Here's the 7 Stanes ride report. Click here for the 7 Stanes photo album.

Thursday 27th April

After arriving at Huey & Sue's shortly after Rob at 7a.m. we pile into the van and set off on the long drive north from Surrey.

The drive goes surprisingly quickly although having Rob 'slackbladder' along is like driving one of my kids around with constant toilet stops required.

We arrive at the corner house hotel in Innerleithen at 5 p.m. shoertly after Elliot and Will who flew up to Edinburgh and after dumping our gear into the rooms we swiftly changed and were heading off to Glentress to stretch our legs by shortly after 6 p.m.

Huey had suggested the blue route and I have to admit I didn't like the sound of the 'family' route but there is a fair amount of climbing and some really lovely fast singletrack descending. We had parked in the Buzzard's Nest car park and were able to spend some time messing around in the free ride play area. The sun was in a great position to get some late evening shots of riders going over the freeride 'box'.

The trails were all heavily armoured with hard packed stones and on the final, fast descent, my legs felt really vulnerable. I wanted to push faster but knew that any crashes would lead to extreme skin loss and I decided to wear my roach body armour for the next day's ride. A nice quick 14km ride though to get the week going.

Check out the Glentress Route Guide - Red route (1mb)

Friday 28th April

Friday is dry and sunny as we head back to Glentress. My Hope M4's are in need of a bit more stopping power and I replace both sets of pads with new sets bought from The Hub, Bike Shop before setting off on the red route which is a really great ride.

On the first climb we meet and start talking to Shane and John, two double-hard bastards from Her Majesty's finest, the Royal Marines. They are both on race lite bikes, Shane on a rigid 18lb Tomac and John on a carbon Giant NRS frame. Other than them, the trails are virtually empty and we pass hardly anyone else all day.

The red route has lots of climbing via endless switchbacks but some great technical descents with huge sweeping berms, rock gardens and the largest braking bumps I have seen this side of the Alps.

Will had driven into town during the lunch break to get some sun cream as it is surprisingly warm and bright for Scotland in April.

We set out on the Black route after lunch but the new pads on the rear are rubbing, dragging the back wheel even on the descents and this really tires me out. There is a killer 2.5km singletrack climb to the radio mast (The Kipps Loop) at the far end of the Black route which is also one of the highest hills at 583m leading straight onto another climb to Dunslair Heights at 602m and this does me in for the rest of the day.

The black route is a monster with raised platfroms/North Shore sections and log roll-overs but I was please to roll back in to the car park at the end of the day having completed 17km on the Red route and 29km on the Black.

I made sure that Huey helped me bleed my rear brake as soon as we got back to the B&B.

Check out the Glentress Route Guide Blue & Black Route (1mb)

Saturday 29th April

After yet another cooked breakfast at the B&B a one and a half hour drive takes us to Ae on Saturday morning.

The car park is quiet with no visitor centre and very little information available and leaves Huey looking miserable. We set out on the 'Ae line' Red route (the only route available) although there are a few options towards the end where you get the choice of Red or Black sections.

Ae is a nice trail with a few fireroad climbs but some nice fast descents and the trail is generally more rocky than Glentress. There is a pointless diversion through a boggy wood where it is only possible to push your bike. This is supposed to avoid logging activities but you only find out afterwards that there is no logging being done - very annoying.

There are some nice natural sections through the woods too with a great looking wooden bridge crossing a deep gulley and the final 5 km descent is a blast.

After completing this, none of us is too keen on riding the same trail again as we had initially planned so we load up the van again and head on over to Mabie.

Mabie is built around a 249m hill so there's not so much climbing and it is a much smoother trail and we settle on the Red Route which proves to be a really fantastic route. There are lots of wooden, North Shore style sections, mixed in with short sharp climbs winding descents and stream crossings. In addition the drop-off's and rooty sections give a whole load of different riding. Descender Bender is great and the Roller Coaster is another fantastic singletrack section.

It's quiet in the back of the van on the way home after the 19km ride at Ae and 17km at Mabie although we liven up in time for a curry in the Prince of India in Peebles later that night.

Check out the Ae Route Guide - Red route (1mb)

Check out the Mabie Route Guide - Red route (1mb)

Sunday 31st April

Another long drive of two and a half hours gets us to Kirroughtree with it's option of 3 different trails. Of course we set out on the 31km Black grade trail. The builders have used a lot of the natural rock formations on this trail and there are huge rock slabs to descend and rock gardens to cross.

In other areas, the trails are still really fresh and haven't yet bedded in and so look a little like a fresh tarmac motorway through the woods. But that's not a criticism - this is a great trail.

At the far end of the trail is Mc Moab and The Ridge. This looked really great to ride from a distance but I found it unnerving and my front wheel wanted to stick in every nook and cranny rather than roll over them. I took a dive over the bars as my front wheel stalled, landing heavily but my elbow pads saved me. Still, confidence dented, I bottled out of the steep roll-in.

After that is a killer climb in the aptly named Heartbreak Hill but I got second wind and flew back along the rest of the trail which was an excellent ride, bumping into Scruff from Singletrackworld riding his Ti Morning Glory.

Check out the Kirroughtree Route Guide - Black route (2.5mb)

Monday 1st May

It's May day and we eventually ride the trail in the town we are staying in.

The weather has finally broken in typical Bank Holiday style and we get a couple of hours drizzle but the trails are still very rideable. The Traqair XC trail is only 19.4km but it's a tough ride with a long, long, long climb of circa 9km right from the start heading up to the top of the world at Minch Moor at just under 570m.

Due to the height and the inclement weather we are climbing inside a cloud for at least 30 minutes and it's really eerie as other riders or trail features loom up out of the mist and then disappear.

After a photostop at the top it's pretty much all downhill from here and the rest of the trail passes in a blur. Elliot gets the only puncture of the week just past Resolution Point but we carry on and the final descent at Cadon Bank is awesome with great swooping berms, steep drop-off's and scary drops at the edge of the trail.

We had planned on some more riding today but the amount we have done so far is taking it's toll and we head back to the bar and then a continental market, as Will and Elliot get ready to fly back in the evening.

Check out the Innerleithen Traquair XC Route Guide - Red route (1mb)

Tuesday 2nd May

We check out of the B&B and head South to Newcastleton. Although this is right on the English border it feels like it is in the middle of nowhere and the padlocked visitor centre, sheep wandering on the road and howling wind does nothing to disabuse us of this notion.

After a short fireroad climb we make it to the shelter of the trees and an instant change. The wind drops and we are straight into some swoopy singletrack descending.

There are dozens of wooden bridges crossing the burns that snake down the hillside and a fair amount of North Shore riding here too.

After this first section set on a lowish 227m hill, the rest of the trail seems like an anti-climax with a lot of fireroad added just to get the mileage in. Still there is plenty of scope for expanding this short 10.5km route and some sections have recently been built off the sides of the fireroads whilst others are work in progress. As we tackle the 'Bog' section through the trees an RAF fighter makes 3 or 4 low passes adding to the exposed feel of this trail.

We have knocked off this trail in less than an hour and change before the long drive South, finally reaching home at 7-45pm.

Check out the Newcastleton Route Guide - Red route (1mb)

So there we have it. Another "diary" epic, with six days riding covering all but two of the 7 Stanes. Many kilometres ridden and over a thousand miles driven.

If you are planning a similar trip and want to sample lots of different centres, spend a bit more time looking at the trail locations especially as well as the trail maps. A more central spot for your visit may be Dumfries. Having said that, Innerleithen is great and there is plenty to keep you busy over a long weekend at Tweed Valley (Innerleithen and Glentress).

Special thanks to Woolly for organising the trip even though he couldn't make it in the end and to Huey and Sue for all the driving they shared throughout the week.

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