Setting off Thursday morning, gave us enough time to tackle a route in the afternoon. We didn't mess about, choosing the Munro of Ben Lawers for Martins first taste of Scottish trails.
With no traffic problems we were in Scotland and parked up in the Ben Lawers car park for around 3pm.
Knowing that it was a straight up and straight down ride, we opted to take the full face helmets for the carry up, so with them dangling awkwardly from our packs, we headed out on the climb.
It wasn't long before the bikes were on our shoulders and the walkers heading down from the hill, were looking at us as if we were chavs in a jewelry shop. Stopping for a chat with a few, they all said it was very windy on top and that we must be mad, to not only carry our bikes up there, but to ride them down the steep terrain.
Exiting the fenced off nature reserve, we chose the track up to the bealach on the shoulder of Beinn Ghlass.
Photo credit: Martin Paine
Once we reached the pass, it was clear that it wasn't going to be much fun on the summit ridge with the bikes, so we threw on the helmets and pads and readied ourselves for the descent back down.
With gravity on our side this time, an hours worth of climbing turned in to 10 minutes worth of sweeping, singletrack. The first section was fast and flowy until the rock strewn switchbacks down to the first gate. Once in the nature reserve, the trail became a bit more technical with a few drop offs to make sure we kept our concentration and speed up. All the walkers and Munro baggers seemed to be off the hill, but we still reigned in the speed a little around the corners.
Back at the car park, we checked the weather reports once again.
We had two options, to head West as planned or head East towards the Cairngorms. The forecast was looking better than it had, but with the best of the weather over East we chose to change our original plans. Studying the map, we headed North in to Glen Lyon and found a spot to camp among the pines.
Once the tent was up, we spotted a trail leading in to the forest, and with our riding gear still on, it would have been rude not to have had a little explore.
The trail was wide and a little boggy, but we were soon climbing up some old wooden steps. At the top, a cracking little trail led us down, snake like roots slithered across our path as the line took us back to the tent.
We fueled up on homemade chili and had a few beers as the light faded and the temperature dropped.
The next morning we were still unsure on what to ride, I needed some gloves so went in to Pitlochry knowing there was a good bike shop there, it was also a good excuse to have a chat with the local riders.
At the Escape Route bike shop, we came away with some new found knowledge of some local singletrack around the Rothiemurchus, a new bike park that had opened up at the Badaguish Outdoor Centre, two new pairs of gloves and Martin a new bottom bracket fitted. The guys there are great and really looked after us. The fire was roaring in the cafe next door so we waited in there, stuffing our faces with cake, for Martins bike, pondering the maps for the rest of the weekends rides.
Once the van was packed up again, we headed further North up the A9 to Aviemore.We decided on checking out the bike park at the outdoor centre, so headed for there. Once there the table tops looked promising so we signed on at the reception, paying our pound to cover insurance.
We wish we hadn't wasted our hard earned pound, as even that was too much to pay for a small, slow pump track, with not a lot of pump in it.The jumps were small and carrying speed over the sticky gravel was near to impossible. One 3-4 foot drop was the only feature worth sampling really and we'd tackled worse the previous day on Ben Lawers. Not wanting to waste any more time, we swapped to the XC lids and headed in the woods.
Following the forest roads, we kept our eyes peeled for hidden trails leading in to the pines.
It wasn't long down the track until we spotted our first entry. Following it down had us bouncing over roots, and it was clear that the locals had been building by the small berms aiding cornering and the odd jump thrown in for good measure. Once at the bottom we climbed the forest roads again, finding a small handful of little gems to keep us occupied for the next couple of hours.
The plan for the evening was to ride the singletrack trails around Glen Feshie and then grab the sleeping bags to spend the night in Ruigh Aiteachain, the bothy down the glen.
Parking at Auchlean, we left the van and headed on out.
At the first gate, we came across a sign informing us the bothy was closed for renovation. This put a little dampener on the evening as Martin was looking forward to his first bothy experience, but we carried on anyway.
We made good time down the trail until a landslide had wiped out the steps leading to the river crossing. Carrying speed, I started the descent down the steps not realising there was about 10 foot of trail missing. I managed to spot a sandy chute leading down to the riverbed below and just managed to get the back wheel round to make it down. It was steep and rocky in the bottom, so I quickly shouted Martin to dismount at the top.
On an undulating trail we carried on through the ancient Caledonian pines, past the fenced off bothy and to the head of the glen. Luckily the toilet was still open, but we don't need to go in to that.... As I did.The light was amazing, washing the surrounding hills in a golden glow and making us wish we were camping down here for the night, and I'd brought the big boy camera instead of relying on our phones.
After a good few minutes soaking up the views, we headed back down the trail and straight to the van to sort out where we were going to put our heads down.
We chose the campsite on the Alvie estate and once pitched up, made the most of the showers.Over a beer and some food, we checked the weather and studied the maps one last time. We narrowed it down to two options, a loop up Glen Tilt from Blair Atholl, or a loop around Ben Alder. Even though I'd done the Ben Alder loop twice, I thought it would be a great introduction to Scottish riding. With big hills, a remote location, amazing scenery and one of the best descents in the UK, it's certainly worth doing again and again.
After a cold, but good nights sleep we were up and driving the short drive down to Dalwhinnie. Parking up at the rail crossing, we prepped our gear and bikes. It was tarmac along Loch Ericht for about 8 miles, and we made good progress, stopping for the occasional picture until we left the posh houses, or I should say castles behind.
The views started to open up as we climbed away from Ben Alder Lodge towards Loch Pattack and we had our first glimpse of both mountain passes we had to cross.After a quick chat with the locals, we took the singletrack trail to lead us to the closed Culra bothy.
Ben Alder seemed to get more imposing with every wheel turn, as the clouds enveloped and swirled around the summit plateau.
To say we didn't lose any height, the trail was fast and flowing all the way to the bridge.
Crossing the river, we carried on past the bothy and up on a narrow trail.
The odd stream crossing, offers step ups, to keep concentration and our speed up as we started to climb.
Steadily we rose, making good time, not really noticing the altitude we were gaining.
The mountains started to claustrophobically close in around us and the wind dropped in the shelter of the hills.
We were off of the bikes, pushing for the last couple hundred metrs and upon reaching the top of Bealach Dubh, the wind did it's best to steal away the air that we needed. After filling our lungs alongside a quick snack, we started to descend.The trail started off steep, with a steeper drop off to our right, keeping us under control. It soon mellowed and contoured around to Bealach Cumhann where the drop down to Ben Alder Cottage would begin.
What lay in front of us was not just an amazing view back down to Loch Ericht, but a piece of flowy singletrack heaven. Stretching out 5km with 300m of descent, I wanted to reach the bothy at the bottom with no stops. Each time I've been on this trail, someone from the group has had a mechanical, ranging from a flat, to a snapped chainstay the previous year.
Photo Credit: Martin Paine
Not a pedal was turned, or a brake lever twitched for the first 3km as we meandered our way down.A brief small climb forced us to get on the gas and back on the saddles, before we made the steepening drop down. We chose to head to the bothy for lunch, to make use of the shelter from the wind.
I noticed Martin in front pulled up to the side, we didn't make it! He had caught his rear wheel on one of the water bars, causing a puncture to his tyre. With the bothy in spitting distance, we decided to fix the puncture there. While Martin set about putting a tube in to his tyre, I settled in the bothy and refueled on chicken wraps.
I had warned Martin we had a 500m carry all the way to the top, but it still comes as a shock when thighs and shoulders start to ache.
After just over an hour, the terrain started to ease as we began to see the top in sight.
We had a couple of minutes just taking in the views down both sides, but with rain clouds off in the distance we didn't stay there too long.
There is no obvious line choice, so we each picked our way down the grassy slope, over peat hags and large rocky outcrops all the way down to the high loch.
It was muddy and the going was slow around the loch, but it was hard to dampen spirits with the grandeur of the mountains around us.
At the head of the loch we picked up the trail to take us back down to Culra. After a brief climb, the descent back down is a little steeper than the one earlier, zigzagging it's way down the hillside.
Some tricky placed water bars made for some interesting bunny hops, before and straight after some of the corners, but we managed this descent without any issues.
Back in the glen we started from, it looked like we were going to get caught by a quick shower, so Martin lead the way along the singletrack back to the landrover track to take us back to Ben Alder Lodge. Finally catching up with him just before the lodge, we made it back to the van before the rain came.
Evening supplies were a little light, so we made a diversion to the Coop in Newtonmore for some much deserved beers.
With no rain the next morning, we had an early start for breakfast, to pack away the tent and to spend a couple of hours at the trails of Wolftrax.
The tamed trails were a welcome relief, allowing us to let go of the brakes and wind down after a good few days of riding.
