Spring Residential 2009 - Day 1: Innerleithen & Glentress

We finally arrived at the our accommodation in Innerleithen http://www.mountainbikeapartments.com/ at about 7pm after a long drive in heavy traffic on Wednesday 8 April 2009. Nev, Hedd, Ed and Stu unpacked quickly and headed out to have a look at Glentress. Given the time, we drove straight up to the Buzzard's Nest car park and had a little play around in the Freeride Park before it went dark. This gave us all the chance to polish up some skills which had gone a bit rusty due to the lack of recent riding! It was great fun and put us all in the mood for more.

Soon after we got back to the apartments, Ash joined us and we watched the dirtschool skills DVD http://www.dirtschool.co.uk/. This gave us all far too much to think about, so we relaxed with a bottle of Sloe Gin, a shot glass and Neville's uncanny Bruce Forsyth impression!

We managed an early start on Thursday 9 April and cycled the half-mile along the road to the Innerleithen trail head. We got chatting to some downhill boys at the Freeride Park the evening before and they had recommended the Innerleithen Red Route, so that's what we decided to do! The climb was pretty brutal and Hedd was really feeling the pace having been unwell the day before.

Ash gives the Innerleithen climb the thumbs up

The climb includes some technical rock steps which we all found pretty tricky. At about halfway up, the climb is punctuated by a a shot downhill section which lightened the mood considerably as the rain fell.

Ed having fun in the rain on the Innerleithen red route from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

It was pretty chilly, and this meant that the battery in Hedd's camcorder cut-out just before Ed got to the small ladder drop. Whilst playing around here, we all spotted some steeper lines down, and Ed just couldn't resist giving on of them a go.

Whatever you're thinking - that is definately steep! Ed at Innerleithen

We pushed on into weather that was getting worse and worse, just as we were getting above the treeline to the most exposed part of the route. Eventually we reached the summit of Minch Moor. The views are apparently pretty good from here - but not today as the photo below demonstrates.

Stu, Hedd, Ed and Ash at the Minch Moor summit. Rain on the lens is hard to avoid when it's coming in horizontally!

Hedd was really struggling with illness at this point, but there was some good news - a fantastic downhill section was next up - the Minch Moor Descent. This transformed everybody's mood and showed us all what we'd been missing. Fast and flowing with jumps, berms and small drops. Why hadn't we come up to Scotland sooner?

We headed on and were soon decending again. Not so much speed and flow on Plora Craig but still great fun.

Stu and Nev descending Plora Craig at Innerleithen

Since it was the first morning, we chose the red graded Oh Deer! instead of the black graded Razor Rock, but this still included a short steep black graded drop which was good fun.

Stu takes on the black graded drop on Oh Deer! at Innerleithen

From here the trail just seemed to get better and better, culminating in the Caddon Bank section with all manner of jumps, drops and berms. It was a frantic finish - none of us could remember a better section of trail anywhere and none of us had ever spent so much time in the air.

Stu and Hedd have a ponder at one of the drops on Caddon bank

No pondering from Ed as he flies over

After that, we cycled back into Innerleithen and headed for the Co-op for some lunch which we took straight back to the apartment.

Timing was crucial here, we all needed a break, but wait too long and we knew we wouln't get back out. After a shower and some food (sausage rolls and Scotch pies) we loaded the cars and drove around to the Glentress trailhead.

We had decided that we still had time to complete the Glentress red route. It was 3pm by the time we started riding so we needed to get a move on!

The initial climb was steady enough and we all handled it pretty well. We stopped by the Freeride Park for a rest and then headed onward to the Pennel's Vennel section. Ed got an inexplicable puncture which slowed out progress for a while, but we were soon away again.

The sun comes out as Ed fixes his puncture

After more climbing, we found ourselves at the top of the Spooky Wood descent. This was absolutely fantastic and rivalled the Innerleithen descents for thrills and spills. Ed really found the zone on this section and sped away. The section had some jumps which led straight into fast berms and really was great fun. From here, the fun continued with Super G and Hit-Squad Hill.

The view from the top of the Spooky Wood descent

It had been a wonderful descent, but now we were all starting to feel it. We decided to take a short-cut (Pie-Run) at this point, but even this delivered, with some boardwalk sections and tricky roots. It was at this point that a fall from Nev on the roots held Stu up and led to a fantastic strop, the likes of which we haven't seen or heard for a good few years - brilliant stuff!

Not happy! - Stu after an argument with some roots

From here it was a steady ride back to the car. We packed up and headed straight back to the apartment. Hedd was really struggling with illness at this point, and after staring at his chips and curry sauce for 10 minutes he headed straight to bed.

Nev, Stu, Ash and Ed headed out into Innerleithen and were impressed by the hotel / pub / resturant / chinese take-away combo! After a few beers it was back to the apartment to catch up with the US Masters golf on TV and off to bed.