Since I was making the journey up to Northumberland for Andy Armstrong's Northumberfest bash, I figured I'd grab an extra day off work and pop up to Glentress to see whether it lived up to the hype.

When I met up with Ian in the car park, the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Other than my aching head and slightly wobbly guts, it was a perfect day for a ride. Scotland, in February, in shorts? Oh yes. Fantastic.

We rode a cocktail of trail sections, picked from the red and black routes, and there were some super-sweet bits of trail in there. From fast-railing berms to loose rock, from switchback singletrack climbs to jumps, Glentress seems to have something for everyone. And plenty of it too.

Despite feeling a bit wretched from the previous night's frivolities, things went fairly well. I wasn't riding too well downhill, partly thanks to absent-mindedly having left my helmet in the car; but with the sun warming up the trails, the hangover seemed to pass fairly quickly.

Most people reckon Glentress is 'better' than the Welsh centres and from the perspective of an experienced rider, I'd agree. There are sections here which are really challenging to ride fast. The rocky descents are really good fun. The swooping bermed trails are absolutely excellent. But one part of the forest really stands out...

Tweed Shore

This was undoubtedly the highlight of the visit for me. The "Tweed Shore" trails at Glentress are great fun and are a good introduction to North Shore style riding.

The great thing about it is that the interesting stuff is only a foot or two off the ground (which is soft with pine needles), so you can come off without fear of anything worse than a scratch or two.

The trail itself is pretty easy too, once you've worked out that the key to riding it is simply to be smooth. Where the trail is narrow, you can't correct any wobbles by steering because you'd fall off; this means firstly that you need to keep momentum up, and secondly that you need to keep the bike on the straight and narrow by leaning off the side, as you can just make out from the picture to the right.

There are two challenging parts. One of these is the right-hand kink in the narrow section, which is too tight and narrow for the rear wheel to follow round. This simply requires a slight lift of the rear as it approaches the bend - sorted.

The second challenge is the teeter-totter as it's known in North Shore parlance (a see-saw in layman's terms). The challenge with this isn't any technical ability - although it's fairly narrow so you'll need to at least be able to hold a straight line - but it's the step into the unknown: What does it feel like for the ground to tip as you roll over it? Especially when you're three feet in the air.

In reality it's not too weird, as the plank is fairly heavy, meaning it tilts relatively slowly. Just let the bike roll through it and all is well.

There aren't any big hucks required as is the case on many Shore trails, so there's no excuse for not giving it a go. The best thing is that I've now started looking at brick walls and things in a totally different light. For those that like to blend mountain biking with bits of urban or trials riding, North Shore could be the best mix of fun out there.

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