Potential soapbox race venues

I've been looking around on google maps for potential places to go soapbox racing, and have found a few candidates around Loch Earn and Loch Tay. I don't know anything at all about them or what the road surface is like, etc, but they look interesting from the map. Most of them are access roads to reservoirs, so they are dead ends and hence no through traffic. They should have reasonably well maintained surfaces but probably won't be very wide. You can see them all on this google map.

Does anyone know anything about these roads, or is anyone likely to be going anywhere near them soon? Anyone got any other potential venues?

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Submitted by scottishcarties on October 20, 2009 - 14:42.

Potential places

Don't know those roads but there is a good downhill tarred road off the West linton road outside Edinburgh at a place called Flotterstone. The area is now part of the regional Park the road in question running up from Flotterstone to Glencourse resivoir. There is a single farm right up at the top.

Anonymous | October 20, 2009 - 22:05

Glencourse

Looks interesting, and would be worth checking out - maybe have a look on the way back from Cadwell. It's also far enough south to attract those who reckon Cairngorm is "too far away" (note - this depends on where you start from...

)

scottishcarties | October 21, 2009 - 09:01

What about using a hill

What about using a hill climb course/track such as Doune or Bo'ness or even integrate with a hill climb event. there seem to be a few others such as Fintry and Monklands.

I don't know if any one has contacted organisers at these venues in the past, either for event sharing or use of. Also, if off the main roads stops upsetting locals for blocking/restricting road use.

azuma | October 20, 2009 - 23:23

hill climbs in reverse

Good idea - Forrestburn (just off the M8 between Glasgow and Edinburgh) looks good too. Its circular, which means you can get carties back to the start without having to close the live track - much more efficient. Racing could then be more or less continuous.

scottishcarties | October 21, 2009 - 09:13

Knock hill has potential for

Knock hill has potential for a short demo event during a race weekend. I once competed there in a hill climb.

Anonymous | November 7, 2009 - 21:39

Anyone got the bottle for this?

[clicky for bigger picture]

How about this one?

It drops nearly 1900 feet in 4.7 miles, average gradient of 1:13, but considerably steeper than this in places. It makes Cairngorm look like a wheelchair ramp...

scottishcarties | November 27, 2009 - 11:38

This hill surely merits a

This hill surely merits a bit of effort to do a proper test run if it is a possible venue?

Anyway has the gauntlet not already been thrown down?

peasnbarley | November 27, 2009 - 20:01

I think maybe a weekend trip

I think maybe a weekend trip over there in the spring would be fun.

Anonymous | November 27, 2009 - 20:29

Is that Stelvio?? Awesome

Is that Stelvio?? [IMG]http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p82/ilu-azuma/other%20pics/stelvio-pass-road-redefining-switch.jpg[/IMG] Awesome road - but brakes could be a slight issue

Anonymous | November 28, 2009 - 00:43

Nope - it's much closer to

Nope - it's much closer to home than Italy

scottishcarties | November 28, 2009 - 02:56

give us a clue?

Anonymous | November 28, 2009 - 11:07

Bealach na Ba

Bealach na Ba - the highest road in Scotland, apparently.

Actually, there are two runs there. From the top of the pass you can head either way. Both look entertaining.

scottishcarties | November 28, 2009 - 14:42

Bealach na Ba

Looks like a wonderful location for a spot of guerilla gravity action - now, where did I put my brown Y-fronts? GG

Anonymous | December 1, 2009 - 12:47

Bit of a problem there in

Bit of a problem there in that we don't do reverse!

The top part would be a bit iffy should a cart make contact with the rock face as the effect could well spring it over the barriers. Another problem that far West is the men tend to encourage you to get very drunk and their wives attempt to make you fat by supplying numerous cups of tea and scones. I don't know if our English contingent are quite ready for the culture shock!

peasnbarley | December 1, 2009 - 19:56

Lowther Hill?

Lowther Hill looks interesting. Good location, dead end road (access for radar stations only), some nice gentle slopes on the ridge for a juniors race, and a 261m drop down the twisty 3790m road to Wanlockhead. Average gradient 1:14 - steepest is better than 1:6, just after the start - ought to be good for comfortably over 60mph if you can make it stick through the bends.

Nice wide road, so we could do proper racing, and from the pictures I've seen there are no major track side hazards. Has to be worth a look...

Anyone have any local contacts?

scottishcarties | December 1, 2009 - 16:43

The more I look at this hill, the better it gets

The more I look at this hill, the better it gets. As well as the big hill for the full-on racers, it looks like there are a couple of slopes on the ridge line that would give relatively low speed short courses (30-40mph) - good for juniors, novices, etc, and maybe a short but fiendishly technical slalom course.

I think it has tremendous potential, but we need a site visit to confirm.

scottishcarties | December 2, 2009 - 10:06

long fast hill

There is an epic minor road that follows partially along next to the M90 between glenfarg and bridge of earn.halfway it crosses over the motorway. I have taken my street-luge down and clocked 60mph easily. It's 2 miles of tarmac but has seen better days but still good for soapbox.hopefully the council may resurface/repair soon but not the rough crap they tend to put on steep country roads. Also the B934 that runs down into dunning village is a 4 mile beast slightly rough surface again not so great for luge but fine for soapbox. Another good road is the cleish road near knockhill race circuit about 1.5 miles long. I'm interested in organizing a downhill event including soapbox,downhill skateboard and luge and try to make it an igsa event like eastbourne was. I'd like to hear people's ideas /opinions I think scotland has a wealth of great roads for the sport and we could create a really specal event and attract international competitors

Iain J (not verified) | July 31, 2010 - 21:41

Hi Iain,The B934 certainly

Hi Iain,

The B934 certainly looks interesting, and as a matter of fact I'd had a look at it on google earth a while ago. Since it is a through road it might be problematic to get a closure, and a four mile course would also present significant organisational issues - it's a big enough task managing the two mile course at Cairngorm!

We certainly have some stunning ~~hills~~ mountains in Scotland, and we could easily offer several world class venues. Whether or not the IGSA would be interested is another matter, but if they were I would hope they would consider including a significant soapbox and gravity sidecar component to the competition. I may be wrong about this, but my feeling was that the soapbox aspect to Eastbourne was just a bit of a sideshow.

If you can make any progress with these or any other venues then get in touch and we (the SCA) will do what we can to help. We've got quite a bit of experience setting up gravity races and can provide help with procedures, risk assessments, safety plans, equipment and technical expertise, not to mention a growing number of teams who will want to take part.

scottishcarties | August 2, 2010 - 20:15