Is this the best MTB trail in the UK?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ค. 2024
- Aberdeenshire’s "Heartbreak Ridge” trail in Ballater is certainly a contender for the best UK trail (in our humble opinion) and an absolute “MUST RIDE” for any mountain biker.
We have obviously not ridden every trail in the UK, but we have sampled our fair share along with "some" of Europe and Canada’s finest and the feeling you get from riding this beautiful piece of Scottish tech is equal to any experience we have had on a bike, anywhere!
You get a lot of descending “bang” for you climbing “buck” and you finish feeling incredibly satisfied by the incredibly varied and long feeling descent!
It’s only 12 miles in length, which means you can squeeze it in before a potentially long journey home or you can continue the fun by riding some other treats in the area or do it all again.
If you love a good slab then you will love this trail as the middle section is basically one giant lump of granite with expertly placed rocks preserving precious momentum, enhancing the flow state!
Its ease of access is part of its charm, it feels like a proper adventure ride without any of the exposure and while its not an easy trail, if your prepared to push a few sections then its a great aspirational trail for intermediate riders.
Garmin GPX route here: connect.garmin.com/modern/act...
This was the last ride in our Aberdeenshire showcase and again we can’t stress enough that it is one of the best places in the UK to ride a mountain bike.
Make it a weekend to remember by adding the following:
A marvellous tech fest in Aboyne: • Aboyne MTB - Juicy tec...
The best flow tracks in the UK at Tarland trails: • Tarland Trails - The b...
Heck, why not make it long weekend and do all 3!!
This for us is now an annual pilgrimage, a year without a loop of heartbreak ridge would be sacrilege.
00:00 Intro
00:14 Welcome to Ballater
01:13 Lets get rolling
03:43 Top of the moor'ning
05:10 a moment of reflection
05:45 Heartbreak Ridge Top
08:54 Heartbreak Ridge slabs
12:19 Lindsey's Nemesis - The slab of doom
15:39 Heartbreak Ridge Lower
18:35 Storm Descent
21:21 Re-united with Hugo & our thoughts
And once again thank you to The Rodians for the fantastic track “Melt” featured throughout the edit.
check them out now using the following links:
Bandcamp: therodians.bandcamp.com/album...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/1nTlr...
Insta: / therodians
#mtb #adventure #mtblife #mtblifestyle #mountainbike #mountainbiking #ukmtb #mtblove #mtbiking #outdoors #outsideisfree #enduromtb #downhill #santacruzbikes #vanlife #traildog #vizsla
#mentalhealthawareness #anxietyrelief #mentalwellness - กีฬา
Top chief would be the other comparable trail. Granite slabs/rocks/drops etc. But Heartbreak Ridge was a favourite of mine this summer. Hit it twice in 3 days in July, just couldn't drive past it without 1 more run on it even though it was not in the plan after Glenlivet and Tarland.
I don’t think we can do a Scotland trip without a visit to Heartbreak Ridge, it’s becoming a yearly pilgrimage for us, it’s just that good! I am yet to ride Top Cheif, the weather keeps stopping play for us when we try and plan a visit to the Nevis range. Im sure we will get there at some point. Thanks for watching 🙏
@@MindfulTrailBiker I live in Oz now, so might be a couple years before I get another crack at it. But it'll be at the top of the list for sure.
@@PeteMac69 probably a bit too far for a cheeky weekend then 😂What’s the riding like in Oz?
@@MindfulTrailBiker Hot, dry, rocky and bloody awesome to be honest. WA has no big hills but plenty rugged trails. And we got Tasmania and NZ within an easy enough flight. Recommend a southern hemisphere trip if you get the chance👍
@@PeteMac69 sounds incredible! Get some edits filmed and share with the world! 👍
Great video, shows just how challenging some bits could be for some of us. Other TH-camrs can make it looks so easy!
Thank you 🙏 it’s definitely one of our favourite rides and should be ridden by anyone who loves MTB!
Doing research for our coming Scotland Mountainbike holiday and stumbled on your video. Thank you very much! We already marked this trail as a 'must ride' but after seeing your video we know better what to expect. I see we'll be allright and we might actually skip that big slab too. Thank you for walking back up it, that gives a good idea of what it actually is (POV only tells you so much) Cheers and rock on!
It’s a pleasure, thanks for watching and appreciating the edit. We’re jealous that you’ll be riding it soon!! It’s sooooooo good! Tarland and Aboyne are also very much worth riding if you’re in the area! 👍
Looks bloody awesome and so does Flinty.
Cheers!! It’s tremendous, an absolute must ride.
Flinty?? 👍
Rode Heartbreak Ridge back in the summer whilst on holiday in Ballater, great trail with loads of techy rock and steep slab features enjoyed my time there too, well ridden and thanks for sharing 😁🤙
Pleasure Gary, thank you for taking the time to watch and reach out!
Will have to put that one on the list. Looks great fun
It really is Dave. It’s should be mandatory for all mountain bikers 😂
My favourite day of the trip 🥳❤
Always a special one!❤
Class trail....one of the best ive ridden 🤙 the rock and trail is so grippy
Couldn't agree more!
Do you have a Strava link for the ride mate? Great video
Thank you very much 🙏
I don’t use strava I’m afraid. There’s a link for gpx in the description, hope that’s useful.
The descent is on trail forks and strava also I would think, the climb route is pretty straight forward when you look at the maps
Looks like an amazing place.
Sensible decision not to attempt something you're not happy doing. Not worth spoiling a great ride for one section 👍
It’s incredible, you really should visit, appreciate it’s a long way for most including us. Defo worth a visit along with Aboyne and tarland!
100% agree. There’s so much pushing beyond ability in MTB. Having been injured, time off the bike recovering is far worse than a momentary dent in the ego!
You got good weather for it. 😬👍
We were incredibly fortunate Wayne! We had pretty much sunshine everyday after the heavy rain passed. That changed our plan of starting the week in fort bill and laggan but we can’t complain at 6 sunny dats riding! Tremendous!!
looks epic ! \,,/
Thanks for watching! It’s bloody tremendous! Highly recommended!
Looks great! Any chance you could share the route - either a link to the GPX or the ride on Strava? Thanks
Yes off course, I don't use Strava but here is the Garmin GPX link: connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/12285734254
Also another trail called mastermind that looked similar to storm that you rode thats on the hill across the road 👍
Yeah, yet to ride mastermind, keep meaning to get across and give it a go, next time defo!
@@MindfulTrailBiker it's a cracker you won't be disappointed 👍