𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 – 𝐁𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐒𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐲, 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 🏴
The aim of this post is to give you a feel for the terrain on the fourth and final stage of @gravel_north. A proper Scottish coast to coast from Loch Carron on the west coast back to Evanton in the east. 🚴🏼♂️
Around 64 miles, but distance really doesn’t tell the story of this one.
After a road rollout and railway crossing, the gravel starts properly. Fast, remote and surrounded by huge Highland scenery before eventually running out at a lonely bothy deep in the glen.
Then things get interesting.
For the next 10 to 12km the route handrails the River Meig through some incredibly remote country. Two days of rain had left the ground saturated, so riding became a mixture of gravel, singletrack, bog, hike a bike and river crossings. Sometimes on the bike. Sometimes not 😂
Eventually the terrain opens up again and the speed returns. Gravel into Strathconon, road and trail towards Contin, I elected to ride the Strathpuffer trails to Dingwall, detouring for something to eat before following the cycle network back into Evanton. The actual route heads north through Contin forest before cutting across to the north side of Dingwall then cycle network Evanton 🙌🏻
Cloudy, warm, occasionally threatening rain, but somehow I managed to stay ahead of it.
This was probably the stage that captured what @gravel_north is all about for me. 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐤𝐞. Remote glens, rugged gravel, river crossings, huge landscapes and enough unpredictability to keep things interesting.
64 miles on paper. A full day out in reality.
And to race it? Would be quite an experience 💪🏻🏴
#gravelnorth #gravelcycling #scotlandbybike #cycling_scotland #scottishhighlands
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