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Mountain biking across Scotland
Sometimes, you just have to get on you bike and go! And if ‘a couple of days’, ‘cycle tour’ and ‘off road’ are the in the question, ‘Scotland’ must be the answer.
Many may question the logic behind going off road, there is some stunning roads connecting East and West Scotland. And as it only 150 miles or so, it can be done in a day or two. But it was for this reason that we wanted to go on mountain bikes, get as far away from the road and take time enjoying the fantastic scenery of Scotland.
A route was planned across moorland, along the River Spean, through part of Tay Forest Park and over Mount Keen…It all seemed so easy on an OS map!
Day 1
After a long day’s drive we rocked up at Neptune’s Staircase car park in Fort William, classic starting point for many a journey. After a lot of faffing, we were ready for the off, which would entail a beautiful first couple of miles along the canal. We then turned off the canal path, heading uphill towards Spean Bridge. The road is very steep to begin with, but surrounded on all sides by the hills and mountains of the Great Glen, it is undoubtedly stunning. We soon came across the main road and the Spean Bridge war memorial where we stopped to catch our breath and admire the monument. It was all then downhill to Spean Bridge, a town we raced through in our endeavour to move off the beaten track as fast as possible. We soon turned off onto a small B road and headed towards the river Spean, which we would follow for a while. Very shortly however, due to our late start we began looking for a place to camp, and as luck would have it we found somewhere around the very next bend, next to a stream…perfect.
There are times when you look back at particular moments of an adventure and that evening is one I think of fondly. Sitting next the gently moving stream, cooking dinner over a camping stove in the warm evening air. Having a laugh with a mate and knowing you still at the beginning of your trip, it doesn’t get much better than that!
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Navigating the off road terrain
Day 2
The next day after a surprisingly blissful night sleep under what we fondly referred to as ‘bike tent’ (a tarp stretched over our up-ended bikes). We quickly packed up, ate the standard trail food breakfast (cereal bars) and headed off to start making the miles. The first couple of which were a gentle ascent on a back road that took us high and higher up the side of a valley. Although the incline was certainly noticeable, the path was smooth and we made good ground. The higher we went the more spectacular the views became. Particularly as we it seemed we had been blessed with another day of rare Scottish sunshine. After a mid-morning break at the high point of the road we took off on to a path that wound its way back down to the valley floor and closer to the river Spean. A river we would then be following for the next couple of hours.
It was as we joined this path that the day soon became anything but easy going. As the path first turned into a gravelly track, followed by a grassy walkway, onto goat track and single path, before finally we ended up in a bog!
Up until the bog however, it was great fun. Far from easy, but, miles from anywhere or anyone. The only noise other than us was the current of the river washing over the pebble bank. It was undoubtedly what we had hoped for when we had planned the trip.
What we hadn’t hoped for was a bog that saw us pushing and dragging our bikes for several miles. It was evident I had opted for the best footwear, with my waterproof Scarpa boots. Opposed to Gav’s clip-on cycle shoes. And I was quick to point this out too, which made him very happy. However my smugness soon evaporated as the bog became deep enough for me to fully submerge my feet into it, meaning wet socks and abuse from Gav.
Finally the ground dried up enough for us to start cycling again, yet it was evident we had gone astray from the path a bit as we had a hard section of peddling over bumpy moorland until we eventually came across a nice bit of tarmac. Suddenly we were amazed at how easy it was to cycle again!
The road we had come across, soon took us to the town of Newtontown where as it was starting to get dark we happened across a camp site which was fortunate. So up went bike tent and after a quick dinner we were soon asleep.
Day 3
Looking at the OS maps on the morning of day three, we knew it was going to be a long day. Today was the day we would enter the Cairngorms national park and it pass along its many off road trails. From the day before, we now knew that a path marked on the map, wasn’t always that suitable for bikes, we could also tell from the contour lines that we would be in for some steep sections too.
Despite our fears the morning was fantastic. The first section of our route took us through a pine forest which then gave way to an undulating river path, that although difficult was great fun to cycle on as it criss-crossed the River Spean, which by now was starting to become wider, faster and more impressive.
There was only one slight hiccup until this point which is where I took the wrong turn and instead of crossing a bridge carried on. Turning round and not seeing Gav I just assumed that I was far ahead of him (it never crossed my mind I was in the wrong place). In my ignorance I thought I would have a little cat nap to wait for him and soon fell fast asleep. This annoyed Gav, as evidently I was not where I was supposed to be, he then had to come and find me. So a little while later, I was (not) gently awoken by Gav who had a few choice words for me. In the grand scheme of things though we (I) hadn’t gone too far wrong and it didn’t take long to get back onto the right track. And it remains one of the most beautiful places I have ever slept.
Soon after this little episode we stopped for lunch by the side of the river and under the shade of some trees. As we had made good progress so far we thought we would take a bit longer and enjoy it and our surroundings. So we got out the cooking equipment and boiled up some pasta and took the opportunity to look at the maps again. Which looked like it showed more of the same sort of paths as we had experienced in the morning.
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Stopping to check we’re in the right place!
After lunch we headed off, and the path took us along the side of the river some more, until veering off and heading, quite steeply uphill. This continued for a while and it was quite tough going, but still quite enjoyable as the weather was warm and scenery awesome.
However as the afternoon wore on, the balance changed. The whether became bleaker, greyer and started to drizzle and our pathway, which had been leading us up and up eventually led us onto a moor of heather and gorse which seemed to continue past the horizon.
Progress became slow. The path narrowed so much it was only an inch or two bigger than the wheels, but as either side of the path saw gorse and rocks sticking up about 6 inches, the peddles and panniers kept getting caught. And sometimes made it impossible to peddle. Along this section I took my first tumble. In frustration at the slow going I simply tried to force my way through and caught my peddle on a rock which then threw me sideways into the spiky gorse. I wish that was to be my only crash on the trip, but it unfortunately was not! Thankfully I did get thrown away from the river and not into it.
As if the difficult pathway wasn’t frustrating our efforts enough, we then came across a river we had to cross, a tributary to the river we had been following all day, this one did not have a bridge. We could see on the map there was one several miles up-stream, but on this path it would take us ages, so we decided to wade through. It was only about 1 foot deep, but that was deep enough to go over the top of my boots!
After the river crossing we then had several more gruelling miles across the gorse moor. Sometimes having to push the bikes, sometimes able to ride them gingerly, guiding the peddles around rocks and gorse. It took us several hours, and several tumbles to get across, so by the time we came across a rocky / gravelly path we were ecstatic! We could ride again!
Furthermore the path led us downhill and we soon found ourselves in the bottom of the valley with the hills of the west cairngorms all around.
There was one or two more crossings, but these were more fords than rivers. I soon learned my lesson in getting off the bike as on my first ford I thought I would be able to build up enough speed to glide through, but ended up hitting a large rock in the deepest section which took out all my momentum and sent me floundering into the cold water! Not only that, my panniers were not waterproof, so I now had soggy clothes too.
As the sun started to set, the rain came in. Fortunately, we had hit the road again so, despite cycling in the dark and the wet we were at least moving at a good pace.
Eventually we cycled into the town of Braemer. Very tired and even wetter. There we found a bunkhouse which was a welcome change as it gave us a chance to hang everything up to dry, which we certainly would not have been able to do in bike tent!
Day 4
Today was the day we headed over mount keen! We could see from the contour lines on the map that it was going to be a very steep day, but one we had been looking forward to since we started the trip.
After a few miles of road, passing Balmoral castle we re-entered the Cairngorm national park and were immediately face with a daunting off road climb. As we headed up the hill side the path became even steeper and the head wind even stronger. It was a bit of a battle but after several hours we eventually we reached the peak of the first hill of the day. The view at the top was as spectacular as it was daunting. Spread out in front of us was another gorse moor, just like the one we struggled through the day before. Unlike the one the day before, this one, set in the hills of the Cairngorms undulated a lot more.
After a quick break we headed off onto the familiar narrow pathways between the gorse. The first section was almost fun as it sloped gently downwards towards the valley floor, gravity helping us along the way.
It was far from smooth going however. The bumpy ground caused issues with Gav and I’s pannier rack. Both of them losing the holding screws. Thankfully we had brought the most versatile of quick-fix tools; cable ties, which did the job of holding everything together admirably.
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After finally scaling Mount Keen, we could enjoy the down hill section
It was also on this section where I had my biggest off. In an almost exact replay of the day before, I caught my peddle on a rock sticking into the narrow path which sent me flying sideways. Unlike the day before however I was going faster, went further and off the side of a small gully, landing on a rock. Which was quite uncomfortable. In that moment when you do a mental check of all your faculties, I quickly realised that I was OK, but had bashed my knee pretty badly. Thankfully it was OK to continue, as it wasn’t until that moment I realised how far away from everything and anyone we were. We were literally in the middle of nowhere.
Eventually we came to the bottom of the Mount Keen ascent, as we looked up we both felt our hearts sink a little. It was not just steep; the path was far from cyclable! Made up of large rocks and boulders, we wouldn’t even be able to push our bikes up the ascent. It was a strenuous, long (and with my swollen knee), painful climb to the top, carrying our bikes and all our equipment…This certainly had not been part of the plan.
It was fairly tough going. And with several false summits as we trudged our way up we began to feel pretty low too. It took us several hours of hard climbing, but eventually we peaked mount Keen and were ecstatic to see the path on the downhill side was not made up of rocks and boulders but. Although bumpy and steep would be cyclable, that was a good feeling!
Coming down mount Keen was the best bit of downhill mountain biking the whole trip offered. The rugged path became so bumpy that it shook the chain loose, but as it was all downhill, it didn’t matter!
After that, we soon joined up with a road that took us (via a well-earned night in a hotel to air our rancid kit) to Montrose. The final destination of the trip.