Loch Doon Circuit

Monday 6^th July

I found this route in a book a few months ago and it sounded good, so I decided to give it a try today.

I parked the car at Loch Doon castle and followed the forest drive road over to Loch Riecawr, then on towards Loch Bradan. Just before you reach Loch Bradan you take a narrow path on the right. It was a good job that I was using a GPS as the waymarker sits off the road and out of sight in long grass. It could be very easily missed.

                                                             Loch Doon Castle

                                                      Loch Doon in the distance

                                                              Loch Riecawr

                                            Picnic area overlooking Loch Riecawr

A memorial to a hill walker erected by his friends after he died

From the waymarker you follow the small track uphill for a few meters then you veer left and continue around the side of the hill which brings you to the side of Loch Bradan.

The hill trail to Loch Bradan

The first section of this trail is not difficult but the trail gets more technical the further along the Loch side you go. You get some great views of the Loch and the scenery is fantastic.

As you near the end of Loch Bradan you come to a waymarker at a junction. The waymarker is signed Loch Riecawr – Loch Bradan. Follow this route uphill. This is where the trail starts to get really difficult, with steep and technical sections.

                                                 Loch Finlas -Loch Doon waymarker

                                        View of the trail uphill trail from the waymarker

Once at the top of the hill you are rewarded with views of Loch Bradan behind you. As you cycle across the top of the hill you see “Nick of the Loup” in front of you and Loch Finlas to your left and Loch Doon further on in the distance.

                                     View of Loch Bradan from half way up the hillside  

                                                    View from the top of the hill

Loch Finlas with Loch Doon in the distance

View of Loch Finlas just before the descent 

At this point the trail gets really interesting as you start to descend towards Loch Finlas you have to negotiate some very large rocks and boulders. After a very exciting downhill section you eventually arrive at wooden boardwalk next to a forest area where the track almost disappears. As you go through the opening in the wall you turn left and follow the edge of the trees where you again pick up a well trodden track which eventually opens up into a forest road.

                                              The trail that runs along the tree line

From here you turn right at the next three junctions which takes you parallel to Loch Doon. Continue to the next junction and turn left which brings you back to the parking area at Loch Doon castle.

                                              Coffee break overlooking Loch Doon

                                                                  Loch Doon 

                                     Last section of forest road before the forest drive 

This is a very interesting trail which took me 3 hours 10 min. I would say however that it is not for the novice or even a seasoned trail rider without a map and compass. There is a lot of technical sections on this route and care must be taken. Also the weather in this part of the country can be very changeable without much warning. Never the less it was a great day out to be cycled again in a few years time.       

The Four Lochs

Friday 4^th July

This is another of those rides that I did years ago and thinking about it inspired me to do it again.

The last time I did this trail was with my son Duncan in the winter of 2009, when I was training to become a Trail Cycle Leader. That year the four Lochs were frozen over which was a very memorable sight.

                                                    Duncan aged 17 in 2009

                                                        Loch Lumford in 2009 

                                                 

I parked the car at the forest lodge. As I got out the car I was attacked by midges for the first time this year. It’s the fastest I’ve ever got my gear ready as I was only wearing shorts and a cycle top, not much protection from these little shits.

Following the trail up towards Loch Harrow the midges became a distant memory as they disappeared. They only came back a few times during the ride when I stopped at certain stages to take pictures. As I got to Loch Harrow I was surprised to see the water level a lot lower than it was in 2009. From Loch Harrow I then worked my way over to Loch Lumford, which again was very low on water.

                                                                Loch Harrow

                                                              Loch Lumford

I then made my way round towards Craigmaharb and back towards the forest lodge where I came upon a statue of a Highlander in full Highland dress.

                                          The statue of a Highlander at the forest lodge

Continuing along the forest track I made up hill to Loch Dungeon which has totally changed since my last visit. It now has a new embankment and sluice gates. This is where I had my first coffee break. (no midges)

                                                  Coffee break at Loch Dungeon

                                                               Loch Dungeon

I then decided to continue uphill to a memorial stone that was marked on the map. This memorial is to the memory of Ralph Forlow who was a 17 year old shepherd boy who lost his life in the hills during a storm in 1954.

                                                    The Memorial to Ralph Forlow

                                                   The Dedication to Ralph Forlow

From the memorial I backtracked to Loch Dungeon then on to Loch Minnoch, again the water level was very low. From Loch Minnoch it was mainly down hill and what a fantastic down hill it was. (very fast on loose stones) The down hill section took me back to the forest lodge where I had parked the car.

                                                               Loch Minnoch

The only down side to this ride was the midges. If I do it again I think it would be early April or Winter so that I would miss the midge season.        

Kirroughtree and Glentrool

Wednesday 1^st July

Well……….Two 7 Stanes in one day, sore legs tomorrow.

The weather was overcast but no rain was forecast and the wife wanted out on her bike, who am I to argue.

We drove down to Kirroughtree and did the blue trail which was as usual very enjoyable. As we cycled round “Larg Hill” on a section of straight forest road, the wife decided to head for the ditch. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I think that she was multi-tasking as women do, she just managed to stop as the front wheel started to descend into the ditch. We continued on (after I managed to stop laughing) following the blue trail till we reached the Gem Stane.

The pond at the Gem Stane is very picturesque with all the Lilies floating in it. Once back at the Visitor’s Centre we had bacon rolls and coffee. I sometimes think that the wife only comes with me for the treats at the end off the rides.

                                                              The Gem Stane

The Lilies

The Wife

We then drove over to Glentrool Visitor’s Centre where I did the Blue Trail to see how fast I could get round it as I’m trying to build up my stamina and lose some weight. The wife decided to have a nap in the car or do some après cycling and watch the young bucks instead of going with me, but I think she was disappointed as I looked like the youngest male there.

                                           View of  Loch Trool from Green Torr 

When I got back I was treated to my favourite coffee and toastie at the café. This makes it all worth while.

Castlemaddy Circuit

Monday 29^th June

A few days ago I was thinking about places that I had cycled in the past. My first thought went to an area where I went hill walking and cycling years ago called Castlemaddy.

Castlemaddy is a small bothy that the Nithsdale Scouts used for weekends away. It sits a few miles up a forest road off the A713 between Carsphairn and St Johns Town of Dalry. I first stayed there in the late nineties when I got my arm twisted to volunteer for a weekend to help out a friend who’s wife was a Scout Leader. Since then I have stayed there a few times for hill walking and cycling trips the last being 2001.

There is over 20 km of forest road that you can make into a circuit for a very enjoyable day out. I parked at Polmaddy where there was a community that lived here in the 1800’s. You can still see the remnants of the buildings.

I followed the track up into the forest past a small house called Drumness which the Air Training Corp used as a base for training cadets. I carried on up the track till I got to a bridge where I turned right, this takes you past a house called Braidenoch where it looks like someone has rebuilt and is now living in it. Continuing up over the hill you can see Carsphairn to the right in the distance. Following the road round I came to a crossroad where you get a great view of Carlin’s Cairn and the Corserine with Loch Doon just behind them, fantastic hills to climb. If you turn right at the cross roads you come to a bothy called “Shiel of Castlemaddy” which is run by the Mountain Bothy Assossiation. But like all these usful places you get the local and not so local yobs coming up here for their drunken weekends and trashing the bothy and on occasion burning it down. It has been refurbished a few times that I know of over the years.

                                   

 Drumness 

View from the bridge

Carsphairn in the distance

Carlin's Cairn and Corserine

Coffee time

At the crossroads I went straight through which brings you down past Castlemaddy, which is looking rather sorry for itself today compared to the last time I was here. From Castlemaddy I continued down the forest road back to the bridge where I turned right which took me back to where I had parked.

                                                                   Castlemaddy

                                                              Second coffee break 

It was a good run as the weather was great, but I was disappointed to see the state Castlemaddy was in as it was a great base for Scouts to use for outdoor pursuits.    

Go MTB at Glentrool Forest Park

Friday 15^th May

Back at Glentrool today with six Dalrymple Primary School children for a GO MTB course. The weather was warm but overcast with the rain staying away, which was great. We started at the visitor’s centre and took the Blue Route up to Green Torr stopping a few times for rest breaks and bike challenges.

We had lunch at a nice spot just below the summit, which didn’t come soon enough for some of the group. It’s hard to believe that there are so many unfit children, five of this group play football for the school team and they were struggling to cycle the route without getting off to walk.

Once lunch was over and we arrived at the summit of Green Torr, everyone was relieved that it was down hill from here. I believe this to be the best two sections of the route, very fast and not a lot of pedalling involved which suited the children immensely.

Back at the car park it was juice and mars bars all round for the kids and coffee for the adults. No toastie today big disappointment.   

New bike trailer

Friday 1^st May 2015

I have just taken delivery of my new PENDLE six bike trailer WOW !!! a nice bit off kit. I can now put the bikes on the trailer without stripping wheels off and putting them in the back of the pickup.

It took me about an hour to assemble and check all the nuts and bolts as the trailer came on a pallet partly built. The end result is fantastic. Big toys for big boys comes to mind

 The new bike trailer

Cycling Proficiency Course

Wednesday 29^th April 2015

Today I completed a Cycling Proficiency Course for Dalrymple Primary School in East Ayrshire. Out of twelve trainees, nine passed and three just never turned up. Well done to the nine that passed, they worked really hard during the course.

This afternoon I started a Bikeability Level One course for twelve Primary five pupils at Dalrymple Primary School which will last for about seven weeks.

This group seemed keen and the session went well. We started off with the egg helmet activity (this demonstrates the necessity for wearing a helmet) and continued with bike safety checks. It surprises me the amount of parents that send their child out on a bike with no thought of checking to see if the bike is road worthy or not. I had seven out of the twelve bikes with faulty brakes and two without the brakes working at all. I spent ages trying to repair bikes so that the kids could at least take part in some of the session.

Most of the trainees managed to ride one handed and do high fives. To finish off we had a slow race but a few of the trainees didn't quite grasp the concept that it was the slowest that won not the fastest.