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Obviously I can't go anywhere at present and my touring trips are usually anything from an overnighter to 4 days and only on the road. But being in lockdown it has got me thinking about what I would like to do if I ever had 3 weeks spare for a trip.
As I've never rode my Mtb in Scotland apart from Glentress. I would have to ride from the north east to the highlands in 3 to 4 days, then base myself in a few different locations for a day at a time to do some big mtb day rides without all camping gear, before touring onto a new location to do the same again, and then repeat over (Would say where, but but really know the best places to do this). Then take another 3 to 4 days to ride back home.
So what would your fantasy 3 week bikepacking/ touring trip be?
For some this might not be a fantasy and you have more free time than I do, and will actually be doing it.
There's a few in South America that I fancy. There's one on Tierra Del Fuego that looks wild - https://bikepacking.com/routes/fin-del-mundo/ . Also the two Ruta De Los Seis Miles - https://bikepacking.com/routes/ruta-seis-miles-norte/
Some stuff at the other end of the Americas - a tour in Alaska or on the northern slope of Canada would be really wild.
TBH my fantasy one now is a week going across Northern England or Scotland.
I would be making the journey part of the experience and using offroad routes wherever possible
For the sort of thing you are thinking and I dunno the English stuff but I believe there is an old droving route that goes from the border(s) north to Edinburgh ( Where I live) I have seen that mentioned on here and IIRC it goes past Glentress. Going north From Edinburgh I'd be heading up to Callendar ( MTB stuff around there) Canal to falkirk area, Back road to Callander then the sustrans / old railway north to Killin and west towards Crianlarich. Pick Up the west highland way. that gets you to fort William. Great glen way to Fort Augustus then across to torridon on the road ( can't think of an offroad route thru this bit) From Torridon up the coast roads maybe with an excusion thru Fisherfeild and on to Ullapool and a loop thru Inverpolly - just cos I love it. Ullapool aast towards Oykel bridge and south to Garve or Alness on estate roads. On to inverness on a mix of forestry roads and minor roads. Inverness down to Aviemore on the a9 cycle route / old military road maybe a bit of the speyside way. Aviemore area plenty of good MTBing and offroad routes south to the A9 near Dalnaspiedl lodge. Offroad route south from there to Kinlochrannoch via Glen Garry the offroad route over the hill to Bridge of balgie then wee back roads to Killin and then retrace your steps.
perhaps more time touring and less time in the MTB hotspots that you want but would give you a day or two in the tween valley, a day around Callandar / Aberfoyle time in Fortwilliam and Torridon with Aviemore area as well on the way back south.
I've ridden most of that at various times. Not the shortest or most direct route to anywhere but scenic as you like and not too much in the way of busy roads or drag your bike thru a swamp type riding - most of the offroad I describe would be estate / forestry roads on the joining up bits with opportunities for single track in a few areas
I use the OS maps, bing maps, Scottish hilltracks book to find offroad routes and geograph to check just how tricky they are.
I am sure others can suggest better or add more
TJ that's some good information there. Cheers for that 👍
For me personally? I had got to the detailed planning stage for a 2 to 3 week mender around kintyre and the Cowal peninsular - mainly road with a wee bit gravel. A part of Scotland I do not know at all well. This was meant to be early june - well thats buggered isn't it 🙁 Maybe later in the year
I am retiring next year and have been planning all sorts of adventures. The big cycle one is to ride from the mounth of the Rhine to the mouth of the Danube - suprisingly they get really quite close together in Switzerland. This would involve not slavishly following the rivers but some side excursions - into Bohemia and Transylvania and maybe some other places. 3 months rather than 3 weeks!
sbtouring - don't take it as gospel - just use it for ideas maybe.
In scotland if its marked on the map as double track its almost certainly rideable but can be anything from a good gravel road to rough track. If its marked as single track could be anything from a good path to " wheres the path" hence using geograph to see what the path is like.
Lots of other good bits of gravel routes as well such as Bridge of Orchy to loch Lyon - thats not on the map at all
As its a fantasy trip then probably three weeks in Europe somewhere. I'd like to get up into the top of Norway/Sweden for some exploring and remote places or even taking a 3 week bimble through the fjords.
Some time to explore the Scottish Highlands and islands too would be nice.
If it was longer then I really would like to do something daft like Nordkapp to Gibraltar or south of Italy but that's a pure pipedream.
Fantasy tour (bit more than 3 weeks).
Fly to Istanbul.
Come home via Greece, Macedonia, Albania, island hopping up the Dalmatian coast, Lake Bled, Drava river, Dolomites, Italian Lakes, St Gotthard pass, Lake Lucerne, Voges, Moselle River to Luxembourg, Ardennes, Flanders, swift pint in Amsterdam, ferry to Newcastle.
Fantasy? As much of the Oregon Timber Trail as I could manage in that time:
Fantasy? HT550 with great fitness and perfect dry, warm weather, no midges and water crossings at very low levels
Depends how I am feeling. 5-10 years a go it would be something like ride home from Istanbul. Now while that does appeal so does the trip in Peru that GMBN did. Completely different as fully supported but just looked amazing. Best thing I have seen on Their channel.
Fantasy? HT550 with great fitness and perfect dry, warm weather, no midges and water crossings at very low levels
What are you going to do in the other two weeks? 😉
One I've been working on for a while is an off road loop of Spain. First leg is a section that I was due to start this Friday from near home in S Cataluña via the sources of the 3 longest rivers of the Iberian Peninsula, 1,100km finishing in Bilbao. Given 3 weeks I'd then go west along the Camino del Norte to Santiago de Compostella and back south on the Via de la Plata to Sevilla then back along the coastal mountains of Alicante and Valencia using the Burrally route. Might need slightly longer than 3 weeks as it's over 2,500km. One for next spring?
Will do this in September, hopefully with a couple of mates. Wine, cheese and bikes (in that order)
Length of New Zealand, gravel/off road...
I'd also love a circuit of the Baltic.