We rose quite casually around 08:30 on Sunday morning and knocked up breakfast, with Chris K sharing out a few pounds of leftover bacon from his hotel-sized frying pan. The sky was grey but it had stayed dry overnight, the only dampness being inside the tents (?!). Once brekkies was over we loaded up, cleaned the pitch (although Chris D carried the barby coal box to the bins but it split and sprayed all over the grass!) and beetled off back onto the A75 for the run over to Dumfries with Jason at the wheel again. There were a few spits and spots but nothing heavy, and as we approached Ae the sky brightened again. The only aggro was Jason's uncharacteristic bouts of road rage for the second day running as he managed to find more goons to follow.

Waiting in the Visitor Centre car park as promised, having arrived seconds earlier, were Michael, Steve B and our intrepid Lance Arstrong Impersonator, Steve W looking tanned and smiling as usual, even after his grim roadie year and his unfortunate problems on the Trans Pyrennees ride. We assembled the bikes, made the necessary adjustments and started out around 11:40, stopping at the bridge for the now customary photo, thanks to the loan of a camera from Richy and self-timer setup by Tim.

I couldn't see who took off first up the initial climb but have a feeling it was Jason, Chris D or a Steve! Whoever it was dragged us up there reasonably quickly and poor Michael immediately felt the pain of not biking for a while - he never picks an easy one to mark his returns to the saddle! Still, again we weren't in any hurry to finish, just wanted to absorb as much of the place as possible and enjoy the ride.

After that upward start, the trail traverses Green Hill for some distance, doing its best to maintain and gain height whilst being kind to your legs. However, it's nowhere near as successful as Kirroughtree in achieving this but it sure beats the fireroad that runs parallel to it. It does manage to substitute what could be a boringly long stint with something having plenty of interest and enought to keep you alert, but it does take a while to reach the first decent downhill stretch of any length.

The slightly upward travel presented by the Granny Green Luv singletrack continues the theme before finally allowing a long, twisty descent from The Face down Bran Burn Bash, and this is where first of all Jason snapped his chain, and shortly afterwards Michael took an unexpected wee detour into the greenery! After a bit of a wait for these two to appear, we were off following a nimble-looking Gollum up the next climb which now sets you on a lengthy stretch of bog-crossing timber boardwalk before offering the next fairly gritty challenge.

"The Edge" was originally cut along the top of a steep valley rim, curving in and out from it but only about half a mile long and not really living up to its name. Enter the 2009 version we've just witnessed which now absolutely does have you literally hanging off its wheel-enticing edge for much, much further and at times you'll wonder how you didn't go straight over and down the ravine, unless you do of course! Not only has the danger level been beefed up enormously for those willing to stay off the brakes or leave it late, as Tim will testify (it was his tyremarks I saw just skimming the extreme outside of the switchbacks!), but the swooping new singletrack descent at the far end also has every type of obstacle you could wish for as it carries you down to the burn much further away from the start than before, providing absolutely superb action.

A very short breather at the bottom and we were climbing on fireroad again to reach the singletrack blast down to Nil Desperandum. All too quickly it's fireroad once more gently uphill until the start of Omega Man. Terry, still feeling frisky, jumped onto the singletrack first with Chris D pressing hard followed by Tim, jason and the others. The most alarming thing about this trail today was the height of the grasses either side which in places were actually hiding the trail. We'd gone through some like this earlier but a much shorter stretch. Up here it covered most of the section's length, and would seem to suggest that Ae isn't getting the custom it deserves.

Although he almost ran out of steam as it reached it's highest point, the Gollum just managed to stave off the challenges of the three barmpots slamming into his rear and we blasted the final massive double-berm, the surface of which has been hugely improved from the rocky-strew potential push-up it used to be. This and some other trail improvements contrast starkly with that uncut grass, making it difficult to figure out just how popular this place is.

We plodded up the final fireroad, only a few hundred metres until it brings you to the start of the end. There wasn't much rest allowed here before Jason decided he'd take the lead for the Grand Finale as we launched after him down the Ae-Line, and gentleman that he is, he even pointed out that we should "stay left for the Black" as this route has a couple of short Black additions as you plummet down to ground level.

And there was no catching him today as he blitzed it, arriving at the end after surviving all of those mad, totally blind drop-offs, some of them pretty high and all needing maximum concentration. He even had enough time to turn around and witness Terry's arrival, who'd avoided the highest rock take-offs at the lower end of the trail following a nose-dive scare half way down. The others duly arrived safely, in sequence, but Steve B had a lucky escape at the very last bend in the boardwalk when he overshot due to excessive speed on the wire netting covering the timbers.

MidAirConclusions

Kirroughtree has been my favourite ever since I first rode it in '03 or '04 and this trip provided a whole heap of unexpected, extra bliss with that fantastic Talnotry Hill singletrack seeming to go on and on for miles. If there'd been anyone nearer to me just as I caught up to Chris D after Jason had stomped off ahead, they'd have heard me laughing at each and every twist, berm and take-off, so entertaining is this Black run. Go there yourself and see what you think.

Ae was suffering none of the diversions we've met on our last two visits allowing us full access to its wonderful trails. After Kirroughtree it leaves you with the impression of a stoney, climb-infested trail but packing in some very long, fabulously quick descents especially off Omega Man and the Ae Line, almost as good but totally different in character to Kirroughtree and having more of it's raceway out in the open rather than under tree cover. Taking the two together though, they'd be hard to beat for a double-header weekend.

And aside from the riding, what else was good?

Deranged!

Well, Although I missed the germination of Laurel and Hardy as a comedy duo (too young, you see!) I'm lucky (?) enough to have been around for Morecambe and Wise, Reeves and Mortimer and a few other decent ones, but now I'm privileged to say that I was there when the seeds were sown for those Magnificent MidAirCrisis Maniacs, "Keith and King" aka wor Jason and wor Chris! What a doubleact they turned out to be sat in the front of the GollyMobile, and then later even out on the trails. My guts are still aching more from listening to these two bounce off each other than that stupid avoidable fall I took. More! And not only were they brilliant, but I was sat in the back between two kiln-dried sticks aka Tim the Tormentor and Chris D the Cracker, both chirping in cheekily at every opportunity. Sure beats listening to Jason's choice of radio station (BBC Two).

Roll on next year's trip, whatever that may be (I think?).