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Glentress - ze overview
Well, we’ve been back from our honeymoon for a couple of days now, and we’re already missing Glentress. OK, we have broadband and our own fridge, but Leamington is so…flat.
Anyhoo, needless to say we thoroughly enjoyed biking north of the border. I didn’t attempt the red route - I was content to stick to the skills loop and the fantastic blue route, in an effort to get my confidence and basic skills up. I think it actually worked too - I even successfully tackled a skinny with a rocky finish:
Yes, I’m aware that a) The skinny is lower than a kerb, b) I look like a terrified hamster, and that c) I’m glued to the saddle. But that’s not the point! I gave it a go and didn’t die! Huzzah!
The cafe at Glentress, The Hub, is fantastic - really good food. Observe!
There was also a really good atmosphere there, with everyone talking about their rides, whilst sneaking covert looks at other people’s bikes. It’s interesting: the more you get into mountain biking, the more you look at bikes. Eventually, you stop looking at people and just look at their bikes, and end up branding them thusly: “Heckler dude”, “Yeti Guy”, etc.
On the penultimate day, I took some photos at the freeride park whilst Mr Toast decided to give it a bash. “Be careful!” I said, in a wifely fashion, and he said, “I will be, it’ll be fine!”. Then an ambulance pulled up, part of the course was sectioned off. Paramedics went in, paramedic came out, paramedic went back in with a leg brace, paramedics came out with broken freerider. Ouch.
Fortunately neither Mr Toast or I injured ourselves - yes, I even did some of the freeride course…gave the downhill boardwalk a miss though! Mr Toast tackled it with his usual aplomb though:
Aaaand here’s a few pictures of peeps that were a bit nifty at freeriding:
I’d really recommend Glentress to anyone who’s interested in mountain biking - there’s trails for all levels of ability, and loads of opportunities to hone and improve your skills in a controlled and pressure-free environment. And if downhill is more your thing, there’s the DH course Innerleithen just down the road, along with a black graded XC. One day, maybe! 
03/08/2008 at 12:09 am
Looks like you had a nice trip.
My wife’s confidence has grown hugely since riding with a local ladies group called the Curly Trails - if you’re ever up in the area again they might be worth a shout because they run a very supportive (22 strong) ladies club with coaching whcih I think is open to visitors.
And I think Innerleithen’s now regraded as a red with some black alternatives.
04/08/2008 at 11:26 pm
We’ll probably be back up next year, I’ll have to look them up. I’m always torn over whether I’d be better in a group or on my own - I often feel a bit self-conscious trying out trickier stuff when people are about, in case I fall off and make a tit of myself. But on the other hand, more experienced people could give me pointers, and scrape me off the floor and call 999 if it does go horribly wrong!
I didn’t know about Innerleithen being regraded, I’m sure we checked before we left and it was black? Is it a recent change, or did we just read some old information? I was also interested to read on your site about the plans to expand the trails at Innerleithen (complete with chairlift!) - I hope they go ahead! We’d definitely have to have two weeks there then!
06/01/2009 at 08:45 pm
Hey! Really good blog, I like the way you write!
Also noticed about people checking out each others bikes, funny isn’t it! I am new to mtb’ing and at first I wasn’t perving, but now I’m so curious to see what everyone else is riding after spending *so* long researching and trying to decide on my current bike. I don’t notice people checking out my shoes when I’m walking so I’m guessing its mainly a bike thang.
Keep up the good work, and the pictures of cake are superb!
From a fellow cake & mountain bike lover. =)