Cover image credit: Andrew Harper

Our adventure started at 9:30pm on a Tuesday evening in late May, when Inverness was still in nearly-full daylight. We cycled away from the train station, our bikes laden with everything we needed for the next 6 days: our beds, our food, our shelter. We had the slightly over-ambitious plan of cycling just over 400 miles to Carlisle in just under a week; this would mean a daily average of 60-70 miles, which would have been a lot even for a one-day ride without heavily-laden bikes to contend with. The plan was to follow Sustrans route 7, which links up Inverness and Sunderland, via the Cairngorms, the Trossachs, Galloway Forest Park, and (beyond Carlisle) the North Pennines.

This adventure started when we found cheap train tickets from York to Inverness. We’d done a total of one bike-packing trip up to that point, along Hadrian’s Wall from South Shields to Carlisle (part of Sustrans route 72). This was only two days of cycling, and we stayed overnight at a B&B; this next trip would be a real step-up, but we like an adventure and cycling across Scotland is surely the perfect holiday. To prepare, we did some big one-day bike rides out to the coast, a lovely weekend gravel riding in Dumfries and Galloway, and a “test run” from York to Durham with all of our gear strapped to our bikes. 

Cycling out of Inverness, suddenly our only cares in the world were immediate ones: Where will we sleep? Will we get there before the rain comes? We opted for a quiet campsite 10 miles outside Inverness, and the rain came down heavily just as we finished pitching our tent. The next morning we were packing down in the rain and a haze of midges, when a fellow bikepacker from Germany brought over his bottle of Smidge for us to use. We exchanged plans and stories; he was cycling all the way from John O’Groats to Lands End, and was the first of many other bikepackers we would chat to over the next few days. We were soon to learn that this was a sport for friendly, generous people who liked an adventure and the stories that go with it.

We set out for our day cycling through the Cairngorms with only a loose plan in mind. The Scottish wild camping laws meant that we could pitch our tent at any suitable spot, so our plan was to find somewhere around 60 miles from where we set off that morning. Rain was forecast but we ended up being very lucky, with a heavily-overcast day that meant we didn’t need to worry about heat or sunburn, but also no rain until the last 10 miles. The cycle route was impressively well-signposted and bike-friendly; while it follows some of the major roads through the Cairngorms and towards Glasgow, for the most part the cycling was quiet, car-free, and wonderfully peaceful. And of course, the views were some of the best you could ask for.

We wild camped next to Loch Ericht that evening, just outside Dalwhinnie. Looking on the map I was so impressed to see how far we had travelled since setting off from Inverness, less than 24 hours before. I was worried about how my legs would cope with getting back on the bike the next day, and the next, and the next… but the ease of our schedule and the fact that we were taking a gentle pace with the heavy bikes meant that I soon warmed back up to the cycling each day. 

Each day continued in the same vein – more beautiful scenery, wonderful, well-sign-posted bike routes, lovely people, nothing much to worry about apart from where to sleep, and where to get food and water. My favourite day was the day through the Trossachs, when we woke up next to Loch Tay, having had a beautiful swim the night before. I was covered in tick bites and my stomach was feeling pretty awful, and I was sure I couldn’t do another 70 miles of cycling and needed some rest. As it happens, this section of the route is almost entirely forest trails – perfectly cyclable, but green and wild and away from everything. This was probably the best day of cycling I have ever had and I soon forgot about the stomach ache (and removed the ticks!). That night we arrived in Dumbarton, just outside Glasgow, where we had a B&B booked. Finishing the day with pizza and a real bed was also rather wonderful!

Overall, I was surprised at how well my body adapted to the challenge, and my ability not only to keep going but also to have a wonderful time, even 300 miles in to the route. Of course, there were some low points, and moments where I thought I couldn’t continue (including tears at the bottom of one of countless hills on day 5, when I just couldn’t face another hill). Each time, I had something sweet (we got through many many bars of chocolate) and gave myself a moment to feel negative about it all, and then I got back on my bike and kept going. Much like a metaphor for life.

After the quiet of cycling almost 400 miles, the chaos of Gretna Green felt strange and surreal, and also very sad that we were about to leave Scotland for our end-point at Carlisle Castle. Passing the “Welcome to England” sign was a strange mix of joy (look how far we’ve come!) and sadness (the adventure is almost over); it was never a given that we would finish, as so much can happen on the way. An injury or a major mechanical issue can end a bike adventure quickly. But here we were – back on the busy (comparatively) roads of England and in the final 10 miles of our trip. We did a victory loop of Carlisle Castle, and then headed to the station for our train home.

A few people have said that they wished they could do something “like that” when hearing about our trip. I didn’t know that I could do it either, until I tried and got to the end. We had options so that we could change plans as needed – Glasgow being an obvious drop-out point if we weren’t running to schedule. People on the route were always happy to chat and help as needed, and if another bikepacker passed us while we were stopped they would always check that we were ok. We agreed that our daily mileage was a little too high, and 50-mile days would have suited us better, allowing us more time to enjoy the scenery, spend more time in the places we rode through, and swim in more of the lochs that we passed too quickly. This is definitely something that we will repeat, and we’re already talking about more Scotland trips, and some bigger adventures in Europe. Part of the fun of our bikepacking trips has been linking up rail and bike routes to make for cheap, accessible and sustainable adventuring. Just remember to book your bike on the train in advance! 

See more of this adventure on Instagram @cathe.laing.