An epic Scottish gravel ride with komoot & Scotty Laughland | Finding the UK's best routes

[@bikepackingadventure7913]

This is the sort of riding I did in early 90s on my hard tail MTB, before all the trail centres.
Plan your own route, long ride linking up countryside with road sections
This is why I love gravel bikes now. This is how you have to do proper off road riding in the U.K., you have to link up places using roads.
This is why I don’t like trail centres, it does not feel like an adventure like this does. Doing bikepacking like this is even better.
😊😊
Ps. Can you please do some rides like this in other parts of the country, where it’s more difficult to plan rides. Staffordshire or Shropshire would be good to see. 👍

[@rule3036]

Ditto, Bridleways in Powys, now called " trail centres" and just seem to cater to the bombing fast down hill types.....this so called gravel cycling is like original mountain biking, hard framed cycles on unsurfaced roads, and bridleways x country away from crowds.....the wheel has been re invented, due to mtb becoming too downhill orientated, a good x country hardtail much more flexible than a " gravel " bike any day.

[@simpsonoutdoors9291]

Great video and represents my ideology of sitting with a map and modern satellite views to choose doable routes with less hike a bike but still give a great day out. Cheers Scotty, I’ve added this to my ‘to do’ list. And your description of ‘right to roam’ is fundamentally what it is all about. 👍🏻

[@bendenisereedy7865]

Carry on NE from the top of Glen Finglas and you'll end up in my village. I do these mixed rides on my Roubaix with 26mm road tyres and it copes well; I so wish we'd had all-terrain bikes like these when we did Polaris events in the 90s because they were usually 50% tarmac covering the distance between bridleways and mountain bikes were frustratingly slow.

[@Hunterthepunter126]

Great clip, enjoyed watching it.

[@casdavies]

09:33 - 09.37 absolutely hooning it

[@nblauch]

Can you guys link to the route on komoot?

[@robertmersey2237]

Done this 3 years ago on my ebike got 50mph on decent weee

[@nv400adventurer13]

No GPX?

[@isabellepaiva8187]

Mort éminemment

[@James-yy4vl]

A good gravel route is just a boring mtb route. Change my mind

[@aligilmour]

There isn’t a ‘Right to roam’ in Scotland. It’s not about being allowed to go anywhere.

[@fbarnea]

Is there really not a right to roam in Scotland?

[@aligilmour]

@@fbarnea Nah, not quite. We have amazing access in Scotland. Maybe as good as anywhere in the world for some activities if not better, but it is actually a Right of Responsible Access.
It may be a bit pedantic but the devil, as always, is in the detail.
We have amazing freedoms for sure on bike, foot and horseback but we do have to care and behave appropriately. In my experience the Right to Roam phrase is often used but it has also created (and comes along with) a mindset of individual rights rather than shared responsibilities.. Although we can in theory bike anywhere for instance, this does not mean that we should do anytime we want or in any conditions if we want to truly be a part of the environment rather than just using the environment.
There are other users including the land managers that have equal rights at the same time. Once we put ourselves above or to one side of them, then we start to risk causing issues. Mostly unwittingly for sure. But issues nonetheless.
The language we use, especially when it comes from a more formal source really matters. Semantics perhaps and pedantic for sure but the subtle differences make a huge difference in creating understanding and changing people’s perceptions.
I have worked professionally in the outdoors for roughly 30 yrs both as a Bike guide and instructor and also a Mountaineering Instructor. In this country and luckily in a few around the world. Alongside many, many miles and metres of great biking and climbing adventures for myself. One thing that I have experienced so many times is once we polarise ourselves from others whilst doing the things we love we can so easily start to cause problems. The more we can understand the environment we are enjoying so much then the better placed we are to ensure we leave it as we would ant to find it and for others to love and enjoy their access.
I hope my ramblings make sense.

[@fbarnea]

@@aligilmour it's not a bit pedantic. It's pedantic. You just call it by its actual name. The concept you explain is colloquially referred to as right to roam.

[@aligilmour]

@@fbarnea Which happens to be wrong. And sells the wrong idea.
Not my invention I’m afraid. But one that does cause a whole heap of issues in and around the environment. And as I say often not on purpose but issues nonetheless.
If we ignore these challenges then we do risk changes happening. Or we can embrace it and join in with the whole picture.
If we’d rather just use it and walk away then that also can work but it does have a shelf life.
Wild camping is another huge challenge up here. People have taken our ‘right’ to wild camp anywhere to mean roadside. In vans and tents etc. that is not what it means. But hey. That is a different and probably bigger issue that is really damaging the environment and local communities.
So, colloquially the term needs to change. Or the rules and law will change
Pedantic as that may seem

[@fbarnea]

@@aligilmour you know people can hold more than one meaning for a word in their head right? You know that people can just say right to roam, and refer to exactly what you described, because they know the law. If there are some people.who take advantage of this law, or misbehave, or don't know the law etc. I don't think they care what it's actually called.

[@danceswithcarsdc]

Harassing the sheep
and leaving muddy tracks
on water alternate crossing(s) passage might not be
considered Respectful
If people were around...
Plus never seemed to
break a sweat,
get muddy,
amazing PR/sale$...

[@C.Medina]

Eh?