In case you were suffering from any lingering doubts that the venerable CTC didn't really have much to do with mountain biking, its 7Stanes Mountain Biking Festival (29 July - 4 August) should put them to rest.

The format is simple. Using Dumfries College as a base, the Festival will use five of the seven famous mountain bike centres (Ae, Mabie, Glentrool, Dalbeattie and Kirroughtree), with rides for all abilities and skills coaching sessions at each. There'll be child-friendly stuff too, and there'll be a women-only ride on Thursday 3 August.

CTC has laid on a bike bus to shuttle riders between the event HQ and the ride venues. There's plenty of accommodation available locally, plus camping and caravanning pitches. Registration is just £30 (or a fiver a day if you can't make all of it) - accommodation is extra, campsite pitches are £50 or £80 for the week depending if you need a small or a large one...

More details, a booking form and a full programme can be found at CTC's MTB website at www.ctc.org.uk/mtb.