Carron Valley MTB - First Visit

I really enjoyed my first visit to Carron Valley mountain bike trails near Stirling. The trails are hard packed gravel and are very flowy with fun drops and jump features along the way. It was extremely cold and there were patches of black ice which made it a bit sketchy on the day but otherwise it was great fun. Highly recommended for beginners to intermediate riders, even more experienced riders will enjoy blasting down these trails and the climbs weren't bad either. A great place to visit.

[@garyalexander3281]

Love Carron Valley, did it once I the snow was bonkers recommend coming back in the dry it's great fun especially Runway, cheers for sharing Donald! 😁🤙

[@muddymongoosemtb9873]

Thanks Gary, yes I really enjoyed it too. I'll definitely have to return in better conditions to give it a better attempt. 😁🤙🤙🤙

[@ckMTB]

Great video mate, it looked very cold on you and the fact that the trail was frozen in places doesn't make it any easier. Great riding and great jumps. I really like the landscape. Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work. Ride on and have a nice evening🤙

[@muddymongoosemtb9873]

Thanks mate, it was freezing 🥶 🤣 It's a fun place to ride. Thanks for watching and the encouragement. 😁🤙👍

[@hammyh1165]

The uphill rollers on cannonball are there because the trail builder had only built motorcycle trails and had no idea about MTB trails. The features on Easdubh also used to be bigger and were sanitised. The trails at Carron were supposed to be the start of a full trail centre but due to politics it never happened. It would've be so popular with it being so close to Glasgow , Stirling and the rest of the central belt. Great place for getting laps in on the bike and great for beginners. There is a pushup back to the top of the orange , it follows the Drystone wall up the hill just along from the bottom of the orange.

[@muddymongoosemtb9873]

Thanks for explaining why the rollers are there, and the history of the place. I did think it was weird having rollers going up hill. It's a pity to hear that it could have been a full trail centre because as you say it is well located. I still thoroughly enjoyed it, great flowy trails there. Cheers for the info mate. 👍 😁🤙

[@thecowardlymountainbiker7698]

@@muddymongoosemtb9873 if you google hard enough, you can find the history of the trails. Fascinating and frustrating in equal measures. On Cannonball I always take that left hand fork, makes for a better ending as the uphill rollers are just strange. Might be fun on a EMTB.

[@muddymongoosemtb9873]

@The Cowardly Mountain biker yeah an emtb would make mincemeat of the rollers. But I'll have to continue to use leg power for now. 🥵🥵🥵🤣🤣🤣

[@thecowardlymountainbiker7698]

my favourite trails, they're just fun. I love blasting along them

[@muddymongoosemtb9873]

They are great fun. I really enjoyed my visit. Will be good to do them without all the ice. Cheers mate 👍 😁 🤙

[@roberttobin194]

Thanks Donald I enjoyed that. I love Carron valley and as a recent beginner I go there a lot as it is relatively nearby for me. Good place to take beginners as most features are benign can be ridden around. Don't fancy the ice skating though

[@muddymongoosemtb9873]

Thanks Robert, I really enjoyed it and as you say it's great for beginners as the features aren't too big and you can go around them if you want. I love that, gives people a chance to progress with less chance of crashing. The ice certainly made it interesting- some of it I couldn't see just felt the tyres suddenly lose traction especially on some of the corners. Cheers mate! 😁 🤙

[@DownhillDesireMTB]

looks really good fun, less than 3 hours away for me so maybe i'll get there one day!

[@muddymongoosemtb9873]

Cheers mate, it is a good place for a blast around. Have you been to the Tweed Valley yet? I'm sure you'd love the trails at Glentress and it's a lot closer to you.

[@DownhillDesireMTB]

@@muddymongoosemtb9873 funny you should say that, i think i'm going on friday!!

[@muddymongoosemtb9873]

@@DownhillDesireMTB brilliant! You'll have a great time I'm sure.😁🤙 Lot's of great trails there. I'll look forward to seeing the video.

[@Imreadingthisaloud]

Great wee intro to carron valley. One of my personal favourites - you’re right about the speed. Really gotta tank it down them to get the best of the trails - the step offs at the end of runway so help, even then I’m in top gear pedalling my fatigued legs out! How does it compare to blairadam your other local trails?

[@muddymongoosemtb9873]

I really enjoyed my visit, it's very different from Blairadam. Blairadam has more natural trails muddy, rooty and rocky - quite techy. Carron Valley reminded me more of the flowy blues and reds at Glentress. I'll definitely return to try them in less icy conditions. Hopefully I'll be able to maintain momentum to do them justice. Thanks for watching mate.😁🤙

[@crazyoldmaninthewoods]

Pretty good effort Donald considering the conditions. I used to ride up there a lot but I find the trails a bit frustrating cause I never feel I can get enough speed up to do them justice. Thanks for filming, Andy

[@muddymongoosemtb9873]

Thanks Andy, I know what you mean about the speed thing. There was a couple of bits where I felt I lost my momentum. I was a bit hesitant about going fast because there were patches of black ice that I couldn't see especially in the turns. I enjoyed it though. Its a beautiful place.

[@dangerousdave1970]

Good to see you back out dude, you had a nice bit of pacealong that cannonball section until it went uphill, getting a bit of air in a fwe places too! nice vid as always! loving the camera following thing you've got happening. does that need a 360 cam?

[@muddymongoosemtb9873]

Cheers Dave it was good to be back out. I could definitely go quite a bit faster down those trails now having done them but also I was holding back because the icy patches were very slippy. I'll need to go back again later in the year and give them a right good go! Yes, I've got a 360 camera which is quite good for getting 3rd person point of view when I'm out on my own. Cheers mate glad to see you've been getting out again too.😁🤙🤙🤙

[@sergioelcoyote3586]

oh so wonderful places to ride my friend, near where my friend Big Stoozer lives (Dunfermline) from youtube channel : Big Stoozer MTB [Mountain Biking Scotland] www.youtube.com/@bigstoozermtbscotland , You are great Donald and I see you enjoyed too much riding in that beautiful place, a track with too much flow, greetings from Argentina

[@muddymongoosemtb9873]

Thank you Sergio! Yes, great flowy trails that Big Stoozer has been to before, I believe. Do you have flowy trails in Argentina? I bet it is a lot warmer in Argentina. 😁🤙🤙

[@sergioelcoyote3586]

@@muddymongoosemtb9873 yes dear friend. A big hug keep riding and enjoy