Scotland gets a long distance mountain bike trail to rival the world’s best

A new long distance mountain bike trail starting in the centre of Glasgow working its way north, mostly off road through the very heart of Scotland to the wild and dramatic Cape Wrath Lighthouse has been developed by the Obscura Mundo Cycle Club (OMCC– a group of Highland based mountain bikers).

The concept of a long distance, back country mountain bike trail from the centre of Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, making its way 368 miles north on a non-technical, totally ride-able, connected network of backcountry trails was born out of frustration.

The frustration stemmed from the lack of many long distance trails in Scotland that allowed the rider to actually ride the trails in their entirety. It is easy to find long distance trails in Scotland, such as the Scotland’s longest ‘The Highland 500’  but often these trails are connected by long busy road sections, require difficult portages of your bike, use popular walkers trails generating the potential for conflict or include highly technical descents which are particularly bad if you are packing a loaded bike.

An Tura Mor is Scottish gaelic and translates into English as ‘The Long Journey’ The name ideally describes this trail as it works its way 368 miles more or less directly north on a rideable, non technical, continuous trail that in total has 66.13% of its route on off-road track and 31.36% on back-country, quiet single track roads, with only 2.13% on actual dual track road shared with motor vehicles.

An Turas Mor joins together existing backcountry tracks and uses  national cycle routes, forest and hill tracks, old drovers trails, hunting estate tracks, hydro scheme tracks, 18th Century Military roads, back-country single track roads and a small sections of the West Highland Way and Rob Roy Trails. The route is long and strenuous, requiring endurance and fitness  to cope with over 87573 feet of ascent and descent. There are no technical riding challenges or river fordings on the route*, but navigation, bike maintenance, bike repair and good mountain skills are absolutely are essential for a safe enjoyable ride. For have no doubt undertaking the trail is a serious undertaking and should not be taken lightly.

The An Turas Mor Trail for some serious hard core mountain bikers on learning that the trail is composed mainly of gravel tracks will ask the question: ‘where is the challenge in that?’ For those seeking the technical thrill of fast downhill single track this route is not for you. What off-road single track there is and there is some, in fact 10.54% of the trail is made up of off-road often muddy and rocky single track, is really non technical single track. The main riding challenge is: there are some steep, long off road climbs that only the very fittest will be able to ride.

The joy of this route is its ride-ability and the distance you can therefore cover through remote landscape mostly away from motor vehicles. In my opinion this trail is what the cross country mountain bike was exactly designed for.  Simply you can cruise the An Turas Mor Trail on these tracks and not worry too much about motor traffic. The question you will be asking as you ride is why some of these tracks were built in the first place? and then perhaps give thanks to whoever it was and for whatever reason it was that they were built in the first place. Their existence allows a tremendous opportunity to travel through amazingly beautiful landscape on a bicycle, in a sustainable, self-contained way, to get close to nature and experience wild Scotland like never before.

David Wilson, President of the Obscura Mondo Cycle Club said:

‘In my mind it’s not just the beauty of the remote wild landscape you ride through or the quality of the riding it was also about what else you see and the people you meet on the way - how people have lived here in theses remote places for thousands of years and that their stories are often etched into the landscape. For me this new long distance continuous mountain bike journey is the finest long distance trail of its kind in the country and deserves to be ridden.’

Obscura Mondo Cycle Club have free to download GPX route files for the trail. The OMCC have also published a guidebook and map for the trail which can be ordered from the Clubs An Turas Mor website on: www.anturasmor.co.uk