17/08/2024
A while back I took on the new 'XL' route on the brand new Cortex:
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"The first 200km went pretty swiftly on smooth trails and with a convenient tailwind. A surprise initial slog up the ‘Burma Road’ quickly identified that the new Cortex was very happy climbing. The lockout was super effective on smooth trails, but even with the suspension open, it made short work of technical climbs with little bob. Rolling into Aboyne at 8 am just in time for a snatched co-op picnic breakfast, I’d had a few hours kip sheltering from the rain under a bridge and felt a growing confidence about making it all the way around. Then the trail headed back West & into a building headwind, and the hard physical nature of the XL Loop began to be revealed...
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My plans for an early lunch in Ballater, or perhaps even Braemar, quickly evaporated with the realisation that the next four climbs would be monsters! Struggling to stay upright in the gusts whilst heading over Mount Keen did not help matters but, as is often the case on these rides, the ‘sweet’ reveals itself only in contrast to the ‘sour’ and some epic technical descents more than made up for the suffering to get there. ‘Heartbreak Ridge’ heading down into Ballater, in particular, blew my mind. The extra weight of my luggage quickly got forgotten, with the Cortex soaking up this supremely technical, slabby trail. Refuelling on a burger in Ballater and some quick calculations made, finishing the total 500km XL Loop before Saturday afternoon pizza begins to look unlikely. Still, the trails were sweet, and the sun was out, so all began to matter less and less than the joy of just moving on an unknown trail..."
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Head on over to 's 'Daring Deeds' (Link in bio) to read the full story.
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