Best gravel bike route in the Ochils, Central Scotland

[@kennethkuhl1188]

Very nice trip into this beautiful area. Thank you for sharing.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Thank you too Kenneth

[@johnholden1581]

That’s one to do on the way up to the Cairngorms, thanks for another great video.

[@boliverlubey3841]

Great video. My home town. I’ve not put that route together before, but will do now

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Hi - in the video description there's a link to a collection of routes which run from this one and they might be helpful.

[@stephenbrown5844]

Simon, just brilliant my friend. Love your programmes 🇬🇧👊😁❤️

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Thanks Stephen

[@waveydaveydiver]

Simon really like this one because it reminds of a trip I’ve done to wakes Afan Forest where you ride a trail called skyline which goes through a wind farm. Still enjoying catching up 😀

[@ardnfast]

Another great video. Well done Simon and Sean. Looking forward to seeing what else you can come up with. Cheers

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Oh we have a few plans...

[@rustybrockmann2344]

I’ve only listened to your podcasts, and enjoyed them immensely I might add, but just found the KZbin channel. This is great, really liked the video, your enthusiasm, modesty and sense of humor. I’m now a subscriber and looking forward to catching up with past videos. Thanks.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

That's kind of you to say Rusty. I'm glad you've found us here too.

[@standrewpics]

All them wind farm tracks makes things easy to get around those hills , biking and good tracks on the hills is good for the shorter autumn winter days. Good vid.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

The windfarm tracks, the Landrover ones and hydro tracks - all scars on the landscape but useful for gravel bikes.

[@SteevDouglas]

Was just sent a link to your channel and this is awesome, this video is super handy as I do ride around Dollar but hadn't done the entire route in the video before so that's the plan once this weather clears.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Glad you like it Steev - have a great ride when the snow goes.

[@TheScottiedog1]

Great video of my local area. Spent many happy hour this year exploring the Ochils on my mountain bike. I've just got a gravel bike so look forward to this route and others. The full traverse of the Ochils is a class long day out & using mainly quiet roads you can cycle back to start

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Glad you enjoyed the video Dave. You might bump into Sean on one of your rides

[@nealewalker3938]

Simon I’m moving to Silver Glen in a few months, buying Orbea Terra H30 or Merida Silex 700. This video is perfect information for me. Thank you.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Sean has some Orbea bikes - lovely! You might get one of the 40 barrels of silver from the mine (tho prob not) Neale!

[@seanmcfarlane2011]

Nice one Neale. Perfect machines for the area

[@mvee05]

i just got terra h30 and its great! let me know how you find yours!! also great video!

[@edmccall390]

Epic scenery! Excellent video!

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Yep - not quite the highlands but amazing amount of space and views in the central belt.

[@albacampers7501]

Fantastic video! Looks a great route 🤩

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

It was a great day out and a new route for me - the last time I've been able to ride with Sean due to all the Covid restrictions.

[@samuelkmaina]

Thank you for taking us on another adventurous ride. I couldn't help imagine what things those hills have seen over time, and what those wind turbines will mean to future generations, especially should history loose records of what they are - they might think of them as a Stonehenge of some sort.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

That was my thought at the top when I said Geology in action, but didn’t have the shots to make my musings work. The Ochils Fault dropped all that land, it was covered in Carboniferous deposits, which is why there were so many coal mines from there to Fife. Imagine those coal ships on the Forth way below too. And it’ll all be there once Covid, us and everything else is gone. Quite a spot.

[@samuelkmaina]

@@alwaysanotheradventure one word, breathtaking.

[@samsmith7866]

Another great video Simon, fantastic area for riding.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

I was impressed Sam - first time for me.

[@PureMadMetal]

Thanks Simon another route to add to my must do list

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Tick!

[@keithmaclure9101]

Excellent as usual Simon.Nice to see some of my (almost) old territory too! 👍

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

I didn't know you rode in this part of the world Keith?

[@keithmaclure9101]

@@alwaysanotheradventure Lived in Kinross as a teenager. My first mtb-ing adventures were had in the Ochils. 👍

[@davidcrampton3122]

Great video Simon, and well within my range, living in SW Fife.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Good one for you - lots to do around there David

[@stephanfinkel7798]

Great Video. Glad I found your channel. Greetings from Munich!

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Great to have you with us Stephan

[@georgemills2302]

Another great video, well done! I’ve got an Osprey back pack and concur, they are excellent 👍

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

First time I used on George and I'm impressed.

[@eliterunning]

Sir, I am binge-watching all your videos. And tomorrow I am going on an adventure ride😂😂 .

[@gwynwrex]

Great video, will have to wait until next year,

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

It'll still be there (long after we've all gone!) Gwyneth

[@grahamparker9096]

Superb Simon! Really good.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Thanks Graham

[@jonathangreen7111]

Another really interesting video. Thanks.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Glad you enjoyed it Jonathan

[@jonathangreen7111]

@@alwaysanotheradventure I always do 👍

[@clobber66]

Great video as usual really nice to see someone else towing on climbs not just me. Just a side note share the link to Torm cycle clothing just purchased some it great quality gear at a good price. Keep safe

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Glad you like the Torm gear. Not sure what you mean by towing? I wasn't getting a pull, just struggling.

[@HughDWallace]

Another excellent video! I've not been into the Ochils either but they are on my hit list for walking this winter. I was aware of the windfarm road up past the lochs as I've scouted it for a road-bike trip I want to do as well but this adds a whole other dimension (though I'd probably go for an MTB instead). Have you ridden within Queen Elizabeth Forest Park (from Aberfoyle)? I think you'd like that and I would like to see the videos (hint, hint). Great collaboration with Sean; I remember watching him at the Celtman on the Adventure Show. An impressive athlete. I know lots of people love to hate windfarms but the road access the provide (alongside the hydro roads and stalkers paths on estates) are excellent for (us) cyclists even if (we) walkers don't much enjoy them as much (it gets complicated when you sit on both sides of the 'fence'). As for them spoiling the view; well, I don't want them everywhere in the hills but I think they are quite elegant pieces of engineering and I've always found smog and smoke belching chimneys visually intrusive too.

[@seanmcfarlane2011]

Hi Hugh. Yes Aberfoyle and the Trossachs in general are very much on our list!

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

I have really mixed views on windfarms, but I'm not jumping into that bath of worms. I'll take a look at the QE Forest Park too - thanks for the idea Hugh. That first Celtman programme - I edited that for the BBC so I watched hours of Sean, Alex Glasgow and the others. Such an epic race.

[@hardmtnbiker]

Truly amazing trails to ride!

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

I enjoyed my visit there and hope to get back there again this year

[@RohanTheBT]

Lovely views from up there!

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

It really was good - the GoPro couldn't really do it justice

[@chrisjwoodall]

Awesome, what a day out!

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

It was great fun - drier ground would have helped Chris.

[@Martyboy84]

Love these videos!

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Glad you like them Martin, thank you! Please subscribe, hit notifications and tell yer friends!

[@Stoo61]

This is local to me. Total respect for the gravel bike, I like it, I want one and will probably get one in the not too distant future. Great gravel riding in Scotland. However, the reason I dont hike is because its a slog up and a slog down, the scenery is the only prize. While on a mountain bike, it can be a slog up but you get the views and the reward of the descent. I feel this sort of riding has elements of both, in that the descent can be fun but I know the trails off the top of Ben Cleuch and they are real fun and fast, at points steep and wide n slippery etc on a MTB but must be super sketchy on a gravel bike....for me, seems like a wasted opportunity. (If of course you have the luxury of several bicycles). Just my tuppence worth! Loved the video! EDIT: To clarify, any day out on 2 wheels out side is awesome. Between doing this gravel bike ride and doing something that isn't riding bikes. I'll go and struggle up n down n fear for my life all day long on the bike! :oD

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

I completely get this, and thanks for phrasing it so nicely. Sean's wife looked at this video and said, "surely a MTB would be better"? And you know what - in those conditions she (and you) are quite possibly right. If we'd been on MTBs we could have taken a faster and probably more exciting descent route too. However, with better (ie firmer) ground conditions we could easily have extended this ride, using the advantage of the gravel wheels for a faster return trip back along the valley. Oh, and I don't have a decent MTB, so it;s gravel for me. All too often I end up thinking, "I should really be on a mountain bike", but somehow manage to find a way through. It's just a slightly different type of fun.

[@Stoo61]

@@alwaysanotheradventure I often find myself descending gravel on my TCR (swearing and giggling in equal measure) there is definitely an enjoyment to being under biked sometimes! :)

[@seanmcfarlane2011]

Great post. Yup on the day if we'd had decent MTBs I think it'd have been quicker and more comfortable. And because of that perhaps more enjoyable but for me part of the fun of gravel is taking on routes you usually mtb. This was really about showing a route up there that you could gravel bike, particularly as as you say not everyone has both gravel and MTBs. Certainly in April and May the conditions up there were much drier so it would have been a tighter call then. Plenty classic routes out there were the gravel versus mtb debate rages on. WHW etc. It does depend so much on the pilot and I do reckon a top gravel biker would surprise many of us on how quickly they can cover this type of terrain. Simon - I think we need to do the best ochils mtb ride.....!

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

@@seanmcfarlane2011 I've been thinking I need an MTB...

[@92redferrari]

Great video I'm just a few miles east of dollar and I often do the Loch leven trail. You should give that a try. Only 12 miles so just a warm up for you. Bob

[@seanmcfarlane2011]

The Loch Leven trail is great for gravel for sure!! I really like it. Just need to be mindful of walkers but never had a problem so far.

[@Tempus__Fugitive]

Can always add a climb up the Benarty Hill track from the RSPB centre, perfect gravel bike territory.

[@92redferrari]

@@Tempus__Fugitive thanks need to try that some day. I take it you go down the other side of benarty? Mountain bike with suspension not required?

[@Tempus__Fugitive]

@@92redferrari yeah you can head straight down the other side on a forestry track (been up and down that in a Fire Engine plenty times so a gravel bike should be fine!). There's also the option to turn off and head off to trig point to the east of the hill then back to the forestry track via the Benarty steps route and the Hill Road. Great loop if you enjoy climbing in the bike.

[@92redferrari]

@@Tempus__Fugitive thanks for the heads up. Certainly want to try this soon looks a good and interesting route. Gets me off the constant flats of Loch leven circular. Cheers 👍😊

[@grahamhaines9931]

Great video. Ben Cleuch is on my list of things to do and this looks like a great alternate way of getting up there. Many thanks!

[@stephenbrown5844]

Fantastic just like my homelands, Northumberland n the cheviots 😁👊🇬🇧

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Mine too, and you're right. I hadn't previously realised how similar they were to the area around Alwinton

[@therealdelboy]

So you think knobblier tyres would have been better for you? Don't know what Sean was running but it looked like 35mm or thereabouts

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

I have the ideal tyres in the shed! Sean's were knobblier but I'm not sure what they were and he's now out in Cyprus for a race.

[@seanmcfarlane2011]

Hi Del. I did have a fairly worn Conti cyclocross speed on the back but changed it the night before to a trusty Schwalbe Land Cruiser (35). And I was glad I did. Heavier but does allow you to cycle much more of that sort of stuff albeit slowly. Front was a fairly basic Donnelly (previously Clement) 35. I did a bigger gravel ride a couple of days later and vowed to get back to a tubeless set up. I'm convinced that's the way forward for gravel.

[@davidjcooke]

Great video. Are there locked gates to navigate? I have an Ebike and it is heavy to get over gates. A number of marked gravel routes in the Ochils are blocked by locked gates despite the Access code.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

No locked gates but there was one section where we shouldered the bikes - I think that was to get over a stile.

[@susanbellamy4225]

Coming from Tasmania Australia can I ask if the mountains ever had forests or bush and cleared or were always bear .great videos by the way .Graeme

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Hi Graeme. I’m no history buff but the short answer is yes. However, it was a long time ago. The Romans named Scotland ‘Caledon’ after a mythical Greek hunting forest. That’s where we get the synonym for Scotland “Caledonia”. Quite the extent of the tree coverage I don’t know - unlikely the high Munro tops - but the bare hills and lower glens for sure.

[@gcsScotland]

Great ride video again - in an area that I clearly now need to explore - one of those you just pass on the way north😉 Like the idea of power companies opening wind farm access roads to cyclists - think there will be lots of scope in the border hills north of Moffat. Do you know details of groups working towards this? Thanks.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

I don't Graham - I suspect it'll be local MTB / cycling clubs. But i agree, this isn't the most obvious place to come to in Scotland but it's good.

[@weegiewheeler]

Route nicked. Going to try this.

[@kirstyrobb4098]

Really enjoyed this video, looks like a great area to ride. I always have to remind myself to plan shorter routes if its gravel or I'd never get home! Does sean have a channel or Instagram?

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Hi Kirsty - thanks for the Kofi. Yes Sean's on Insta @seanxtri Glad you like the video.

[@suburbia2050]

Are these your 650b wheels?

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Mine (Simon) are 650b with Soecialized tyres, better suited to hard gravel. I think Sean was on 700c with knobblier tyres. He might chime in later.

[@sureshchinnappa2290]

Si what gears do you use to get up those steep hills? You make it look easy😀.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

The cassette is 11-42 with a 40t chainring. Frankly, that's a bit big and i've thought about switching it out for something smaller but never got around to it. For serious off-road bikepacking I'd like to drop to 34T on the front.

[@sureshchinnappa2290]

Thank you Si

[@chriszacaroli5683]

Nice playground

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Sean's lucky to have that on his doorstep. Mind you, the highlands are pretty good too.

[@damienm8416]

I don't get the whole gravel thing . There is a reason why early mtb's went from drops to what we have today.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

I completely understand that Damien, and I felt the same until I rode one. I tried to set out my thoughts in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5jKqnh3nJJoirM Good thing we're all different!

[@sylvainbernaers]

you should wear your helmet more towards the nose.for safety

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

I'll look into that, thanks.

[@alexmorgan3435]

I enjoyed this. Looked like a good route. Shame about the eyesore wind turbines.

[@suburbia2050]

They are vital and have a structural beauty in their simplicity, unlike say pylons which not only look fussy and cheap but could actually be buried instead.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

They polarise opinion and I really don’t want this to be a forum for that discussion fellas - hope you’re ok with that. Ta.

[@wulliedornan4787]

My part of the world I must be a softy, I wouldn’t take my gravel bike on the hills, looks more MTB territory or those with far greater tech skills.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

I was genuinely apprehensive to ride with Sean on this but it was fine. It would have been better a month earlier after less rain on the soggy ground, or on a bike with knobblier tyres.

[@PiquePictures]

Beautiful scenery! Great video!

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Thank you very much!