Small spot of flooding at Innerleithen

Innerleithen car park is currently completely flooded.  There's more rain on the way too, so it's unlikely to subside over the weekend.  Our intrepid ranger Andy donned his wellies to bring you this picture of the scene:

Time to get the canoe out?

Keep an eye on the 7stanes site for updates.

Dalbeattie Diversions!!!!

Hey everyone,

It's came to that time of year when forest harvesting operations are coming to the fore and this year it's Dalbeattie thats being affected!! The Town Wood Thinning operation is about to start on Monday the 9th November and will effectively last until early January. Hopefully the bike trails won't be affected for the whole time, due to the kind guys in harvesting agreeing to work a "rolling" system where the works will only be concentrated on a small area at any one time.

Unfortunately, the first coups to be thinned are close to the Richorn trail head, and due to the proximity to the Green cycle route on both the outward and return legs, we are left with no other option than to close the green route for approximately the first 3 weeks of the operation. However, both the green routes at Mabie and Ae are currently fully open and are a great alternative!

The Red and Blue routes will also be affected and a diversion will be in place from post 83 (the entrance into Volunteer Ridge) right back to the trailhead. This diversion will pass through private land and is only available to us through the kind permission of the Wilson Bros at Dalbeattie Forest Lodges, and without which we would have had to look at closures on these routes as well, so a big thank you to them!!

Currently there are also diversions in place at post 31 on the blue route and at post 36 (Road to Nowhere) on the red to allow for a seperate harvesting operation to take place.

Please obey and follow the diversions, harvesting sites are potentially very dangerous to members of the public and operators take a very dim view to being interupted by a gang of rebel mountain bikers!! Plus, the less hassle they get, the quicker they get finished and the sooner we can get everything back to normal!!

Thank you!

2009 South of Scotland Youth Cyclocross Series is Go

I am a HUGE fan of cyclocross so was more than a little stoked to see that Scottish Cycling and three local clubs have joined forces to put on a series of three cyclocross events for U16s during November and December.

Cross is quite possibly the funnest, friendliest, cheapest and most accessible type of bicycle racing out there and these events are a great way for young 'uns to try out racing - I promise they'll not be dissapointed!

Dates are:

Sat 14th Nov, St Ronans Primary School, Innerleithen (Peebles CC)
Sat 21st Nov, Drumlanrig Castle (Drumlanrig Root Rats)
Sat 12th Dec, Heathhall, Dumfries (Stepping Stanes)

These events are just another example of the fine work these 3 clubs (and others) are doing across the south of Scotland to get more kids on bikes.

More details on these races and the Scottish Cyclocross Series can be found at: www.scottishcyclocross.org.uk

don't forget to bring your cowbell!

Singletrack awards

Calling all 7stanes lovers, fans of  10@Kirroughtree and Glentress.

Make sure you, and all your friends, vote with your hearts and minds in the 2009 Singletrack on-line reader awards for the biking event and trail centre that really hit the spot for you.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/reader-awards/