Learnie is lesson in over built

Learnie Red Rocks is one of a spate of new purpose built trails in Scotland and one of the most northerly man made trails in the UK. Luckily some work sent me to Invergordon recently, so the 10 hour drive from Dorking to just north of Inverness was made with the hardtail in the boot.

Like Summer Lightning and more specifically the 7 Stane trails, Learnie is built on Forestry Commission land and has been open for one year. On our Saturday visit the trail was well used. But what's it like to ride? There are Green, Blue, Red and Black trails at Learnie and my feeling is that the Blue and Red trails, which are of most interest to cross country riders are over built.

There is some nice flow, a switch back or two and the decent back to the car park is great fun with table tops that really push you and frame into the air, but the overall feel of the entire route is one of being too road like, yes its quick, but lacks challenge. There is never a moment when you have to concentrate on the line ahead or suddenly have to fight the bike (I was riding an ali hardtail, a good full sus would feel more akin to cycle path cruising).

The Black Run began with one of the most extreme drops, its like riding down the tight stair case of a castle and was not built with my type of riding in mind, so I won't pass too much judgement on the Black.

Learnie is well worth visiting though because the Black Isle is a fantastic part of Scotland, the views across the Firth are incredible and I was treated to wheeling Osprey above my head. This type of trail centre allows you to ride with little local experience. But it is an exercise in over building and reminds us why roots are great fun.