An Epic Scottish Gravel Biking Adventure

Oh, it's a bit rough

Not that hard. Not that hard enough. Oh, you're okay? Yeah. Oh, boy

Gravel foil. It's safe to say that the last year and a half has been, well

empty of much in the way of exploration. Riding has been local and if you're like me

mostly the same roads and trails over and over and over and over and over again

So when Camus asked myself and Catherine Moore if we'd like to ride one of the UK's ultimate gravel riding destinations

naturally we leapt at the chance. Bags and bikes packed, we headed a long way north to Aberfoyle

otherwise known as Gravelfoil. Now all we needed was a guide, So we met it with Kerry McPhee, a local shredder

who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the gravel roads and the trails on offer

So gravel foil has 200km of gravel trails, and Aberfoyle is right in the centre of it

So you can loop the north side and you can loop the south side, you can bale halfway, you can eat your lunch and go down the south side

and there's loads of different types of gravel as well. you've got fat gravel, you've got fast gravel, you've got single track, you've got tech, so this is an ideal place for anyone to come and try

You can do a massive loop like we're going to do or you can do a tiny little one, so you're spoilt for options and spoilt for terrain

Feeling a little apprehensive to be honest, like I'm really excited about this route, it looks absolutely incredible what you've put together for us

but it is going to be a big day and a ride of two halves by the looks of it like the

three locks drive and that area that i think we're going to do first looks stunning we've

seen a little bit about what's in store there but very accessible from aberfoyle whereas the

second half looks properly wild and a bit of the west highland way like really a bit more remote so

i think that will be really stunning it's pretty tough but it's a good a good look pretty tough for

you or pretty tough for them? Pretty tough for them because they don't know what's coming

Our route has something of a rude awakening, climbing for the first five kilometres out of

Aberfoyle before winding through the beautiful Trossach's forest roads up to Loch Venneker

We'll ride the southern shore before striking across to Loch Acre before heading south and back

towards Aberfoyle but not before taking in the sights of Loch Drunkey. But our ride doesn't end

there. Instead, we head out the other side of Aberfoyle and into the true wilderness of the

Trossachs. Winding a path between Ben Lomond and Bendu, it's here where our ride is at its most

isolated. A steep hairpin descent takes us down to the iconic West Highland Way on the shores of

Loch Lomond and a chance for a break at the Inversnade Hotel. A short, steep climb takes us up to

Loch Arklot before a long ride in a much-needed gradual descent along the banks of Loch On back

to Aberfoyle. You can of course find all the route details on Cycling Weekly's Komoot account

and at the link in the description. We're off! Where are we Kerry? We have just hit the Jigs

Pass, so if you were doing the Jigs weekend and event this would be the start line of the hill

climb. It is a hill! We started on a hill. So it won't be long before we pick it right onto the

gravel. So this looks like this is kind of some of the only tarmac. You don't touch much tarmac

very cloudy very atmospheric although i think it's going to burn off i think we might get better

weather this afternoon which is nice but these gravel roads are so cool i just don't have anything

like this where i ride at home none of these like wide open rides that are just no traffic You can ride like three abreast So Kerry myself and Catherine are able just to ride along and chat It such a refreshing way to ride

Not that much. Not more enough. Rupert had a comedy crash. You know when you make crashes and for a split second

you really want to laugh but you shouldn't laugh because you need to make sure that they're okay first

Once that was all clear, it was just so funny. It was just like a real slow-mo tumble

Very embarrassing. It's just funny when somebody crashes. 15 kilometres into our ride, after climbing out of Aberfoyle and stretching out along rocky tracks

and winding our way along the southern shores of Loch Venneker, we reach Acre Farm, the perfect place for an ice cream break

I was glad to reach Akwe Farm because Kerry had told us a lot about the delicious ice cream

which I can confirm was really delicious. I think the elderflower one I had had been foraged from

the village like two days ago which is super cool and there's loads of animals here which I'm really

excited about but back to the root um yeah fab so far. If I said gravel foil what does that mean to

you uh gravel foil is aberfoyle it's it's the the mecca for for gravel in the uk at the moment i

think have you seen an increase in cyclists yeah very much so i mean lockdown was amazing here

the number of people who came out of their homes and could enjoy the roads and the tracks for

for maybe the first time in a long time and the number of casual recreational and kind of semi-pro

The racers kind of whizzing around the woods here is phenomenal these days

When we came to the farm, we knew there was the Great Trussox Path running through it

and the Felix Voice driver adjacent. So setting up a business that would cater to sustainable travel

people out recreational, cycling and walking was key to our business. And people do. People stop

People in cars don't stop. Everyone on a bike or walking around the lot sees the benefits

sees the slower pace and can stop and enjoy it. That's what we're here for, to give them that experience

Thank you

Kerry McPhee you've done a lot of plotting on Khmut haven't you

Yeah I love using Khmut for my plots so How many kilometers of trails do you think you've worked out on Khmut

Oh honours that's a good Scottish word Honours! Honours! Hundreds of trails on Khmut

Hundreds of trails I have got a Komoot collection of my gravel foil roots

and it goes as far as lots of parts of the West Highland Way

and then there's South Gravel Foil, North Gravel Foil. It's massive. And there's stuff that I haven't done yet

Definitely goes without saying that you should check out Kerry's Komoot collections

and all the things we'll post on the Cycling Weekly Komoot profile if you want to dig out some great roots

because Kerry, you know them all. Yeah, I was greedy when I was trying to plot something out for you guys

We're going on an epic today because I just want you to see it all and feel it all. Yeah

Awesome. Well, let's crack on because we have a long way to go. MUSIC music

This is a classic gravel-foil section of trail. We've just done the switchbacks up to the aqueduct

So where does this aqueduct go? So I think this aqueduct comes from Glen Finglas Reservoir, which used to be a little settlement and they flooded it

it so that they could provide water to Glasgow during I think there was a

cholera outbreak or something and they needed some fresh water pumped into this

city and they came to Aberfoyle because it's so lovely. Of course! So we've just gone beneath the aqueduct which whenever you reference

California, you always see a picture of that. So Koma was incredible

You come round to the top of this amazing balcony gravel road

round the corner and it just opens up to these spectacular views of Loch Lomond and all the pleasure boats going up and down

and it was pretty steep as well. Following 15 kilometres of climbing out of Aberfoyle

with close to 300 metres of elevation, we reached the summit of the Coma Climb

which is followed by a formidable descent down to the shores of Loch Lomond

It's wicked, isn't it? What a day we've got! It's incredible. It's alright. You see it all the time

So what's up next Kerry? You've got some descent. The Komoot profile is showing a pretty steep downhill

Yeah, so we've kind of climbed like that and now we're going to go like that

Well we're going down to water level aren't we basically? Yeah we are, we're dropping a lot actually

So it's a big descent. Yeah, like a thousand feet or something

A thousand feet, boiling day. And there's Lachlomund and you're like trying to take in the view, but you can't because you've got to hold on to your brakes

Absolutely amazing. I think anyone could do the Comer route, definitely

And the Comer Descent, although it's gnarly, it does have switchbacks. So you can do one little section and then stop and rest

and then do the next section, stop and rest. I wouldn't recommend it in reverse though

because it is a stinker of a climb the other way. And if you stop and rest

it means you get to also appreciate the views of Loch Lomond as you descend. So yeah, I'd say it's probably an epic sort of loop

but it has a bit of everything. Tell me about that descent Katherine

That was tricky. I had to walk a couple of meters there

So steep wasn't it? It was like rocky, bouldery, washed out. If you don't pick your line, you're just in so much trouble. Yeah

And then Kerry went, yeah, it's pretty gnarly with just one break

Kerry's front break doesn't work. Although just three kilometres in lengths, the stretch along the banks of Bonny Loch Lomond

features some of the most unforgiving terrain we've encountered. With stream crossings and rocky scrambles

this was true hiker bike territory. We were just walking along and from behind us both we just heard this massive crunch and we looked round and Rupert had had quite an accident So we just currently trying to work out what we going to do next because Rupert does no longer have a rear mech Oh that not ideal

So it's not the hanger that snaps? Um it is the uh the hanger is yeah the hanger is blown

Wow you're lucky we're on the hiker bike. Yeah totally. We're walking anyway

The West Island Way is quite hike a bike anyway

but he literally had to hike the bike the whole way along

so yeah, for a rebert It was funny but now that I realise we're kind of quite far away from Amber Foyle

I'm a little bit filled with a bit more pity for him so i bent my rear mech in the crash and then i snapped it off on the west highland way

and now i need to find a solution so i can do the rest of the ride

i think that solution is going to be stealing uh drone pilot ruben's bike

so sorry Ruben but I'm commandeering your mountain bike after a steep 10% climb out of Inversnaid we wound our way along the gorgeous shores of

Loch Arclut and then down to Loch On before a welcome gradual descent into Aberfroil

The gravel roads here are what dreams are made of. Wide open and super fast, we couldn't stop grinning the whole way home. home

so I'm on Rubens mountain bike and it's great so comfortable compared to the

gravel bike but it's a little bit slow and I have now been dropped by Catherine

and Kerry. That puff of dust going up over the crest of the hill is Catherine and Kerry

So it's a tough ride. With 85km ticked off, we rolled into Aberfoyle, caked in dust and baked by the sun

As promised, the ride had really featured a little bit of everything. From wide open, remote mountain vistas, epic hiker biking and fast gravel roads

we'd been blown away by the riding on offer and the community that it had fostered

Oh, hi

May badge. May badge. We made it. Wow. We finished. That was a big day

It was a big day. It's definitely a whole day route, that, isn't it

Full on. Full on. So worth it. I did worry that was a bit giddy-g with wanting to show you everything, but I think it was worth it

We asked you for the most epic ride you could put together in Aberfoyle, and you did it

I think it's safe to say. Yeah, we had it all, honestly. I completed the brief and we made it back, even if we were one bike down

Yeah, we were one bike down, but thanks to drone pilot Ruben's generosity, he walked home

Well, three of us have made it back. Goes without saying that if you want to see the route that we've ridden today, it will be in the description of the video below

and for everything else Aberfoyle gravel riding check out Kerry's collections because she's done

so much work putting it all together putting Aberfoyle on the map yeah the true queen of Aberfoyle

always happy to share my knowledge there's so much good stuff on there definitely to earth taking

the time before you come up to have a look and find some absolute belters of rides and trails

if you have enjoyed this video then please do give us a thumbs up and subscribe to cycling weekly

YouTube channel and leave us a comment in the comment section below telling us

what you loved and where's it you'd come and ride in the amazing place that is

Aberfoyle. Now we'll be back soon with some more great adventure content and we'll see you then