Excellent points you make about the creation of the waymarked routes; with so many tracks and trails there, these provide ride options between exploring and/or following a considered, planned route (not necessarily getting lost, but overcoming uncertainty in amongst the miles of forestry).
Oh and total agree that we need accessible routes as cycling is for everyone. So great to see the waymarked routes at Gravelfoyle and thanks for highlighting them. Keep up the good work Rusty.
Re you comments about the the aquaducts are not used any more. a they most certainly are. the Victorian city fathers across the UK were determined to bring clean fresh water to their cities Glasgow took and still takes water from Loch Katrine via a gravity fed pipeline across the ard. forest to the reservoir at Mugdock. Currently Loch Katrine provides water to about 80% of the Glasgow region via those pipes. Water from the dam in Glen Finglas is used to top up Loch Katrine so it is flows on gravity down to Glasgow with no pumps. There were similar schemes built at the same time down south. The sequence of dams in the Elan Valley near Rhayader in mid Wales supplies Birmingham again gravity fed, and a few miles north of there is Lake Vyrnwy which similarly supplies fresh water to Liverpool. There is good cycling at these locations as well. If you want a cycle tour of the pipeline through ard forest I can give you one - to see the bits you don’t normally see - I stay very local
Love the way marked gravel routes idea. I hope these will become a ‘thing’ in other forests. We are in our 60s and want to be off road and on the gravel, and would also like to encourage our young grandson to ride with us. This would be perfect. Great video as always! BTW We will be touring through that area in a few weeks so your video is especially relevant to us! 🚴♀️😊
Fantastic video despite the weather. Been cycling these tracks for years. Lovely to see these tracks from a diffrent perspective. Keep up the great work. 👍
Well that turned out rather good despite the rain. It’s great seeing the drone shots gives it all a better perspective. I think it’s great having the marked routes as so many families are using the tracks now. My first gravel foray in Gravelfoyle sent me climbing over three fallen trees, climbing a boggy bank and then a 9% path six inches wide with brambles each side. I enjoyed it but others may not lol. Hopefully from signed routes adventures will follow. Must say I love the north side.
Hi there Rusty. I'm part of a cycling crew in Edinburgh (am fi thir), we blitzed East/Midlothian over lockdown. I watched your stuff on the 7 hills and the Pentlands, very good. i'm looking to head over the Trossachs next spring/summer. This is my favourite vid anyone's done of the area. You've really captured the beauty and given me a real feel for what i can expect. Great stuff. cheers
Great video,agree on waymarked routes, this year i was on holiday abroad without a head unit or phone mount and I would of loved some waymarked trails ! all good news for Scottish tourism i reckon.
Enjoyed that, routes to add to the list. Both Aqueducts are still in use from Loch Katrine to Glasgow, amazing engineering. Edit saw other reply with more detail 👍
Thanks for the reminder of what rain looks like! A place with green things and puddles looks very attractive to this England based gravel cyclist at present
That is such a shame the weather was rubbish during your ride - loved the video and quality of the ground and drone footage was brilliant (despite the rain). I'm just back from a few hours at Gravelfoyle (its only 40 minutes up the road for me) and already I love it and the other forestry tracks in Loch Ard Forest. You need to go back and film this in sunny weather!
Comer/Loch Lomond, first did that 30yrs ago, great route, starting and ending in Drymen, with a friend of mine. The only problem back then was a guy who was hostile to cyclists, he apparently lived at Comer, who would persue riders, as they climbed over to Lomond, in a Land Rover and harangue them with threats, inc that they might get shot by accident, by deer hunters. The guy was most likely, insane and hopefully dead by now. I never encountered him myself but some of the people I knew then, did have the experience. These days of course, the traffic on the Rowardenan/Drymen road is much worse, which makes it a better bet for early Spring, late Autumn.
Excellent video RRG. What drone did you go for, is it a DJI Mini 3? You seem to have gotten the hang of it pretty quickly. I must admit that my heart was in my mouth though when it passed those trees. 😀
Hey Doug, yeah it's the mini pro 3. That bit in the trees worried me too - you can see me watching it desperately hoping it went through the gap! The tracking is pretty great and does loads of the hard work for me. I haven't quite managed to perfect controlling it whilst on the bike yet though, so sticking to a lot of the automated stuff currently. Great fun though!
Excellent points you make about the creation of the waymarked routes; with so many tracks and trails there, these provide ride options between exploring and/or following a considered, planned route (not necessarily getting lost, but overcoming uncertainty in amongst the miles of forestry).
Oh and total agree that we need accessible routes as cycling is for everyone. So great to see the waymarked routes at Gravelfoyle and thanks for highlighting them. Keep up the good work Rusty.
Re you comments about the the aquaducts are not used any more. a they most certainly are. the Victorian city fathers across the UK were determined to bring clean fresh water to their cities Glasgow took and still takes water from Loch Katrine via a gravity fed pipeline across the ard. forest to the reservoir at Mugdock. Currently Loch Katrine provides water to about 80% of the Glasgow region via those pipes. Water from the dam in Glen Finglas is used to top up Loch Katrine so it is flows on gravity down to Glasgow with no pumps. There were similar schemes built at the same time down south. The sequence of dams in the Elan Valley near Rhayader in mid Wales supplies Birmingham again gravity fed, and a few miles north of there is Lake Vyrnwy which similarly supplies fresh water to Liverpool. There is good cycling at these locations as well. If you want a cycle tour of the pipeline through ard forest I can give you one - to see the bits you don’t normally see - I stay very local
Great info, thanks! Didn't know they were still in use.
Absolutely stunning drone shots, really really enhance your already great videos!
Love the way marked gravel routes idea. I hope these will become a ‘thing’ in other forests. We are in our 60s and want to be off road and on the gravel, and would also like to encourage our young grandson to ride with us. This would be perfect. Great video as always! BTW We will be touring through that area in a few weeks so your video is especially relevant to us! 🚴♀️😊
Fantastic video despite the weather. Been cycling these tracks for years. Lovely to see these tracks from a diffrent perspective. Keep up the great work. 👍
Well that turned out rather good despite the rain. It’s great seeing the drone shots gives it all a better perspective. I think it’s great having the marked routes as so many families are using the tracks now. My first gravel foray in Gravelfoyle sent me climbing over three fallen trees, climbing a boggy bank and then a 9% path six inches wide with brambles each side. I enjoyed it but others may not lol. Hopefully from signed routes adventures will follow. Must say I love the north side.
Hi there Rusty. I'm part of a cycling crew in Edinburgh (am fi thir), we blitzed East/Midlothian over lockdown. I watched your stuff on the 7 hills and the Pentlands, very good. i'm looking to head over the Trossachs next spring/summer. This is my favourite vid anyone's done of the area. You've really captured the beauty and given me a real feel for what i can expect. Great stuff. cheers
Thank you for the positive feedback, it helps to keep me motivated to make the videos. The Trossachs are a special area, you will love it there!
Great video,agree on waymarked routes, this year i was on holiday abroad without a head unit or phone mount and I would of loved some waymarked trails ! all good news for Scottish tourism i reckon.
Great video there. Loved the drone shots, beautiful after the rained cleared. Definitely going to give this a try next time I'm down 👍
Those drone shots really do show off what a spectacular area it is. And the Comer ride is cracking.👍
Maybe I should go and give it a bash after all
Enjoyed that, routes to add to the list. Both Aqueducts are still in use from Loch Katrine to Glasgow, amazing engineering. Edit saw other reply with more detail 👍
Wow. The drone shots on your videos are amazing. Really enhance the experience.
Cheers, I love it. The problem I have now is knowing when best to shoot with it and when to save the batteries. They don't last long!
What if your walking and not riding ?
Waymarked is a good thing.
Great video and thanks for promoting our area.
It's beautiful.
Fantastic🥰 ihope some day i visit scotland
Great video, excellent drone shots too.
Well done.
Thank you 👍
Great Video, Drone work getting better and better😀
Thanks for the reminder of what rain looks like! A place with green things and puddles looks very attractive to this England based gravel cyclist at present
Oof - pretty dusty down there I bet right now.
That is such a shame the weather was rubbish during your ride - loved the video and quality of the ground and drone footage was brilliant (despite the rain). I'm just back from a few hours at Gravelfoyle (its only 40 minutes up the road for me) and already I love it and the other forestry tracks in Loch Ard Forest. You need to go back and film this in sunny weather!
I really do want to get back over that way in the sun! I have unfinished business with Aberfoyle for sure! Glad you enjoyed the vid.
Another great video,and would highly recommend the comer route after doing it twice now hike a bike along loch lomond is the only downside
Comer/Loch Lomond, first did that 30yrs ago, great route, starting and ending in Drymen, with a friend of mine. The only problem back then was a guy who was hostile to cyclists, he apparently lived at Comer, who would persue riders, as they climbed over to Lomond, in a Land Rover and harangue them with threats, inc that they might get shot by accident, by deer hunters. The guy was most likely, insane and hopefully dead by now. I never encountered him myself but some of the people I knew then, did have the experience. These days of course, the traffic on the Rowardenan/Drymen road is much worse, which makes it a better bet for early Spring, late Autumn.
Excellent video RRG. What drone did you go for, is it a DJI Mini 3? You seem to have gotten the hang of it pretty quickly. I must admit that my heart was in my mouth though when it passed those trees. 😀
Hey Doug, yeah it's the mini pro 3. That bit in the trees worried me too - you can see me watching it desperately hoping it went through the gap! The tracking is pretty great and does loads of the hard work for me. I haven't quite managed to perfect controlling it whilst on the bike yet though, so sticking to a lot of the automated stuff currently. Great fun though!
Your a brave man rusty love your vids even pissing down ones
Haha cheers! Nearly sacked the ride off it was so wet. But glad I didn't.
The route map is unavailable
Should be back now sorry