The Cycling Bible, by Chris Sidwells, a comprehensive guide to help you become a better cyclist
We have been contacted by Lorna Brogan (marketing manager at Vertebrate Publishing) telling us about one of their latest cycling projects. There is a special 25% Ukgravelbike.club discount for those who are interested in buying the book. CYCLINGBIBLE25 " The book will help you to brush up on basic maintenance, improve your fitness and bike handling skills, plan adventures and make the right choices for those all-important new bike purchases. It will be particularly useful to anyone looking to develop their cycling performance, including those who want to take part in races or cycling challenges, such as enduros, XC races or time trials, but it also contains plenty of advice for casual cyclists wanting to brush up on their skills." Link to buy the book
Wild About Bikepacking – A new film from Bikepacking Scotland launches a 496-km bikepacking route connecting the Argyll islands of Mull, Jura, Islay and Bute
Argyll’s islands, the Inner Hebrides and Bute, offer fantastic bikepacking filled with beautiful beaches, some of the world’s best distilleries, great gravel tracks and local food experiences. The new Bikepacking Argyll’s Islands route, created by Bikepacking Scotland and commissioned by CalMac Ferries and Wild About Argyll, maps a 496km-journey (308 miles) connecting the Isles of Mull, Jura, Islay and Bute on a mixture of gravel tracks, singletrail, cycle paths and roads. The route also makes great use of ScotRail’s Highland Explorer, which provides space for up to 20 bikes, including tandems. The newly introduced train carriage offers a bike-friendly train connection between Glasgow, host city of the UCI Cycling World Championships in 2023, and Oban, where the new route begins. Bikes travel free on trains and all ferries along the route. For new bikepackers and gravel cyclists Bikepacking Argyll’s Islands offers a
Explore Your Boundaries – a new documentary by Mark Beaumont and Markus Stitz
Explore Your Boundaries - a new documentary by Mark Beaumont and Markus Stitz about gravel routes following the council boundaries of Clackmannanshire, East Lothian, Falkirk and Glasgow ‘Explore Your Boundaries’ was inspired by the desire to create adventures close to home, a way of seeing the familiar in unfamiliar ways. Mark Beaumont, Guinness World Record holder for the fastest circumnavigation by bike, and Markus Stitz, singlespeed round the world cyclist and filmmaker, mapped 24 Scottish council boundary routes to encourage people to stay active, whether cycling or walking, and to inspire adventures that started and finished at their front door. To create the routes, they uploaded the council boundaries GPX files onto the mapping platform Komoot and matched them with the closest existing pathways. This ‘Explore Your Boundaries’ documentary captures their four adventures in Clackmannanshire, East Lothian and Falkirk, undertaken from
Built to Last – A new film from Bikepacking Scotland set in the Cateran Ecomuseum launches seven new cycling itineraries in Perthshire and Angus
Ecomuseum, 'Built to Last' is the latest film from round the world singlespeed cyclist and founder of Bikepacking Scotland Markus Stitz. The 10-minute documentary featuring Bob Ellis, founder of the Cateran Trail, Neil Tuer, owner of Alyth Cycles and Jane Wilkinson, willow weaver at Special Branch Baskets, with music from Dave Macfarlane, launches seven new cycling itineraries designed for road, mountain, gravel and touring bikes as part of Travel for All Our Tomorrows - which aims to develop new regenerative tourism experiences in the Cateran Ecomuseum. The Cateran Ecomuseum is a museum without walls, close to the cities of Perth and Dundee in Scotland, both accessible by a new electric bus service from Edinburgh. One of a growing number of ecomuseums worldwide, all its sites are outside. Community led, it empowers local people to take an active role in preserving the
#GOODCAUSE – ST MALO 2 NICE
Planning and riding from St Malo 2 Nice for Bowel Cancer UK and Mind Charities
Rich’s Hair-Brained, Beard & Bike Challenge
“Get yourself a Gravel bike, you’ll love it, we can go on some rides together”. So many adventures seem to start off innocently enough with conversations like this between a couple of mates. In my case the protagonist was a chap we’ll call Jules, mainly because that’s his name and I have no interest in protecting the guilty! I bought a Sonder Camino, we rode the King Alfred’s Way with another mate who we’ll call Dan, I fell off twice, bought some 650b wheels with bigger tyres on, and thought no more of it until another conversation where the word Dales was swiftly followed by the word Divide. Meantime I seem to have developed an aversion to shaving and an attraction to tracks and trails I’ve always previously ridden past. So, from the relative security of hiding behind my COVI(bear)D, I entered
Explore your Boundaries: A Markus Stitz and Mark Beaumont short film …
... highlighting the joys of winter cycling around Scotland’s Capital With a new film Edinburgh-based Markus Stitz and Mark Beaumont encourage more people to enjoy winter cycling in the future. Filmed on a newly created gravel bike route, which follows the local authority boundary of the City of Edinburgh, and additional locations close to the Scottish Capital during January and February 2021, ‘Explore your Boundaries’ is a short documentary that highlights the beauty and challenges of exploring places on two wheels in snow and ice. Markus Stitz, the first person to ride a single-speed bicycle around the world, and Mark Beaumont, the Guinness World Record holder for the fastest circumnavigation in 78 days and 14 hours, are both Edinburgh residents. Teaming up to film ‘Explore your Boundaries' was inspired by encouraging people to see familiar and local areas in unfamiliar ways, showing
DROVERS – NEW FILM FROM BIKEPACKING SCOTLAND TELLS THE STORY OF ANCIENT DROVE ROADS AND LAUNCHES PERTHSHIREGRAVEL.COM – THE GUIDE TO OFF-ROAD CYCLING ACROSS HIGHLAND PERTHSHIRE
Filmed on the ‘Drovers Trail’, a new 331 km-long gravel bikepacking route spanning almost the entirety of Highland Perthshire, 'Drovers' tells the story of the ancient drove roads, an important part of Scottish history, which inspired Scotland's greatest writers like Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott. The new video from round the world singlespeed cyclist and film-maker Markus Stitz follows him on his adventure along the route, retracing the footsteps of the cattle drovers on their journey from the Cairngorms through the Tay Valley to Crieff, which became Scotland's most important cattle market at the end of the 17th century. The project was led and administered by Highland Perthshire Cycling, a charity set up to promote, encourage and enable more cycling in Highland Perthshire for both locals and visitors, and delivered by Bikepacking Scotland. It received a grant of £9,835 from
DUKE’S GOLD | EASY > INTERMEDIATE GRAVEL MIXED-TERRAIN CYCLING TOUR
(Photos by Jered Gruber) For cyclists who love ‘gravel’ riding, the Duke’s Gold gravel tour slingshots you into one of Scotland’s most magnificent areas of natural beauty – the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park where there is an abundance of great gravel and mixed-terrain along forest tracks, fire roads and dirt single tracks. We love anything that means more folk are out having fun riding bikes in the dirt (or grit). Riding gravel bikes combines so many of our favourite things – mountains and spectacular locations – and the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park is one of the most magnificent locations of them all. Combining the off-road capability of mountain biking and the lightweight, efficiency of road biking – take the tracks less travelled with us for exhilarating discoveries amidst Scotland’s hidden forests and glens. The Duke’s Gold gravel weekend break
‘Gravel’ cycling phenomenon explodes in Scotland’s Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park
Beat the winter blues with the prospect of endless trails, views that go on and on, delicious cake and coffee stops - award-winning cycling and hospitality partners Go-Where Scotland and the Oak Tree Inn are offering you a £50 incentive to experience first hand what makes cycling in Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park so special Cycle tour operator Go-Where Scotland is offering a two-wheeled incentive to beat the winter blues. UK Gravelistas can experience their kind of gravel cycling by spending three days in April exploring this largely untapped corner of Scotland with them by bike. Better still, they’re offering friends of UK Gravel £50 off their first booking (using the code DUKES50 at the online checkout). Andy Stanford, local resident and professional bike guide: “The whole Gravel scene here in the Trossachs has exploded! Every weekend I'm seeing folk turn up