Cheers Steven ..also good to meet yourself & Colin..and glad you were able to continue riding..
It was a day of two halves as we came back to the cottage in Ballater had a bit of lunch then explored a bit of the other side of the valley ..
I'm saving most of my pics for later in the week but here's one of Ant & Alan on a great section of singletrack this afternoon ..and we are all looking forward to Tarland

 

[Tonybro]

First video is up...

 

[Tonybro]

Second video is up (Heartbreak Ridge)

 

[The Hodge]

Finally got a bit of time ( & energy) to do this write up & pics
First of all many thanks to Alan, Ant, Dave , Tony & Wayne for making it such an enjoyable trip ..the craic & weather were just perfect ..I'm not forgetting either Col aka Just Gan and formally known as Binhill..who joined us for the Capel Mounth route & the two (surprise) lads Colin Meikle & Steve who joined us on the Heartbreak Ridge ride .
I'll be breaking the posts & pics down into separate days ..and there will be a lot of pics the ones I took to accompany the write-up..and the other lads at the end ..so I'll start at the beginning..
Sunday 4th May ..Comrie Croft , Perthshire.
We picked this cracking trail centre as a place to meet up at midday ..to break up the long distance travel to our destination and to get the legs working ..
If you like your trail centre's on the natural side then this is the place for you with lots of rock slabs as features ..in terms of grading I'd say that each route is at the top end of its colour coding ( so blue ..could be a red at other centres etc.) ..
It was busy with it being a Bank Holiday weekend ..& Merida having a demo day ..but once out on the trails we hardly met anyone else ..

A great few hours but after refreshments we were keen to get to our destination ..and a convoy followed ..that is until Glen Shee when a Mercedes AMG had the temerity to overtake both Tony, myself ,& Alan and needing a bit of a wake me up we gave chase ..on what is a fabulous road in a stunning location ( obviously not exceeding the National speed limit )...never did catch him but it provided a bit of fun and got us to Ballater a good bit quicker .
The cottage ( Bealach , Viewfield Road ) we booked was superb and had everything ( including bike storage) you could need ..it worked out at £86.00 each for the four nights ..an absolute bargain ..a few pics ..

Slap bang in the middle of the village and all of the eateries & shops it has to offer ..
Speaking of which ..The Ballater Arms was the watering hole of choice and was very popular ..Great food & beer ..
Day one over ..
To be continued ...

 

[Tonybro]

The Ballater singletrack descent video is now up...

 

[Just gan]

Finally got a bit of time ( & energy) to do this write up & pics
First of all many thanks to Alan, Ant, Dave , Tony & Wayne for making it such an enjoyable trip ..the craic & weather were just perfect ..I'm not forgetting either Col aka Just Gan and formally known as Binhill..who joined us for the Capel Mounth route & the two (surprise) lads Colin Meikle & Steve who joined us on the Heartbreak Ridge ride .
I'll be breaking the posts & pics down into separate days ..and there will be a lot of pics the ones I took to accompany the write-up..and the other lads at the end ..so I'll start at the beginning..
Sunday 4th May ..Comrie Croft , Perthshire.
We picked this cracking trail centre as a place to meet up at midday ..to break up the long distance travel to our destination and to get the legs working ..
If you like your trail centre's on the natural side then this is the place for you with lots of rock slabs as features ..in terms of grading I'd say that each route is at the top end of its colour coding ( so blue ..could be a red at other centres etc.) ..
It was busy with it being a Bank Holiday weekend ..& Merida having a demo day ..but once out on the trails we hardly met anyone else ..View attachment 160469View attachment 160470View attachment 160471View attachment 160472View attachment 160473
A great few hours but after refreshments we were keen to get to our destination ..and a convoy followed ..that is until Glen Shee when a Mercedes AMG had the temerity to overtake both Tony, myself ,& Alan and needing a bit of a wake me up we gave chase ..on what is a fabulous road in a stunning location ( obviously not exceeding the National speed limit )...never did catch him but it provided a bit of fun and got us to Ballater a good bit quicker .
The cottage ( Bealach , Viewfield Road ) we booked was superb and had everything ( including bike storage) you could need ..it worked out at £86.00 each for the four nights ..an absolute bargain ..a few pics ..View attachment 160474View attachment 160475View attachment 160476View attachment 160477View attachment 160478View attachment 160479View attachment 160480View attachment 160481View attachment 160482
Slap bang in the middle of the village and all of the eateries & shops it has to offer ..
Speaking of which ..The Ballater Arms was the watering hole of choice and was very popular ..Great food & beer ..
Day one over ..
To be continued ...

Who was spooning in the double beds ? you never mentioned that to me.

 

[The Hodge]

Ah ..didn't think you'd be interested
2x double rooms & 2x twin ..all done in a very democratic way ..lucky dip in a bag to see what you pulled out ..suffice to say I didn't get a double but fk me I got a snorer who shall remain nameless ( saying that everyone sharing complained that the other was the worst snorer they had ever come across )

 

[Just gan]

Ah ..didn't think you'd be interested
2x double rooms & 2x twin ..all done in a very democratic way ..lucky dip in a bag to see what you pulled out ..suffice to say I didn't get a double but fk me I got a snorer who shall remain nameless ( saying that everyone sharing complained that the other was the worst snorer they had ever come across )

I remember the night my wife went outside to see if she could still hear me and she could.

 

[The Hodge]

Day 2...Heartbreak Ridge & part of the Morven Loop.
Perfect weather conditions ..sun & blue skies which was in complete contrast to the only other time I'd been on this trail ..
We missed p3eps message on the morning of the ride ..but hell we were still having breakfast at 8.30 when he was starting the ride ...but did manage an unplanned hook-up with Steve0555 & Colin Meikle ( who had the bastard of all tyres to prise off a rim when he got a flat..at one stage 3 folks trying at the same time....two good riders though showing the old guys how it's done ..

Colin's tyre still wasn't holding air to well..so at the end of the woodland section we said our goodbyes and headed back to the cottage for a spot of lunch ..wondering what to do for an afternoon ride the guidebook came out and we decided to do part of The Morven Loop..heading out on the Deeside Way for a few clicks the diverting off through a churchyard to cross the A93 and climb up a fantastic singletrack for almost 3 miles which dissected Crannach & Culblean hills..
After Wayne had an "off" on a heavily disguised stream crossing.. affecting his shoulder we decided that this singletrack was too good not to reverse and fighting his obvious pain ( pain killers & ointment for the remainder of the trip) the red mist came down and he was off like a bat out of hell..
Back to the cottage for a few beers outside and some general piss-taking prior to our evening meal ..and another bout of snoring to end day 2.

TO BE CONTINUED

 

[Tonybro]

The Tarland videos are up starting at this post...

 

[Hobo Mikey]

Looks fantastic tour. I am only 40 minutes from Comrie Croft but was working Sunday and being bank holiday I was busy. Such a shame would have loved to catch up with you guys. Next time.

 

[The Hodge]

Day 3 Tarland 2 trails ..
A fantastic trail centre ..with top notch riding but which is in need of better facilities ..the toilet "flushing system" being a bucket of sawdust and on an extremely hot day not a place to dwell for any length of time
My legs let me down here the front of my thighs being stiff and offering very little natural suspension ..so rolled even the smallest jumps ..which slightly lowered my personal appreciation of the place.. the rest of the gang had no such problems ..and to a man voted it the best trail centre they had ridden ..which I'm sure I would have done if I'd been " fresh "
Definitely the first place on the agenda next time we visit ..

TO BE CONTINUED ..

 

[The Hodge]

Day 4 ..The Capel Mounth starting from Loch Muick car park .
This was the route Colin aka @Just gan & formerly known as Binhill on this forum had chosen to meet us for a ride ..he picked the wrong one .
Accepting the fact that mountain biking involves some hike-a-bike ( even on an ebike) the level of erosion & subsequent footfall in the intervening nine years since I'd last been here meant that sections which had been ridden back then were impossible to ride unless you had a Danny Mac skill set ..which unfortunately none of us have ..and I'm not just talking about the climbs ..
I was beginning to think that I'd been looking at the route through Rose tinted specs ..but @Tonybro who was living in these parts 30 years ago and was no stranger to the route confirmed its deterioration ..
Having said all that ..if you take into account that its going to be a canny walk / carry in places ..the scenery from the double track ridge riding is magnificent and just about well worth the effort ( although I doubt if any of us will ever ride it again )

Two notable absentees from this set of pics are Dave ( who picked up my lurgy and decided on a " lighter ride" from the door ..& Ant who due to a painful condition in his hand flaring up decided to head back home to Northumberland ..as it turned out this was also to be the last ride undertaken by Tony , Wayne & myself although the delights of the Ballater Arms beckoned one last time for a slurp & evening meal ..and a full breakfast the following morning in Bean to Go cafe before heading South ..
However the true athletes among us Dave & Alan ..headed North after breakfast to ride at Glenlivet ..with Dave following this up with an overnight stay in Peebles & tackling a mash-up of Glentress trails & Gypsy Glen

TO BE CONTINUED ..

 

[Just gan]

Day 4 ..The Capel Mounth starting from Loch Muick car park .
This was the route Colin aka @Just gan & formerly known as Binhill on this forum had chosen to meet us for a ride ..he picked the wrong one .
Accepting the fact that mountain biking involves some hike-a-bike ( even on an ebike) the level of erosion & subsequent footfall in the intervening nine years since I'd last been here meant that sections which had been ridden back then were impossible to ride unless you had a Danny Mac skill set ..which unfortunately none of us have ..and I'm not just talking about the climbs ..
I was beginning to think that I'd been looking at the route through Rose tinted specs ..but @Tonybro who was living in these parts 30 years ago and was no stranger to the route confirmed its deterioration ..
Having said all that ..if you take into account that its going to be a canny walk / carry in places ..the scenery from the double track ridge riding is magnificent and just about well worth the effort ( although I doubt if any of us will ever ride it again )
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TO BE CONTINUED .. View attachment 160577

Yes great set of pictures Neil as you said we will not be doing it again. Only pic missing is the French lady on the gravel bike haha

 

[The Hodge]

Yes great set of pictures Neil as you said we will not be doing it again. Only pic missing is the French lady on the gravel bike haha

Didn't dare take a sneak pic ..

 

[The Hodge]

My thanks again to all involved on a fantastic few days ..the riding been a part of it ..but the craic was equally as good ..
A picture board to follow of other riders pics ..
TBC...

 

[Just gan]

Didn't dare take a sneak pic ..

Enough said

 

[The Hodge]

Other pics from the gang ( heavy load ) ..and " artists " unknown

That's it folks !
There are more ..but you CAN get too much of a good thing !

 

[The EMF]

Yes great set of pictures Neil as you said we will not be doing it again. Only pic missing is the French lady on the gravel bike haha

What French lady?

 

[The Hodge]

The one who was going down the steep push we were going up with her partner ..

 

[The EMF]

@The Hodge the modest chap he is didn’t post these two pics of him decending Heatrbreak Ridge…….

Brilliant trip in every way, great craic, great company and great digs.
The weather was the icing on the cake!

 

[Just gan]

What French lady?

If you missed her you definately need to go to Specsavers .

 

[The EMF]

If you missed her you definately need to go to Specsavers .

Too busy blowing out of my arse on the “little” hike a bike……..

 

[Just gan]

Too busy blowing out of my arse on the “little” hike a bike……..

Haha if that was little you can definitely keep the big .

 

[billwarwick]

Lovely stuff. Great scenery and the weather was kind. Well done all. Looks like you weren’t troubling the local barbers too much tho

 

[The Hodge]

Lovely stuff. Great scenery and the weather was kind. Well done all. Looks like you weren’t troubling the local barbers too much tho View attachment 160743

Can't vouch for the other boys ..but Ive got a full head of hair ( cut short )

 

[The Hodge]

Well we enjoyed it so much back in May that we've decided to head back again May'26 ..
We will probably do everything again apart from Capel Mounth ( never again !)

 

[Highland Wheels]

If I'm about when you are up and the weather is decent I'll maybe tag along for a couple of rides

 

[The Hodge]

We're there from 1st May( arriving late afternoon ) departing Tuesday 5th ..
Not yet had discussions as to what & when we'll be riding ..but keep in touch ( Tarland & Heartbreak Ridge again ..probably Comrie Croft on the journey up ..& I think Dave was keen on a ride nr.Braemar )..
Plenty of time to decide though