Great rides: Gallovidian Gravel

Gallovidian Gravel takes Cycling UK’s bikepacking routes north of the border. While the existing Great North Trail runs the whole length of Scotland and more, this new route will be the first in our Adventure Series located entirely within the country.

Scouting out a new route near the Scottish Borders in March throws up all sorts of challenges. One of the biggest issues was the weather. In order to launch a new route in the summer, all the legwork must take place in the preceding winter months. Yet despite the storms, wetter weeks and darker days, we’re proud of what we’ve produced so far.

At the time of writing, the route is still being finalised. We’re launching it on 25 June, so I can’t share all the details relating to the locations visited or the direction of travel. But I can tell you everything we put into creating it!

Scotland is a world-class cycling destination. Off-road riders may know it best for its 7Stanes mountain bike trails, its downhill track at Fort William, and the emergence of Innerleithen as a trail-riding honeypot.

Yet it also offers some of the best untouched landscapes in the UK. If you want to explore what southern Scotland has to offer for adventure riding, saddle up for Gallovidian Gravel this summer.

Definitely Mabie

Our first day started in Mabie Forest, just outside Dumfries. The town is a gateway to Dumfries and Galloway. A statue of its most famous resident, Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, watches over you from his plinth opposite Greyfriars Church.

Crossing the river Nith you leave behind the bustle of Dumfries until you return via the picturesque bridges days, nights, miles and smiles later. The town is well connected and easily accessible thanks to a good road network and a train station. There’s a wealth of places to stay to suit all pockets, and plenty of history and intrigue.

Our first day coincided with a yellow weather warning. Heeding the maxim that ‘there’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing’, we donned our waterproofs, unpacked our positivity and sense of humour, and set off. We embraced the rain and Irish Sea breeze with enthusiasm as we knew the sort of scenery that awaited.

Braking for cake

The first sections of the route incorporated a varied mix of surprisingly good, segregated cycle paths and back streets, leading to forest fire roads and quiet country lanes. This set the tone of the entire ride.

We’ve worked hard to ensure our latest route is firmly geared towards a gravel or adventure touring bike. The climbs are longer and steadier, slowly revealing epic scenes that you should have the breath to enjoy, rather than rising up out of the ground like steep ramps.

Remaining on the coast, we took refuge in one of the coastal villages along the way to escape the rain and refuel. Taking time to stop and visit local eateries plays a significant part in creating our Adventure Series routes.

Local shops and places to eat are fundamental to these more remote communities, and by promoting and encouraging sustainable tourism, our routes help contribute to their economies. We happily tucked into tea and cake.

Suitably reinvigorated, we pressed on, knowing we still had some distance to cover, photos to capture and notes to take. We’d seen that the weather was due to break. We hoped to coincide clearing skies with our first foray into the more remote wilderness and mountainous terrain.

And as if to reward us for our efforts, the late afternoon sun appeared, picking out the array of colours on the hillsides and giving us a taste of what was in store for the rest of the ride. Day one done, happy in our accomplishments, we arrived at our accommodation, got spruced up and headed out for a curry.

Glorious Galloway

Day two dawned to dappled daylight and drying kit. The wood-burning stoves in our bunkhouse had worked a treat: socks were no longer saturated and our shoes no longer squelched.

We headed to Kirroughtree Mountain Bike Centre to plan the day over breakfast and to meet up with colleagues from Saddle Skedaddle, who were joining us for the day. Saddle Skedaddle is one of Cycling UK’s official partners, and provides supported cycling holidays on some of our routes.

The team has plans to set up a guided holiday for Gallovidian Gravel from this summer onwards, so if you want someone else to take on the planning and luggage transfers while you concentrate on riding unencumbered, Saddle Skedaddle can arrange it. (Cycling UK members get exclusive discounts with Saddle Skedaddle.)

After a warm welcome at the visitor centre, we set off for the most northerly, remote and stunningly beautiful section of the route. Galloway Forest Park is exceptional, and it’s unmistakably Scottish in the sense of awe it inspires. Every turn and rise over each blind summit provided an ‘oh, wow!’ moment.

This section of the route evokes a real sense of wilderness without taking you to uncomfortable levels of inhospitably. Depending on the time of year, you may not see anyone for several miles.

On this particular day we found ourselves among some timber trucks and water management officers, who were tending to the lochs and the water courses feeding them.

Forestry operation folk weren’t our only companions. A herd of wild mountain goats shared the hillside with us, while buzzards soared overhead. Sightings of golden eagles are relatively common within Galloway Forest Park, and although we didn’t have the pleasure of spotting one, you may be more fortunate.

Over the rolling hills and home

The gravel miles galloped by as we ticked off yet more lochs, imposing dam walls and towering forests. We passed foreboding, derelict industrial structures, their history and heritage evident from arches protruding monstrously from the valley floor.

As we rode south, the landscape changed. Rugged ruins and rocky outcrops were left behind; ahead lay rolling terrain as far as the eye could see.

Emerging from a forest, we knew there was a hamlet up ahead. We crossed our fingers that the promised café would be open and have enough cake to go around.

Our hopes were answered and we sat outside, conscious that the bulk of the route was now behind us. We reflected on the adventure so far, on how it will fit into our series, and we imagined the tales that will be told by future riders.

Then we hoovered up the last crumbs of cake and carried on. The frequency of villages and communities increased, as did our cake-fuelled cadence. We made good progress on this, our final leg.

The bridges we’d crossed days earlier came back into sight and, rather than troubled water, Robert Burns welcomed us back into Dumfries. Smiles were etched deeply across all our dirty faces, with the memories of an unforgettable trip through some of Scotland’s finest scenery still fresh in our minds.

Gallovidian Gravel isn’t just another bikepacking route; it’s a journey through history, culture, coastline and remote mountain passes. But journeys like this are only possible because of the people behind them.

The support of our members and donors allows us to discover these remarkable places and share them with others to be ridden, respected and enjoyed by all. See you out on the trail!