Mind Over Mountains – the Cairngorms Loop ITT

I first saw this film at Kendal Mountain Film Festival and enjoyed the insight into different ways of riding long distances, plus the gentle pace of the scenic footage in the Cairngorm. Lucky for you, the film is now available on YouTube.

‘Mind Over Mountains’ is a short film about the mindset behind riding far and fast. Challenging the idea that speed and suffering go hand in hand, it follows Annie Lloyd Evans, Huw Oliver and friends as they ride Scotland’s stunning Cairngorms Loop ITT on a perfect August day. Moving fast, light and in the moment, they show us that love for a landscape and joy for the simplicity of movement are what fuel unforgettable rides.

The Cairngorms Loop is a 300km Independent Time Trial route that circumnavigates the mountain range that gives it its name. It circles the Cairngorms twice, following long and lonely glens on heather-fringed singletrack, traversing beneath sub-arctic plateaus and their fickle weather, and crossing wild watersheds by trails that are far older than the bicycles that ride them now.

Only rarely has the trail been ridden in a single push, but in August three new course records were set in a single day, as Annie rode home in 26 hours 57 minutes as the fastest woman to have completed the route, Liam Glen lowered the singlespeed record to 18 hours 55 minutes, and Huw Oliver and Ewan Thorburn pushed each other to finish in 17 hours 53 minutes – the route’s fastest completions to date.

In those hazy areas between night and day, elation and fatigue, possibilities and unknowns, is where we find the state of flow that takes us outside of what we know and towards what we could be. This is a film about using mountains to overcome the hurdles we put up in our own minds.

For more takes on riding a very long way, look out for our feature on the Great British Divide in issue 141 of Singletrack Magazine, or check out these articles:

Or maybe plan your own big ride?

Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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