The Pentlands Mountain Biking Trails
With a Half-Ironman distance triathlon looming, my bike training is getting pretty hefty at the moment. But, much to my own shock and horror, I’m loving every minute of it!
I recently moved a little out of Edinburgh, right next to the Pentlands, and what a difference it makes to my training. It’s soooo much easier to get out on the bike when you don’t have a few miles of traffic and city life to wade through. No longer need I sit in queue after queue of traffic, trying to escape the damn city, just in an attempt to ride my mountain bike.
Now, hop on the bike, pedal for about 5 minutes, and I’m in the hills. Absolutely amazing.
I’m discovering some great stuff in the Pentlands too, things I had no idea existed. It goes without saying that there’s some great cross country out there – the Pentlands trail network criss-crosses the hills, extending for miles. But, amazingly, there’s actually a bit of downhill out there too.
On the Edinburgh side of the hills I’ve discovered berms and jumps aplenty, all obviously made by enthusiastic spade weilders, keen to create something great close to home.
I’m going to start logging a few good routes that I find, and the first one is below. This is a short-ish route, certainly shorter than I had planned for that day. But it had some serious hills, and a couple of fun downhills – all making for a great little hour and a half blast on the bike.
If you have any Pentlands tips, let me know in the comments below – I’d love to get some insider knowledge on the places to bike.
In the meantime, I’m off to explore a bit more – there’s plenty I’ve not seen yet!
Recent Comments