Scotland

enjoit

Hello,

First of all, I am new in the forum so let me introduce myself. I am a young catalan studying and working in England. So taking the opportunity that I am here, I am willing to spend next holidays in Scotland and I would like you guys to recommend me the best rides I can do over there. I am looking for a mtb tour of 5-7 days that let me know more about Scotland, its people, geography, etc. I'm more interested in mtb scenarios, amazing tracks, singletracks, country side and paths rather than an typical touristic visit. I am tending to sleep in cheap accommodations and avoid expensive guided routes with companies, using GPS, maps, etc. Ah! I would like to avoid as many tarmac as possible (you can understand me... )

Looking in the internet i have seen the coast to coast route, which seems OK. There's any better options?

Many thanks

bluechair84

A) do you drive?
what kind of riding do you want recommendations on?
C) what kind of bike do you have?

enjoit

Thanks for your answer bluechair.
A) I don't drive but I got license. I would get there by train, bus or plane.
I fancy a pure mtbiking, using as fewer roads as possible, combining interminable trails, paths, stunning singletracks, some history and so on.
C) I got a hardtail bike with a 140mm fork with plenty of warranties to attack almost everything, excluding downhill, experience in long rides and not too bad legs

bluechair84

The trouble with Scotland is a lot bigger than you think. I've only driven there but I don't think there are great transport links to travel around Scotland. I'm having trouble imagining how you would be getting around Scotland for 5 days. What are your intentions?
You might be better of trying some of the lower Staines (provided you can get to them), Kirroughtree, Dalbeatie and Mabie from the Dumfries and Galloway area, then there's also Hamsterly in the North of England. As these are trail centres they're easy enough to navigate. They aren't deep into Scotland but might be tough to get to without a car.
If you decide what sort of area you can reasonably get to, you could use bikehike.co.uk to plot some riding around that area.
Alternatively, something I really want to do is get up to Glasgow, find the Village just North called Dryman and take the West Highland Way up to Fort William across the amazing Grampians. But your biggest problem will be getting around IMO.
I'm not a Scotland local so hopefully someone else can inform you better.

enjoit

Thank you so much blue chair for the info. I didn't realize it could be so much trouble to get around Scotland. My intentions were get to a city by train or whatever and start cycling from there, sleep each day in different towns following a route until the last day, and then come back from the same city I ended up.

bluechair84

I think doing the West Highland way would be an amazing journey but you might have to look at plotting a circular route back. It might be a bit short for 5 days. Hope that's something to consider.

StorckSpeed

Take the train to Fort William.
From there you have an endless amount of routes and trails to tackle along the Grampians and Glen Coe and can even head west too.
You can also do some serious downhill cycling, taking the chair-lift up to the Nevis centre and hurtling down-hill at break neck speed.
Here's some more info for you...
http://www.ridefortwilliam.com/trails-fort-william.asp

J18poh

Alright mate. Welcome to the uk. There is plenty good routes in Scotland you could do in 5days.
Look into the 7stanes in the south with decent rail links and fantastic trails.

enjoit

Thanks to everybody. I'll have a look to all the options

UH DH

Fly in to Glasgow, or train. West Highland Way up to Fort William is about 3 days. Spend a day there with the Witches Trail and leanachan forest. A day across the Great Glen cycleway to Inverness. Fly or train home. Sorted.

enjoit

UH DH wrote:

Fly in to Glasgow, or train. West Highland Way up to Fort William is about 3 days. Spend a day there with the Witches Trail and leanachan forest. A day across the Great Glen cycleway to Inverness. Fly or train home. Sorted.

I think that this it is what i'm gonna do. After bluechair84 wrote about it I browsed on the internet and it seems a pretty amazing route, also it is perfect because of Glasgow's facilities (airport, comunications and transport, etc.). So thank you so much to everybody. Now I just need to find a week of hollidays to do it (which is not less difficult when you are studing and working at the same time and also you are doing it with a mate)!

Again, cheers!!!

bluechair84

I've just come across an old brochure that made me think of this thread. It was free from visitscotland.com called 'Scottish Mountain Biking Guide'. I can't see a link on the website to this freebie anymore but I did come across this link. Click on the West Highlands for more info about riding in the area you're kean on. And do come back with a report of your adventures!