Mountain biking & afternoon tea

Glen Tress- where to go when you’re feeling knarley.

Tips

-Hire a bike. The reinforced suspension and sharp brakes are essential. 

-Brace yourself for the slow, gentle slog up the hill and enjoy it! (it’s the most relaxing part!)

-Know your colours. Blue = beginner red= intermediate black =severe (not just advanced).  There’s a very big difference between blue and black

-Avoid sudden breaking.  Best just to go with it and ride over the rough parts.

-Wear clothes (and make up) you don’t mind being covered in mud.

-If you want to get good, or are a bit nervous, get lessons (they even offer girls only tuition)

Until a few months ago I had no idea that places like Glen tress existed.  Forested areas packed with man made, graded trails emanating from a ‘centre’ consisting of a café, some changing rooms and a hire shop.  It’s like a simple ski resort but for mountain biking.  On my first visit felt I like I’d gained access to an exclusive world I had no idea about- the biking world.   Cars with bikes in the boot, on the back and on the top, snake into the car park and people in baggy shorts and lycra tops emerge to don themselves in knee pads, elbow bads and even spine protectors (for the more hardcore riders) before jumping on their bikes to climb to the top of the downhill trails.  A few hours later everyone is covered in mud,  with splatters all over their faces, and ready to indulge in calorie rich food in the café (which has a - ‘muddy boots welcome’ sign on the door).

Last year I gave the mountain biking a go.  My boyfriend assured me the blue route (the easiest grading) would be well within my ability.   He hadn’t appreciated my lack of biking experience: it was a lot narrower, steeper and rougher than any of the childhood bike rides I fondly remember.   My hired bike was in top condition, with unnervingly sensitive brakes, and I powered up the hill enthusiastically.  It was when we started going downhill that it got a bit stressful.  It turns out that I don’t really enjoy riding over rough terrain, and am terrified by the slightest slip of the back wheel.  Plus, I’m not a huge fan of going fast which is apparently the main aim when mountain biking.  Ever determined (and not wanting to waste money spent on bike hire), I gave the blue route another go after lunch and, knowing what to expect, completed it far quicker and with a lot less fuss.  At some point I will plug up the courage to get back on a mountain bike but on this visit decided to let my boyfriend enjoy speeding down the red and the black routes and go running through the countryside.

My route took me through Peebles, a pretty little town on the River Tweed. The short high street has all of the features a small British town needs to be categorized as ‘qauint’ and win a place in the guide book: delicatessens come coffee shops, little boutiques selling home –made style cards and gifts, an old-fashioned style sweet shops and the mandatory selection of charity shops.  At 9:30am this short street was still waking up, with just a few people strolling alone with Saturday papers rolled under their arms.  At the end of the road I crossed an elegant, old bridge and joined a narrow B road.

Having grown up in the countryside I love an empty, winding road with the faint whaft of manure in the air.   A few gentle climbs were rewarded by clear views of the landscape, which had a rather English feel:  more gentle, rolling hills than stark lines and dramatic peaks. The colours remain distinctly Scottish with rusty brown brachen and fields of musty yellow.  Only a couple of cars and a group of horses passed me, the riders all smiling and saying hello. I attempted a response between pants but it's likely it looked more like a grimace.  I pass the entrances to country estates where long driveways disappearing into landscaped gardens hint at privileged lives lived out in the hidden historical houses.  Features of the landowners properties are accessible to the rest of us, a gatehouse converted to a bunk house and stables welcoming any paying customer. 

As I was hobbling back to the car my boyfriend conveniently reappeared, covered in mud.  We went for lunch in the dirt friendly café and a generous bowl of creamy Cullen skin with thick granary bread replaced all of the calories I’d just burnt.  The glass-fronted café was only built last year and is large, airy and very family friendly with an enlarged versions of snakes and ladders in the corner.  It may lack the atmosphere of the old, independently run joint, but the menu covers all of the hot comfort food you’d expect from full cooked breakfasts to paninnis and burgers.  And it does have free wifi.  

That evening we stayed at the Barony Castle near Peebles.  It’s not a real castle, it’s a manor house but little touches such as flags, turrets and metal bars across the windows, are enough to make it feel like one. Exhausted, with our leg muscles burning we hit the spa.  The pool was very much a hotel pool- small and shallow with mood lighting and couples floating around entwined.  I am never really sure what to do in these sorts of pools: they’re too small for swimming yet not hot enough to simply wallow.  We settled on races.  Competing to see who could cross the satisfyingly tiny lengths fastest.  It was great fun until I nearly lost a contact lens, then we hit the sauna.

For dinner we headed to a small Italian called Francos where we were welcomed with ‘prego’ and shown to a small table squeezed into the corner of a restaurant full to bursting with familes, friends and couples.  We’d found the place the locals go.  It was refreshing when the antipasti starter came on a plate, not a slate or wooden board, and consisted of two types of meat with some bruschetta and a selection of pickled veg- onions, peppers, gherkins, olives.  Simple and delicious.   It set the tone for the evening: this restaurant is about tasty food and a warm and lively atmosphere, not for fancy furnishings.

Sunday was a lazy affair.  Papers over a long, leisurely breakfast followed by a stroll around the 25 acres of grounds.  With a burbling stream, picturesque summerhouse and elm tree walk the gardens are the perfect backdrop for any wedding photos.   Concealed behind the trees are a couple of low ropes courses to add a fun challenge to your afternoon stroll.  There is also an incredible 3D scale model of Scotland built by Polish geographers in memory of the Polish forces who lived in the Barony castle whilst defending Scottish shores in the Second World War.  It’s in the process of being restored and when finished water will be introduced to flow through the mini rivers and fill the mini lochs.  Before we left we had afternoon tea of bubbly with sandwiches, scones, and meringues with strawberries and cream.  Surely a couple of hours of exercise on Saturday morning can justify a whole lazy weekend of indulgence?