- 7 weeks ago
Follow along on an epic adventure through Aberfoyle, also known as Gravelfoyle. Watch as a group of cyclists explore miles of traffic-free gravel roads, guided through the beautiful Trossachs National Park by a local expert.
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00:25It'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.
00:54Now all we needed was a guide, so we met it was Kerry McPhee, a local shredder was an
01:00encyclopedic 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
01:17eat your lunch and go down the south side and there's loads of different types of gravel
01:22as well.
01:22You've got fat gravel, you've got fast gravel, you've got single track, you've got tech,
01:26so this is an ideal place 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
01:33spoilt for options and spoilt for terrain.
01:36Feeling a little apprehensive to be honest, like I'm really excited about this route, it
01:41looks 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,
01:48like 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, whereas
01:57the second half looks properly wild and a bit of the West Highland Way, like really a bit
02:03more remote, so I think that will be really stunning.
02:05It's pretty tough, but it's a good loop.
02:08Pretty tough for you or pretty tough for them?
02:10Pretty tough for them, because they don't know what's coming.
02:16Our route has something of a rude awakening, climbing for the first five kilometres out
02:21of Aberfoyle before winding through the beautiful Trossocks forest roads up to Loch Vinnaker.
02:26We'll ride the southern shore before striking across to Loch Acre before heading south and back
02:32towards Aberfoyle, but not before taking in the sights of Loch Drunky.
02:36But our ride doesn't end there, instead we head out the other side of Aberfoyle and into
02:41the true wilderness of the Trossocks, 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 of Loch
02:54Lomond and a chance for a break at the Inversnade Hotel.
02:57A 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 Weekendren event this would
03:21be the start line of the Hill Clown.
03:23It is a hill!
03:24It is a hill!
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 do much tarmac on this ride.
03:36Pretty much!
03:36I think this is maybe like 200-400 metres of tarmac and then we'll do gravel after that.
03:41Music to my ears!
03:43Woohoo!
04:26Look at this!
04:29It's very cloudy, very atmospheric, although I think it's going to burn off.
04:35I think we might get better weather this afternoon, which is nice, but these gravel roads are so
04:40cool.
04:40I 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.
04:55I carry myself and Catherine able just to ride along and chat.
04:58It's such a refreshing way to ride.
05:34You know when you make crashes, and for a split second, you really want to laugh?
05:40But you shouldn't laugh because you need to make sure that they're okay first.
05:43Once that was all clear, it was just so funny.
05:45It was just like a real slow-mo tumble.
05:48Very embarrassing.
05:50It's just funny when somebody crashes.
06:02Fifteen kilometres into our ride, after climbing out of Aberfoyle and stretching out along rocky
06:08tracks and winding our way along the southern shores of Loch Venneker, we reach Acre Farm,
06:13the perfect place for an ice cream break.
06:22I was glad to reach Acre Farm because Kerry had told us a lot about the delicious ice cream,
06:27which I can confirm was really delicious.
06:30I think the elderflower one I had had been foraged from the village like two days ago,
06:35which is super cool.
06:36And there's loads of animals here, which I'm really excited about.
06:39But back to the route, yeah, fab so far.
06:43If I said gravel foil, what does that mean to you?
06:47Gravel foil is Aberfoyle.
06:49It's the mecca for gravel in the UK at the moment, I think.
06:55Have you seen an increase in cyclists?
06:57Yeah, very much so.
06:59I mean, lockdown was amazing here.
07:01The number of people who came out of their homes and could enjoy the roads and the tracks
07:07for maybe the first time in a long time.
07:10And the number of casual, recreational and kind of semi-pro racers kind of whizzing around the woods here
07:16is phenomenal these days.
07:18When we came to the farm, we knew there was the Great Trussox Path running through it
07:22and the Felix Weiss Drive adjacent.
07:24So setting up a business that would cater to sustainable travel,
07:28people out, recreational, cycling and walking was key to our business.
07:32And people do.
07:33People stop.
07:33People in cars don't stop.
07:35Everyone on a bike or walking around the loch sees the benefits,
07:41sees the slower pace and can stop and enjoy it.
07:45That's what we're here for, to give them that experience.
07:47That we're here.
07:47This is health and.
08:03It's the última passiert.
08:04And so we...
08:06What we need is the biggest travellers.
08:13We're there and guys are still one hour ones.
08:13But your man actually sure like you're a millionaire at sea trip or things until every day before
08:13You don't run darf aficial day.
08:14You should spendơ passtmpath and know
08:16So it's the worst for us.
08:16I could literally say I'm not perfect.
08:17The thing is.
08:48Kerry McPhee, you've done a lot of plotting on Khmut, haven't you?
08:52Yeah, I love using Khmut for my plots.
08:55How many kilometres of trails do you think you've worked out on Khmut?
09:01Oh, hunners, that's a good Scottish word.
09:04Hunners! Hunners!
09:06Hundreds of trails on Khmut.
09:08Hundreds of trails.
09:09I have got a Khmut collection of my gravel foil routes,
09:11and it goes as far as lots of parts of the West Highland Way,
09:15and then there's South gravel foil, North gravel foil, it's massive!
09:18And there's stuff that I haven't done yet.
09:19Definitely goes without saying that you should check out Kerry's Khmut collections
09:24and all the things we'll post on the Cycling Weekly Khmut profile
09:27if you want to dig out some great routes, because Kerry, you know them all.
09:31Yeah, I was greedy when I was trying to plot something out for you guys.
09:35We're going in on epic today, because I just want you to see it all and feel it all.
09:39Awesome. Well, let's crack on, because we have a long way to go.
09:58This is a classic gravel foil section of trail.
10:02We've just done the switchbacks up to the aqueduct.
10:04So, where does this aqueduct go?
10:06So, I think this aqueduct comes from Glen Fingless Reservoir,
10:11which used to be a little settlement, and they flooded it,
10:13so that they could provide water to Glasgow during,
10:17I think there was a cholera outbreak or something,
10:19and they needed some fresh water pumped into this city,
10:23and they came to Abraffal, because it's so lovely.
10:25Of course!
10:26So, we've just gone beneath the aqueduct,
10:29which, whenever you reference gravel foil, you always see a picture of that.
10:34Clean Earth your futuro.
11:01You will see a river of my Might as have been amazing.
11:06So 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 15 kilometres of climbing out of Aberfoyle was close to 300 metres of elevation we reached
11:45the summit of the Koma climb which is followed by a formidable descent down to the shores of Loch Lomond.
11:52It's wicked isn't it? What a day we've got. It's alright. You see it all the time.
11:59So what's up next Kerry? We've got some descent. The Komoot profile is showing a pretty steep downhill.
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? Yeah we are. We're juggling quite a lot actually.
12:14So it's a big descent. Yeah it's like a thousand feet or something. Yeah a thousand feet boiling day.
12:20And there's Loch Lomond and you're like trying to take in the view but you can't because you've got to
12:24hold on to your brakes. Absolutely amazing.
12:43I think anyone could do the the Koma route definitely and the Koma descent although it's
12:50gnarly it does have switchbacks so you can do one little section and then stop and rest and then
12:55do the next section and stop and rest. I wouldn't recommend it in reverse though because it is a
13:00stinker of a climb the other way. And if you stop and rest it means you get to also appreciate
13:04the views
13:05of Loch Lomond as you descend. So yeah I'd say it's probably an epic sort of loop but it has
13:11a bit of
13:11everything.
13:11music
13:42tell me about that descent Katherine that was tricky I had to walk a couple of meters there
13:49so steep wasn't it it was like rocky bouldery sort of washed out fat crap
13:56like if you don't pick your line you're just in so much trouble yeah and then Kerry went yeah it's
14:03it's pretty gnarly with just one break Kerry's front brake doesn't work although just three
14:11kilometers in lengths the stretch along the banks of Bonnie Loch Lomond features some of
14:15the most unforgiving terrain we've encountered with stream crossings and rocky scrambles this
14:21was true hiker bike territory we were just walking along and from behind us both we just heard this
14:41massive crunch and we look round and Rupert had had quite an accident so we're just currently trying
14:50to work out what we're going to do next because Rupert does no longer have a rear mech oh that's
14:56not
14:56ideal so it's not the hangar that snaps um it is the hangar is yeah the hangar is blown wow
15:03you're
15:04lucky we're on the hiker bike yeah totally walking anyway
15:20the West Hallingway is quite hike a bike anyway but he literally had to hike the bike the whole
15:27way along and so yeah for Rupert it was funny but now that I realize we're kind of quite far
15:36away
15:36from Arbor Foyle I'm a little bit filled with a bit more pity for him
15:54so I bent my rear mech in the crash and then I snapped it off on the West Highland Way
15:59and now I need to find a solution so I can do the rest of the ride
16:03and I think that solution is going to be stealing our drone pilot Ruben's bike
16:10um so sorry Ruben but I'm commandeering your mountain bike
16:23after a steep 10% climb out of Inversnaid we wound our way along the gorgeous shores of
16:28Loch Arklot and then down to lock on before a welcome gradual descent into Aberfoyle the gravel
16:34roads here are what dreams are made of wide open and super fast we couldn't stop grinning the whole
16:40way home
17:01so I'm on Ruben's mountain bike and uh it's great so comfortable compared to the gravel bike but
17:09it's a little bit slow and I have now been dropped by Catherine and Kerry that puff of dust going
17:18up
17:19over the crest of the hill is Catherine and Kerry so it's a tough ride
17:43with 85 kilometers ticked off we rolled into Aberfoyle caked in dust and baked by the sun
17:50as promised the ride had really featured a little bit of everything from wide open remote mountain vistas
17:56epic hiker biking and fast gravel roads we'd been blown away by the riding on offer and the community that
18:02it fostered
18:23is definitely a whole day route that isn't it um full on so worth it I did worry that was
18:30a bit
18:31greedy day with wanting to show you everything but I think it was worth it we asked you for
18:35the most epic ride you could put together in Aberfoyle and you did it I think it's safe to say
18:41yeah we had it all honestly I completed the brief yeah we made it back even if we're one bike
18:45down
18:46yeah we were one bike down but thanks to drone pilot Ruben's generosity he walked home well three of us
18:54have made it back yeah goes without saying that if you want to see the route that we've ridden today
18:59it
18:59will be in the description of the video below and for everything else Aberfoyle gravel riding
19:04check out Kerry's collections because she's done so much work putting it all together putting
19:09Aberfoyle on the map yeah the true queen of Aberfoyle always happy to share my knowledge there's so much
19:15good stuff on there definitely to earth taking the time before you come up to have a look and find
19:19some
19:19absolute belters of rides and trails if you have enjoyed this video then please do give us a thumbs up
19:25and
19:25subscribe to cycling weekly youtube channel and leave us a comment in the comment section below
19:30telling us what you loved and whether you'd come and ride in the amazing place that is Aberfoyle now
19:35we'll be back soon with some more great adventure content and we'll see you then
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