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Ben Chonzie Renouned as the most boring Munro, the descent down this mountain is anything but boring on a mountain bike
Height 931 metres (starting point height 230 metres - height climbed 601 metres (1970 feet)) Location of Car Park - (map) From Comrie take the unclassified single track road that heads due North from the western side of the village and follow the road for several miles until just shy of its termination point Difficulty - very tricky descent This was my 5th Munro on a bike, having done Cairnwell, Carn Aosda, Glas Tuliachan and Mount Keen over the last 6 weeks, and would certainly rate as the most difficult descent I have done so far. Although the walking guide books and websites rate this isolate Munro as one of the most boring, it is probably the best descent so far on a bike. The climb is, like most of the Munros, a combination of granny gear and pushing. The two best things are firstly, that there is very little run in from the car park before you start climbing, and secondly that once you start climbing you really never lose more than a few feet in height. This means from the top that it is downhill all the way.
Eventually the track just peters out and you feel you should be at the top, but there's a way to go yet! Where the track peters out you want to head NE (forward and to
your left) If visibility is good you will be able to see a line of fence posts
over on your left and you can head across a very faint track towards them
cutting the corner, but if visibility is poor then head straight on until you
find them and then take a left turn. Follow the fence as closely as you can and
keep high with the fence just on your left all the way (you can ride most of
this if its not too wet, but it does have a tendency to get a bit boggy) As you follow the fence, don't be tempted to cut the corner towards the summit which is over on your right, instead keep straight on with the fence posts until the fence makes a sharp right turn NNE. If you cut the corner you will enter a very boggy section; keep high and left. From the sharp turn if you keep slightly left (north) of the fence but with the fence in sight and you can cycle most of the way to the top
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From
the car park you take the track signposted Ardtalnaig and basically keep to this
track all the way. There are a couple of minor junctions, but as long as you
always take the track that goes upwards then you cant go wrong. The first 250
metres of ascent is on good hard packed landrover track, but past this point the
track becomes quite rocky with lots of loose melon sized rocks. It becomes
almost impossible to get traction for the next section as you climb up the
landrover track that zigzags up the hill up in front of you. Some sections are ok and you can
stay in the saddle, whereas others are less so.
The
Descent is varied with, first of all the grassy slopes you have just climbed,
then the very rocky uneven and bouncy and steeper section which gives way to the
very very fast bottom section along fairly smooth landrover track to the bottom