We decided that the best way to bring you an overview was to ride the 30km black route, so, in glorious sunshine we rolled out of the car park and onto the trails. This took us out on singletrack most of the way, past bits of the other routes and the freeride area and looping out and around in the Tweed Valley countryside. The riding was hard work, sharp climbs at times but with much of the climbing on fireroads to gain height that paid you back with technical and fast drops.
As with other trail centres the route is split into sections, each named to reflect the riding, and offering everything from rocky downhills to jumpy snakey woodland sections. The highlight for FMFT had to be the Redemption downhill, twisting and dropping on singletrack and rocks down a valley with a stream burbling in the bottom. Mind you, you pay for it with the Deliverance climb back out of the valley. In fact it was a climb that defeated one half of FMFT, and sent them back to the car on fireroads. Continuing on my own I was able to check out the rest of the black route, which merges with the technical red route to the finish, offering north-shore style wood structures, drops and obstacles to seriously challenge anyone especially after the black route’s exertions.
Purely and simply Glentress offers miles and miles of the best riding you’ll find anywhere. It even has showers in the car park so you can get cleaned up before a cake at the hub café. Brilliant.
- Leaving a bag by the side of the trail you should make sure you zip it up in case someone kicks it into a ravine.
- If you lose an open bag into the valley everything is guaranteed to fall out, and the last thing you’ll be able to find in the trees will be your wallet containing all your cards and money.
- This can all make the middle section of a ride somewhat more stressful than it should be.
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