#Scotland

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The Misplaced Optimism of Summer: Riding Scotland’s Deeside Trail in October

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The Misplaced Optimism of Summer: Riding Scotland’s Deeside Trail in October

For the young men of post-war Britain, the train from London King’s Cross to Aberdeen was not unfamiliar. Hundreds of conscripts were required to board the carriages as part of their National Service. The train would pull away from the platform on a Friday night and arrive at the Scottish coastal city by Saturday mid-morning. Iconic red Routemaster buses exchanged for grey-stone buildings and seagulls. There was the novelty of a Highlands map, marked with unknown Gaelic quantities: Glens, Munros, and Gorms, and excitement for rural air, combined with blissful ignorance of the military enforced misery that lay ahead. Or so the old man told us.

Scotty Laughland X Komoot: A Sustainable Tour of Scotland’s Best Singletrack

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Scotty Laughland X Komoot: A Sustainable Tour of Scotland’s Best Singletrack

Enduro World Series racer turned YouTuber Scotty Laughland has traveled the world mountain biking, from British Columbia to Jamaica, but world events in recent years kept him closer to home than anticipated.

Born out of a fresh perspective on his local trails after the birth of his first child, Scotty set about sharing the gems he’s enjoyed over the years – as well as some thoughts on sustainable mountain biking development, the role of trail associations and how we can support these valuable networks.

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NORTH COAST: A Cycling Film by Restrap

In July 2020, a group of five friends had planned an epic tour of Europe, but plans changed. A new tour was cobbled together in a week, and the new destination was set: Scotland. The group would ride the famous North Coast 500, a legendary route along the rugged Scottish coastline, and then onto the Highlands. ‘NORTH COAST’ chronicles the reality of touring through harsh conditions, relentless weather and the challenges faced with a country fresh out of a pandemic lockdown…

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Keeping Up With The Cartel

Keeping Up With The Cartel is a new video series following the team behind the scenes of The Good Coffee Cartel, a specialty coffee roastery, and coffee-based shop in Glasgow, Scotland. Episode 1 follows Todd and Tony as they cycle 100 miles (160km) over the wonderful Scottish countryside to visit a wholesale customer for a coffee. They pick up some friends on the way and make some classic one-take promo to keep Courtney happy.

It’s coffee and cycling, need we say more…

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Dear Future Life

Mike is an American living in Scotland who’s been trying to figure out how to slide around in the Scottish mud for a few years. Over the first few months of winter, he shot this video as a pandemic lockdown project. The goal was to make something that will help him remember some moments on the bike, but without taking myself too seriously. While ultimately, this video is just a personal project, maybe people will be able to find some entertainment value in there somewhere. Maybe. What do you think?

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Built to Last

Filmed on locations featured in seven new and six existing cycling itineraries in the Cateran Ecomuseum, ‘Built to Last’ features Bob Ellis, founder of the Cateran Trail, Neil Tuer, owner of Alyth Cycles and Jane Wilkinson, willow weaver at Special Branch Baskets, with music from Scottish composer Dave Macfarlane. The film was produced as part of Travel for All Our Tomorrows – new regenerative tourism experiences in the Cateran Ecomuseum.

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Explore Your Boundaries: Mark Beaumont & Markus Stitz

Explore your Boundaries‘ was inspired by encouraging people to see familiar and local areas in unfamiliar ways, showing how great adventures can happen from your own front door. Filmed on a newly created gravel bike route, which follows the local authority boundary of the City of Edinburgh, and additional locations close to the Scottish Capital during January and February 2021, the short documentary from Markus Stitz and Mark Beaumont highlights the beauty and challenges of exploring places on two wheels in snow and ice.

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Elements of Luxury

The simplest things provide the most compelling case for build back better. Luxury, to me, is not defined by material goods, but by the very elements that make life beautiful: friends, nature, travel and the joy of two wheels…

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Distance

Filmed in June 2019 on locations around Loch Etive, The Pierhouse Hotel in Port Appin and the Isle of Lismore in Argyll, ‘Distance’ is the follow-up to ‘Wild About Argyll’, which was released in 2018. In his latest film adventurer and round the world cyclist Markus Stitz reflects on his solo bikepacking adventures in Scotland and how they help him cope with the social distancing measures during the lockdown imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Rainspotting

Pannier and Brother Cycles pulled together a great video documenting an bikepacking trip through Scotland’s Gloomy Grampians…

Alighting the Sleeper Train at the highest, remotest station on the West Highland Line, a group of cyclists head off on an opportunistic wintry journey to ride the old-established network of gravel drove roads, only to find themselves bogged-down exploring the alluring voids in between. That’s why they’re called push bikes, after all…