A Tapestry of Landscapes, Culture, and Riding: This is the Scottish MTB Expedition - Days 0-3

Preparation for this bucket-list worthy adventure begins early. In fact, I like to consider our initial phone call as the first step with guests. We take the time to talk in detail about your riding experience and what you'd like to get out of this experience. We take the time to thoroughly understand you, your vibe, and your goals - so that we can not only make sure you're the right fit for the expedition, but even more importantly, it's the right fit for you. This allows us to truly meet every one of our guests where they are at, setting them up for the ride of their lives!

PRE-EXPEDITION

From the moment a guest registers, they are added to our Sportsense Remote coaching app, which allows them to upload riding clips for detailed visual feedback and ask questions. This, along with the expedition group chat, allows us to iron out any bad habits, answer any looming questions in real time, get a sense of who we'll be riding with, and ultimately, remove any pre-trip nerves, setting us up to hit the ground running when we meet in Inverness.

DAY 0

We advise arriving in Inverness the day before the tour start date to make sure any flight or luggage delays don’t spoil your adventure.

Jake and our expert local guide Matt, will meet you in Inverness the following morning. Our partners for this expedition, H+I Adventures, have a handy guide on how to spend 24 hours in Inverness.

DAY 1

Today is the day we've all been waiting for, and it doesn't disappoint! We whisk you up in the tour van in the morning and transfer you straight to H+I Adventures HQ for your welcome briefing with coffee and cake. Here we'll assemble our bikes/setup rentals, before heading off on our first ride together as a team.

Pedalling directly from the H+I Adventures HQ, we'll climb into the local network of enduro trails where we'll make sure our bikes are dialled and our legs are warmed up for the week ahead. This ride is a chance to come together as a group, set collective goals and work on finding our flow. With a steady progression of trails, we'll tackle features and build confidence for the days to come with a strong foundation. This lesser-known network of trails has a reputation for being steep and gnarly, although your expert guides will navigate you through and craft a ride that will leave you grinning from ear-to-ear.

We'll then return to H+I for a picnic-style lunch as we load up our van and get ready to depart. A short 45min drive south will take us to Aviemore, the outdoor capital of the Cairngorm Mountains and our home for the first couple of nights. Dinner this evening will be at Matt's favourite traditional pub, where the locals gather to share stories of their adventurous days out in the hills.

DAY 2

This morning will start with a hearty Highland breakfast as the anticipation builds for a day of riding the local enduro trails. We'll pedal directly from our guest house accommodation and climb up through the forest that soon reveals ribbons of singletrack in all directions.

This network of trails boasts some of Scotland's original enduro trails and is a classic riding destination that's not to be missed. Accessed via a mixture of forest roads and technical climbing trails we'll work hard for our descents, but the rewards are well worth it. With roots, rocks, slab rolls and loamy dirt, these trails highlight what makes the Cairngorms such a special place to ride. This morning will give an opportunity to progress our riding skills as we aim to broaden the tools at our disposal to tackle the challenging days ahead.

After lunch at a local cafe, and once we're fuelled up, we'll keep the wheels rolling. We'll cover more mileage and adventure into the landscape and Caledonian pine forests that make this place so beautiful.

DAY 3

This morning we'll say goodbye to Aviemore as we begin our traverse of Scotland and head west - but the enduro trails don't end here!

After breakfast, we'll take a short drive to Laggan, where a dedicated team of local trailbuilders have been working their magic in the forest. With over 20 miles of purpose-built trails to explore on one side of the valley, this is only the tip of the iceberg. This 3-4hr ride will mix it up between flowing trails with berms and tabletops and technical trails that have been crafted by hand to challenge even the most talented of riders. Laggan's network of natural trails are steep and at times committing, so now it's time to start putting your new skills to good use.

Once we've had our fill of these epic trails, we'll once again fuel up before driving onwards to the west coast. This 1hr45min drive takes us through the dramatic landscape of Scotland, where you'll notice the mountains begin towering above and the coastline reveals itself. Home to Scotland's coastal temperate forests, Lochaber is one of the most stunning and scenic areas to travel through.

This evening we'll have time to visit one of Scotland's most scenic beaches before sampling the local cuisine in our favourite seafood restaurants.

That's all for now. You can sign up for our email list to hear about the rest of the Scottish MTB Expedition - or check out the expedition webpage here! - Jake