Fanylion Mountain Bike Team
Official site of the Fanylion Mountain Bike Team. Includes mountain bike ride guides, gear reviews, bike maintenance, team reports and rider profiles of the Fanylion Racing Team.
Kirroughtree & Mabie
January 24, 2009, Scotland
Following the apparent enthusiasm of the majority of the team at the 2008 christmas party to get out and ride more often in 2009 - this may have been influenced by alcohol or delirium induced by meeting and getting pics taken with Team GB track heroine Vicky Pendleton - I decided to kick of the 09 ride calendar a month early. Traditionally this is a period spent by most Lions in hibernation, stocking up on fat and carbs to be shed on the trails in the spring and summer when there’s more than 6 hours of daylight outside. The more hardcore among us attempt to ride all year round although to be honest when it’s dark and cold and one ride results in multiple componentry malfunctions I have been known to question whether it’s worth it. Only twice though. Ever.
Given the likelihood of rubbish January weather I opted for the safer option of two days of 7 stane riding rather than a death march in the hills and it was a pleasant surprise when seven lions confirmed they would be riding. Basing ourselves in Dumfries meant the only decisions left were where to ride and where to refuel - Kirroughtree was a no brainer as was the obligatory trip to the Hole in the Wa’ pub. Honoury lion John Henry kindly offered to show us some ‘local trails for local people’ at Mabie on Sunday and chaperone us at night in Dumfries - all we needed now was some decent weather.
The weather gods were with us as Saturday dawned frosty but bright. Meeting at 10am at Kirroughtree proved optimistic as best. Unfortunately Team Love Rant was overcome with manflu and unable to make it, and, as the two members of the Oldham faction were attending faff was guaranteed. This was exacerbated by Team Bear who hijacked my meticulous weekend planning and told Downhill Maniac and He Magazine to meet in a café in Newton Stewart. Following the logic of a wild animal Bear and Techno decided to meet at a random café off the A75 and neglect to tell either the Oldham faction or myself. So, by 10.30am John and I were in the car park at Kirrougtree lycra’d up and ready to ride while the rest of the team were scattered round various café’s Various phonecalls ensued and eventually we all convened to get the bikes ready, make excuse of how little we’d ridden recently, and witter the usual nonsense. Several strange looks were directed at my Focus hardtail with it’s XC angles and flat bars. Bear appeared completely allergic to it and refused to even touch it, pronouncing it ’just wrong’ while Downhill Maniac provided trail fodder via a box of flapjack courtesy of potential new sponsor Focussed Nutrition.
With the sun beginning to burn off the frost we got under way, obligatory team photo taken. Spirits were high although talk and chatter abruptly stopped to be replaced by asthmatic retching as we gulped for air as Big John set down a rapid pace right from the car park. We rode a bit, stopped, rode a bit, stopped etc and were in no particular hurry given the excellent weather. The trails were riding superbly as ever as we begun on the red graded trails - fast and swoopy and lovely and grippy. Techno commented on how little braking we were required to do - evidence of a well built trail I think. Man made trails are plentiful now all over the UK and while they’re not difficult to build with a bit of money and resources I believe they’re pretty hard to build well. Having the right terrain obviously helps which Kirroughtree has with the abundance of granite and hard rock but it still requires much skill from the trail builders to make the most of the environment. My sharp angled hardtail was proving a blast to ride with the super fast steering and instance feedback from the stiff back end enabling me to give the full suss boys a run for their money on the descents and climbs. After John and I both punctured our front tyres - perhaps on the same rock - we eventually reached the halfway point at McMoab. We all went off for a play on the super grippy granite although John took the more sensible option and went off to take pictures of us mincing about. At the end of McMoab lies Hodgson’s chute, a smooth and super steep chute back off the slab onto fire road. It was here a number of years ago where Hodgson lost his mojo, bottling the chute while the rest of us rode it. With the benefit of hindsight was this the beginning of the end, the start of long descent to his current tarmac, leg shaving, road racing obsession? Standing atop the chute on my hardtail I didn’t fancy it one little bit and neither it seemed did anyone else! As each of us stood at the top each of us became Hodgson overcome with rational thoughts of injuries and common sense. The fact that we’d done it before didn’t seem to matter - perhaps the aforementioned trail builders had made it steeper somehow? Or maybe we’re all jeyer these days? We lacked Love Rant, laid up in his bed, and Quad, to show us the way. Quad would have done it, the daft old man, on his face no doubt with his bike cartwheeling down behind him toward the nearest A and E department, but he’d have done it.
Common sense and the fear having got the better of us our reward was a slog up Heartbreak hill. Cold muscles made the task harder and with a quiet yet obstinate voice in my head telling me I used to ride this section in the middle ring that’s what I did. It bloody hurt. My jey rear tyre scrambled for grip as I was forced out the saddle on a few occasions. ‘Don’t shift down to granny ring’ said the voice. ’Ok’ and ‘grrrr %**”!$&**%’ I replied but realised I had stretched out ahead of the rest. Relaxing I then began to panic as Shire Horse Dowling began to up the power and haul me in. A final burst to the top saw me reach the top ahead of him although I’m not sure the pain was worth it. Regrouping we climbed more gradually on some nice singletrack after a short section on fireroad before beginning the Talnotry Hill singletrack. Pedally and fast it goes on and on as height is gradually lost. Techno and I took turns at the front before, as the trail sees a few rougher sections, the Horse pulls away due obviously to the 5 inches he has planted in his rear.
With fatigue beginning to set in the rests between sections became greater as we made our way back to the car park. The quality of the trails was unrelenting though as we continue to swoop and bash and crash our way back to the Breakpad bike shop where we made use of the bike wash and were supplied with gratis coffee and hot chocolate. Rpskt!!
Driving back to Dumfries I recouped with the team in the evening as I was sharing separate accommodation with Mrs Shortbread. Fearing sharing a breakfast table with the team at feeding time I had been ordered to source an alternative hostelry to stay! As it was Burn’s night on Sunday many of us deviated from the traditional Steak and ChipsTM to sample haggis. It’s meat Fanylion, but not as we know it! Big John showed us how it was done by having both haggis and steak loading carbs back into his body in preparation of riding the next day. Joined by Love Rant, who by virtue of his ranting proved he had recovered from his manflu, we toured some of the finest hostelries Dumfries has to offer, attracting the odd serial killer here and there (remember him chaps??!!) and sampling plenty of local ales. Unfortunately I ended up food pissedTM after eating too much - suffice to say the evening comprised the usual idiocy. On a more sour note - literally - Downhill Maniac emitted some of the most putrid smells known to man. If this is what Focussed Nutrition does I’m not sure I ’m keen to be honest.
Sunday dawned grey, wet and windy. Damn. Meeting at the café at Mabie there was little enthusiasm as we donned the layers and trudged off in the snow and slush that had fallen overnight. With the dark sky overhead we all anticipated a good proper soaking although thankfully the weather gods remained on our side. John took us off the beaten track a bit as we passed the start of the usual singletrack trails and winched upward on a soggy fireroad. After a short descent John then led us up an overgrown trail which was swamped with snow. We had no option but to push and I don’t mind admitting that I cursed John on a couple of occasions and thought the trudge upward a bit ’monkey fist’ to be honest. At the top we entered the dense forest out of the snow and rode off on a trail completely covered in pine needles. It was flat at first and progress was slow as we negotiated fallen trees and slippery logs but before long the trail began to kick down. It got narrower, it got steeper, it got rootier, it got sketchier but above all it got better! This was more like it I thought as we slithered our way downwards. Regrouping at the bottom we measured the quality of the trail by Bear’s reaction. True to form, Bear was grumbling - the trail was therefore a good one. Monkey fist!
We climbed again, back on the way marked trails before another sneaky detour saw us plummeting downhill in the dark forest. Regrouping once more John warned us that the next section was ’a bit steep.’ Too right it was - this was proper arse over the rear wheel stuff. A tricky off camber corner proved beyond the majority of us. More monkey fist! The rest of the ride continued in a similar vein with the usual trails complemented with some ’local’ gems. Rspkt to John’s grizzled trail knowledge! Before the end some of the team had had enough and retired to the café leaving the remainder of us to shred the final descent and mince down the four cross track in true jeyboy style. A well earned brew and slice of cake in the café was all we had time for before wishing each other good bye. The weekend had seen weather better than we could have reasonably predicted for the time of year and we’d manage to take advantage by blowing away the xmas cobwebs in style. Here’s hoping the rest of 2009 continues in the same fashion.
Shortbread
Riders present
Shortbread
Downhill Maniac
He Magazine
Bear
Techno
Auld Yin
Love Rant (Sunday only)
Enjoyment level
Haggis Aplenty!