- 1 year ago
Cycling Weekly set out on the hunt for the best gravel riding we could find and found ourselves in Aberfoyle, just north of Glasgow and we weren't disappointed. With lochs, mountain views and mile after mile of traffic free gravel roads, they thought they found heaven!
In association with Komoot.
In association with Komoot.
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00:00It's safe to say that the last year and a half has been, well, empty of
00:29much in the way of exploration.
00:32Riding has been local, and if you're like me, mostly the same roads and trails over and
00:37over and over and over and over again.
00:39So when Camus asked myself and Catherine Moore if we'd like to ride one of the UK's ultimate
00:43gravel riding destinations, naturally we leapt at the chance.
00:48Bags and bikes packed, we headed a long way north to Aberfoyle, otherwise known as Gravel
00:54Foil.
00:55Now all we needed was a guide, so we met it was Kerry McPhee, a local shredder was an
00:59encyclopedic knowledge of the gravel roads and the trails on offer.
01:04So Gravel Foil has 200km of gravel trails and Aberfoyle is right in the centre of it, so
01:11you can loop the north side and you can loop the south side, you can bale halfway, you can
01:16eat your lunch and go down the south side and there's loads of different types of gravel
01:22as well.
01:23You've got fast gravel, you've got single track, you've got tech, so this is an ideal
01:28place for anyone to come and try.
01:30You can do a massive loop like we're going to do, or you can do a tiny little one, so
01:33you're spoilt for options and spoilt for terrain.
01:36Feeling a little apprehensive to be honest, like I'm really excited about this route,
01:41it looks absolutely incredible what you've put together for us.
01:44But it is going to be a big day and a ride of two halves by the looks of it, like the
01:49Three Locks Drive and that area that I think we're going to do first looks stunning.
01:53We've seen a little bit about what's in store there, but very accessible from Aberfoyle,
01:57whereas the second half looks properly wild and a bit of the West Highland Way, like really
02:03a bit more remote, so I think that will be really stunning.
02:06It's pretty tough, but it's a good loop.
02:08Pretty tough for you or pretty tough for them?
02:11Pretty tough for them, because they don't know what's coming.
02:14Our route has something of a rude awakening, climbing for the first five kilometres out of
02:21Aberfoyle before winding through the beautiful Trossachs Forest Roads up to Loch Finneker.
02:27We'll ride the southern shore before striking across to Loch Acre, before heading south and
02:31back towards Aberfoyle, but not before taking in the sights of Loch Drunkey.
02:35But our ride doesn't end there, instead we head out the other side of Aberfoyle and into
02:41the true wilderness of the Trossachs, winding a path between Ben Lomond and Ben Du, it's
02:46here where our ride is at its most isolated.
02:49A steep hairpin descent takes us down to the iconic West Highland Way on the shores
02:54of Loch Lomond and a chance for a break at the Inversnade Hotel.
02:58A short, steep climb takes us up to Loch Arklut, before a long ride in a much needed gradual
03:03descent along the banks of Loch On back to Aberfoyle.
03:07You can of course find all the route details on Cycling Weekly's Komoot account and at the
03:11link in the description.
03:13We're off!
03:15Where are we Kerry?
03:16We have just hit the Jigs Pass, so if you were doing the Jigs weekend and event this would
03:21be the start line of the hill climb.
03:23It is a hill!
03:25Yeah!
03:26We've started on a hill.
03:27So it won't be long before we pick a ride onto the gravel.
03:31So this looks like this is kind of some of the only tarmac.
03:34We don't twitch much tarmac on this ride.
03:36Very much!
03:37I think this is maybe like 300, 400 metres to tarmac and then let's go gravel after that.
03:41Music to my ears!
03:42Woohoo!
04:11Look at this!
04:29Very cloudy, very atmospheric, although I think it's going to burn off.
04:34I think we might get better weather this afternoon, which is nice, but these gravel roads are so
04:40cool.
04:41I just don't have anything like this where I ride at home.
04:45None of these like wide open rides that are just no traffic.
04:51You can ride like free abreast.
04:54So Kerry, myself and Catherine, able just to ride along and chat is such a refreshing way
05:00to ride.
05:10move on!
05:11Not that much!
05:12Not pro enough!
05:13Rupert had a comedy crash!
05:19Come on!
05:34You know when you make crashes and for a split second you really want to laugh but you shouldn't
05:40laugh because you need to make sure that they're okay first. Once that was all clear it was just
05:44so funny. It was just like a real slow-mo tumble. Very embarrassing. It's just funny when somebody
05:51crashes. Fifteen kilometres into our ride, after climbing out of Aberfoyle and stretching
06:07out along rocky tracks and winding our way along the southern shores of Loch Venneker,
06:12we reach Akrae Farm, the perfect place for an ice cream break.
06:19I was glad to reach Akrae Farm because Kerry had told us a lot about the delicious ice
06:26cream which I can confirm was really delicious. I think the elderflower one I had had been foraged
06:33from the village like two days ago which is super cool and there's loads of animals here
06:38which I'm really excited about. But back to the route, yeah fab so far.
06:43If I said gravel foil, what does that mean to you?
06:48Gravel foil is Aberfoyle. It's the mecca for gravel in the UK at the moment I think.
06:55Have you seen an increase in cyclists?
06:58Yeah, very much so. I mean lockdown was amazing here. The number of people who came out of their
07:04homes and could enjoy the roads and the tracks for maybe the first time in a long time and the
07:10number of casual, recreational and semi-pro racers kind of whizzing around the woods here
07:16is phenomenal these days. When we came to the farm we knew there was the Great Trussox Path
07:21running through it and the Felix Krois Drive adjacent so setting up a business that would cater
07:26to sustainable travel, people out, recreational, cycling and walking was key to our business.
07:32And people do. People stop. People in cars don't stop. Everyone on a bike or walking around the
07:38loch sees the benefits, sees the slower pace and can stop and enjoy it. That's what we're here for to
07:46give them that experience.
08:16So
08:25so
08:29to
08:32do
08:37Kerry McPhee, you've done a lot of plotting on Komoot, haven't you?
08:52Yeah, I love using Komoot for my plots, so...
08:55How many kilometres of trails do you think you've worked out on Komoot?
09:01Oh, honours, that's a good Scottish word.
09:03Honours!
09:04Honours!
09:05Hundreds of trails on Komoot!
09:07Hundreds of trails!
09:08I have got a Komoot collection of my gravel foil routes, and it goes as far as lots of
09:14parts of the West Highland Way, and then there's South Gravel Foil, North Gravel Foil, it's
09:17massive!
09:18And there's stuff that I haven't done yet!
09:19It definitely goes without saying that you should check out Kerry's Komoot collections,
09:24and all the things we'll post on the Cycling Weekly Komoot profile if you want to dig out
09:28some great routes, because Kerry, you know them all!
09:31Yeah, I was greedy when I was trying to plot something out for you guys!
09:33We're going in on epic today, because I just want you to see it all and feel it all!
09:39Awesome!
09:40Let's crack on, because we have a long way to go!
09:42This is a classic gravel foil section of trail, just on the switchbacks up to the aqueduct.
10:04So where does this aqueduct go?
10:07So I think this aqueduct comes from Glen Fingless Reservoir, which used to be a little settlement,
10:13and they flooded it, so that they could provide water to Glasgow during, I think there was
10:17a cholera outbreak or something, and they needed some fresh water pumped into this city,
10:23and they came to Amberfall because it's so lovely!
10:25Of course!
10:26So we've just gone beneath the aqueduct, which whenever you reference gravel foil, you always see a picture of that.
10:33This is pretty much more than a
10:35that I have to go down here.
10:35But I was like, I'm coming to you.
10:37I'm coming to you now.
10:38I'm coming to you now, and you're on the right side of the wall.
10:40I'm coming to you now!
10:41I'm coming to you now!
10:43You're welcome!
10:44I'm coming to you now!
10:45I'm coming to you now!
10:47So Koma was incredible, you come round to the top of this amazing balcony gravel road
11:12round the corner and it just opens up to these spectacular views of Loch Lomond and all the
11:17pleasure boats going up and down and it was pretty steep as well.
11:39Following 15km of climbing out of Aberfoyle was close to 300m of elevation, we reached
11:45the summit of the Koma Climb which is followed by a formidable descent down to the shores of
11:50Loch Lomond.
11:51It's wicked isn't it?
11:54What a day we've got!
11:55It's alright.
11:56You see it all the time.
11:58So what's up next Kerry, we've got some descent, the Komoot profile is showing a pretty steep
12:05downhill.
12:06Yeah, so we've kind of climbed like that and now we're going to go like that.
12:10Well we're going down to water level aren't we basically?
12:13Yeah we are, we're jopping quite a lot actually.
12:14So it's a big descent.
12:15Yeah.
12:16It's like a thousand feet or something.
12:17Yeah.
12:18A thousand feet.
12:19Boiling day.
12:20And there's Loch Lomond and you're like trying to take in the view but you can't because
12:24you've got to hold on to your brakes.
12:26Absolutely amazing.
12:27I think anyone could do the Koma route definitely and the Koma descent although it's gnarly it
12:33does have switchbacks so you can do one little section and then stop and rest and then do
12:40the next section and stop and rest.
12:41I wouldn't recommend it in reverse though because it is a stinker of a climb the other way and if you
12:45stop and rest it means you get to also appreciate the views of Loch Lomond as you descend.
12:49So yeah I'd say it's probably an epic sort of loop but it has a bit of everything.
13:19So tell me about that descent Katherine.
13:44That was tricky.
13:46I had to walk a couple of metres there.
13:49So steep wasn't it?
13:50It was like rocky, bouldery, sort of washed out background.
13:56Like if you don't pick your line you're just in so much trouble.
14:00Yeah.
14:01And then Kerry went, yeah it's pretty gnarly with just one brake.
14:07Kerry's front brake doesn't work.
14:10Although just three kilometres in lengths, the stretch along the banks of Bonnie Loch Lomond
14:14features some of the most unforgiving terrain we've encountered.
14:17With stream crossings and rocky scrambles this was true hike-a-bike territory.
14:23We were just walking along and from behind us both we just heard this massive crunch and we look round and Rupert had had quite an accident.
14:35So we're just currently trying to work out what we're going to do next because Rupert does no longer have a rear mech.
14:53Oh that's not ideal.
14:55So it's not the hanger that snaps?
14:57Erm, it is the hanger is, yeah the hanger is blown.
15:02Wow.
15:03You're lucky we're on the hike-a-bike.
15:04Yeah totally.
15:05We're walking anyway.
15:06The West Hallingway is quite hike-a-bike anyway.
15:23But he literally had to hike the bike the whole way along.
15:27Erm, so yeah.
15:29Poor Rupert.
15:30It 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.
15:45It's only been about half an hour we've been waiting.
15:48So 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.
16:02And I think that solution is going to be stealing our drone pilot Ruben's bike.
16:09Erm, so sorry Ruben but I'm commandeering your mountain bike.
16:14After a steep 10% climb out of Inversnaid we wound our way along the gorgeous shores of Loch Arklot and then down to Loch Arn before a welcome gradual descent into Aberfoyle.
16:33The gravel roads here are what dreams are made of.
16:36Wide open and super fast we couldn't stop grinning the whole way home.
16:44So I'm on Ruben's mountain bike and er, it's great.
17:04So comfortable compared to the gravel bike but it's a little bit slow.
17:10And I have now been dropped by Catherine and Kerry.
17:15That puff of dust going up over the crest of the hill is Catherine and Kerry.
17:21So, it's a tough ride.
17:40With 85km ticked off we rolled into Aberfoyle caked in dust and baked by the sun.
17:49As promised the ride had really featured a little bit of everything.
17:53From 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.
18:03It was a big day.
18:04It was a big day.
18:05It was a big day.
18:06It was a big day.
18:07It's definitely a whole day route that isn't it?
18:10Full on.
18:11So worth it.
18:12I did worry that was a bit giddy with wanting to show you everything but I think it was worth it.
18:16We asked you for the most epic ride you could put together in Aberfoyle and you did it.
18:26I think it's safe to say.
18:27Yeah, we've had it all.
18:28Honestly.
18:29I completed the brief.
18:30Yeah you did.
18:31And we made it back.
18:32Even if we were one bike down.
18:33Yeah we were one bike down but thanks to drone pilot Ruben's generosity, he walked home.
18:39Well three of us have made it back.
18:42Yeah.
18:43Goes without saying.
18:44That's the most epic ride you could put together in Aberfoyle.
18:46And you did it.
18:47I think it's safe to say.
18:48I've had it all.
18:49Honestly.
18:50I completed the brief.
18:51Yeah you did.
18:52And we made it back.
18:53Even if we were one bike down.
18:54We've made it back.
18:55Yeah.
18:56Goes without saying.
18:57If you want to see the route that we've ridden today.
18:58It will be in the description of the video below.
19:00And for everything else.
19:01Aberfoyle gravel riding.
19:03Check out Kerry's collections.
19:05Because she's done so much work putting it all together.
19:08Putting Aberfoyle on the map.
19:09Yeah.
19:10The true queen of Aberfoyle.
19:11Always happy to share my knowledge.
19:13There's so much good stuff on there.
19:15Definitely to earth taking the time before you come up to have a look and find some absolute belters of rides and trails.
19:21If you have enjoyed this video then please do give us a thumbs up and subscribe to Cycling Weekly YouTube channel.
19:27And leave us a comment in the comment section below telling us what you loved.
19:30And where's it you'd come and ride in the amazing place that is Aberfoyle.
19:34Now we'll be back soon with some more great adventure content.
19:37And we'll see you then.
19:38We'll see you then.
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