21.39kms
I’d read that Old Kilpatrick was a bog and to be avoided during winter. I wasn’t sure how rainy it had been so posted on a facebook group asking if anyone knew the conditions. A local guy named Walter said he was heading up and invited me along. Defo, it’s always easier (and safer) riding with someone who knows their way around. To be even more safe I sent a screenshot of the guys facebook profile and shared my live location when I first met him with my friend. He also had a partner in his profile pic which put me a bit at ease too.
However the second we said hi I knew he was a good dude. Most mtbers are – we are all of similar personality types I’ve found.
Anyways we met at Magic cycles and had a pleasant ride to the bottom of the park. Walter was on an ebike and I was still vastly unfit. Once we started heading up, I realised just how unfit I was. The shuttles at rostrevor were awesome but didn’t really help my fitness at all. I was dying and we’d barely started. Once we got to the intense uphill, Walter hooked a spare tube over his seat post and around my handlebars and towed me up. With the ebike motor it was STILL hard yakka! I died at the top as I was still pedalling as much as I could. I honestly don’t think I would have made it up without the ebike. For my efforts I got 3 QOMs. I feel like an imposter. There was even more uphill after the intense uphill. Of course, its Scotland. We finally got to a nice little flat bit with a pretty view over a water reservoir.
I literally had to sit down for fear of fainting – I am not exaggerating. I must have looked awful because Walter gave me some jelly babies and a muesli bar. LESSSON 1: ALWAYS have food with you. Rookie mistake. Thank you Walter!
Once I had returned from the dead we set off hugging the reservoir and through some trees. It was quite scenic. We came a cross a tree down so had to do some bike lifting. The biggest con to the ebike is trying to lift it over a massive tree trunk with branches poking you all over. Lets be clear though, I was useless here as well haha.
Following this we then started to track downhill. The notes around Old Kilpatrick being a bog in winter proved true. Walter showed me a spot where it had come down a hill into a small puddle which in reality was a mini pond and he lost his ebike almost up to the handlebars. He described it like…
but luckily he got his bike out.
For the trails we were on its was simply slick grass, deep mud ruts and a whole lot of fun. Speeding across farmlands with water reservoirs, trees and sheep was familiar yet very different at the same time. There was nothing terribly technical, but the terrain was somewhat challenging due to the mud. Mud ruts were cold and slick as ice. I can’t actually describe how much fun it was. There was no fear of falling as the tracks were wide and hills broad and gently sloping. It was never going to hurt as it was so wet.
Click the below link to view my video of the ride!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRqYilZeLY_NZ4xBnG_M71w
As we came hiffing down at the end the trails opened out into a beautiful old castle like mansion. For the British this is an ordinary sight. For a girl from NZ where our oldest building is from 1822 this was pretty spectacular. Of course the Go Pro had run out of battery by this point so its a fading memory. LESSON 2: Your GoPro battery will die before your SD card runs out, you cant record your whole ride. You have to do snippets. After that we cruised along the town and river back to the shop. We chatted a fair bit about our lives and had a bit in common both working in IT. He was a really cool dude and I would defo meet up for a ride or beer or both. Thanks for your patience with me Walter! I had a great time!