10 Days to Go: The Countdown Begins
10 days to go until our Gravel North 2026 Test Event
The routes are final, the riders are confirmed, the infrastructure is in place…now all we need are the weather gods to play their part…!
It has been a huge effort to get the Gravel North concept to this point and we have so many people to thank. We have a vision that we truly believe in, and we think that Gravel North can become an iconic event loved by many, but big things can only be achieved by asking others for help and seeking advice from all those who are experienced in so many different areas. It has been humbling to us to have received such help from so many so far on this journey. There are genuinely too many people to thank but to name a few:
Tim Ferguson (yes, Cat’s dad!) for the very generous loan of 20 tents
Kathryn Scott and the Torridon Mountain Rescue team
Emma Harrison from Visit Inverness for all of her wonderful support
Victoria and Clare from Prickly Thistle
Alexandra Verney and all at Novar Estate
Charlie and all at Glen Mhor Estate
Ruth Astle, for help with the route ideas
The kind folks at XOKO Bakery who will be supplying the riders with all the carbohydrate-based pastries that they can eat
Sid and Aanchal from Specscart for their generous support
Rob from Follow my Challenge
Mike Bedford and all at OGT, Tom Barras from Spatzwear and Tom Hill from Restrap
Kara Marni for her Instagram expertise
Rachel Levy, for helping us capture some brilliant content when the amazing OGT delivery landed!
Pete Grivas for our awesome route stickers
Christian Burdess, Iain Gibbons, Graham Pearce, Nina Pearce and all who helped with the early reconnaissance trips
Shane Green, for carving our brilliant first-ever Gravel North trophies
Pamela and Nick Pearce, and Kate Archer, for all their support with the catering and helping us make sure there will be plenty of food to keep the riders well-fuelled
Heather Pelosi, Mike Leworthy, Brogan from 93 Cycles, Markus Stitz, Kev Stacey from 42 Cycling, and many more…
…and of course, the 20 guinea pig bike riders, who have all generously given us their time to explore the concept of this whole thing!
For the test event, we wanted to find a gang of riders who would represent all types of bike rider. From pro-level gravel racer all the way through to enthusiast; all ages and both men and women. We are truly grateful for those who have stood up and offered their support for what is a completely unproven and experimental concept, and we’d like to give them all a shout out!
Adam Duggleby MBE; multiple world and paralympic champion across many cycling disciplines
Louis Herring; up and coming cycling superstar
Isaac Oliver; British junior Gravel Champion 2025
Kevin Wilson; experienced age group rider
Paul Cowland; roadie who’s now turning to gravel
Michael Cowland; MTB rider who has gone from wearing baggy clothes to lycra…!
Lizzie Hermolle; British Gravel Champion 2025
Jenny Powell; experienced racer on the road and sports nutritionist
Mike Bedford; lover of all things cycling and founder of OGT
Ben Watson; Multiple paralympic champion on the road
Carl Cavers; “very” experienced bike rider and racer. There’s nothing Carl hasn’t done!
Forbes Jackson; one half of the Jackson twins – fast, keen and young
Jonny Jackson; the other one
Graham Pearce; experienced age grouper – top 10 at Gralloch 2026
Kev Stacey; Highlander who has ridden it all
Iain Gibbons; enthusiastic age grouper who loves anything on two wheels
Metheven Bond; pro rider for Ribble’s Outlier gravel team
Emma and Ollie Harrison; Highlanders and keen bike riders both
…oh and let’s not forget our founders Sophie Wright (current British Gravel Champ), Jonny Brownlee (needs no introduction), Kat Karamani (GB esports racer) and Nina Pearce (gravel dreamer!)
For the test event, we have come up with a four-day concept which will incorporate five stages. The whole circus will meet just outside Inverness for the start of the journey over to the wild west coast. Day one – ‘Wyvis and the Ruins’ – is a tough start and will test the riders with a long 138k of riding and over 2,000m elevation gain. There’s no getting away from it – it will be a tough day in the saddle!
Day two will see the riders take on two separate stages. ‘Earmuffs’ is a relatively short sharp 50k stage for the morning. After which the riders will return to camp for some food and a short rest before they take on the ‘North Grit Crit’ – a 12 lap high-octane pan flat crit race around the estate roads.
Day three is another long day out as the riders hit ‘North Roads’. This stage has been designed to sap the riders gradually over the course of 80km before a brutal 6k climb mountain-top finish.
Prizes and the GC will be awarded at the end of day three, as the final day is a true route test which may not be safe or suitable to race until more testing has been done. It involves a lung-busting long gravel climb and a very technical 10km section with multiple river crossings (we expect that our name will be taken in vain many times during this 10km!) before a wonderful 50km predominantly downhill run back towards the east coast and civilisation.
Of course, everything we have just said is subject to the weather playing ball. Bad weather plans are in place JIC. So all that’s left now are the final logistics, packing and travel for everyone to get to the start on time. We have also begun here and there to start to look at the long-range weather forecast for the Highlands for mid-September. Yes we know, we know, zero point because who knows what it’ll do later today in the Highlands never mind in two weeks’ time but...well…we can’t help it! FWIW it looks ok-ish for the time being…