Jamie Stewart: First time Bikepacker

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Bikepacking. The art of going for a bike ride and carrying all you need for a sleep in the middle. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but have never committed. It’s not going to be news to many but there’s been a global pandemic, and I’ve not been able to get out of my local area on an adventure. This had me dreaming up places I wanted to go, not just to ride my bike, but to get away from lockdown life. So it was set, my mate Ewan and I were finally going bikepacking. Although we didn’t know where we were going, we were fully committed this time. 

A week before we set off we decided on the location; Glen Tilt in the southern Cairngorms, Scotland. I found a 53k loop in a MBUK article and it looked like just what were after, no fancy campsites or tearooms and just and outright adventure. We drove up on the Friday and began our ride around 17:00. The scenery was stunning. Although we were riding into a headwind and there was torrential rain, it occasionally broke and we were treated to a rainbow. We pushed on. River crossing seemed to be a thing on this loop, so we were quite damp by the time we got to our overnight stop. 

We had found a valley, with shelter from the wind to pitch our tarp (no nice warm tent!). As we knew we had to pack light for this trip we managed to squeeze everything in our rucksacks and felt a tarp was all we needed. We were wrong. Wrong to cram all our kit in heavy rucksacks that dug into our shoulders on the long ride, and wrong that a tarp would be warm enough. We were absolutely freezing that night and barely slept. I can’t complain though, I got exactly what I wanted. I felt so far away from the current state of the world; no phone service meant I couldn’t get any of the constant news updates and WhatsApp notifications from work. The Fortus 26 rim paired to a pro 4 did make for a good tent pole though, would recommend.

Day 2, and a long 4x4 track accent laid before us, and the weather still couldn’t make its mind up. We’d have sun, heavy rain, cloud, over and over again, with the wind being a constant factor. Once we had completed the climb we reached the highest point in our loop. It was now pretty much all downhill back to the car. We took the opportunity to eat our crushed sandwiches in our rucksacks.

After we had traversed some more 4x4 track, we reached the single track descent into the valley of the river tilt. This provided the best descent of the whole loop; only about 40 seconds to a minute with a few switchbacks to finish, leading to another river crossing. Once crossed we were back on the 4x4 track and barely had to put in a pedal stroke back to the car. 

So, would I do it again? Yes! Maybe not this trail, but bikepacking is definitely on the cards. The Glen Tilt loop definitely provides the freedom and escape if that’s what you’re after, but for the next route I will definitely be looking for more elevation gain and single track. I will also look into baggage solutions to strap items of luggage to my bike and take the weight off my shoulders a little. If you are reading this and have always wanted to go bike packing but haven’t committed, just try it! For me it has opened up a completely different way to ride my bike. I wish I’d have done it sooner. I’ll see you out there!

Words & Photos: Jamie Stewart