Weekend bikepacking is all about challenging how light you can get away with,
Bike Packing the Southern Cairngorms
It was getting late as I rode around the last corner to where the dot on the map was, but it wasn’t a bothy at all, instead an open faced Hay barn, well that’s disappointing I thought. I was not stoked to inform Dave of this fact as he rolled down the hill after an exhausting 12.5hrs out in the hills. He took it in his stride as we opted to leave the bikes in the hay barn and set off on foot.
Tips on packing for bikepacking trips
I’ve had a few queries on how best to use and pack frameless bike packing bags. I use the Apidura ones but I’m sure these tips will cross over to most others.
The Classic Torridon Mountain Bike Loop
The classic Torridon mountain bike loop is called the classic for a reason. There’s nowhere qite like it in the UK, the mountains are huge the trails endless, challenging, rough, slick, grippy, these are just a few ways to describe the unique combination of bedrock and gravel singletracks that hold up whatever the westcoast rain can through at them. This area should be on all bucket lists for UK riding if it’s not I suspect these pictures might help change that!
Scrambling four of the most iconic peaks in Scotland
We were looking at a map of Scotland and listing the peaks we’d most like to climb. Not the tallest, nor the easiest to get to, but the most beautiful to look at, the most unique and ideally those that involve a narrow ridge or a steep scramble up.
Bike Packing to the best bothy in Scotland
We left work at 4pm, got in the car and drove north, headed for the mountains. We tolerated the average speed cameras that now hawkishly monitor the infamous A9. This road slowly twists its way up into what feels like the proper Highlands of Scotland, this is especially true as we pass Aviemore.
Our Destination was Torridon, 30 miles west of Inverness on the shores of a beautifull sea loch. This area is my favourite in the UK and was Tolkeins inspiration for Lord of the Rings – it’s easy to see why, the huge mountains striped by dark rock strata are incredibly impressive here.
Glentress Seven Race Report
The Tweedlove Glentress 7 hour mountain bike race seems to live a charmed life with the weather gods – yet again it was blue skies and dusty trails. All set for a fantastic day on the bikes in one of the UK’s favorite places to MTB.
Uzbekistan – A hidden gem for cycling in Central Asia
Riding across Uzbekistan was more of an accident than a choice. I only rode there purely because it lay in my way as I headed east. Before I got to the border I couldn’t even point to Uzbekistan on a map, I genuinely didn’t know anything about the place.
Review of the 1st Dirty Reiver Gravel Grinder
Today I rode the Dirty Reiver the UK’s first ever gravel “ride” and at 200km long on rough gravel it’s a pretty impressive challenge just to finish. As it sounds it was basically a race for 200km on gravel roads that varied from smooth as tarmac to rough as a MTB track. It passed through some beautiful parts of Northumberland.
Gravel Grinders: Tyres for the Dirty Reiver
It seemed such a great idea when I entered the Dirty Reiver but now the thought of riding 200km in April for a gravel race from England to Scotland and back seems a little ambitious.
Review of Apidura Dry Series 100% Waterproof Bags
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I first used Apidura’s bike packing bags in 2014 and I was impressed by the design, build quality and the incredibly low weight – they set the bar pretty high. While it might
Splitboarding the wilds of Upper Svaneti – Georgia Pt2
The next part of our trip in Georgia involved leaving the resort far behind and travelling by splitboard to some remote villages in two opposite corners of Svaneti.