My favourite trails aren’t necessarily the buffest or the most technical - rather, its those that are most familiar, the ones I can pin every time, that I get the most out of.
I’ve been putting together loops on Pressendye for more than a decade, and I’ll never get bored of it- it’s steep, varied and the views are the best in Aberdeenshire. The ridge runs along the Deeside-Donside border, and is obvious on approach as a big whaleback on the skyline. People have lived here for thousands of years - the actual summit cairn sits on a bronze-age grave mound. But, it’s the recent influx of horse riders, dog walkers and mountain bikers that has led to the amount of riding here.
To attain the ridge you’ll have to be the kind of rider who’s about the ups as well as the downs. Get to the summit and there are various lines back down to the bottom, from easier fire roads to rocky, loose and eroded singletrack. All are as fast as you can handle- fast enough to leave enough time for another lap.