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Trek Itinerary
Day 1.
You Arrive in Scotland. We can help you with transport to Portpatrick,
get the bikes organised, maybe take the chance to have a blast on some
local trails and talk through the trip. We stay overnight in
Portpatrick, a beautiful fishing village on the west coast.
Day 2.
Weaving along an interesting coastline we pass old lighthouses and
cliff tops before heading inland across open moors where the smugglers
and covenanters used to roam, passing bothies and ancient caves. The
riding gets pretty challenging as the Galloway hills draw ever closer.
A long downhill takes us to the market town of Newton Stewart for our
overnight stop in the ‘Gateway to the Galloway Hills'.
Day 3.
Straight away, we head off-road through the UK's largest forest park.
This is a jewel in the crown of the world famous 7 Stanes mountain bike
network with sweeping berms, challenging climbs and thrilling
single-track. We take on the granite outcrops at McMoab then head into
the hills where wild goats and deer still roam. Passing scenic lochs
and forest we head to St John’s Town of Dalry for a well earned rest.
Day 4.
Open moorland leads us into Manquhill forest with some challenging
climbs and rewarding down-hills. A roller-coaster of a route takes us
into the valley of the Shinnel Water before reaching the birthplace of
the bicycle - if we time it right we can have a go on a replica of the
first model (invented here by Kirkpatrick MacMillan in 1839).
Day 5.
Leaving Thornhill, we take to some of Scotland’s finest natural
single-track at Drumlanrig Forest. Rocks, roots, thrilling down-hills
and beautiful forest scenery make this a not to be missed section of
the trip. Before we have time to catch our breath we head east to take
on some man-made trails through Ae Forest with its big berms and rugged
tracks. From here we follow the ‘Crooked Road’, dropping down into the
pretty town of Moffat where we find a friendly inn and a chance to
sample their famous toffee!
Day 6. We start the
day with a challenging climb into the Moffat Hills with arguably one of
the biggest views in Scotland. Our reward for the climb is a view down
Moffat Dale and a stunning descent into the Yarrow Valley - one of the
main tributaries for Scotland’s most famous salmon river. The Gordon
Arms provides a welcome sanctuary for the night.
Day 7.
Today we climb our way north over open hillsides and forest to the
intimidating Minch Moor in Traquair Forest. We tackle the testing
trails that wind ever northwards and bring us eventually to
Innerleithen. Following the river Tweed as it flows towards the sea,
through Yair Forest, our crossing of the Southern Uplands is nearly
complete. We refuel on those pies in Melrose before reaching our
night’s destination at Lauder.
Day 8. With the biggest hills behind us we can
almost smell the North Sea as we head over the windswept and desolate Lammermuir Hills just south of
Edinburgh. Fantastic scenery, awesome trails and the knowledge that we are about to complete an amazing
achievement will keep us going to reach the border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed and
its picturesque harbour that represents the end of our epic journey.
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