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New Scottish guide warmly welcomed by all

Were really pleased to be getting such good feedback about our latest guidebook. 'Southern Scotland and the 7stanes - selected mountain bike rides', has been on the shelves for just a couple of months now and the word out there seems to be jolly well done.

With nearly 50 routes in four different regions of southern Scotland, itll be a while before you run out of ideas and rides with this guide.

Supported by the 7stanes team and warmly welcomed by all in the region, this guide is seen as being the 'best thing since sliced bread'.
Building on our provision of quality trail information for downhillers as well as cross country riders, the guide contains detailed maps and info on a whole heap of tracks at Innerleithen and Ae.

As always there's plenty for cross country riders too, with both mountain and forest rides on offer. And for those who just can't tear themselves away from the 7stanes, some all new combos courtesty of our local on the ground trail fairies.

And a new feature of our guides, weve put together a couple of really big routes especially for this book. For those of you who like spend a few days in a row in the saddle, then our multi day epics should give food for thought.

To sample one of the routes in the new scottish guide go to freebies
So of course everyone is asking, 'where can I buy it?'Well of course you can buy it from our online shop, but if you're up in Scotland itself you might want to pop into your local shop to pick it up there. So here's a list of our stockists in Scotland:

Arbroath - Angus Bike Chain
Aviemore - Bothy Bikes
Ayr - Carrick Cycles
Castle Douglas - Castle Douglas Cycle Centre
Dumfries - G&G Cycles
Glentress - The Hub
Glasgow - Dales Cycles
Glasgow - Alpine Bikes
Gear of Glasgow
Edinburgh Edinburgh Cycle Coop
Edinburgh - The Bike Chain
Edinburgh - Alpine Bikes
Innerleithen - Probike Sports
Peebles - Border Bike Sport
Pitlochry - Escape Route
Newton Stewart - Cunninghams Outdoor Shop
Strathpeffer - Square Wheels
West Calder - Pedal Power

Visit our links page for more information on stockists in your part of the world

SSUK Report June 4th/5th saw the UK singlespeed championships at Hamsterly Forest, County Durham. And now finally, my head's cleared sufficiently to write something about it...

If you haven't caught on yet, singlespeeding is simply riding mountain bikes with no gears, or one gear if you're being pedantic. Anyway, no shifters, no mechs, no gear cables, just like your first ever bike, but more expensive, probably. Of course, not everyone wants to rid their bike of such useful items - some people turned up and rode with a full compliment of gears and that was fine. I didn't see a copy of the race rules, but I think they went something like this:

Rule 1. Enjoy yourself.
Rule 2. See rule number 1.

Hamsterly was bathed in sunshine on Saturday when the early arrivals, or those with a vague sense of organisation, enjoyed a group ride around the forest trails. We heard a rumour that some serious types had been out pre-riding the race course aswell, but as we didn't show up until saturday evening we didn't actually witness any such offences taking place.

Beer and food are two of the biggest priorities in life and both were well taken care of, with 3 kegs of beer and a marquee full of quiche (or pie, depending on how northern you are) although the specially brewed 'Sexual Disease Ale' had proved incredibly popular, so we missed out on that and spent the night drinking something with a less memorable name.

The race itself took place on Sunday with a 'double start' - the racers were set off first, followed by the "we're not really racing, we just came for the laugh" group (which was considerably larger). The course was superb. If you don't mind riding one-geared bikes uphill for 2 miles then pointing them down the steepest hillsides you can find, then it was pretty much ideal. Gareth Montgomery riding for Team Endura Singletrack Voodoo took 1st place in the men's category, having just popped in on his way home from the NPS at Margam Park. Gear ratio fans and aspiring Singlespeed champions should note that he was riding 32:15 - although I include this fact for information purposes only, don't try it at home kids, okay? Shaggy was 2nd and Phil the Horse was 3rd, highlighting the need for Gareth Montgomery to get himself a redneck nickname pronto. About 150 others finished joint 4th. For the women, Kona/Minx rider Jenn Hopkins took 1st place with Alison Rushton 2nd and Jac Strachan 3rd.

All the podium finishers won a commemorative beer glass and a fantastic array of random prizes saw a Spot Brand frame going to the rider with the most rusty bike, a custom Solitude frame for the guy who rode from Darlington to take part and a De Salvo Titanium beauty going to another guy for being a thoroughly good chap.

A fantastic event. Special thanks should go to Phil and everyone else who worked so hard to make it such a great weekend.

Words and Pictures: Ali Chant