“THE TRAILS ARE REALLY GOOD FOR PRACTISING AND PROGRESSING; I CAN TRAIN AND HAVE FUN AT THE SAME TIME. THERE’S SUCH A GOOD VIBE, TOO, WITH LOTS OF PEOPLE TO RIDE WITH”
The Tweed Valley, nestled in the Scottish Borders, is a world-class riding destination, with 450,000 mountain biking visitors a year, more bike shops than you can count on your hand within a five-mile radius, rider-friendly cafes on every corner and a network of more than 350 trails, with loads of options for DH, XC, trail centre and enduro riding. The ‘Golfie’ alone has 40km of hand-built tracks. With all this on their doorstep, you’d expect to find some pretty handy local talent, and indeed, the area is home to an incredible number of world-beating women.
Katy Winton, Jess Stone, Bex Baraona and Isla Short are all Elite racers who either grew up here, moved here or consider the Valley trails their home training ground. Polly Henderson and Katy ‘Kaos’ McGowan, meanwhile, represent the area’s rising younger talent – Polly was the overall winner of the 2022 Scottish Enduro Series and 13-year-old Katy is the reigning British national DH champ in her age group.
What’s been the catalyst for such incredible riders emerging here, more so
