With so little good mountain biking within riding distance of our new home, I’m still exploring. Fortunately I’ve identified some real possibilities to the west of Portsoy, so this summer I can explore the routes on 2 wheels. I’ve already walked a couple of good looking sections with the dog, so I know what to expect.
To the east, I’ve ridden Montcoffer Woods several times but have been unable to reach the highest point of Montcoffer Hill. The hill is covered to the top by forest which seems to be almost track less. Using Google Earth I thought I may have found a rideable access via the Bridge of Alvah. Yesterday I set off to ride around 15 miles of mixed road and trail.
Along the seashore, eastwards, from our village is tarmac but has gates to prevent you from driving a car all the way to Banff. It’s flat and provides a good warm up for the later climbs. Through Banff and joining a dirt road by Macduff House, I ascended to the Bridge of Alvah, which crosses the River Deveron a couple of miles later. There’s a bumpy, steep drop before the bridge, to provide some excitement. After a short climb I turned left onto a much narrower trail through thick woodland.
It was difficult to make continuous progress due to fallen twigs and branches. I battled on for a while until I reached a gate, which had fallen over about 45 degrees and would have been easy to get myself and the bike over. I chose to turn back, which may well have been a mistake. The satellite Image from Strava suggests that the trees thin out shortly after this point and that I could have made easier progress towards the hill top.
I used a different route, with more road, to return to the seashore and home. A failed summit attempt but good exercise. I covered 12.84 miles with 577 feet of ascent, which were my highest figures this year, as I rebuild fitness. I will not be deterred and will have another go at this soon.
Mountainbiker 