Good idea with the website SteveW! The record for the Cairngorms Loop is just silly fast!

Thanks for the interest! I've raced my MTB since I was pretty young(9 or 10) in XC so I have my XC race bike but really don't fancy loading a 9kg bike up with enough kit for a this kind of trip!

Must admit that getting the time off work/a pass from the girlfriend before the bus stops for the year is looking increasingly unlikely, might just have to wait till next year for this one! At least that way I can try riding some of the northern sections that I haven't walked/ridden before and maybe come up with a better route!

Yes, mountain bikes(well, my Salsa Fargo). Once you have got to Cape Wrath there are a few options but it's a long way to the nearest station. The closest being Lairg 56 miles away by road. Currently trying to find a good looking route up the west coast and back down the middle to Lairg that doesn't involve more road than dirt and it's proving a challenge finding tracks I know to be mostly ride-able! Other option being along the north coast to Thurso at about 70-75 miles of road riding.

There is a bus service from Durness to Ullapool during the summer with a bike trailer, and from there it's not too far to Lairg and can be done mostly off road. So there are some options other than adding another load of miles!

You could get some really nice singletrack in the Leanachan Forest on the way out of Fort William. There is a big network of trails based around the Aonach Mor car park. Then there are a few paths marked on the maps between there and Laggan where the next interesting section could start but I've never ridden them so can't comment!

If you are willing to add some distance you could go a round about way, through the head of Glen Nevis along the boggy as hell path to Corrour Station you can find some nice descents down to Loch Laggan after riding along beside Loch Ossian and from there to the interesting bits at the Wolftrax or at the end of the EHW!

Either way the scenery will be good as long as you can see the hills through the clouds/midges 

I've ridden most of it in sections over the years as parts of other routes. Seems pretty similar to the Great Glen Way in that there is a hell of a lot of fire road/forestry track and not much technical stuff. You could spice it up with some diversions/a stop at the Laggan Wolftrax though if you wanted some more difficult riding!

Hi all,

Just wondering if anybody fancied doing a trip from Glasgow to Cape Wrath in Scotland later this year, maybe September? Got a route that follows the West Highland Way(WHW), then Great Glen Way(GGW) and then a mix of back roads and off road to Cape Wrath. It's quite a distance but almost all of the GGW is forest road and fast to ride. The remainder of the ride from Inverness is a mix of forest road/estate tracks and walking paths linked together by single track roads. Can send a rough map of the route if interested, think it comes out to be 300 miles or so.

I'm 21 but been backpacking for nearly 10 years and touring for a couple. This will be my first proper bikepacking trip though!

Thanks,

Campbell.

I can put in a good word for DT 240's, put in nearly 50,000km on mine before I replaced them. Not through need ing to, I just fancied something new

Also had good experiences with Shimano hubs, got a set of XT's on my MTB training wheels that have 10,000km of abusive/winter riding and they seem to be holding up very well.

Looks like an amazing trip! A real inspiration.

Hi, I'm Campbell. Live in central Scotland and been an MTBer for 13 years, roadie for 10 and been hiking/backpacking for nearly 10 as well! Also recently taken up road touring but built up a Salsa Fargo as my touring bike and off-roading keeps calling to me so here I am! lol.

From various MTB rides over the years Scotland has some potentially good routes that I am looking forward to trying out in the coming years!

Sorry to resurrect an old topic with my first post but I thought I might be able to contribute a little to this thread!

For routes in Scotland the Tour of the Cairngorms as linked above is a great ride, doable in 3 days if you camp/bivvy and are pretty fit. There is also the Fort William to Montrose coast to coast which is pretty popular. Another(shorter) route at around 70km circumnavigates Ben Avon and is a nice 2 days from Braemar. And there are loads of options in the Galloway forest, have a nice 90km loop from Glentrool that is another good weekend ride when done in 2 days.

Also currently working on a route following the West Highland Way, Great Glen way then onwards up to Cape Wrath but that's not going to be done till next summer so I have plenty of time to plan it!