Lesson 1 – it’s amazing what you get if you ask nicely

So I’ve brought a couple of prominent US YouTube MTB types over to Scotland for a big riding trip, and people in Scotland are excited. They’re going to get their trails featured to US audiences, they’re going to get attention from one of the biggest tourist markets in the world, and there’s a general sense of enthusiastic expectation. So when I ask to borrow a brand-new pick-up truck from a major brand, they say yes. And when I ask Scottish MTB brand Deviate whether Singletrack Sampler and BKXC could maybe forgo travelling with their own bikes and borrow a couple of top-spec Highlander enduro bikes, they say yes. We get clothes. Hats. Some fancy shoes. A couple of those new-fangled electronic hand-held bike pumps. There might not be much money in MTB, but the swag is not to be sniffed at.

Lesson 2 – If you have 3% body fat, you eat like a stoned teenager

Brian Kennedy, AKA BKXC, is in phenomenal shape. The man is  – there’s no other way to say it – irritatingly buff. The upside of this is that he can ride for hours up steep Scottish trails like a mountain goat on a promise. The downside is that he needs to eat constantly. Morning 1, 6.15 am, and he emerges from his tent whilst polishing off the remnants of a family-sized bag of crisps. No coffee, no water, just straight into the salt and vinegar before sunrise. As the trip progresses, I watch him casually demolish 4-egg breakfasts, enough Tunnocks teacakes to give a normal person both types of diabetes at once, and three regular meals a day without blinking.  If you or I ate like this, we’d barely have enough energy to read about mountain biking, let alone do it, but BKXC remains chipper throughout. Fitness is weird. 

Lesson 3 – There are roots, and there are Scottish roots

It’s been a wet summer, and we’re, you know, it Scotland. Despite that, our first shakedown ride on the Golfie trails of Innerleithen is relatively dry, and it turns out to be a blessing. Because even though I’ve been riding in UK forests for my whole riding life, and fancy myself a handy navigator of the wet root, these trails are something else. It’s as if the Hobbits built themselves a maze of staircases and then gave up on the job halfway through. Huge, kerb-sized roots criss-cross the descents at crazy angles, they are all glassy to the touch and tyre, and are almost always followed by a huge muddy hole, or another set of roots, or both. After I go OTB in the first five minutes, and BKXC nearly opens his femoral artery with a bar end, and someone slashes their tyre open, and Alex rips a whole rear brake lever off, we are all in solid agreement – this place is amazing, but it’s not for the faint-hearted. 

Lesson 4 – Divided by a common language

Our American guests are a seasoned and salty pair – veterans of hours in vans, stupid jokes and the kind of chitchat that doesn’t make it onto their YouTube videos. But even they are astounded by the level of casual profanity that passes for everyday conversation here in the UK. The fact that the worst word – you know which one – can be used in Scotland as a term of endearment, and that we all get to know one another by thinking of the worst possible thing we can say to test the waters of friendship, is a source of endless fascination. And also leads to some jaw-droppingly inappropriate attempts by the Yanks to try this stuff out on conversations of their own. Apologies should be issued all round to the various coffee shop staff, waiters and shop assistants who were confronted by a 6’ 1” American who looks like Jesus, cheerfully using foul language when trying to buy some Nurofen or something. It was his first time – he’ll figure it out.

Lesson 5 – Epic is never far away

Part of the brief for this trip is to make sure we get out onto some hillsides that really capture the epic nature of the Scottish landscape – wild rolling horizons, heather in all directions, that sort of thing. In my naivete, I’d imagined that required kitting up like Jason Statham in Expendables, before spending hours against a biting wind and sleeping in a draughty shed. Turns out that kind of thing is easily available just a short ride from town. We do it twice – once on a fantastic half-day ride over and down Heartbreak Ridge in Ballater, and again on a beautiful ridge loop called Gypsy Glen just outside Peebles in the Tweed Valley.  It’s a real eye-opener for me and the Yanks too – Scotland is blessed with multiple  locations where you can ride sculpted flow trails, gnarly Enduro trails, epic natural XC and breath-taking mountain descents, all within a few miles of each other. Fun, it seems, is never far away

Lesson 6 – Ride like you’re self-employed

I’ve been watching BKXC and Singletrack Sampler’s videos for years, and it’s a dream come true to be here, wheels on the ground, helping them make the content I used to just sit at home and watch instead of working. But the pressure of the camera is real. It takes a couple of near-fatal mistakes and a firm word with myself before I stop trying to show off for the camera. Brian – whose living depends on producing exciting riding content – takes the long view on several gnarly features, and decides to pass, because his long-term living could all too easily be thrown away in one moment of egotism. And Alex tells us all, over and over, to ride our own rides, forget about the camera, and not to go faster, higher or harder just because we want to look cool. A valuable lesson for riding in general, now I think about it. 

Lesson 7 – Comrie Croft is the MTB hub of your hippie dreams

The trail signs are hand-carved, and painted in bright colours. The hillside is dotted with Norwegian Kata tents, and VW campers. There’s an organic farm, and a tea plantation, and a shop that sells handmade soap and locally knitted hats and stuff. YOu can get married there.for God’s sake. So with all due respect to the committee-decorated, publicly-funded trailhead of the UK forestry commission, Comrie Croft isn’t just a hub with excellent trails – it’s a place to warm the soul of any mountain biker. Our hosts Em and Scott don;t just take us out all day on a selection of challenging trails filled with big rock rolls, slab descents and finely sculpted berms – they also build a big fire, grill up some delicious chicken kebabs, produce a pavlova as big as an Alsatian’s bed and then invite us up the top of the field for a sauna. Go there, as soon as you can – it’s absolutely  awesome.

Lesson 8 – Scotland makes mountain biking available as mental health therapy

One advantage of having a public body for MTB – Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland – is that they have time, resources and a remit to make MTB as much a part of public life as possible. To that end, when an occupational therapist who loved to ride came to DMBinS with an idea about using mountain bikes for therapy, they could do something about it. With help from NatureScot and some NHS training partners, there are now several MTB guides and skills coaches – Em and Scott from Comrie among them – who are qualified and funded to take people with mental health issues  out on rides. Anyone can refer themselves, or be referred by a GP, mental health nurse or hospital, and the only proviso is that they need to be able to ride a bike. After that, they can show up, get on a quality bike, and begin  learning how to ride berms, drops, descents and long climbs. The research into the benefits are in their early stages, but it looks like the results are going to be phenomenal. It turns out that managing risk, anxiety and self-doubt in an environment where you’re supported, physically engaged and immediately rewarded for every small success – every bump, jump and drop you ride – provides concrete proof that things can and will get better. Amazing.

Lesson 9 – Blood sugar and Wifi must be maintained

In a fit of giddy anticipation when planning this trip, DMBinS and I loaded the riding buffet with all kinds of delicious options, enough to satisfy even the most ravenous MTB appetite. But if you’re asking people to ride every single day for 10 days straight, it turns out that 4 hours a day is enough. Even if I hadn’t immediately felt the folly of my planning enthusiasm in my legs by morning 2, there’s just no way to get 7 people, all of whom are either filing, taking photographs, or being asked to go back up the trail and ride it again for the benefit of same, around a 2-hr ride in less than double the time. There are memory cards to be fussed with. Uploads, Lens changes. Stabilisation issues. The faff, every time we stop, threatens to engulf us every time. Next time I do this, I’ll make sure we plan one ride a day, with wifi at every location, and have dinner ready by 6pm. Sorry about the hungry wait fellas – a lesson learned. 

Lesson 10 – Scotland is pretty great

We rode dozens of trails, of all kinds, from dark forest roots to beautiful berms to rock slabs to jump trails, at two ends of the country. We were never more than a couple of hours from Edinburgh airport, or a few miles away from a bike shop, or an hour from a great meal, or a hello away from a welcome. Scotland has more variety of riding, packed into a smaller area, then anywhere else in the UK, and in places like Innterleitehn and Aboyne, the communities that understand, welcome and celebrate MTB culture in a way I’ve rarely seen outside the US. Even the old ladies in the tea rooms seemed to know the difference between Enduro and freeride, and had opinions on who might win the DH championship. I sincerely believe that our US YouTube guests had their eyes fully opened by the experience – I know I did. Scotland – you were pure dead brilliant.

If you’re inspired by Tim’s trip or  an enduro riding adventure abroad sounds appealing to you, it’s crucial that you have adequate insurance in place. Pedal Covers’s comprehensive mountain bike travel insurance will cover emergency medical expenses, trip cancellation, trip curtailment and trip abandonment whilst riding or racing.  If you want to cover your bicycle against damage whilst in the hands of the airline and also whilst out on the trails, Pedal Cover provide dedicated mountain bike insurance which offers worldwide cover. If you need some assistance, just give our friendly support staff a call on 0800 121 4424.

Tim can be found on Instagram – @timnwild