No trails like home — Stirling MTB Rides

North Third is a classic Stirling ride. It's simply stunning, riding along the cliff tops above the reservoir with views to the Trossachs, Stirling and the castle.The terrain here is mixed, as some sections are flat especially along the cliff tops, but to either side it's steep so makes for technical climbing or descending! I usually like to start the ride at Cambusbarron Quarry, warm up on the jumps there and then finish the ride through the woods as the trails there are super fun.

This Tour was an epic summer evening, and while a lot of this is relatively rideable, I took an E-bike. The ground is soft and often not well surfaced, so the extra power really helped here. The descent off of Ben Cleuch was just epic. It's fast and is steep in places, a true test of your brake control! You also pass by an area where a plane crashed dating way back. While there isn't much left there now, it's a humbling reminder as you ride past.

The Windmill Loop makes for a perfect cross country MTB or gravel ride.There's a 'gentle' consistent climb up no matter which way you do ride it; I rode this anti-clockwise from Doune.It's great fun, and really impressive seeing the wind turbines so close, and then there's a fast descent back down with a portion of road riding to finish the loop off.

This Tour was planned as a film shoot but unfortunately as we neared the top, the weather came in.

This is a round trip version of Ben Ledi up via Stand Glen and back down through Stank Glen.

It extends the descent by quite a bit, and is more 'raw' than the tourist trail of going directly up and down. The hike-a-bike on the way up can be challenging in places but visiting the lochan is definitely worth it.

This circular Tour is great first thing in the morning or later in the evening as a skills session.I usually warm up on the jumps and then head out into the woods for a proper ride of the trails, on the tracks and berms that locals have built over the years in the woods there.

This was a straight up and down ride to catch sunset, we left the carpark at 6am and after around 90 minutes were at the top. It was 100% worth it to see the whole of Stirling in beautiful light. 10 - 15 minute descent back down and it was time for coffee. The descent down can be challenging especially when wet, I'd recommend saving this for a dry clear day when you can truly appreciate the views and what's around you at the top.

This is my 'everyday' ride, up to the top of Dumyat, down through Witches Craig, up to the University Woods and finishing through the Mine Woods via some steep singletrack.I used to ride this loop to train for Enduro World Series events and have ridden in the area pretty much all of my life. The Mine Woods were my early stomping grounds where I built jumps and drops, some of which still remain today!

Aberfoyle is fairly close to home for me and has a selection of mainly technical trails. It's a great place to go practice on rooty, rocky and steep terrain.The riding here is fairly natural and in a short amount of time you get some great riding done.The waterfall as you reach the Go Ape centre is stunning, as is the view point from the top, with vistas over the Trossachs and Loch Lomond National Park.

This was the first proper ride of my SCOTT Scale XC Hardtail and the route just developed as we rode, which ended up being this beastie!It was a true great first test for the Scale, taking in some of the best pieces of trail I think Stirling has to offer for Cross Country riding. You can see the ride in action on YouTube here: