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MTB: 7stanes - Ae

What: Red, green and blue graded trails plus downhill course near Dumfries. One of the most accessible of the Scottish trails centres for English visitors, being just 10 miles north of Dumfries, close to the border. Situated in a series of forested valleys in the foothills of the Southern Uplands, it offers a taste of remoteness, yet is close to the M75 and only two and a half hours drive from Manchester, making it a viable day out for anyone North of Stoke all the way up to Edinburgh and Glasgow - quite a catchment area.

The rather sinister Omega Man, Ae's own "Stane"

On-site facilities are rudimentary: there's a decent carpark, but that's about it, though with Dumfries so close it arguably needs nothing else. Just don't expect a post ride coffee and bike wash! The main trail, the Ae-Line, which is 20km long, will soon be joined by shorter and more friendly blue and green routes. Plus there's a full-on Downhill course, often used for National level competition and definitely off-bounds for all but the properly equipped.

• Essential Information:
• There are currently two routes, the Red route (Ae Line Trail) at 24km and a 'Black' DH route, though more are currently being developed.
• To get there by car, exit A74 at Jn 15, take the A701 south towards Dumfries. In Ae Bridgend village, take minor road signposted Forest of Ae, for 5km to village of Ae. 
• In terms of facilities, there's camping and accommodation in Dumfries as well as pubs, restaurants, shops and a cinema.

Where: Ae, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

Link: www.7stanesmountainbiking.com

Trail Report

The Ae-Line leaves the "Trail Head" carpark and follows the fast-flowing Water of Ae for half a mile or so, before crossing the river and ascending the winding singletrack of "Rab's Slippy One". The surface is coarse, hard-packed stone and gravel and sets the tone for much that follows. The grade is comfortable and gets you warmed up nicely for the rest of the route.

This looks promising - looking back down the first climb

Emerging from the trees, the trail crosses a fireroad and then traverses along the hillside on a pleasantly undulating, but gradually climbing singletrack for perhaps a mile. The views begin to open up and the pleasant white cottages of the hamlet of Larchview are off to your right.

The climbing gradually becomes more of a feature and the trail switches to fireroad for another mile or so, then it's back onto a rough, rocky hardpacked singletrack which eventually emerges above a series of switchbacks which take you back down to the river - in this case a tributary of the Water of Ae, called Capel Water.

Granny Green Luv is one of the best sections, offering technical challenges as it takes you down to the river crossing

This section is called Granny Green Luv and features some rockier stretches, and a series of jumps, tabletops and berms. They are mild in the sense that they are small in stature, but the coarseness and at times unstable nature of the man-made surface dictates that you treat the whole thing with respect. It also makes fast progress more problematic than the builders had probably intended, however if you're a regular visitor it probably becomes increasingly enjoyable as you get used to the layout and gain confidence.

The issue that occupied my mind at this point was what kind of bike would be best suited to Ae? A full suspension trail bike would cushion the ride, though there is plenty of fireroad climbing, which can be sapping on a full-susser. Probably the key thing is to get your tyre choice right. There's little slippery mud, but lots of exposed rocks. So, whatever you choose, make sure it's got a big profile - 2.25" at least - or you'll risk punctures. Heavy knobbles are less essential.

At the bottom of Granny Green Luv, there's a wooden bridge, then you're suddenly pitched onto a briefly very steep climb, which twists and turns on a loose surface and takes a mixture of anticipation and sound climbing skills to overcome it. However, the gradient soon eases and you're back out onto a stretch of fireroad. A stretch of singletrack eases the boredom soon afterwards, before you pitch downhill again to cross the Bran Burn.

It's not all pucturesque, by any means!

There then follows a lengthy and heavy section of climbing on fireroad. On the day we were there, there had been a lot of logging activity and the going was very draggy and muddy. However, the road flattens out and it's with some relief that you're back onto singletrack.

Called "The Edge" this section lives up to its name, following the crest of a tree-covered hillside, high above the river. The trail dips repeatedly and there are several tricky and worn berms, tight hairpins and off-camber and rooty stretches, all adding up to a satisfyingly challenging section, which eventually drops you back to the Water of Ae, where another wooden bridge (below) pops you across and into a brief stretch of open countryside.

Then it's back to the fireroad and another slog upwards. The views are truly stunning here and they alleviate some of the grind: there's a grand sense of being out in a wilderness of forest and moorland. The route dips into the forest at one point for a couple of hundred yards - a section blocked by fallen trees when I was there, but enjoyably tight and technical all the same.

You're entering the closing stages of the trail by now and having attained a decent altitude, you're beginning to anticipate the final descent to the carpark. And you think you've reached it when a giant stone carving of a human head - Ae's very own "Stane" - denotes the start of the section known as the "Omega Man".

But don't throw away your wings just yet! The trail dips down briefly on more rough singletrack, but then it comes back at you with a series of traverses and short sharp climbs as you regain every inch in a series of swoops and small switchback climbs that might just have you groping for the granny ring.

Finally, the trail lets you go and you begin the final descent proper. There are line choices aplenty on the way down, with tougher options of double black diamond grade - considerably tougher than the red grade of the rest of the trail. In truth, ridden with care, the descent is straightforward, whatever route you take, though several blind jumps and tabletops could catch out the reckless or unwary.

Looking back up the final descent - note the choice of lines

A final swoop drops you at the carpark. Here there are a couple of small sections of technical skullduggary - a bit of northshore and a tree trunk balancing pole - to tempt you, but they're optional.

The official length of the route in 19.6km and it recommends you allow 2-4 hours. We did it in just under 2 hours, though we stopped for a bit of photography. Conditions were not particularly helpful, the ground being sodden after a night of rain, making it heavy under wheel. In mid summer, it would be a lot freer running and quicker, though it's going to be a kidney-shaker whatever the weather!

Log-balance, right at the end of the trail

The strength of Ae is that it's a genuinely all-weather trail. It drains well and the surface, though rough in places, shows few signs of wear: a few puddles had gathered in dips, but despite a long wet winter and rain on the day we visited, it wasn't particularly wet or muddy. There was evidence of some new northshore and singletrack being constructed, so it's obviously work in progress.

Trail critic Iron Age Man offers his verdict on the Ae-Line

Our regular trail centre critic Iron Age Man (so called because he began riding off road at the dawn of mountain biking, when frames were still made from steel) came along to try out Ae and this is what he thought of it.

"Believe it or not, this was my first "Stane". I've ridden all over the country, but never before ventured onto the 7Stanes. Not surprisingly, I was looking forward to locking horns with the trails which have made such an impact on the MTB scene in the UK and which attract hordes of riders every weekend. The project has inspired many and I couldn't wait to get going.

First impressions were good. The first climb was on sinuous singletrack, not the obvious fireroad option. However, as the ride went on, the amount of Fireroad used began to irritate. As usual, it was generally fireroad for the climbs and singletrack for the descents. Am I the only rider who is baffled by the logic of this? If you limited in the amount of singletrack you can make, wouldn't you distribute it evenly between the ups and downs?

Some of the newly upgraded singletrack which should be fun when bedded in

Bear with me on this one. Climbing is slow and makes up a disproportionate of the time on any route. So why force riders onto fireroads? And why make all the downhills singletrack? Why not mix it up a little, make the slow climbing a bit more fun and throw in some challenging uphill singletrack.

I've bored on about it before, but you learn technique in a much safer and rewarding way if you do it whilst climbing. Trail centres which limit technical riding to the downhills pander to gravity junkies and risk creating a generation of riders who opt for long-travel full-suspension bikes to make up for their own technical inadequacies. Inexperienced riders are put at risk by boring climbs followed by technical descending - they drag up the hills with nothing to capture their attention or engage their minds, then feel compelled to throw themselves down the descents to prove themselves. It's not an ideal set up.

Well designed Singletrack - more of this please!

Getting back to Ae, despite it's fireroads it's not a bad trail. This area is still something of a forgotten corner of this crowded land of ours and very picturesque. The Ae-Line is a good long ride which probably rides very consistently all year round. However, it has an unrelenting roughness which, although not severe, robs you of the flowing kind of riding which you expect when you see the singletrack snaking away ahead of you. It's like trying to get up speed on corrugated iron. Even on a lightweight hardtail, I wasn't going fast enough to get air off many of the jumps, such was the dragging effect of the coarse rocky surface.

I ended the ride underwhelmed, though it had been a good workout. Perhaps what it really lacks is some kind of signature or feature to set it apart. The best trails usually have a memorable or exceptional section which sticks with you and perhaps attracts you back. Ae simply didn't have this for me. Let's hope they put in a bit more work and remove some of the fireroads!

More Trail Images

Above: A rough, rocky switchback descent (pic courtesy of www.ae7.co.uk)

Above: Father and son climb the switchback singletrack on a sunny day (pic courtesy of www.ae7.co.uk)

Above: One of the elevated boardwalk sections at Ae ((pic courtesy of www.ae7.co.uk)

Above: The fully stocked bike shop at Ae (for more info go to www.ae7.co.uk)