Scotland 2-The Sequel. Ideas please!
Discussion
About this time last year, with some top PH forum advice, the missus and I had a cracking week away in Scotland for the first time, where we ticked Glentress, Innerleithen, Mabie, Dalbeattie, and Kirroughtree (the best!) off the list.
We really fancy going again, perhaps heading a bit further north this time, and once again I wanted to draw on the experience of the PH MTB massive. Unfortunatly I had a spinal op earlier this year and have not been out riding very much, so the fitness and skills are going to be down the pan a bit, and also I'm not sure the old back will put up with a week of really rocky riding, so a mix of trail centres and "out there" bridleways etc would be good. So, can anyone help with the following...
-Suggested itinary? (Don't want to move campsites every night or be driving hundreds of miles every day)
-How far north do I go? Is the scenery good around Fort Bill/Laggan Wolftrax/Cairngorms or do you have to go right into the Highlands for the real deal?
-Choice of bike? Do I take my lurvely new Inbred or is it better on F/S? (Thinking of my back here too!)
-Choice of car? The trust old '95 Discovery was great last year as I could fill it with kit, wet tents, lock the bikes in it and it got us some places that were out of the reach of a normal car. I don't want to go proper off roading as such, but does a 4x4 get you places further north that are worth the extra effort (thinking wild camping etc...IIRC the laws on access/camping are much more relaxed north of the border). Or does the fuel economy and speed of a car make much more sense?
-How long do we go for? Can you see a fair bit in a week, or do we really need 10 days or so?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
We really fancy going again, perhaps heading a bit further north this time, and once again I wanted to draw on the experience of the PH MTB massive. Unfortunatly I had a spinal op earlier this year and have not been out riding very much, so the fitness and skills are going to be down the pan a bit, and also I'm not sure the old back will put up with a week of really rocky riding, so a mix of trail centres and "out there" bridleways etc would be good. So, can anyone help with the following...
-Suggested itinary? (Don't want to move campsites every night or be driving hundreds of miles every day)
-How far north do I go? Is the scenery good around Fort Bill/Laggan Wolftrax/Cairngorms or do you have to go right into the Highlands for the real deal?
-Choice of bike? Do I take my lurvely new Inbred or is it better on F/S? (Thinking of my back here too!)
-Choice of car? The trust old '95 Discovery was great last year as I could fill it with kit, wet tents, lock the bikes in it and it got us some places that were out of the reach of a normal car. I don't want to go proper off roading as such, but does a 4x4 get you places further north that are worth the extra effort (thinking wild camping etc...IIRC the laws on access/camping are much more relaxed north of the border). Or does the fuel economy and speed of a car make much more sense?
-How long do we go for? Can you see a fair bit in a week, or do we really need 10 days or so?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Hard-Drive said:
About this time last year, with some top PH forum advice, the missus and I had a cracking week away in Scotland for the first time, where we ticked Glentress, Innerleithen, Mabie, Dalbeattie, and Kirroughtree (the best!) off the list.
We really fancy going again, perhaps heading a bit further north this time, and once again I wanted to draw on the experience of the PH MTB massive. Unfortunatly I had a spinal op earlier this year and have not been out riding very much, so the fitness and skills are going to be down the pan a bit, and also I'm not sure the old back will put up with a week of really rocky riding, so a mix of trail centres and "out there" bridleways etc would be good. So, can anyone help with the following...
-Suggested itinary? (Don't want to move campsites every night or be driving hundreds of miles every day)
-How far north do I go? Is the scenery good around Fort Bill/Laggan Wolftrax/Cairngorms or do you have to go right into the Highlands for the real deal?
-Choice of bike? Do I take my lurvely new Inbred or is it better on F/S? (Thinking of my back here too!)
-Choice of car? The trust old '95 Discovery was great last year as I could fill it with kit, wet tents, lock the bikes in it and it got us some places that were out of the reach of a normal car. I don't want to go proper off roading as such, but does a 4x4 get you places further north that are worth the extra effort (thinking wild camping etc...IIRC the laws on access/camping are much more relaxed north of the border). Or does the fuel economy and speed of a car make much more sense?
-How long do we go for? Can you see a fair bit in a week, or do we really need 10 days or so?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Fort William/Wolftrax/Cairngorm are right in the Highlands, further north than that it just gets more and more remote, but the scenery is spectacular in all of these areas. Its about 30 minutes from Fort William to Laggan and then another 30 minutes up the same road to Aviemore (the main town in the Cairngorm area).We really fancy going again, perhaps heading a bit further north this time, and once again I wanted to draw on the experience of the PH MTB massive. Unfortunatly I had a spinal op earlier this year and have not been out riding very much, so the fitness and skills are going to be down the pan a bit, and also I'm not sure the old back will put up with a week of really rocky riding, so a mix of trail centres and "out there" bridleways etc would be good. So, can anyone help with the following...
-Suggested itinary? (Don't want to move campsites every night or be driving hundreds of miles every day)
-How far north do I go? Is the scenery good around Fort Bill/Laggan Wolftrax/Cairngorms or do you have to go right into the Highlands for the real deal?
-Choice of bike? Do I take my lurvely new Inbred or is it better on F/S? (Thinking of my back here too!)
-Choice of car? The trust old '95 Discovery was great last year as I could fill it with kit, wet tents, lock the bikes in it and it got us some places that were out of the reach of a normal car. I don't want to go proper off roading as such, but does a 4x4 get you places further north that are worth the extra effort (thinking wild camping etc...IIRC the laws on access/camping are much more relaxed north of the border). Or does the fuel economy and speed of a car make much more sense?
-How long do we go for? Can you see a fair bit in a week, or do we really need 10 days or so?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Have only done Ten under the Ben at Fort William and found it boring, but can't really comment on the new red route from the top. Views from the top will be spectacular though. As a place to stay Fort William is okay but nothing majorly special.
Been to Wolftrax a few times and the cycling there is great. Easily doable on a hardtail and you can get round the red route a few times in a morning. There's a trailer uplift too so you don't have to cycle all the way up and there's a reasonable cafe too.
Aviemore is good for some bridleway type action (although we don't have bridleways in Scotland) around the back of Loch Morlich up to the Cairngorm Club bridge and things like that. Aviemore has plenty of accomodation options too.
From there I would head up to Inverness to things like the Red Rock trails at Learnie and the trails at Golspie. Not huge but good fun.
North of Inverness there is pretty much nothing (really, its a huge empty space) but there are hundreds of miles of paths. Generally more suited to walkers though. Head north of Ullapool and climb something like Stac Pollaidh on a good day though for an fairly easy yet interesting walk and some amazing views.
Hmm, will think of some more later
Edited by Nevin on Monday 5th July 22:32
This month's Singletrack and MBR have some rides in Scotland too whcih may be interesting
Edited by Nevin on Tuesday 13th July 15:32
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