Arriving at Drumlanrig Castle, we were met by Dave with Kaz, Steve and Gordon who'd carried out their threat to join us for the second leg of our mini-Scottish tour. The weather wasn't looking to good with on-and-off light drizzle and a pretty dark sky. We hauled the bikes out of the van again and got ready to ride for just after 11:00am. After a quick glance at the trail map we were off up the nearest climb behind the Mighty Michael H, or should I say, MikeTheBike God? Reaching the top of that first ascent about ten minutes later, it was time to spy the first dip into the trees. The signpost said trail No 5 and the Gollum dived straight in, followed (nah, pushed EXTREMELY hard) by NoBrakes himself, Ian F. With only one mistake made by the leader when his cleat came undone, the whole crew took the descent without major aggro and gathered below for a short rest and a search for Section two. It seemed that a few had noticed a right turn half way down, but the front runners hadn't and were travelling too fast to stop anyway. However, it wasn't long before Mick got us back on track and off we went again climbing to the next descent marker. The signs aren't the best in the world, by the way.
This bit was just bas evil as the first, absolutely strewn with roots of every size going in every direction. It was just as Jason had described after riding it in 2006. It wasn't long before the drop ended and the next rest was taken, at which we also saw Jason upending his Whyte E-5 and spinning the rear wheel to the accompaniment of some horrible clanging noises. They were coming from the metal spring pad retainer of his Hope disc caliper. That took a few minutes to fettle with a variety of tools and assistance from several bods, notably Gordon (of Bike Place fame!).
With that fixed we were ready to tackle the next section, and it was Mick again up front, weaving between the trees, clambering over the roots and trying to lift the speeds a bit, which he did until he overshot a corner, at which point NoBrakes took over to the finish. We'd lost a good bit of height by now so a little more climbing was needed. When it levelled out we were on the very edge of the estate, or at least the woodland, and it was time for a rapid blast along the fence line behind the Gollum. When his legs finally ran out, the whole group bar a tiring Ian F passed him, but we soon regrouped at a fireroad junction.
The next section saw the troupe get very well spaced out as the singletrack took a fantastic tour through the trees on soft, fern-covered ground, much flatter and smoother than previous sections, with nice slalom turns daring you to go as fast as possible. At the far end, on fireroad again, we paused for a short rest as a blast of rain and strong wind hit, but it didn't last long. Off we went again with Mick up front, climbing slightly with most of the juicy stuff now out of the way. This trail led us to what Mick thought was the first Black section, so he and the Gollum led off u a fairly steep, tricky hill. When they reached the half way point it began to turn back on itself, and when Mick realised that a couple of folk had shot straight past the turn, he decided it best to retreat and catch them up.
The catch-up wasn't too straight forward, however, as he pointed Golly down towards the river. The latter then proceeded to vansih along this exquisite stretch, with several narrow, off-camber but quick turns teasing you to slide into the river. He reached a gate at the end and turned to watch the others arrive, but they never did! They had all stayed on the fireroad, still marked as Trail No 5. He scrambled up a grassy bank and opened the big gate across the fireroad as he saw the others approaching. By the time he'd caught them up they were all back at the Castle, preparing to pack up!
That only lasted as long as it took Mick to canvass support for an attack on the final 4km Black bit that we'd missed. There were another six takers so we set off to see if we could, after all, break somebody. With Mick once more at the helm we were straight into a shortish but biting climb, but no pain, no downhill I suppose. When we did reach the descent it was instantly noticeable as a step-up from the very technical Red. Can't remember whether it was Andy and Dave or Gordon who lapped it up, staying out front for most of it. The climb to get there took much more time than reaping the fruits, but we all agreed it had been well worth doing to complete the ride.
Back at the Castle again it was now heaving down and very miserable in the cold wind. However, we braved it to get the bikes hosed down before hurriedly stacking them back in the van and cars. Most of the riders took the chance to grab a quick cuppa at the cafe and a few managed to grab a shower before we set off for home. Half way back Chris K, leading the way in his motor, managed to find a McDonalds so we piled in there looking for at least reliable and recognisable junk food.
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