Loosenutz 7 Stanes Tour moves on to Kirroughtree

And then there were 6...

Having left the sweeping singletrack playground that is Newcastleton behind us, we're off to continue our whistle-stop tour of the 7-Stanes, and on the 17th July 2005 we'll be at Kirroughtree and hopefully, so will you !

Kirroughtree Forest is around 3 miles from Newton Stewart in Dumfries & Galloway and whilst there are four trails to choose from, we will be following the 'Twister' and the 'Black Craigs' routes which are red/black graded and around 29km in length.

Starting on the 'Twister' trail we climb a single track section of the 'blue' route before starting the climb in earnest up to the Forest Drive. Once you've conquered that - the real fun begins!

Turning onto more singletrack you're faced with your first two technical drops to get you heart going (and to give you just a taste of what's in store) before we head onto the 'Doon Hill' descent, the 'White Witch' and then finally onto 'Rivendell' for waterfalls, jumps, water splashes, burms and more. For those with the legs for it we then detour onto the 'Black Craigs' trail for an additional 15km loop taking in some difficult riding with steep drops, chutes and climbs.

Yet again, the 7-Stanes trail builders have excelled themselves. Heading out to Bargaly Glen via yet more single track climbs you'll come face to face with 'Judgement', a steep descent back to the bottom of the Glen which lead onto some nice fireroad which takes us out of the forest and into McMoab country where a short access trail leads us onto the first easy slab of rock allowing you to crank-it-up for a boulder ramp onto the first crest. This is where it gets tricky so kill your speed - or errr... kill yourself ! You've got 200mtr of granite linked by boulder causeways to deal with before a huge exposed white granite slab greets you. Pick your lines carefully and get off the back of the bike for the steep roll-off the far end.

Your price for all that fun is 'Heartbreak Hill' - a steep 70m gain in height will bring the burn back to your legs before the 2.5km descent from Talnotry Hill brings the smile back to your face. An intense descent through an insanely twisty singletrack route who's first section offers spectacular views and once inside the tree line the second section becomes even more technical with rocks, drops and branches all waiting to catch you out.

Two more challenging section still remain and as we continue our descent back to the safety of the red route at the bottom of the Glenn and onto the final 2km of singletrack leading to the visitors centre.

We hope you can join us for the day but if not our next port of call is Dalbeattie.

If you would like to join us, or are wanting any more information, then please email Andy D or Andy H and we will be glad to help you out.