Think adventure, landscape, wilderness & pure rugged unspoilt beauty. Scotland is simply idyllic for campervans. From big mountain landscapes, to glistening white sandy beaches and magnificent coastlines. For me, Scotland takes the best of the Alps and mixes it with the best of the Mediterranean, making the best of both more accessible. Sure it rains…
So I’ve finished work for the year & to celebrate I’m heading off on a winter bikepacking adventure in Scotland to address my work/bike balance! Do I feel prepared, absolutely not! But then again, I didn’t when I began my bikepacking adventures this summer. A few people have taken interest in my bikepacking adventures this…
As ever, in a frantic rush to use my holidays up before the year is out, I find myself once again taking a week off and darting up to Scotland. Having seen snippets on social media, I began dreaming of scenes of winter in the west coast highlands. Having enjoyed the falling of leaves &…
Ups and downs, life is full of them. It’s cyclic. To enjoy the ups, you have to experience the downs. But key to ensuring that sinusoidal curve remains in balance is recognising bad habits. Bad habits start innocently, but can quickly tip you off balance and send you spiralling down a hole. Now that the…
Fresh air, coffee, vanlife, adventure and simplicity – It could only be autumn adventures in the Cairngorms National Park. The best of the Scottish highlands. Oh, and bikes too (of course). With a week off scheduled, the lure of adventure begins to grow. Nothing quite awakens the soul like a trip to Scotland. Vast mountainous…
How do you celebrate another year closer to arthritis? By heading out bikepacking in the Lake District! In a summer that has seen me graduate from university, ride my bike across the Alps & add my name to the Everesting hall of fame. There is one adventure that stands out from the rest – a…
Low winds, clear skies & the calling of the Yorkshire 3 peaks. With the glorious forecasts ahead of the 2019 Yorkshire 3 peaks cyclocross race, it seemed rude not to head out bikepacking the Yorkshire 3 Peaks route beforehand! With the Yorkshire 3 peaks being as popular as they are, mountain biking the 24 mile…
Linking together bikepacking and bothies in the Scottish borders has been on my hit list for some time. Like most, I’ve always driven straight past the Scottish borders in search of adventure in the highlands. I mean it’s not exactly on the way to anywhere is it! Rumour has it, the gravel trails of Kielder…
First of all, I’m really sorry to all you folk who wanted to read a guide to midweek microadventures, back when we had longer days… you know when we had something that resembled summer! I meant to finish writing and publish this post a lot sooner, but as always, life got in the way… And…
So I’ve just returned back to normality after a week away, seeking both answers and adventure in the Scottish Highlands. It’s been a hectic summer – but for all the right reasons, this summer has been one to remember. From my journey of 1000 miles across the alps, to successfully adding my name to Everesting…
‘The concept of Everesting is fiendishly simple: Pick any hill, anywhere in the world and ride repeats of it in a single activity until you climb 8,848m – the equivalent height of Mt Everest. Complete the challenge, and you’ll find your name in the Hall of Fame, alongside the best climbers in the world.’ –…
Bikepacking the Austrian Salzkammergut, the final leg on my journey of one thousand miles! From sunny Slovenia, I was greeted by rain and thunderstorms in Austria. The objective was Vienna. From Villach, Vienna was a pretty reasonable distance. But I didn’t come to alps for reasonable distance. I came to the alps to explore. I’d…
My traverse across the Eastern Dolomites brought me to the foothills of the Julian Alps, where I was to begin bikepacking the Soca Valley. I’d experienced remoteness and isolation for the first time on this journey of one thousand miles. I’d ridden in thick clouds, through apocalyptic rain, getting further and further from civilisation. Having…
Part 2 of my journey of one thousand miles, bikepacking across the Italian Dolomites, started in spectacular fashion. Camping at high altitude, not far from Livigno. That night was the night the weather was due to break across the alps. TDF stage 19 had already been abandoned and the bad weather was due to move…
Part 1 of my journey of one thousand miles, across the European alps started in Switzerland. My plan was to ride across Switzerland through the Bernese Oberland & Graubunden, aiming to cross the border into Italy near Livigno. As crazy as a journey of one thousand miles across the alps may sound, it was a…
With a full weekend of sunny weather, I loaded my bike and kit and headed north for a 3 day Lake District bikepacking epic. After the success of my recent midweek mountain bike micro adventures, followed by getting my first 100 mile day ride under my belt, I figured the next step on my big…
Nerves, apprehension, can I do it? All thoughts running through my mind ahead of my first 100 mile day on a bike. Truth be told, I was more scared of failure. What If I don’t do it? It didn’t bear thinking about. All the training I’ve done, through wind and rain. It would be so…
Ask people where they would picture mountain bike heaven, it’ll look something like beautiful British Colombia. More specifically, Whistler. I’m lucky enough to be able to travel to Canada with work, so when I was told my latest trip would mean spending a weekend in Vancouver, you can probably imagine my delight! British Colombia is…
Not quite Mr. Beans holiday to France, but not far off. 7 dirt bag kayakers alpine dreaming, in search of sun, mountains and whitewater. After paddling the steep Italian creeks, but not having much luck with sunshine, it didn’t seem right to head back to the UK without at least a little time to chill…
With the spring snow melt filling up the rivers across the European Alps, the playground is formed for the alpine kayaking season. The end of the ski season certainly doesn’t mean the end of alpine fun. For whitewater kayakers, it means the opposite, the fun is just about to begin! Kayaking can be a frustrating…