Day 1 - Dalbeattie.

A good nights sleep and a full English, Scottish breakfast, ample time spent faffing and we were all set to travel the short step down to the trail at Dalbeattie. Today was cold and wet, a harsh introduction to MTB'ing in Scotland. We spent a little time on the skills park adjacent to the car park and then headed off for the Hardrock Trail, a Red graded loop with some black (very black!) features.

I'm still getting used to the Trance and I didn't have the suspension setup correctly (this was only my 2nd proper ride on the bike!) It's quite a technical trail which I found tough going, the constant pedal strikes began to get on my nerves and some of the features were out of my league - Kudos to the other guys who rode them (maybe even enjoyed them!)


'The Slab' at Dalbeattie

After the Qualifier and the Slab, were the Twins, two slabs of granite with a short transition between them. The Twins were far less kind than the Slab, the granites legendary grip let two of the guys down with a bang. I was already in two minds, so after seeing better riders than me loosing out to the damp stone, I decided to take the 'chicken run' which looped round to the right.

By the time we'd got back to the carpark, the drizzle had stopped, it was now just pouring down! We were soaked, cold and some of us bruised. On the way back to the B&B we stopped into a small bike shop, a few minutes drive from the trail head. While some of the guys looked for a new Sram rear mech - (victim of the Twins) I took the opportunity to have a look at a new Kona Kula - I do still like Kona's.

Personally, I didnt enjoy Dalbeattie!

Some tweaks I need to get done on the bike -

the brake leavers need to have their reach wound back slightly.
More air in front forks
More air in read shock
Check the tyre pressures.
and find someone to shorten the seatpost.