Cool Place of the Day: Tweedlove Bike Festival, Scottish Borders

Every day, a new place to discover or explore, from coolplaces.co.uk

Tweedlove Bike Festival: Something for everyone from beginners to enthusiastic amateurs

These days the Scottish Borders means mountain biking for many, and if you like road- or mountain-biking then you will love the annual Tweedlove Festival, a superb event that begins on May 14 and offers an orgy of (mainly) mountain-biking, with everything from laid-back family outings to tough and testing time-trial racing for the more ambitious.

Now the biggest festival of its kind in the UK, Tweedlove hit the global headlines in early 2014 when it confirmed it would be the first place in the UK to hold a round of the Enduro World Series – a big deal in the world of mountain-biking. It is, however, still an inherently inclusive festival, with all sorts of events spread over a two-week period that take in all levels, with everyone from beginners to enthusiastic amateurs to some of Scotland’s finest riders taking part.

There’s a ‘family day’ with various, carefully marked-out courses; you can attend various skills and coaching sessions or join one of their informal local ‘Rideouts’; or maybe test yourself with a spot of ‘mountain-biking orienteering’.

Either way, if you want to find out if biking is for you or to meet up with some new biking buddies, it’s a great event. Oh, and the surrounding scenery is pretty epic too.

Cool Places is a new website from the creators of Rough Guides and Cool Camping, suggesting the best places to stay, eat, drink and shop in Britain (coolplaces.co.uk)