Weed Trail Blazers

Aneela McKenna explores why Scotland's Tweed Valley is such a hotbed for female riding talent

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.

Camaraderie. progression and fun times on the bike are what it's all about

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 than anywhere else in the UK? I met up with Katy Winton, Polly and Katy Kaos, along with fellow locals Janey Kennedy and Emma Neale, at No1 Peebles Road, a bike-friendly cafe in Innerleithen, to get their take on what's unique about the Tweed Valley and why it's such a hotbed of female mountain biking talent.

Janey Kennedy moved to the Valley, drawn by the quality of the trail network, and is now MD of a local bike shop, in between coaching, guiding and racing

Starting out young