Yup, bit busy earlier and did`nt read properly. Kirry is a 1hr drive from Dumfries. GT is just over the hour depending on which way you go.

So if you are driving up on day 1 you can lunch & ride at either Ae or Mabie. Good cafes at both. Ae is best done at weekends when diversions can uaually be ignored. 2hr ride for fit folk.

A red loop of Mabie is approx1.5hr. Add an 1hr or more on for a trek over to the Kona darkside.

Dalbeattie..can be a long as you like, lots of rocks and planks to play on.

Kielder map here..

http://www.thebikeplace.co.uk/index.php?option=static&page_id=2498&pname=Trail%20Information

Barry on the Hobo Style thread did the Avalanche thing last month..pop over & have a chat..he`s off to the Mega Avalanche now/soon?

Thanks for the linky - not sure we will be doing any riding on the way up - am coming from Devon, so it's quite a haul!! Can ride on the way back, as I have an SMBLA course in the Lakes the Tuesday after he bank hols tho'....

 The times are pretty handy - find the approximations on the trail maps tend to be rather unrealistic! What sort of times do you estimate for the others?

Will be in Alpe D'Huez the day AFTER the Mega, annoyingly.....the Scottosh bit is just one part of a traneuropean epic - doing the Pyrenees, Cote D'Azur, French Alps (hence Alpe D, then Chamonix) and a bit of Interlaken in Switzerland before heading back across. We leave in a couple of days......no email for a month woohoo!

ooooohhh to be young again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like you are going to have fun.

Looks like I will be away on holiday,Slovenia, when you get here. From 8th Aug-23rd.

Ride times are obviously dependent on fittness, size of group, faf time, mechanicals, view gazing, sessioning etc.

Kirry black can be 3-4hrs, depends on how long you play/session McMoab. After Moab comes Heartbreak hill, a big climb(for us!!). Then the best singletrack section of any trail centre, Talnoutry, just seems to go on for ever. 

Dalbeattie is 2hrs or more depending on whether you play on all the features like the Slabs and the various othe granite outcrops and "shore" bits. There is a black bit in the skills area at the trailhead.

Last summer I finally found my way round Drum and think the longest we were out would be 2hrs. The marking system I find odd/frustrating. Only been 3 times, can`t seem to get motivated by it.

Google Rosseta for your GT campsite

http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l145/bigjohnskona/odsnsods/

This is an old map, some new stuff has been added but does`nt change overall route.

Cheers for all the help John - will let you know how it goes!

 Enjoy your summer- be interesting to know how your trip eastward works out....hope you have a goodun!

Will have very limited net access for a few weeks now, so talk to you in a couple of months!

RBA....I`m probably very biased but I still have Mabie as my all time fave..mind you I have walked my dogs, kids and cycled there pre-Stanes for the past 30yrs or so.

I would put Dalbeattie next. Same again, rode there long before it became a Stane. The trail uses a lot of the stuff we "created" in ye-olden days when bikes were all rigid and had canti brakes.http://www.imba.com/international/slideshows/scotland01.html

Although I think it is probably the best trail Kirry still comes 3rd.

Ae...is my 3rd equall..again I have a bit of a soft spot because of some input I had in the early days. Rode it twice last week and love it.

GT...I just bored myself with it when my wife was working in Edin for 2yrs. Just don`t get the same buzz as I get from Mabie/Dalbeattie. Also rode this trail long before Stanes was ever thought about. Then it was mostly forest roads with a slog/carry/scramble up via Boundary Fence trail to Dunslair, the opposite way from what we ride now.

Inners...again used to ride it when it was known as Minch Moor trail. Like it, not ridden new stuff yet, but comes way down the list of must do`s

Not been to Newcastleton or Glentrool yet.