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RR: An unintended epic
I don't usually write ride reports of Sunday club runs, but today's was a
particularly good one. It wasn't really intended to be - third Sunday of the month is 'non-technical off-road', which is usually a family- friendly ride, and today's plan was just to explore tracks into the hills from Gatehouse, and see where they went. As it happened, those who showed up turned out to be myself, Dougie 'The Bus', and Alison. We're all cyclists, but we've all been struggling with one health problem or another through the winter, so none of us super fit. We set off out of Gatehouse and I immediately took the wrong road, out to the grave yard; a dead end. Not deterred, this being an off-road ride after all, we crossed a few fields to rejoin the road we should have been on, winding up the east bank of the Fleet, past the farm where I spent the first summer holidays I can actually remember, as a very small boy. At Rusko bridge, we had two choices - straight on up the valley through Carstramon wood, a beautiful bit of ancient oak forest, or cross the river and ride the long climb up to Gatehouse Station. We'd none of us ridden the Carstramon Wood track, and Alison wasn't too keen on anything technical, so we crossed the river and started to climb. It's a good hill, metalled road but very quiet, climbing up to the old station cottage at the 150 metre contour; we saw one car. At the station we lifted the bikes over the fence onto the old railway line, and cycled east on the ballast under the crags of the Clints of Drummore as far as the Big Water of Fleet viaduct. The old railway is wonderful for cycling, high, with marvellous views, a good surface (at least for mountain bike tyres), gentle gradients, and, of course, no traffic. The Big Water of Fleet viaduct is owned by Sustrans, the well known Sustainable Transport charity. It is consequently about the only place in upper Galloway across which one is not permitted to cycle. So we came down off the railway and detoured around over two or three miles of forestry road, encountering our first serious snow. Across the forestry's low level bridge, and back up onto the old railway, here surrounded with dense forestry plantations and thus with limited views, climbing again to the site of the Little Water of Fleet viaduct. The viaduct has been demolished, sadly. Again we came down off the old railway, crossed the river on a forestry bridge, and followed the forestry track which leads back up to the railway on the East side, and across it. Following the railway east from there takes one through a wonderfully wild section to Loch Skerrow Halt, famous from the Thirty-Nine Steps; it's a grand ride, but not what I'd planned to do today. Instead I'd planned to explore the track south - which I assumed (and said) led back down the valley to Gatehouse. It was Dougie who first said 'it's all down hill from here'. To be fair, I had got a good set of maps with me, and we knew where we were. I'd deliberately not looked at the map - it takes the fun out of exploring. But... But it wasn't 'all down hill' - far from it. After a short dip we were climbing again, gently, through mature plantation, on a track badly rutted by big forestry vehicles. Here we passed two walkers - middle aged men, with a dog. We exchanged greetings. And then we started seriously to climb, over false summit after false summit (at each of which someone said the famous words), round the slopes of the Rig of Burnfoot and onto Shiel Rig. A grand view opened up to the North and West, over to the snow covered mass of the Cairnsmore. We'd left the railway at about the 120 metre contour; We finally topped out at 220 metres on the slopes of the White Top of Culreoch. And then a wonderful descent. It wasn't, strictly, easy; the track was badly rutted, and had potholes filled with dirty water that you just had to have faith concealed nothing tyre-eatingly or wheel-bendingly evil. But it was a blast, and I blasted down. Twisting across a burn at the bottom the track started to rise again, and at the top of the first rise I could see another nasty ascent to come. I waited for the others. Dougie came up to me, and carried on. Alison didn't come, and after a few minutes I headed back. She'd fallen. She'd broken her nice helmet, and had a few bruises, but she insisted she was all right; and her bike hadn't taken any harm. I radioed ahead to Dougie to ask him to wait for us. After a few minutes of getting herself together Alison climbed back on and headed on after Dougie, and I followed, crawling up the next ascent. Dougie and Alison had kindly waited for me at the top, and I again checked with Alison that she was OK to continue. Then across another little valley and up onto the Gatehouse to Laurieston road just above the 200 metre contour... Which meant, of cause, that we had two hundred metres to lose, on tarmac, in the six kilometres down to Gatehouse. Over a little rise and suddenly we could see the coast and the islands spread out below us. At last it was 'all down hill from here'. Wind up into highest gear, fingers resting on the brakes, blast. Wonderful. Down across the open moorland, twisting down the wooded valley side, blast through a short distance of pastureland, back into the town. Two and a half hours, about thirty or thirty-five kilometers, at least 300 metres of climb. And, for the first time this year, although we rode through quite a lot of snow, I wished I hadn't worn my tights. It was hot work! We saw two cars on out way down into Gatehouse, to add to the one we'd seen on the way out. There had been a man tending a grave in the graveyard. There were, as I said, two walkers on the track south of the Little Water of Fleet viaduct. Apart from that, we had the high country to ourselves. -- (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/ For office use only. Please do not write or type below this line. |
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#2
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RR: An unintended epic
Simon Brooke wrote:
I don't usually write ride reports of Sunday club runs, but today's was a particularly good one. Wow. Veru nice report. I am soooooooo jealous, you sod. And you've made me want to take up mountain biking more than ever! d. |
#3
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RR: An unintended epic
in message , davek
') wrote: Simon Brooke wrote: I don't usually write ride reports of Sunday club runs, but today's was a particularly good one. Wow. Veru nice report. I am soooooooo jealous, you sod. Thank you. It was really nice up there. We saw very little wildlife, apart from a couple of wild goats with kids; but it was nice to do a run where we really didn't know what was round the next corner. When I started mountain biking seventeen or eighteen years ago, you always went places you'd never been before; a lot of the time you went places you could be pretty sure no bike had been before. These days, the prepared mountain bike tracks - the 7stanes and others - are so good, and so much fun to ride, that we mainly ride them. They're brilliant - I really enjoy them - but just sometimes it's nice to do something different. And you've made me want to take up mountain biking more than ever! I do most strongly recommend it. Of course I enjoy road biking too, but mountain biking offers more fun per unit time, and I think, too, more fun per unit effort. And you can get into wonderful places with far less effort and in far less time than you can on foot. -- (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/ ;; how did we conclude that a ****ing cartoon mouse is deserving ;; of 90+ years of protection, but a cure for cancer, only 14? -- user 'Tackhead', in /. discussion of copyright law, 22/05/02 |
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