[Closed] Riding Advice - Glasgow this Friday

http://www.mbr.co.uk/routes/scotland-routes/west-highland-way-and-dumgoyne-gps-route-download/

http://www.meetup.com/Mountainbikeglasgow/

The kilpatrick hills are always a good bet especially at the moment because they are dry.

Head out the A81 to hardgate go straight through the roundabout and turn first right into cochno road. There is a car park at the bottom where you can park. Then cycle up the hill on the road taking the left fork towards Greenside reservoir. Follow the track till you top out at the reservoir then turn left across the bridge and follow the sheep track uphill to the trig point it is now basically downhill from here. Keep to the right and follow the path along the cliff line you will see a gravel road in the distance . Ignore it but keep it on your right. You will continue on the ridges in till you come to a quad path leading to your left follow this following it down the hillside. Be warned though it's a bit technical with some decent sized drops , jumps , rock gardens etc. well worth it though. Follow the track to the water board road and follow this to the a82 turn left and it's a straight line back to where you parked your car.
It's a great route taxing both up and down.

Do you have a GPS for this route up the kilpatricks... normally ride/push up from old kilpatrick and ride the dh trails but this trail you described sounds good.

That route in the kilpatricks sounds good, what sort of time do you think it would take?

Anyone got an alternative in the Campsie Fells? Not too far away either.

Sorry I don't have gps for it but it is really easy to follow. Total time to do it would be about 1 1/2. Maybe a bit more depending on fitness. MBR did a part of the route a few years ago if you check their route guides. You tube has videos of the downhill it's much more lairy than the videos show.

Next time I'm up I'll take the gps an route mark it.

Is there more good riding up those hills? I haven't really ventured past the trails that face the esrkine bridge

monkeyninja - Member
Is there more good riding up those hills? I haven't really ventured past the trails that face the esrkine bridge

I went from burncrooks reservior(from the mugdock side) over to loch humphry one time, bad idea, don't really pick up any real tracks until you are almost past little duncolm, before that it was a push up vague grass tracks, but i reckon It'd be doable from humphrey to burncrooks, IN THE DRY, would would a complete bogfest in the wet though.

Bear in mind there's a diversion in place on the WHW past craigallian loch if you choose the dumgoyne loop. There are signposts in place giving you an alternative, but it'd be fairly easy to get lost if you didn't have a map and didn't know the area.

Bear in mind there's a diversion in place on the WHW past craigallian loch if you choose the dumgoyne loop. There are signposts in place giving you an alternative, but it'd be fairly easy to get lost if you didn't have a map and didn't know the area.

Did the Dumgoyne loop last night with no need for the detour.

evening times is OK, but late afternoons may be a problem. Was out last night too but decided to scoot up rosies road instead of dumgoyne.

what's the diversion for? and where does the alternative take you?

Some heavy plant machinery up past Carbeth. Other than that the trail is clear. Diversion is just after the bottom of rocky rooty and would take you up to Mugdock Castle, towards the Khyber car park then down Rosies.

Go out with locals for the best trails.
Kilpatrick Hills pub ride, every Friday, weather permitting.
Lots of great lines up there away from the obvious stuff. Let me know if you are interested.

cool, cheers bob.

heuer27/monkeyninja this is the hills at its best

hainman where is that? looks cracking.

To be fair, it doesn't usually look like that. That was the one day we get a year without howling wind and horizontal rain.

Hainman's video is of the Kilpatrick Hills.

Thanks for the invite, can't commit just now but will give you a shout of Friday once my plans are clear.

What's the story with Cathkin Brae trails? Worth a go?

meikle_partans - Member
hainman where is that? looks cracking.

That's the top down to Sheep Drop trail, should be a few more wee jumps high up and possibly a few less further down (does the video crap out at 1.30 for anyone else?) after the FC said enough's enough to some folk that were starting to take the piss.

If you Strava it should be easy to find. Unfortunately after today it's likely to be pretty soggy again

Edit: video finally came back to life. Points off for riding around one drop and not even filming the next one 😉

Haha the one i missed out is the one i came off and broke my hand,what one didnt i film?? ;p
Probably missed a fair bit but we never done the full line down,cut out bits to manage the top,middle then back up for the new line which is good,

Sack going to trossachs on Saturday, come and ride fairlie moor with me n some of the other GMBCers!. Train from Glasgow, which means a beer and lunch too. Trails are riding really well just now, and it's all hilly, you get back what you put in - myself and a mate went for a scoot this morning, less than 6 miles, nearly 1700ft of climbing and descending.

hainman - Member
Haha the one i missed out is the one i came off and broke my hand,what one didnt i film?? ;p
Probably missed a fair bit but we never done the full line down,cut out bits to manage the top,middle then back up for the new line which is good,

from the quad track at 2.09 you go along but head down the steep wee chute before the proper switchback, the chute finishes with a wee nose down only drop off a slab onto the lower part of the quad track

Aberfoyle has some stupendous trails, proper biking. Where in Glasgow are you staying?

Before I had "The Fear" haha

So the kilpatricks, are there basically loads of trails inbetween Humphrey and green side reservoir on the hillside facing the clyde? As mentioned I've came down from the Humphrey side when I came over from burncrooks one time. Found a grassy trail before so I know one trail at least. But a quick swatch on Google earth, looks like there's loads of trails to be discovered? Just concentrate on that bit basically then, is the more stuff elsewhere too?

Hainman, the trails on your video are the ones I ride, I was wondering if there were more over towards the loch and descending to Dumbarton.

There is the crags walk which you can catch at the top of loch Humphrey . This takes you a circular route back into Dumbarton. And is basically downhill all the way from loch Humphrey to Dumbarton past a country house who's name escapes me at the moment.it finally spits you out at the council offices if you go right or the dumbuck garage if you go left.

Hainman- been up there a few times and know the way down to the wall jump bit from the trig point but that looks cracking! If I ever manage to get a bit of fitness back and some time off I might give you a shout if its ok?

Hang on.. we used to always take a left at the wall.. straight on looks much more fun!

id be interested in a gps file of that route too. looks v good.

is there a route over from duntocher to the carbeth inn/auchigillen? i once bushwacked from greenside over but it wasnae much fun though.

as from trossachs, i always like the mentieth hills (braeval>calendar) and back on forest track route.

Their is a big diversion heading to the Craggs route,the fire road is pretty much unrideable,so they have diverted you up to the left,instead of going across the old concrete bridge,its a crackin wee bit of trail,brings you out at the road at the quarry,from there you can head back up the new road they have built for the Pylon guys and back across the humphrey to trig point,

Althepal anytime you wana fire up give me a shout,Yeh you can go left or right off the wall jump,
@dh you can get pretty much anywhere from the Kilpats,but ye its a boggy slog to Carbeth,

My local bike shops friday night ride is at cathkin this friday at 6.30 for a 7pm start. I cant go as im working away atm.

The shop is sprockets cycles in Kilmarnock. Give them a call for details

is it possible to bike round the jaw reservoir to kilmannan?

@dh

I have walked from the forest tracks at kilmannan reservoir south, along the eastern edge of cochno/ jaw reservoir and I would say that at least 65 percent of the track next to the water is rideable.

Some important points

To reiterate, the figure above is for the easternmost stretch that hugs the 'shoreline', you still have to follow the drystone wall north until you reach the gap in the forest where you can join the tracks through kilmannan forest.

Once you are in the forest that surrounds kilmannan res. it's fairly obvious to the how to get back to civilisation...by following the track down to the water plant and then continue down to stockiemuir road, and thus to milngavie. Though once you are approaching carbeth I'd swing left towards craigallan loch it's probably quicker and safer just to join the whw rather than cycling the rest of the stockiemuir.

If I was going to do it by bike I would follow the track from the dam at the jaw res. in a north west direction where it connects to the island and then go east to the eastern side of loch cochno and then north to kilmannan forest.

Some of the tracks around the reservoirs are unrideable because they may consist of nothing more than a very narrow path cut into the edge of a hill that slopes steeply into the water.

The most southeasterly part of the jaw reservoir can be slightly marshy...maybe best to swing round to the west to avoid the worst.

I've never been there but I have been told that there is a track from cochno loch up to black loch and then back to the 'farm' of 'muirhouses cottages', hopefully the video below will illustrate.

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The view from the banks of loch cochno is amazing on a clear night, with the jaw reservoir looking like a huge infinity pool...no swimming, mind!

Best to take some mates and plenty of time to explore that side of the lochs properly.

Best of luck 😮

Althepal, we always went left as the last time we went right we lost the trail and it became a slogfest. Whenever your off shifts let's get back up there!!

Correction...

"The most southeasterly part can be quite marshy, etc" should continue with "best to keep veering [u]north easterly[/u] to avoid the worst".

Hopefully the correct link ...

Did anyone else make it up there yesterday?

I pushed the bike up the track from kilpatrick station, over the slacks and minced the downhill to greenside. Bloody cold as well!

Thanks for the advice greatbeardedone