Sorry if this has been done, but surely of massive interest to Scottish STWers.

Ride the Highlands

Ride the Highlands
Volunteer with DMBinS and Scottish Cycling

It was announced today Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland (DMBinS) in partnership with Scottish Cycling are recruiting a volunteer to ride some of the best mountain bike trails the Highlands of Scotland.

The selected volunteer will photograph, video and gather GPS files of some of the outstanding trails across the area. The content will form part of an exciting new mountain biking e-guide showcasing the best of the Highlands and continue to promote Scotland as a world class destination for mountain biking.

Organised by DMBinS, with its regional partners in the Highland Cluster including destination management organisations, Local Authorities, national agencies and local businesses, the volunteer role will allow an enthusiastic mountain biker to explore the great northern trails from weekend of the 21st September to 5th October 2013.

As part of this wonderful opportunity the volunteer will be provided with a free Campervan for the duration, supplied by Big Tree Campervans, alongside £75-per-day expenses to cover fuel, food and living costs and the appointed volunteer will be able to complete the chosen routes either alone or with family and friends.

DMBinS project manager Graeme McLean emphasised the value of such a project: “We know the trails in the Highlands of Scotland are fantastic to ride but together we want to provide a co-ordinated approach to marketing the amazing mountain biking the Highlands of Scotland have to offer.

The lucky volunteer will help form a consistent approach to gathering content for an e-guide to the Highlands. I believe this is a great opportunity for any mountain biker who also loves writing, photography and creating videos.”

Candidates will be expected to have excellent photography skills to capture the stunning trails and scenery in the Highlands. They will also be required to carry a Go-Pro camera to gather, record and edit videos, alongside a GPS recorder to ensure the accuracy of the maps in the guide. DMBinS and Scottish Cycling are seeking an enthusiastic, independent and highly organised volunteer with a passion for mountain biking to apply for this role.

For more information and an application form visit http://www.scottishcycling.org.uk

Great opportunity, but I’m not sure ‘job’ is the correct term!

Aye, perhaps!

Still, free camper van + £75 per day expenses, that’s a free 2 week holiday 🙂

I’d love to do it, but I suppose the only thing on my mind would be ending up with horrific weather for 2 weeks or injury.

jealous of whoever gets that! sounds ace 😀

I think it’s a great opportunity, and good on them for doing it, but there are questions to ask:

It would clearly ideally suit a student/recent graduate with an interest in biking wanting to get a start in journalism etc. but the applicant must be over 25 – which closes down that avenue completely.

The more problematic thing is that it doesn’t mention anything about the copyright for the content that is created – who owns it (well, the person creating it owns it by law…) and what payments could the owner expect for such a wide spread usage. Clearly Cycle Scotland won’t be getting direct income, but it’s part of an income generating scheme in a broader sense, and as such the content owner should expect some kind of payment for their content.

Wow that looks and sounds amazing as an adventure!

Its not allways about the money bokonon

Its not allways about the money bokonon

Absolutely. I think that’s why this is a volunteer position.

Sure, they could spend a few £k and get some super high quality images, but the idea is surely to find someone who is capable of taking good quality images, but has a passion for riding the Highlands which means they’re happy to do it for free.

I’d rather have the guide written by someone who was there because they really wanted to be, rather than because there was money to be made.

Attaching payment to this role will attract people who wouldn’t otherwise have been interested, which will bring additional positives and negatives.

Content ownership is about a lot more than money (coming from someone who makes virtually no money from the content I create) – it’s about attribution to you as the person who created it and creative control of where your work eventually ends up, both of which are essential if you are going to be serious about doing it long term.

I’ve applied.

I was hoping you would have, it sounded like the role was designed around you! 🙂

Good luck!

(sorry for opening it up to the STW masses!)

Expect loud wailing from the general direction of the Cairngorms when I find out I didn’t get the gig 😆

Where/when you moving to scotroutes?

Just take a bike, rent out the campervan for a fortnight 🙂

scotroutes – Member
Expect loud wailing from the general direction of the Cairngorms when I find out I didn’t get the gig

You moved up yet then?

First positive thing that DMBinS seems to have achieved in over two years work…

Anyone know who got this role then? I had an interview on Monday for it, but wasn’t successful so I’ll be in work for the next two weeks instead…

Good luck to whoever it was!

Damn just saw this, what a good opportunity. Don’t think my riding skills are up to the job though, based on the hours of middle age mincing in my Go Pro folder on the laptop…

This guy here – Lee Craigie

I think you’ll find this ‘guy’ is a gal 🙂

Hmmm, I’m in two minds as to whether I like the idea of the ebook being put together by a sponsored rider.

She is, presumably, fitter and faster and more technically capable than the majority of riders who will use her route descriptions.

As someone who occasionally finds himself struggling on vdiff/severe climbing routes where the guidebook description was written by an E8 climber, it could be that there’s a bit of disconnect between someone at the top end of the sport and your average mincer?

Then again, i’d far rather it was written by a good rider than a poor one!

I had just envisaged that it would be put together by your more “typical” rider (e.g. not at either end of the spectrum).

Regardless, congrats to that lucky lady, what a way to spend 2 weeks! I hope the weather is good. 🙂

Not sure about the excellent photography skills bit, from looking at her blog.

I’m sure she can handle the ‘being a good rider’ bit infinitely better than me though. 🙂

Peterfile – you could message her your congratulations and thoughts I guess? Put together carefully and positively it could be something for her to keep in mind.

Aye, definitely didn’t want her to think I was being awkward about it though!

I’m sure she will be well aware that she’s putting this together for the majority of bikers and will look at things from a wider perspective – pretty sure she wouldn’t have got the job if DMBinS weren’t absolutely positive about that.

I’m just hoping I don’t start a “fairly relaxed climb” and find myself ejecting my breakfast at the side of the trail 🙂

ah great, well done Lee, she’s perfect for that job!

Hmmm, I’m in two minds as to whether I like the idea of the ebook being put together by a sponsored rider.

She is, presumably, fitter and faster and more technically capable than the majority of riders who will use her route descriptions.

I was thinking the opposite would be the way it would go, it might be some old man with a beard pottering around fire roads in ron hills, hike a biking rocky sections. Much better its put together by someone inspirational who can really ride a bike like Lee, imho.

Much better its put together by someone inspirational who can really ride a bike like Lee, imho.

Yeah, having thought about it more, I don’t really care who does it so long as they’re passionate about riding – which a racer generally is!

In fact, I’m being a bit dense here, it would be pretty pointless for anyone other than a top rider/racer to do it, since an average rider wouldn’t be able to compile routes/section which were above his/her skill/fitness level. So the book would only actually be any use for intermediate/novice riders and the book wouldn’t be much use to those who had greater skill level than the author

Sorry, Friday morning brain fart!

Glad I didn’t apply/judge or the book would have been completely rubbish!

I had just envisaged that it would be put together by your more “typical” rider (e.g. not at either end of the spectrum).

They probably couldn’t get 10 days off from their IT helpdesk job…

I suspect this is being fuelled off the back of things like the santa cruz solo launch video with Peaty in Torridon, the recent films featuring segments in Skye and so on with Danny Macaskskcaskill, and increasing coverage of places like Torridon in the magazines through guiding companies like Go-where.

I suspect they would therefore be expecting it to be more in that vein of riding/trail than the kind of pretty scenery but lots of fire road rides you get in generic mtb guide books in Waterstones. Could be wrong but even if the routes aren’t on the more rad side, having a recognised super skilled rider like Lee doing the guide rather than an anonymous rider of unproven ability is going to make it a more exciting product regardless of the routes themselves.

It is a heck of a risky time of year to do it in terms of photos/videos though – could be pure autumn gold with the golden grass on the hills, autumn leaves ablaze and blue skies… or pouring rain and dreich with no view at all.

or pouring rain and dreich with no view at all.

So any time of year then? 🙂

yes! should be midge-free views though…

Personally I think it would have been nice to see this go to someone a bit more grassroots. Not just myself, but I’m sure there were plenty of folk who applied (50+) that are doing a sterling job at producing media and contributing to the scene in various ways who were more than capable of doing the job to a high standard. Also the old man with a beard who can’t ride his bike argument – I’m positive that the folk who applied were more than handy enough to complete the rides, which sounded like they are going to be mixed bag any way (epics through family).

I’m not being bitter, I wish DMBIS & Lee all the best & look forward to seeing the output, and I understand why they would choose a pro athlete, I just think it would have a great way to recognise someone in the wider mtb community.

peterfile – Member
….She is, presumably, fitter and faster and more technically capable than the majority of riders who will use her route descriptions…

She sure is. She’s also more than capable of doing the job.

Well done Lee.

Lee is a darned good rider and should be great for the job 🙂

Fingers crossed she has an aversion to extended hike a bike and bog trotting.
Good luck Lee!

I’d like to add my best wishes to Lee on this one. I applied, was interviewed and was beaten in open competition by a rider who managed to demonstrate a better overall bag of skills.
The routes selected for the programme include a wide range of options- there will be everything from mellow glen rides to gnarly tech fests in Torridon, Skye and Lochaber. Lee is from the Inverness area and knows our hills well, has a good network of riding pals about her ready to offer support and will work hard to make a good job of it.

I’m only a wee bit jealous that she got the gig and not me….

Wail! Wail!

Lee has already issued an open invite for folk to join her during the two weeks of riding. I will probably offer to pop along for a couple. If nothing else, it should make the photo/video task easier and quicker.

How lovely!

Given the time of year she’s doing it, the main qualification has to be that she’s bloody quick.
As I live next door to the camper van folks, I might nip around for a nosey when she sets off.