We spent a sunny May bank holiday Monday mountain biking at one of the 7stanes mountain biking centres at Kirroughtree and we had an absolutely cracking day. I’ve never done mountain biking before, so it was with a slight feeling of intrepidation that I sent off from Corsewall with our two younger girls to meet up with some friends at Kirroughtree in the Galloway Forest Park, just outside Newton Stewart. It had been all my idea, so I had no-one to blame but myself!
Mountain Biking at Kirroughtree
I reserved bikes for us all in advance from the excellent and extremely helpful people at The Breakpad. I had naively thought that our youngest, who is six, would be proficient enough to have her own bike, however, found when I got there that my friend thought I should also have a ‘tag on’ bike for her as she’d opted for one for her youngest. Given that I haven’t ridden a bike in years, certainly never used one with gears and never off road, I was a tad nervous. However, it turned out to be a great decision. Balance wasn’t a problem at all and I found I barely had to pedal as the six year old did all the work!
We took the easy, family friendly, green graded Bargaly Woods route, which was about a six kilometre round trip and which took us at a leisurely pace along quiet country roads, through a field (braving the bullocks) and a farmyard, finishing with a bit of forest track and finally crossing this wonderfully designed bridge. It was the perfect choice for us mountain biking novices. The children all wanted to do it again, but us grown ups thought we’d end the day on a high note having got away without any major mishaps.
A Wonderful Piece of Design at Kirroughtree 7Stanes
Post mountain biking, we had a delicious lunch at the new cafe at Kirroughtree and the children romped about in the play park till it was time to go home. All in all a grand day out – we’ll definitely be back! Will we brave the blue route? Find out next time!