Mountain biking in Scotland? Not with the bus!
Not for the faint-hearted: mountain bike races can be high-risk, high-endurance events
I’ve written about this before and make no apologies for doing so again. Scotland needs to up its game in terms of public transport.[i] Last time I wrote about how there no public transport to any of the ski resorts, except Aviemore; but there’s another problem. It potentially affects anyone - from those seeking a pleasant day out to a serious adrenalin rush, and on one of the most, if not the most, iconic of all tourist routes in the country. That is, the same bus company fails to run coaches that can transport bike
Mountain biking is a fabulous outdoor pursuit – if you can just get there to the starting point in the first place.
This represents a severe barrier to those from Aberdeen who would like to come out and spend the day cycling in the hills.
How anyone at Stagecoach headquarters can think this makes good business sense is quite simply beyond me.
Mountain biking in Scotland: A rarefied experience
An old school friend of mine and I recently decided to head up to Royal Deeside for a day’s cycling and wild swimming at the Linn of Dee. We put our bikes on the back of his car, and off we went.
The Deeside Valley was made famous by Queen Victoria. She made it her holiday home, far from London’s madding crowds.
The further up the Dee Valley you go, the more aware you are of the area’s connections with the Royal Family. This is, of course, where Balmoral is situated.
The Linn of Dee is reported to have been the monarch’s favourite picnic spot, and it’s not difficult to see why.
With an iconic bridge crossing a spectacular gorge, which allows one of the first waterfalls in the Dee pass through it, the picturesque spot would have made the perfect setting for a Jane Austen novel.
The iconic bridge over the Linn of Dee, not far from Braemar
You can almost imagine Victoria coming here with her gamekeeper, Mr Brown (if the rumours are to be believed!)
It is also the perfect spot for a wild swim, as long as you are ready to brace yourself for an extremely cold dunking to get started!
The pools at the Linn of Dee are spectacularly beautiful, being at the bottom of a waterfall, just big enough to swim about in, and enclosed enough to ensure you won’t get swept away by the current.
The area around the Linn of Dee also offers brilliant, breathtaking cycling country, with a choice of several mountain bike routes, graded according to difficulty.
Routes include the Linn of Dee and Beinn Mheadhoin circular trail, the out and back route to Càrn a’ Mahaim, as well as the point-to-point track to the Lairig Ghru.
Càrn a’ Mahaim Trail
This list is by no means exhaustive, and those interested should visit the Best Mountain Biking Trails in Braemar page of the All Trails website for further options.
Getting to Royal Deeside: A common nonsense
There is however one fly in the ointment for those who come from further afield to take part in these pedal-powered pleasures: Access to a private car is a necessity.
It used to be the case that cyclists could put their bikes in the luggage compartments of Stagecoach buses. (You could, for example, get off at Braemar and cycle the five miles (eight kilometres) to Linn of Dee and have plenty of time in the day, and energy in the legs, to explore the area.)
Not now. Stagecoach, in their wisdom, have taken all coach-type buses off this route and replaced them with buses that have no luggage storage.
The result is that no bicycles can be carried on any of the buses along that route.
Braemar, the last village in the Valley, and the nearest point of civilisation to the Linn of Dee, has just been voted the best place in Scotland for a staycation.
Yet if your plans for said staycation include going mountain biking in the most beautiful countryside in the world, but, for whatever reason, you don’t have access to a private car, you have the following choices:
you can hire a bike in Ballater, 18 miles (29 km) away in Deeside Valley, or
leave your bike at home and miss out on the experience.
This must have the potential to negatively affect hundreds of people every year.
It is all so stupid. It never used to be like this. And it is so easy to fix.
It used to be the case that you simply loaded your bike on to the coach at whatever point you boarded. Simple. Why the change?
Beinn Mheadhoin
Try to imagine the scenario somewhere else. Go on a cycling tour in Germany, for example, It would simply be inconceivable to turn up at a bus station only to be told that the bus couldn’t transport bikes. (As it happens, Royal Deeside is a favourite with German tourists, so what on earth does Stagecoach think it is playing at?)
I wrote to both Stagecoach and VisitScotland (the tourist board) to ask for an explanation but never received a response from either.
In the event, I personally was not affected, as I had access to my friend’s car. But it was a timely reminder about those who don’t have that luxury.
It really defies belief! They need to sort this now!
Here endeth my rant.
If you are able, please go and enjoy the mountain biking, and wild swimming at the Linn of Dee … It’s too good to miss out on!
[i] This article first appeared as a ‘Good Tourism Insight’ in the Good Tourism Blog on 11 July 2023
