Dalbeattie Riding, Rocks not Mud

You can only have a shadow in the SUNSHINE!!

When a forecast of sunshine, no wind, and moderate temperatures coincides with a weekend day, I make the most of it!! I woke up to beautiful sunshine on Sunday morning and decided to head down to one of the 7stanes trail centers, Dalbeattie. It is known for its granite and rocky features, and I was quite excited about the prospect of riding some rocky Scottish trails!

Just me, my bike, and my lil red truck

I got off to a bit of a late start, in typical Neven style! (I really wish I could be a morning person, but I’m just not!) I didn’t get going until a bit late, but the drive down to the trails was gorgeous the whole way! I set off, not knowing what exactly to expect, or how long the route would actually take, and promptly slid off of a chicken wire covered bridge about 5 minutes into my ride! L My elbow and knee were screaming at me, but there wasn’t blood gushing through my clothing, and somehow I hadn’t ripped up anything, so I decided to carry on...albeit with a little bit more caution!

The classic and beautiful stane at Dalbeattie

I’m so glad that I decided to go the extra distance to Dalbeattie! What amazing trails! This was definitely the most technical of all of the red routes that I have ridden at the trail centers here in Scotland! There were several occasions were I was nearly caught off guard by the technical nature of the trails, and I definitely was loving all of the rock!!  In the end I got a decent 2 hr ride in, albeit with several photo stops, and loved every minute of it!

The moss on the trees in the forests makes trail
riding over here absolutely magical!

I ran into some locals in the parking lot who commented on how they couldn’t believe that the day had turned out so nice after the rainy/snowy/torrential winds they had in the morning...sometimes it pays off to be a Night Owl! J