Winter Bikepacking in the Scottish Borders
So I probably couldn’t have picked a darker, colder, wetter time of year to head out on a 3-day adventure, winter bikepacking in the Scottish borders.
After a pretty hectic end to year, I set out with the sole intention of addressing my work/bike balance. I ride to work every day, but work a lot of extra hours this time of year. So that equates to around 1 hour riding versus 11 hours working. This adventure, I would have 8 hours riding and no working, winner!
With approximately 7 hours of daylight & a lot of precipitation, it was certainly going to be character building. But while Scotland is notorious for its harsh winter weather, it’s also home to an absolute lifesaving gem – the bothy. A place of refuge and resource, with a warm hearth and solid shelter to spend the night.
Having ridden in Kielder forest earlier in the year, I was captivated by the remoteness and seclusion of the Scottish borders. Out of the way, not on the way to anywhere, yet home to some wondrous natural trails. The perfect place to rip a gravel bike. Yet the borders can be perceived as a desolate and remote place. I guess that’s what I wanted from this trip, to disengage and reconnect with what I love – with a bit of a challenge thrown in there too!
The route I plotted for this winter bikepacking in the Scottish borders adventure didn’t already exist. That meant several things were either unknown or variable. Most notably, the condition of the tracks I planned to ride – I knew this could make or break the ride, especially this time of year. Time wise, I was constrained by work on Tuesday & getting to a start point, then the works Christmas do on Friday afternoon. So I had 2.5 days & 2 nights – and the days are short, with approximately 7 hours of daylight. Luckily the MBA showed a couple of bothies within challenging riding distance. Via the viewranger platform, I was able to identify a network of forest tracks to link them up with – of course by forest track, I mean gravel (duh, thats what the cool kids call it…)!
It would be a combination of minor roads, forest tracks and wee bit of singletrack to pull off this route. The weather was forecast to be intermittent, but definitely cold. This close to the winter solstice, the days were about as short as imaginable.
Wednesday morning I set out from Peebles a little apprehensive. Would I be alright with the cold, would my kit look after me through 3 days of winter bikepacking in the Scottish borders? I had doubt racing through my mind. I quickly turned back and switched for my biggest pair of gloves. Sacrificing dexterity for warmth. A decision I would later thank myself for! I shut the doubt out, convincing myself I had either packed or was wearing every layer I owned! If this didn’t keep me warm enough, well that’s tough shit really.
Day 1 was a cold day, with frozen gravel crunching under my 35mm tyres. Traction was good and the pace was high as I set about my 60 mile endeavour. From Peebles the route took me across some fabulous trials in and around Cardrona and Innerleithen, before meandering along the River Tweed towards Selkirk. Sure enough the clouds closed in later in the evening as i climbed towards the 500m level, with the temperatures becoming more mild.
From Selkirk to Hawick, the gravel became less smooth and more overgrown, slowing the place down. I knew there was a little section I would have to push through here. The forest track giving way to wet boggy moorland. I knew it was coming, after a quick ‘ffs callum’ moment, I remembered my learnings from previous multiday rides – there’s no way around & time wasn’t on my side, so ‘get it done’ become the only viable option.
After several hours battling the cold and wind, but thank fully escaping the heavens, I arrived at Wills bothy. From Hawick, finding the bothy at Leysburnfoot was rather simple. A little nervous as I heard this was a bit of a party bothy, I found the bothy amongst the trees to be deserted and the wood supply healthy. Settling in for the long night, it was a supper of chilli and red wine. Not bad!
My kit was muddy and pretty wet – presumably from the spray. Having dried, cleaned and fed myself, bothy booked filled out & route established for the next day, I bedded down. Not before the hearth was laden with coal. This simple shelter providing refuge amongst the wild landscape of the Scottish borders. There’s something simplistically satisfying about a night in the bothy & I haven’t yet put my finger on it. Its daunting, yet welcoming. Uncomfortable, but comforting.
Preparing myself for the inevitable cold wake up call, I nodded off. Thoughts drifting towards the gravelly wonders that lay ahead tomorrow.
After an undisturbed night, the inevitable wakeup call came. Sadly, it came with warmer temperatures and a lot of overnight rain. I knew this would make progress slower, for mud & sodden trails would become a huge issue with the frost having melted.
Thursday was to be the longest distance day at 75 miles, the challenge became even greater in the knowledge the trials would have become a wet, muddy slop fest. Not great on 35mm tyres. But with the forecast set to improve mid-morning, my spirits lifted a little as I set off into the dark, damp morning.
My route took me west, and sure enough after an hours riding the skies began to clear. But as ever in Scotland, the weather wasn’t to be on my side for long. With darkness forecast around 4pm, the heavy rains and high winds would follow at 5pm. I knew everything had to be on my side to make it to the bothy that night.
Unfortunately it wasn’t to be. In the woods between Burnfoot and Eskdalemuir, progress was frustratingly slow. Finding traction was painful. I was nowhere near the 12km/h average I needed to be. With escape routes few and far between, I had cut offs with strict tolerances planned. I was over 45 minutes behind my planned arrival time at Eskdalemuir and given how slow the ride had been this far, I knew bailing was the only sensible option.
I’d ridden through grassy bogs where I figured a forest track was mapped. Taking this into consideration, I thought it could have been even worse further on. Being short on daylight hours and the weather not on my side, it was a disappointing decision to make. It was a choice between 40 miles on road, or 40 miles or completely unknown trail that could’ve been in any condition. The second bothy felt a long, long way away.
Having had time to reflect on this decision, I still feel I made the right call. However, it was heavily influenced by the fact I had the comfort of my van to bail to – my home on wheels. Thinking back to my transalpine adventure, this wasn’t the case. I found it liberating that I had no such luxuries to succumb to. The other problem was that I carried no form of shelter, which meant I couldn’t have shortened the day – It was the bothy or broke, perhaps my biggest lesson I took away from this. That and bigger tyres with higher tread for winter riding in Scotland!
After reaching the van, pigged out on snacks & getting warm and dry again, I didn’t find myself disappointed. Normally I beat myself up when I don’t achieve goals. Yet this time I took comfort in the two fantastic days riding I’d had in this magnificent, seldom explored part of the UK.
When I think back to my reason why I set out winter bikepacking in the Scottish borders, it was to address my work/life balance & to reconnect with what I love. When I think back to this simple objective, I had more than fulfilled it. I had ridden well over 100 miles, over some fantastic trail. Me and my kit had worked well, I’d just bitten off a little more than I could chew in terms of distance and terrain. Imagine a world where everything went to plan, how boring would that be!
#TravelForGravel
