The 7-Stanes Tour has arrived!
On the 19th June 2005 the Loosenutz begin their 7-Stanes tour at the home of the Border Reivers - Newcastleton.
Newcastleton offers a great variety of riding for riders of all abilities. The centre offers a short red route, two blue routes, a skills loop and for the brave - a black graded ridge with some cheeky North Shore style playground stuff.
The Routes are fairly small in comparison with the likes of Glentress, so to make a day of it we will be completing the Linns route which is the longer of the two 'Blue' runs and then after a break for lunch we will be off to sample the joys of the 'Red' and the 'Black' graded ridge run.
The Linns Blue
After heading up into the forest above Dykecroft, we take a gentle spin along the forest road (watch out for forestry vehicles) until we come to the Linns junction, here we will drop downhill onto to the Linns.
Once on the Linns section, we will head further downhill, crossing over the Tweeden Burn and uphill on a scenic climb. Following the burn, we’ll be heading through attractive woodlands with great views of the valley below.
At the top of the trail we head along a fairly flat forest road and return back to the Linns junction, passing the old tweedenhead cottage ruin along the way.
This trail should take around two hours to complete and is 8km long.
The Red Route
They say that the 13 km red trail is more downhill than up [though I'm not sure how this works?], has more singletrack than fireroad, and is packed with plenty of features that’ll have you grinning from ear to ear.
The trailbuilders have used their imagination to make this route appeal to all sorts of riders. Both youngsters and older experienced riders will have a ball on this trail – simply choose how fast or slow you want to go. Find the Hidden Valley and swoop through its berms, then up and down the small woodland valleys – watch out for the log crossings! Follow the burn and climb up fireroad along the bogs and look out for stepping stones down to a 7-Stanes first - a laminate bridge.
The trail now races over more deep bogs and after a tree-lined climb you come face to face with Dead Man’s Quarry. On the way back you’ve got loads of fast singletrack to blast and a short 2x2 section to try and lose anyone on your tail!
And for our next trick...KIRROUGHTREE.
We hope to see you at Newcastleton but if you can't make it - then don't despair - July's venue will be the Kirroughtree Forrest.
Heading out on the Twister trail (appox. 1.5 hours) which uses most of the singletrack of the blue route as a warm up, the Twister presents you with a climb up the forest drive. Once this is behind you the real fun begins and as you turn on to singletrack again, the first couple of technical drops give you a taste of what is in store. The easy ‘Doon Hill’ section quickly leads on to the ‘White Witch’ and then quickly to the delights of Rivendell – where waterfalls, splashes, jumps and berms await. Unless you feel up to the Black Craigs extension it’s time to head for home, but this is no time to relax because as you traverse above Craig Nine and Little Park the Twister leads you over 2k of narrow, sporty singletrack before rejoining the blue route back to the start.
The Black Craigs trail is an additional 15km loop to the Twister trail, taking in some very difficult riding along the way with steep drops, chutes and climbs.
If you join us on the Twister Trail and Black Craigs you’ll have completed 29 km of riding.
That's our news. Keep in touch and please come to the rides if you can and if not - just keep an eye on our site, spread the word and make us famous.
Cheers
The Skinnyhippy & The Down-Hill-Demon
