Sleeper train - Tarbet gravel

I’ve made the long and beautiful journey up to the Scottish Highlands many times. Passing through Glasgow, the Trossachs, past the Green Welly stop and the iconic Glen Coe before finally landing in Fort William, home to the UK round of the mountain bike world cup. The journey has become a pilgrimage for many cyclists, but hang on, what about those two and a half hours of driving between Glasgow and Fort William? What’s out there? Gravel events such as Grinduro on the Isle of Arran and The Dukes Weekender in the Trossachs have shown this lower part of Scotland has some phenomenal riding to offer and I’ve been lucky to attend both Grinduro and the Dukes so I’ve had a taster of what lurks in those hills. However, the space between those two events is filled with miles of coastline, hills and glens of which I’d never really taken much notice of. Using maps and Komoot highlights a rough route came together as we balanced covering ground due to time constraints, with leaving time to explore the off road options. Gravel bikes with a little help from some added suspension seemed like the ultimate option. Living in the south of England, the Caledonian Sleeper train from London is by far the best way to travel with bikes to Scotland, this is where our journey begins.