Hitting the trails again...

It's Friday again so another day spent playing in the hills as part of my Practical Outdoor Activities module. Today was our second, and final day mountain biking. The week before we were left with the option of a ride up and down a fell, or a ride on some more trails up in the borders for our second session. However, today when our instructor met us nice and early at 9am we were told Newcastleton was our destination as the fells may still be too frozen for good biking action.

Newcastelton is one of the Seven Stains in the borders of bonny Scotlandshire. We rode a red route, like the previous week, which was 10.5km and according to the Scottish Forestry Commission ...

"whizzes through the trees on fast, narrow single track for nearly 3km near the start, crossing bridges and boardwalks, and the final exhilarating descent from Swarf Hill will have you going round for a second lap."

We did go round for a second go, but only did the last section from Swarf Hill before hitting up the North Shore at the start of all the trails.


Still the small group of four were not exhausted so we set off for the Caddrouns Blue Trail, but found that there was a reason for the fencing blocking the start of the trail. It was still being constructed. We tried to get down it, but eventually gave it up as a lost cause and walked back up to the forestry road and headed back to the minibus for tea and medals.

Off walking tomorrow.

Good lines, stay safe and see you on the wet stuff...
Iain