September Bivy a Month (#1)

Why you'll love this route?

If you love a good mix of dusty gravel, techy trails and a sprinkle of hike-a-bike, all combined with epic scenery, then this route is for you.

Day 1

We were tackling our version of the Lomond Trossachs Route - a 300km off-road bikepacking route designed by a nearby local, Chris Sleight. Inspired by the Cairngorm Loop, it can be undertaken as a leisurely tour or as a ITT under the self supported race. The route itself weaves around the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park taking in some of the best trails and epic scenery that thenational park has to offer.

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We opted for the tour over two days, with a rough plan to bivy on or near Loch Tay. Ideally getting dinner in the The Falls Of Dochart Inn at Killin. Indeed, optimistic as we later realised, I booked a table for 8pm, setting us a a wee time and place target. It as myself, Campbell and Chris - a regular on a lot of our rides.

While the official route starts and ends in Aberfoyle, we kept things simple and started from our houses. We set off early from Milngavie, climbing up to Burncrooks reservoir on the John Muir Way. The early start meant it was cold, but the views were great. A sign of what more was to come.

Our first stop of the day came at the MacyD's in Balloch, because, well why not. After the quick fuelling, we were back on our way heading over to Helensburgh. We had decided that we would travel light on this trip, aiming to restock little and often given that there were plenty amenities on route. So after grabbing some supplies before in Helensburgh, we headed for Glen Fruin.

Whether you love gravel or road, this is a must for two wheels. The scenery is epic, the road is in good condition, singletrack and virtually traffic-free. If you follow the road to the end you'll end up in Garelochhead, but we cut onto a gravel path that pointed us towards Arrochar, providing some more epic views of Loch Long and the Arrochar Alps along the way. The path was also great for the gravel bikes - a great bit of rolling 4x4 track.

After collecting more supplies in Arrochar, we were now onto the Ardgartan peninsula. I had wanted to explore this area for a long time on the bike, but had not found the opportunity yet. You can ride it as a circular loop of around 30km, or like us include it in part of a bigger adventure. For this route, we rode it clockwise. You have a gradual climb on fire roads away from the Forestry carpark before you reach the Corran Lochan. At this point you point your wheels north and get to enjoy a good bit of undulating singletrack, which is techy in parts. It's do-able and even fun on a gravel bike if you have your wits about you.

After the singletrack we descended into Lochgoilhead, picked up some more food and then climbed up the off-road path to the rest and be thanful.

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At Rest and Be Thankful, we descended on the road towards Loch Fyne, but cut off into the valley below Beinn Ime and headed towards the northside of Loch Lomond at Beinnglas farm. This little glen was an absolute beauty. I didn't know it existed until this trip, and would highly recommend it for a gravel adventure. Beinglas farm is a well known campsite along the West Highland Way, and it was here that we grabbed more supplies before joinign the route and heading for Tyndrum. By this point we were 10 hours in to the ride, it was 3:50pm and it was looking very unlikely we would make our dinner date in Killin. Plan B! Luckily for us, The Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum is iconic and does a fantastic fish and chips, so that was our target. The West Highland Way from Beinglas to Tyndrum is fantastic for cycling - fast and undulating, with some steeper bits around Crianlarich. However, it is completely manageable by gravel bike and actually highly recommended. You can read more about cycling the West Highland Way over on the race report for our inaugural event here. We arrived at the Real Food Cafe around 5:30pm and got straight to ordering. Fortunately the food was fast and delicious as expected, Unfortunately for Chris his stomach was having none of it -I think he managed 2 bites before accepting defeat. We stopped at the Green Welly Stop to grab some supplies, including the largest oatty energy bar known to man, and continued on our way. We followed the route out of Tyndrum towards Bridge of Orchy, but turned off at the viaduct and headed for Glen Lyon and Loch Lyon. We carefully plotted our route past some inquisitive cows as the light faded. At this point we had been going for a solid 16 hours and we were all feeling it. Our aim was still to get to Killin, but rather than have food and a few beers, we accepted we were going to be arriving close to midnight so it would be straight to bed, once we found a good spot.

The path along Loch Long was actually pretty eerie with some disused and used farm buildings that wouldn't have felt out of place in a Christopher Brookmyre novel. In the dark, the wilderness gives off very different vibes to the daytime. With your headtorch and focussed beam, you are aware of your surroundings, but you can't fully see them, so it's an interesting experience to say the least. The path itself was ok, albeit a bit bumpy for the gravel bikes after so many hours in the saddle. It was therefore a delight to meet the tarmac at the end of Loch Lyon, before the short climb and then descent to Killin, giving a lone walker the fright of their life.

We arrived in Killin and after a quick toilet stop at the public toilets (open 24 hours btw), we headed straight for the shores of Loch Tay as Chris had bivvied here previously and it was an excellent spot!

We quickly set up the bivy bags and headed to the land of nod. I had decided to go extra light and didn't take a sleeping bag or quilt, and instead opted just to use my down winter jacket. I was slightly nervous about this all day as, even with a promising weather forecast, it's Scotland, and you never fully know until you are going to get. On this occassion it worked out well and I got a good few hours sleep. I had recently bought a new sleeping pad, the Thermarest NeoAIR XLite, which is amazing btw and well worth the money - which in the world of ultralight bikepacking is a rare thing to say, but it packs up very light and is so comfy and very well insulated. But I mention it as it blows up very big, and after putting it inside my bivvy bag (the Alpkit Hunka) there was barely any room for me. This proved funny to Chris and Campbell, referring to me as the mummy thereafter due to the single position I was fixed into for the night. Anyway, lesson learned - get the Hunka XL so that you can get everything inside it, and have a bit of moving room for yourself! It will be well worth the extra 100g, particularly if there is rain!

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Day 2

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