Hedging in the borders

Paul Kirkwood tries two contrasting bike rides in the south of Scotland

I was in the Borders with a bicycle and a day to spare but I couldn't make up my mind which route to take. Should I do what I usually do and go for a gentle on-road tour of the countryside, or be a bit different and try mountain-biking for the first time? After all, I was just a few miles away from the Glentress which forms part of one of southern Scotland's ‘7stanes' mountain biking centres.

Operated by the Forestry Commission, the centres are known as the 7stanes because there are seven of them and each features a central ‘stane' (Scots for stone) somewhere in the forest.

At Glentress there are more than 30 miles of trails, all well waymarked and graded to suit different levels of ability and experience rather like ski runs; blues are easy, reds are intermediate and blacks are difficult. Soon after setting off I was glad I had played it safe and chosen a blue route as I was soon out of puff – and pushing – up a hell of a hill. Only when there were gaps between the pines on my left could I admire the view over the Tweed valley – and see how high I'd climbed. Buzzards Nest turned out to be another car park; a mere base camp, certainly not a summit.

Still the track went up. The last time I'd encountered hairpin bends in such quick succession was from the comfort of a coach as I neared an Alpine ski resort. All I could hear was the breeze in the trees and, as I rested in a log shelter, the distant scrunch of approaching tyres. Suddenly, a mountain biker pulled up i...

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• By : Paul Kirkwood
• In : Outdoor Scotland
• Issue : 30
• Page : 54
• Words : 1,168