Yesterday morning we headed to Ae, part of the Seven Staines in southern Scotland. We woke up to a small dusting of snow, but by the time we arrived at the trailhead it was bright skies and sunshine, if still a little chilly. Delighted to find the centre and cafe were open (first Monday after NY we weren’t too hopeful!) we stopped in for a quick chat and some useful trail advice. We did the red route, which was a fantastic mix of interesting (and steep) climbs and fun descents, varying between fast and swoopy and a few technical sections. All made more interesting by the frost and ice on some of the rocks. Sadly the final section is closed for maintenance so we finished on fireroad. On returning to the centre we bumped into the bike shop owner, rob, there despite it being his day off (he even offered to open the shop is we needed anything!), who told us that’ll be re-opening in a few weeks time.
A quick refuel in the cafe (amazing homemade soup, great paninis and real coffee) and we pedalled up the fireroad to do the downhill course - Shredder. This is the kind of course you want to do a few times so get yourself there on an uplift day. Plenty of drops and jumps, ranging from rollable to huge. By the time we got down it was getting dark, so no chance to do it again.
See pics here.
Don’t forget we’re running a comp to get a discount if you spot the flowmtb car! We will be visiting a few more centres between now and next Tuesday so if you’re out riding keep an eye out in the carpark, and don’t forget to say hello too!
