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resolvedI've succumbed to all the luscious promotional vids and booked a few days in Aberfoyle and rented bikes.
We're not as fit as we used to be - we used to do a lot more utility cycling.
Can anyone suggest some good, but not too strenuous, routes?
Bike hire guy recommends hybrids, not mountain bikes, so I guess we're mainly looking at the more groomed trails.
I suspect we will start with these, but happy for any recommendations
Haven't ever cycled any of this, but if you wanted to go in the other direction you could try the path (old railway) that starts here
...and finishes here..
(and goes via Barbadoes (on the OS map at least)).
Then head west to Dalmary and up to Gartmore (stopping at the Cunninghame Graham Memorial) then joining the initial path again just beofre the A81
@cb - That's the railway line which turned into gravel South of the A81 that we did on road bikes, while hunting out bridges over the Forth.
http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1587&page=84#post-353352
@HankChief, thanks, I missed that post, so good to ready about it. Sounds like four miles you could have done without, but maybe on more suitable bikes it would be bearable.
Seems to be only OS Explorer mapping that has it marked as "traffic free cycle route". OSM and Sustrans don't seem to want to know.
If it is gravel you are after, then it is ideal. It would have been fine on any other bike of my fleet.
Enough people have used it to create a narrow path that was smooth enough for our skinnies, it just wasn't continuous and you had that fear of dread as you decided to skip to the other side of the track in the hunt for it.
Not totally gravel but the ride round Loch Katrine via Stronachlachar is magic. Your choice whether to hump over the Dukes Pass together with the roadies. If not, the gravel route over to Loch Achray is quite chill.
Should you make it to Callander the Callander Meadows B&B has a great beer garden (been there many a time) and the restaurant there looks good too (though I've never been).
oops. just spotted this thread form last year: http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20282#post-334172
Those routes are further north than the Gravelfoyle ones - I don't think there's much (any?) overlap.
That said the ride between Callander and Comrie via Glenartney is lovely.
duh. perthshire is not the same as stirlingshire.
my brain was not quite awake yet.
Does anyone know the recent status of the Loch Katrine North Shore road? I know it reopened last year after the landslips, but don't know if the recent storms has caused any tree issues...
Went up to Callander last week. Stayed at Forest Holidays Strathyre and did two 40 km loops on their hire bikes. The cabins are right on NCN7 which makes accessing the paths super easy.
Fabulous off-road cycling. We particularly enjoyed checking outage roman fort which NCN 7 runs over, and the Iron Age hill fort (Dunmore) which the Great Trossachs path runs past. There is also a submerged crannog which we would have loved to check out.
Happy to share routes if anyone wants them. Can't promise you the glorious weather we had.
We did a loop of Loch Lubnaig on our first day, including the forts and some fairly hilly terrain, and then came back down the A84 from Strathyre because we fancied a flat return (there are off-road paths higher up that look like they would link up). No close overtakes at all.
the Bothy cafe at Strathyre is a cyclists dream. lovely folk. lots of outdoor seating. good food. and pétanque. They're selling their own ice cream from this weekend.
<we then had a walking interlude - climbed Ben Ledi from the Lubnaig side (steep!) and down the Stank Glen route -- not sure I would recommend if it was wet, but a good walk this year>
Then a second 40 km loop over around Loch Venacher, and back along the Great Trossachs path. Parts of the Loch Venacher path are simply gorgeous, and very flat. Worth diverting to Loch Achray at the end for toilets. Then back through Brig o'Turk and up onto the Path.
Great Trossachs path had sections with steep ascents that were hard cycling for us -- especially on rental mountain bikes -- but amazing views and some very very fun slow winding descents heading back towards Callander.
I for one would be interested is the routes you followed, if you're happy to share them somehow (being aware that I don't 'do' Strava or the like).
I always get confused about which loch is which, and connecting routes between them, in that area. I find sea lochs much easier to understand!
hmmmm...we have them on strava and on 'Outdoor active' and can export as GPX or I can just do screen grabs and upload those (with directions?). but not sure any of those would help?
This was the Loch Venacher route we did (more or less).
https://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/things-to-do/cycling/cycling-routes/loch-venachar-circuit/
The Loch Lubnaig one was mostly my own creation, based on looking at the maps. old skool.
Aha, I believe I have an Outdoor Active account....<checks>...yep, still there (a hangover from OA taking over Viewranger).
likewise....
ben Ledi : https://www.outdooractive.com/en/track/mountain-hike-on-20-april-2022-at-09-39/239983533/
loch Venacher https://www.outdooractive.com/en/track/loch-venacher-circular-on-21-april-2022-at-09-34/240039971/ (the rest of the family did a slightly longer ride and went back via Callander in hopes of finding cake).
Apologies - the first ride is only on Strava - https://www.strava.com/activities/7018217973
@SRD: That's brilliant, many thanks. Turned out that my OA login didn't work after all :( but I can see your routes - though not all of the other data relating to them - on Strava without having to register. (Don't know if you'd want to adjust your Strava security settings to prevent that?)
The Great Trossachs Path definitely looks worth checking out.
Glasgow CTC still have the Ledi Hut at Stank by Loch Lubnaig on the original C17 road from Dunblane to Glenogle - we use a bit of it to get between the demolished railway bridges at Falls of Leny
As well as the 1535 bridge (heavily strengthened) on the A84 at Doune, we have 2 1695 bridges at Doune & Callander an original Clapper bridge at Falls of Leny and something clearly C17 at Stank, on th4e old road - there was another at Laggan Farm/Stronyre village but I think the farmer obliterated it. NB Caulfield built the Military Road on the East side of the Loch & river. The road on the West side was around in 1700 save us time & ££ just to clear off 100+ years of debris and resurface it for the cycle route & rebuild the clapper bridge(s) with concrete sleepers
The Strathyre Hotel had a CTC cast iron roundel as well
Forestry roads are not 'gravel' but can deteriorate if water flushes out the fines or some idiot decides to practice their RAC rally driving techniques. When freshly graded & rolled they can often be very smooth. The path along Loch Venahar was built with locally dug material as hauling in stuff would have been damaging & expensive. It had a nice mix of fine & coarse material and a hint of blue clay to bind it
You didn't cycle up Ben Ledi?
PS coming back through Glen Finglas (via Balquhidder) might be nicer then the A84 by Loch Lubnaig, but it isn't a cycle path standard track
'The Strathyre Hotel had a CTC cast iron roundel as well'
Still does though maybe not a hotel any more
Thanks for the tips Tulyar.
A detour to Glen Finglas might be scenic but we were looking for a quick route home at the end of the day, with tired children.
The A84 was actually a very pleasant cycle unlike a few hundred metres on the A821 by the Glen Finglas visitor centre.
We had already climbed too much that day to be in any position to tackle the higher path back.
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