Could Gravel North Actually Work?
Spring 2026
By Mike’s brother
It wasn’t that long ago that this started as a slightly drunken idea in a pub between people with a shared passion; and now here we are looking out over the rough Scottish Highland terrain in some of the best Scottish weather God could provide (wet and windy) trying to work out if the trail is rideable or the multiple swelling river crossings make it impossible. (For the record we decided it probably wasn’t.)
Gravel North is a concept that immediately appealed to us. An iconic challenge set in the wildest of terrain. A true test of toughness, resourcefulness, stamina and skill in some of the most stunningly spectacular landscape on earth. Riding past the ruins of Eilean Donan Castle (…for those who don’t know – Highlander – there can be only one!)…through glens, around lochs steeped in history; simply put – riding in unique beauty.
More than that, a shared journey – an odyssey – something that will provide memories to last a lifetime. Something that will appeal to the seasoned gravel racer all the way through to riders looking for something that can just try and complete.
But was the idea even possible? The dream was big, but as someone once said, nothing truly worth doing ever comes easy, so we had to go up and try, and see for ourselves. Was it a romantic but pragmatically unrealistic pipe dream or was it something we could bring to like-minded gravel racers and riders from around the world?
This initial reccie trip is for a lot of us the furthest North we’ve ever been in the UK. Our little band of intrepid adventurers; Christian in his new Landrover (quickly becoming re-named the rescue vehicle!), Gibbo on his 32mm tyres, cable pull brakes and cyclo cross bike, Ruth, international superstar gravel racer athlete, Nina and a couple of others.
We’d spent time pouring over maps, getting ideas from riders based in the areas and talking to local landowners as well as the mountain rescue folks to try and come up with rideable (one day maybe even raceable) loops and point-to-point stages for our Gravel North concept. We knew it wouldn’t be princess gravel and so other than Gibbo on his retro rig we were all on 50mm tyres and, given we were in Scotland in March, had packed an awful lot of kit!
Between us we have years of mountain experience, gravel racing, event organisation, orienteering, fell racing, mountain biking, road racing, triathlons (well Jonny Brownlee has to bring something)…the lot. And what a privilege to be riding with lifelong mates and family on new terrain for us all.
But the weather had other plans and it wanted to make us earn these routes the hard way!
When you are in the Highlands, what strikes you is the sheer scale of the place. Peak after heather and bracken covered peak. Angry with grey and black clouds one minute, and simply gorgeous bathed in beautiful sunlight the next. Very few roads, and hardly any folk. In our long-weekend first trip, we saw two hardy souls out on the hills. That was it. Just two other people in our collective 300km of riding! It feels other worldly. It is just like you imagine it to be but, just bigger…and emptier.
We made breakthroughs, we had setbacks. Linking up estates in the Highlands is a tough challenge. Lots of the gravel roads made to maintain the wind farms and forests just stop. Just like that – they just end. In the middle of nowhere! Forget using footpaths – far too technical. So, we had a few dead-end moments.
When the weather was simply too horrendous to ride in we took a drive around a section of the North Coast 500 route – the Applecross peninsular. One of the most stunningly beautiful places in the world, and the Applecross climb itself a brutal and seemingly never-ending ascent which will have to find its way into the event in 2027! (For the stat geeks out there – a full 8.5km and 614 metres of ascent. Almost 7.5% average gradient!)
We finished our riding in beautiful warm sunshine on the East Coast, riding the sort of gravel you dream of – wide, white, princess – in confident knowledge that we had the makings of something very special here. Thanks to intrepid and creative route finding, tenacity and a network of amazing partners who gave us the local knowledge we so desperately needed, we left with the outline basis of something that might just work. It might just!
Over the next few months there will be much more refinement needed, more riding routes (a tough job but someone’s got to do it) and poring over maps. But it will come together!
Some other highlights and learnings from our first trip – Nina is much more competent downhill than any of us thought. Gibbo’s sub-20 minute training blocks and race schedule are hilariously inadequate when it comes to 5hr+ gravel rides. It is possible to cross the same river 5 times in under 3 kilometers if that’s the way the trail goes. Christian needs to upgrade his groupset. Ruth now needs a new car (don’t ask). We had a few over-the-bars incidents but remarkably Gibbo never punctured…but his cable pull brakes stopped working at variously crucial places – an oncoming truck in Garve being one such place!
We look forward to more trips and ultimately this year the invite-only test event in September 2026 to further test the concept, routes, camps and infrastructure….