When thinking about mountainbiking or off-road biking, many people look north into the Highlands. Some of the guidebooks for bikers concentrate on areas such as Glen Ample and the Strathyre forest tracks, or the route round Loch Oich, south of the Great Glen – or the more remote Loch na-h-Oidhche in the far north-west.
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Scottish Borders council, too, has been actively promoting the area to bikers. They have helped develop trails and long-distance routes such as the Tweed Cycleway, the 4 Abbeys Cycle Route, and Borderloop. The Coast & Castles Cycle Route – linking Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh – is also well-established as part of the longer North Sea Cycle Route. Last year, for the first time, a new event called TweedLove introduced riders to some of the best routes in the Borders, with loads of other activities to keep everyone entertained. It was so successful that EventScotland decided to award it more than £10,000 to boost this year’s week-long programme, 11–19 June. The details were announced this week. As well as open races, guided rides and social gatherings, the organisers have planned some exciting challenges, including a seven-hour endurance event, the Glentress Seven. They point out that one of the attractions will be the chance to ride on a course featuring normally unavailable trails and some new sections created especially for the event. At the time of the funding announcement, Paul Bush OBE, EventScotland’s chief operating officer, said that TweedLove was “an excellent example of events that we fund through the National Funding Programme across the country. It has something for everyone and we feel the mix of sport, music and film will attract a wide range of locals and visitors to the area with the potential to grow year on year.” That ambition looks to being fulfilled with this year’s programme. The organisers have expanded the number of events. As well as the Glentress Seven, there’s also the Peebles Sprint, an exciting Belgian-style town-centre road race with 40 riders battling it out at high speeds over a number of laps of a short, fast and furious course in the centre of Peebles. Crosslove is described as “an evening of racing with a difference", and features a summer cyclocross race, where riders of all ages will have to cover the most laps of a short, challenging off-road course. It also features “Pump It Up”, the unofficial Scottish Pump Track Championships where riders have the chance of racing each other over ten laps on one track followed by a velodrome style pursuit on the other. And it’s not just all cycling. There’s even a concert night, featuring the Scottish indie band, Frightened Rabbit, who hail from Selkirk. And there’s a repeat of last year’s film night. The multi-award winning film, Life Cycles (claimed to be one of the best bike films ever made), will be screened alongside a selection of the best entries to an amateur short film competition. Entries are now open for this year's competition and the theme is "Bikes". Entries must be under three minutes long and must be submitted by 31 May. Organiser Neil Dalgleish is grateful for all the support the event has received from local businesses as well as the public authorities. “Loads of folk and different organisations are working together to show why the Tweed Valley is such a cool and unique place for riding bikes,” he said. “It's in the valley's blood now and there's a massive amount of potential for the future. TweedLove's going to be a whole lot of fun this year, and with this much positive input happening, I think there's lots more to come.”Want to discuss other issues? Join the debate on our new Scottish Voices forum
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