When I said that cycling entering our lives would change
everything I was not kidding and 2012 was a stark example of this change. This year marked Baz's stag do and the event was to be all about the trail.
My stag do in those early years involved a trip to Budapest, 196 units
of alcohol tipped into my body, shooting handguns, shotguns and AK47's in an
old KGB bunker and my overall punishment for being me. I am not inflating the truth when I say that
the Wolf Pack damaged me that weekend. I
remember hiding in the basement of Starbucks on New Bridge Street on my first
day back to work, wondering why my eyelids had swollen up and wishing the
ground would swallow me.
For Baz, with cycling now dominating our social lives, we
chose to embark upon the Scottish adventure of The Seven Stanes; seven red runs
at different trail centres each marked with a stone structure carved by a
Scottish artist. The tourism plot is for
people to visit the various trail centres until finally able to say they have
completed the Seven Stanes. For us we
were short of time, so became the first group ever to complete the Seven Stanes
in just 3.5 consecutive days. If not for
the driving between centres it would have been even quicker, but do not be
fooled; this was far from easy and although not a liver bashing session (for
most of those present excluding myself), our bodies seriously suffered!
I was on Paternity leave when this came around, having
taken over from my wife for months 10, 11 and 12. I was close to the end of my time as
"stay at home dad" so was in dire need of a break. One huge difference having a child had
introduced to my life was the need for a car licence rather than just
a motorbike licence, so rather than being stuck in the back of a car I was able
to drive myself up to Carlisle. The Travelodge
on the M6 was our starting area for the first trail centre the next day and it
was dark when I came off the motorway to follow a strange loop to the other
side of the motorway where our digs where.
Mark and Dan had travelled up together and collected Paul
from Carlisle train station on route so
our group was mostly complete. We would
be adding Baz and two of his local boys at the first trail centre the next
morning. The excitement as we came
together in the deserted car park was almost palpable and I suspect a little of
this was due to fear induced by the Aston Hill fiasco. A quick look at our surroundings suggested a
need to take our bikes to bed with us if we wanted to ride the next day, so
they came off the roof and we walked to the entrance of the lodge.
An odd chap let us in.
I couldn't work out if he was drunk, tired or stoned. Either way, he wasn't quite in the same world
as us so we untangled ourselves from his attempt to socialise while he put our
bikes in a room of their own and drifted off down the hall to the rooms. I admit, from first impressions of our host I
wondered if our bikes would still be there when we woke up and considered whether
the Thule rack on the car might have been more secure after all.
The hallway was like time travelling, carrying us back to
the seventies. The rooms were seemingly
refurbished at the same time but it was a bed, I had real ale in good supply
and we all knew we had slept in worse places.
I was sharing a room with Dan while Mark and Paul took a room down the
hall. I cracked open the real ales as
quickly as I could and spent a little time with Dan exploring our new kit. The days of having cargo shorts and t-shirt
were long behind us now. This was now the
age of compression tops, MTB specific shorts and clip in shoes. After the rummage we joined the others in their
room, drank a little more (Mark had opened a bottle of scotch like all good
Scotsman should) and called it a night a little later than was appropriate, all
feeling a little nervous and excited for what was about to come.
Against all odds, the bikes had not disappeared during
the night, so we had a quick and dirty breakfast in the services beside the
hotel and then returned to the cars feeling utterly unsatisfied. I took Paul and his kit in with me for our
drive to Mabie and I let Dan and Mark lead the way. Even though we were at the top of the M6, the
drive was still close to an hour, but tearing
along twisting roads between majestic forest was far from a chore.
We reached Mabie and parked up, to find this centre a little less commercial than Winlatter, with no
café, bike shop or tourist centre. Baz
was already there with his chauffeur for the weekend, having travelled in a
burgundy Citroen Picasso. As usual his
bike was upside down behind the car while he fiddled with parts of it. His buddy, named here in as Jock to save
confusion, was a large bloke with a good laugh and quick smile. He also wore a bandanna, which was something I
had forgotten existed up until then. The
last rider, here in named as Stan, arrived while the rest of us threw an Aerobie
around the car park, having already removed our rides from the car and were still
waiting for Baz to complete his faffs.
Stan was a quiet sort and a little dark and brooding in nature. He had a matter-of-fact air about him of just
getting on with things and I realised, considering the rest of the group, this
was rather desperately needed.
At last Baz decided his fiddling was complete and flipped
his bike over, only for the rest of us to put him right. The tinkering was indeed far from over
because we proceeded to add to his bike a set of spokey-dockey for his wheels,
a white handlebar basket with pink trim and flowers, a splendid Paisley shirt
to wear, Chop suey backpack to carry and handlebar tassels. All of this was much to Baz's disdain, but he
accepted his lot. With the group complete and Stag dressed to impress, we set out for our first Stane.
The Mabie Phoenix Trail was a mixed cross-country route
in stunning woodland, with natural trails a world apart from our fear of it being
another Aston Hill. From the car park we
cruised into a woodland and started a very steep climb that switched back and
forth so we could see each other as we spread out, regardless of the distance. This seemed to go on for quite some time and
in places really ramped up in steepness.
However the view from the summit paid for all the effort. We were now working our way carefully along
the ridge, with a drop to our left that would break man and bike alike if
disaster befell one of us. Mark, who
was not great at heights, was probably wishing he was back at Aston after all, but the death ridge soon ended and we enjoyed
a quick, switching descent back to earth.
Having taken the lead with Baz and Paul, jumping and
pumping the trail for speed, we came to a halt and let others catch up. The last to descend was Stan and we watched intently
because he had a style that was the antithesis of our careless disregard for self-preservation. He was poised and controlled, almost dancing
to his own tune all the way to where we waited.
When he did join us I thought he might even have smiled. Had it been me commanding a bike in such a
fashion I would have been grinning from ear to ear with self-worship.
The highlight of the centre for me was the Descender
Bender. This was a willy fizzing high
speed roll through a series of interconnected berms that had to each be more
than 25ft tall. We rode them fast and
high, getting spat out from one directly into the next and hanging on for dear
life as one particular berm exited onto an unexpected table top jump. Onwards and down we flowed, screaming with
near ecstasy and not a single one of us will forget it. Nor will we forget the talk we had with a guy
at the end of the trail who explained how a man had recently broken his back on
that surprise table top by hitting the tree beside it. I personally couldn't remember the tree; only
the sheer horror blended with elation from having transitioned from a berm into
mid-air rather than into another berm as was expected.
A final sharp climb known as The Scorpion for the sting
in its tail put us into less manicured trail through lovely forest, much like
we had experienced at the start. In the
Misty Glade we had a few photos with the "Ghost Stane" and pressed on
knowing we had another trail yet to conquer that day, but the back end of
Mabie was as sweet as the first half with water to blast through and sweet
trail to churn, interspersed with the odd piece of north shore and rocky chutes
that were either taken at overly enthusiastic speed so as to clear the double
drop in one (my method) or to get off and step down (the sensible choice taken
by others). My method was not in fact a
demonstration of skill, but more an example of failure to look ahead.
With one Stane down, we quickly re-packed the cars and
took the 30 minute drive to Ae. I was
following Dan again, although not on his race lines that seemed to take up most
of the deserted roads. Nor did I choose
to get air over the cattle grids which I would not have thought possible for a Mercedes
loaded with bikes unless I had seen it with my own eyes.
Ae as a centre was a little more civilised, with a café and
bike shop, so we stepped into the café and had a quick calorie top up before
heading out to the red trail.
Ae started with a climb on switchbacks much like Mabie up
into the forest and this was quickly paid for with a series of jumps on the way
back down. Despite the trail centre
already in our legs we were motoring along, buoyed by the increasing flow we
were achieving from being longer in the saddle.
Undulating single track led us around the flanks of Green Hill, but then
broke into the open and onto a steep turning climb, again greeted afterwards by
more jumpy descents. The flavour of Ae
was much like this, with short, sharp and steep climbs met very quickly by
swooping descents peppered with jumps and table tops.
Granny Green Love came at us next which was a lift in
technical demand, with a loose surface and much more rock, while the more
manufactured features were replaced with natural ones offering the brave a
chance for more air. The manicured
section soon returned though, with table tops back to back that increased in
size to either take advantage of growing confidence, or to teach a rider the
folly of arrogance.
Ae also had a series of berms, but nothing was going to
come close to Descender Bender. These
appeared just before crossing the river on a narrow bridge.
The pace dropped for us all as we fought our way up the
climb after the river and I took the chance to chat with Jock a little more,
liking his loud and brash nature, but the breath even for talking was snatched
away in the final stages of the climb which not only increased in gradient, but
also in technicality with scattering stones beneath our wheels.
I admit that climbing was not and is still not a great
skill of mine. The training I had done focused more on putting down power in
short bursts. The long climbs simply
drained me and at one point, on a bend turning up alongside the forest I was
incredibly unfair to Mark and Paul as they powered past, snapping at them for
being good climbers. It was completely
irrational and unfair, but in the midst of suffering we often drop the ball. Admittedly, they were climbing so fast they
had no time to respond, but it was a chat we had to have later.
Once the climbing was over we found ourselves at the Heart Stane sat with a background of forest and sky. I had almost forgotten that we were also seeking out the Stanes, but seeing it and knowing photos would require us to leave the saddle for a while was a blessing.
The section of trail we had all been waiting for was at
the end and known as the Omega Man. When
I saw the signpost indicating a descent my heart skipped and new energy rushed
in to my legs. It was slightly galling
to roll downhill about fifty metres only to then find myself climbing again,
but this was a brief blip in the section and soon opened up into a hair
tingling race over singles, doubles, drops and table tops right back to where
we had begun.
I was ruined though and not the only one. When we were back at the cars I suggested the
pub as a means to close the day and all agreed.
Meanwhile, feeling the strain of the trail as much as me, Dan whipped
out his phone and arranged for Mark to be put on his insurance to share in some
of the driving and although I needn’t follow in admin terms, I saw the idea of
sharing the driving as a great excuse to really go at the beer in the pub. There are some benefits to having the
non-drinker Paul with me in the car and this was certainly one of them.
Our digs for the night was a Mongolian Yurt at the Galloway
Activity Centre sat on the banks of Loch Ken.
We decamped from the cars and instantly littered the place with our
junk, claiming beds and then focusing on the footage I had managed to capture
on my headcam. The footage was absolute
rubbish and made us feel sick with how it juddered and spluttered, but
fortunately our memories were clear and while we relived what had only happened
that day the drinks stores depleted.
Friday 13th April 2012
We woke up frozen to the bone, if we had slept at
all. The log burner in the centre of the
Yurt had held the chill away for a while, but without being tended had quickly
died out so we all felt rough. We quickly
dressed for the day and made our way over to the café for breakfast, only to be
plagued by two opportunistic little Jack Russells while we attempted to chow
down on one of the worse breakfasts I have ever experienced. Eating the bread was like biting into a wad
of toilet tissues and the internal structure of the sausage was akin to playdo
that had been left in the air for slightly too long.
I resorted to the staple of coffee and smokes, standing
on a jetty beside the lake and admiring a beautiful tepee that was an option
aside from the Yurt we had taken. When the
group had suffered enough for calories we filled the cars with bodies and drove
for an hour to Glentrool.
Glentrool: The
Giant Axe Head
We parked up, set up and set off for the trail board only
to discover that the Stane was not on the red trail in this instance. Instead it sat halfway round an excessively
long cross country purple trail which would offer very little in the way of
challenge, but would seriously affect our ability to drive to and complete the
next centre.
We decided to take the blue route, forsaking the photo
with the Stane and instead improvised with Baz on a nearby rock.
The Green Torr Stats
Distance: 9Km
Singletrack: 65%
The trail was simple in design and a joy to ride despite
being only a blue grade. It began with a
climb that continued all the way to the highest point, moving through forest to
start with until it opened up to awesome views.
After this it was all downhill back to the start, on wide, manicured
single track with berms, but very few real air opportunities. We found one section that was dripping with
flow as it swooped down into the forest, ending on a beautiful berm before
kicking out on a fire road. Knowing we
had a time window die to the shorter and easier blue, we pootled back up to do
it again, but this time leaving a few elephants between us to save Mark from
shouting at whomever was squealing on the brakes behind his back wheel.
The final descent was sweet and steep for a blue and
kicked us out at the visitor centre where we had begun, giving us all good
smiles and a fire in our belly for the next centre.
Kirroughtree: The
Gem Stane
It was a 25 minute drive trail to Kirroughtree trail and
on beautiful twisting roads. The centre
also had a nice café which allowed a coffee top up and a dripping cheese
toastie just for good measure. The
painful start to the day had somehow been eradicated by the almost effortless
and utterly enjoyable blue run, so we were full of beans starting Kirroughtree.
The Twister Stats
Distance: 17Km
Singletrack: 80%
The Twister trail was a wonderful mix of technical rock
sections and flowing forest. The flow
was delightful, with the red trail often sharing a route with the blue, but
then pairing away for the red to tackle the gnarly sections before coming back
to the blue for snappy climbs. This was
a trail of gliding rather than flying and seemed well in our abilities, boasting
our confidence even further.
We tore along at pace into a section called White Witch and
whooped as we left the granite boulder behind; a feature that not long ago
would have had most of us walking. The
single track from here grew narrower and I had Paul harrowing my back wheel, so
the power went down even more. On and on
we raced, skipping through leafy woodland, flying over the roots of a grand old
oak beside a lake, over a bridge and off down more dark single track.
We stopped at a natural end of the Rivendell section and
waited for the others. A few more groups
passed through and we started to wonder if we had gone the wrong way, but
without phone reception we couldn’t contact them. Then yet another group came through and
stopped beside us.
“Are you with a bigger party?” they asked. “They are waiting for you at the Stane.”
Paul and I had been so intend on the trail we had failed
to see the Gem Stone beside the lake and had to trek back up the wrong way on a
section that was very fast for those coming down it. It was slow progress and more than a little
hair raising, but we made it in one piece and were at least included in the
pictures after suffering a justified wind up from the others.
At least Paul and I got to ride the awesome section again
and the trail ended with a giddy section known as Jabberwocky, filled with
turns and rocks, rock slab climbs and descents, step-downs, step-ups and bomb
holes pre-warned with a death sign, adding to the fun of it. All in, the trail centre had earned the title
of “best so far” in my heart and I barely registered the 45 minute drive back
to the yurt as me and Paul relived the trail in words.
Saturday 14th
April 2012
I didn’t wake up cold because I had not been to
sleep. On our way back the day before we
had stocked up on more real ale from a super market and I had plopped myself
down near the burner to both drink and stoke the fire. The whole group woke up grateful, but I was
soon to realise the error of my ways when even a long soak in the shower block,
poor coffee and smokes failed to clear the fog from my head.
Dalbeattie: The
Heart Cleft Stane
We packed the cars fully as our last night in the Yurt
was over. We had a 50 minute drive to
Dalbeattie, had Newcastleton to polish off after that and then were staying at
a guest house in Innerliethan.
Hardrock Trail Stats
Distance: 25Km
Singletrack: 65% (black-graded sections are
100% singletrack)
For a foggy brain, Dalbeattie was a brutal place. The trail started in a car park with no
facilities that led us out to long stretches of north shore over bogs and beds
of reeds, always ending with a drop onto rock or loose shale. Then the hard granite surface of the trails
beyond this encouraged too much speed for the features all too quickly arriving
from ahead. Paul and I tore off again,
tearing along a slim, loose surfaced trail with a rock face to our left and a
severe drop to our right. Our hardtails
skipped over the features and skidded through the loose stones until we were
both overwhelmed with excitement. Then
out of nowhere a tree stump, cut down to just above pedal height, reared up in
the trail. The metallic smack of my
pedal catching it, adding to the scars in the wood present from other mishaps
in the past, was nothing compared to the crunch of me hitting the unyielding
ground.
Paul helped me up from the ledge and the others soon
joined us to see the scratches and beads of blood forming on my legs. I had survived physically, but mentally I had
been crippled and that tone remained for the rest of the trail. Faced with step
ups and step downs over smooth, damp granite ate away at my resolve to continue
and put fear in my heart of another disaster.
Dalbeattie was also peppered with black features. The first we attempted was a mini slab, all
knowing in the back of our minds that the real slab awaited us further
alone. Only me and Baz attempted this
and both succeeded, giving back a little confidence. Then there was a run off, which was simply a short
vertical drop down a smooth piece of granite.
Again, me and Baz took it on and survived. This however did nothing to prepare me for
the real slab when it finally filled our path.
Still affected by my crash, sleepless night and boozy
habit, I simply accepted defeat and instantly put my bike to my shoulder and
walked down before anyone had even started to ponder the “should I or not”
question. This was the one feature I had
been most driven to conquer prior to the trip, but right there and then I saw
it as the potential end of my trip, so as much as I was disappointed in myself,
I was also pleased at having for once shown a modicum of sense.
Baz was the only one to ride the slab in the end and at
last we had some good footage because I used a Flip camera instead of
headcam. It was a true sight, seeing his
tassels flap out behind him as he coursed arrow straight down 15-metre section
of sheer granite. He reached the bottom
and stepped off the bike, letting it fall as he dropped to his knees and roared
for the Gods to hear that Man has prevailed!
We collected the picture at the Stane and with the Slab behind us my flow started to return and the
back end was more like the riding I had enjoyed the previous day. There was an unusual amount of closed sections, forcing us onto fireroads which sometimes proved the reward for a prior bitter climb, making the climb all the more bitter, but when there was single track open the trail still threw rock and root at us in
ample measure. At the very end I landed on the top of my head trying to follow Baz over a
skinny plank between two boulders, but we made it to the end alive.
Strangely, despite it having been me (and a little bit Baz) who had shed the blood on the trail, Dalbeattie actually took Stan out of our group. His knee gave way after the pummelling and he decided to call it a day, leaving us after a bottle of Punk IPA from out of Jock's car boot.
Newcastleton: The
Border Stane
It really was the driving that was making the challenge
tough and the 1.5 hour drive to Newcasleton after the brutality of Dalbeattie
was enough to take the fizz out of any mans’ tail, but I had bottled it at the
Slab and had something to prove to myself.
For this reason, when we finally did pull up beside the toilet block in
the car park (the only facility available) I was filled with a determination to
redeem myself.
Red Route
Distance: 16Km
Singletrack: 60%
Newcastleton claimed the top seat for “best centre”
within the first few minutes and held it to the end. I could not fault it in terms of flow and
character and sang to me more of freeride than trail centre. The isolation added to the overall effect of
the place and I felt enriched by the end of it rather than tired.
The nameless red route was fast, narrow single track that
wound its way along the side of a valley, crossing bridges and boardwalks that
led into sharp, but short climbs into the next long ribbon of single track
draped out ahead. Unlike the other
trails, which seemed to alter as you progressed from manicured trail to natural
and back again, Newcastleton was simply natural in feel from beginning to end.
We had our first and only mechanical here – a puncture
that came at the top of a climb and meant we stopped in a beautiful, open glade
to make the repair. Not one of us seemed
to mind, as if we had left our cares at the car. Things were fixed without fuss and we were
back on the trail, swooping through the forest like native deer on the move,
both fast and graceful, stopping next only when we reached the Stane.
A single black grade feature reared its head towards the
end; a raised timber trail line across a pond, but the flow was too delicious
to be abandoned for what would likely have been carnage. We tore past it without debate, plummeting into
dark forest before crossing the Tweeden Burn over a stunning arched laminate
bridge.
The trail ended a little way from the car park, spitting
us out onto green fields and then a short road climb back to where we started. The Punk IPA made another show and we
lingered by the cars whooping and grinning.
What had started out as a horrific day had ended on an utterly true high
and six of the Stanes had been ticked off just as we had planned.
Sunday 15th April
2012
Even the 1.5 hour drive to Innerliethen could not deplete
my joy from Newcastleton and being so close to the end of the challenge, with a
whole day left in which to do just one trail, filled me with self-pride. When we pulled into the drive of the house booked
for us to stay in my good mood only increased.
It was beautifully clean, had everything we could need and most of all
there was a bed and central heating rather than a bunk and wood fire.
Once all showered and dressed, which is a long process
for six men, five of which who are attempting to drink ale at the same time, we
popped out for the short wlak into town to get food. Now Innerliethen is not what you would refer
to as a “tourist destination” and our group seemed to stand out like a sore
thumb. We had not even walked more than
ten metres up the high street before an angst filled drunk crossed the road to
get in our faces. He stood toe to toe
with Baz and we all waited for the inevitable “kick off”, which would have been
a slightly messy affair with six lads against one drunk. Baz, knowing he was target no.1, took a step
back to give room for a clear headbut should the situation seem unavoidable, but
this action must have registered with our foe.
He suddenly became aware of the size of the group, maybe even noticed he
was being lined up for a nutting and backed off.
With the drunk now returned to his shop doorway where his
ragged queen awaited him, junky sores and all, we slipped into a pizza house
and ate enough to feed a small army.
From here we moved into the pub, avoiding standing near Paul who had
developed the most sinister batch of wind and began drinking with gusto. The pub also had a healthy array of scotch
which led to a game of “Guess the brand” for me, Mark and Baz, resulting in
many units and strangely, many a correct guess.
The walk back to home was without the drama of the walk
in and a cozy bed was all that was needed to completely polarise how the day
had begun.
Glentress: The
Meteorite
We were up in good time and packed early. I had moved Paul’s bags to Dan’s car as I
would be travelling home solo after Glentress, but I still took him and his
bike with me on the 18 mins drive. Upon
arrival I looked out at the commerciality of this centre in comparison to
something like Newcastleton and was stunned.
I could see fields of wooden huts, there was a café, shop and bike shop
as well which led to my instance of coffee before beginning and as we were time
rich I received no complaints.
The Glentress Red Route
Distance: 18Km
Singletrack: 65%
Whereas Newcastleton was awesome for being entirely
natural and flowing, Glentress was awesome for the complete opposite because it
was manicured from one end to the other and involved all the climbing up front
followed by all the descending in one long session. The climbing was done in order of ability and
we quickly spread out, but once we reached the top, amusing ourselves on route
with the odd log feature and balance beam, that order flipped on its head for
descending.
I was shocked to see a smattering of snow as we got
closer to the top and then enthralled to catch my first ever glimpse of a red
squirrel. All in, despite the manmade
feel, Glentress was beautiful to climb.
Beauty, but not flow, stepped aside when it was time to descend.
The most memorable section has to be Spooky Wood, which
started out technical and challenging as it whipped in between the trees over
rutted and rooted ground long abused by rubber tyres. I had been second to leave the start behind
Baz and was on him all the way down, pitching Crank against his full-sus 29er
and not finding Crank wanting. The trail
then came out of the woods and into purpose built drops, jumps and berms,
adding to the speed as we battled for space with a dangerous lack of distance
between us. Twelve 180-degree berms, 18 jumps and 17
table tops truly paid for the climbing and that was in that single section,
which fired us out with big smiles on our faces, right beside the final Stane.
If Spooky Wood had been the only descent I would have
been satisfied, but Glentress was not finished with us yet. We still had sections named “Super G”, “Hit
Squad Hill” and “The Pie Run” to add handfuls of cherries to our cake. There was also the Matrix, which was a trail
of choice, like a rabbit run in how it branched off, rejoined and littered the
side of the mountain like the runoff from a waterfall.
Back at the centre we paid to shower and had a quick
coffee together, but all knew it was over.
Our parting was sad, but I had an 8.5 hour solo drive home to dwell on all that
we had faced and achieved. So this was
not a boozy affair for a stag-do. It had
been an endurance style challenge, filled with the need to bring technical
ability, mental strength and a little bit of a strong liver. We had passed in all aspects. We had beaten the Seven Stanes.
