Having sampled a numerous Skedaddle weekends and mountain biking holidays in Europe, we decided it was time to try something a bit closer to home and setting aside all concerns about the Scottish weather, booked on the July Scottosh Highlands Coast to Coast moutain biking holiday. 

After the customary enthusiastic welcome from the Skedaddle guides in the form of Steve, Tony and Charley, we were immediately put to work trying to reassemble our bikes with the added interest of turning it into a bike building time trial - successfully completed from our point of view with only a minor need for adjustments by Steve !!  First place went to our token German but at least we didn’t come last (hey John !!).

With the Skedaddle van and landrover being replaced by a comfortable bus we then headed northwards to the Highlands.  After a stop off in Fort William to stock up on Avon Skin So Soft (Tony and Steve preferred to keep their body soufflé to themselves) as a first defence against the midges, we arrived at our first hotel in Glenshiels which set the tone for the holiday – great accommodation, good food and a wonderful setting. Our first days biking: woke up, brushed hair, showered, dressed and went downstairs for bacon and eggs ……During breakfast we were informed the day would comprise a sample of all the riding we would experience over the week.  We weren’t disappointed – thrilling single track, rocky ascents/descents and the customary Skedaddle beer challenge – those impossible hills thrown in to perfect bike carrying techniques. After a great days introductory riding we arrived at Tomdoun.  A beautiful hunting lodge hotel with great views and some nice Spanish bar maids to keep the boys happy.
Next up was an easier day with a beautiful ride along the Caledonian Canal ending the day at Fort Augustus, finishing early to prepare for day 3 and the Corrieyairack Pass – the start of the 3 best days of the trip.                                 
 
Despite some apprehension about the prospects of climbing the Pass for hours (can’t remember the time taken or the height gain) it was a great ride – taken in easy chunks with plenty of jelly baby provision from Tony.  With great encouragement from the guides, it was a challenging but doable climb leaving enough energy to enjoy the scenery.  The descent was without doubt one of the best descents we have ever ridden (or not) and waiting at the bottom was Charley with lunch.

“The next 2 days provided great diversity in the terrain covering technical singletrack, woodland paths and rocky ascents/descents not to mention the odd river crossing and swim in the case of Charley.  Supportive as always, Steve proved unplanned exits can happen to anyone with an over the handle bars into a peat bog.  The guides had again arranged great accommodation and evening meals in Tomintoul and then in Ballater.Starting to feel overfed (although over generous measures of recovery drink may have had something to do with it), we needed a mountain to climb and conveniently found Mount Keane en route.  There was no way we were going to ride all the way up this one – even with encouragement and jelly babies!!  After a good effort riding ¾ of the route – on and off – we put our practiced bike carrying skills in to play and were rewarded at the top with panoramic views of the Cairngorms National Park, Glen Tanar and the Spittal of Glenmuick (we think according to our reference map).  Again a fantastic descent and quite manageable despite Tony’s lecture on the drainage ditches !!

With only an easy 15 miles left for our last day - a distance for which apparently snacks are just plain greedy (although we know Steve was trying to prevent us from buying extra large shorts next time) we had a leisurely road ride to the sea and the end of our coast to coast trip.The organisation on the trip was excellent and the riding sensational.  We just wanted to do it all over again. For more reviews of the trip click here Vicky A. (UK) and Victoria J. (Australia if they win the Ashes and UK if not)
      
Next year and we are heading to Sardinia to do the Transardata or maybe Portugal’s Roman Trails…here’s to 2010!!!

When we got an email from Robert Ellis about a cycling luggage system for touring bikes, so you get the most from your holidays, we were happy to assist. Lot’s of sleepless nights and notepads of scribblings later (from Robert!!) the project was complete and it’s a cracker!! So, if anyone out there is looking for a budding designer, then he’s you man.

Contact him on : rob-ellis@hotmail.co.uk

Check out the pictures below and also a few words of wisdom as to how it all began.

In the true spirit of the ‘Skedaddler’ I love cycling and I love exploring, but sometimes this combination can be problematic to say the least. My past cycling holiday explorations have largely been limited to a thread of weekend camping trips in the Peak district with my trusty tent and panniers strapped to my MTB.  However I recently took the plunge and decided to stray away from home to that there France and Spain.  Herein the problems began. 

Have you ever tried dismantling a bike and cramming it into a tatty cardboard bike box, in the short stay car park outside terminal five, in the pouring rain, only to be rewarded with a £40 carriage fee and a snapped derailleur thanks to your trusty baggage handler?  This is all before you’ve laid down a single pedal stroke.  On the bike, things only seem to get worse.  The humble bicycle and 25 kg of luggage and tent are not a healthy mix, as I soon found out on the twisty mountain roads of the Pyrenees.  Carrying everything you need for independent touring, including the kitchen sink, makes for a top heavy and unpredictable bike at the best of times and leaves you tottering about like a chimp on a unicycle. 

My other big moan of the trip was detachable luggage, which usually I would view as a good thing.  However it seemed that, in an attempt to save money I had accidentally bought the spontaneously detachable variety, which is impossible to remove when its dark and raining and you need to set up camp, yet pops off no problem (without any assistance in fact) when you’re on a French dual carriageway doing 30mph.
I know, moan moan moan, but it’s not just me.  I’ve spoken to over a hundred touring cyclists over the past year, all of which had shared the same or similar issues.  

After my ordeal, sorry, ‘adventure’, I couldn’t help thinking that there must be an easier and more enjoyable way to tour and explore by bike, and this is where Saddle Skedaddle came in.  The problem conveniently (too conveniently…) provided an ideal design opportunity to work on for my final year Product Design degree project, and who better to associate with the ultimate touring and adventure cycle than Saddle Skedaddle!
I’ve spent the past year working on an improved bicycle luggage carrying solution for adventure touring and came up with the following solution. 

The characteristic wobble and unpredictable handling of a loaded touring bicycle is challenged through the use of an innovative hubless wheel luggage storage system.  The luggage and two man tent is held securely in the centre of the wheel (without rotating) and low down to lower the bikes centre of gravity and provide safer and more predictable riding.  I’ve used a simple quick release strap system to hold the luggage in place, making it really easy to fit and remove.

The bike provides 60 litres of luggage space divided between two main waterproof bags which double as a ruck sack and hold all for ease of carrying, and within compartments inside the frame area itself (holding tools, first aid and personal items).  The bike is designed for minimum maintenance with a sealed belt drive and hub gearing, leaving the rider to focus on the fun and adventure of touring cycling.   
 
The business model would be for Saddle Skedaddle to offer the bike (loaded with tent, equipment, maps and routes) as a rental system to be collected at the destination airport for group or solo touring. The best bit is that the bike luggage bags will be posted to the Skedaddler’s home address before departure to fill with their belongings and to act as both airport luggage and to be fitted straight onto the bike upon arrival.  No need for double handling!

Sadly the model is made out of foam, so it won’t be taking me on any Alpine expeditions just yet.  Maybe next year…….  For now I’ll be sticking to my trusty (but a little rusty) bike.

Always on the look-out for new mountain bike destinations and an escape from the office, Andrew’s been busy researching trips in the Balkans and here’s a few photos of his time in Montenegro just last week. We’ll even be adding a road cycling and self guided cycling holiday here soon too!!

Montenegro is a small country and the locals say that “if you ironed it out then it would be as big as Russia!”. Well…they aren’t wrong!! The mountains are stunning throughout the country, but then there are the lakes, super, super friendly locals, the finest cheeses and meats around (though cheese fresh from the goat is an acquired taste!!) and some great accommodation in places that are simply stunning…and there is the coast too !!

Check out the below photos and lots more on Skedaddle Facebook and if you are interested in receiving more information this and other Balkans destinations then drop Andrew an email to andrew@skedaddle.co.uk or call him on 0191 265 11 10 for a chat.

Here’s a few pictures to get you tempted and if you want to see loads more check out the full array on Skedaddle Facebook too.

Watch out for the giant Yellow man / woman eating flower….

Why did the chicken cross the trail?

Kinda pretty eh?!?!

Christina speeds off to get the best bed at our accommdation below in the valley

Anyone got a snow plough?

No path, no worries…..Isn’t that what 4×4’s are for and not school runs??

Road cycling legend and multi Olympic gold medal winner Bradley Wiggins took first place in the Northern Rock Cyclone Beaumont Trophy in Northumberland on June 14th. He was also the proud winner of the Saddle Skedaddle sponsored King of the Mountains contest and was noticeably overjoyed when Skedaddle’s own road legend / guru / charlatan, David “Little Dave” Hall presented him with his award.

Bradley commented ”I was honoured to receive the King of the Mountains from David. They say you should never meet your heroes, but David was everything I ever hoped for and more besides. Even after 5 Olympic medals this must surely be the highlight of my cycling life” 

David in return commented “My legs are much nicer than Bradley’s and i’ve recommended  to him a new razor. I hadn’t realised that he was so short. Do you know that one of his team mates carries a milk crate with him everywhere they go? They bring it out for every photo shoot - it’s a stroke of pure genius”

 (David’s the one on the left…. in case you wondered).

This superb desert biking adventure focuses on the deep south of Morocco, a land of big skies and stark mountain ranges where mud-brick kasbahs appear to rise up out of the desert, sitting in tranquil palm oases and framed by dramatic backdrops of snowcapped mountains. We ride along Morocco’s dirt roads, taking us from Marrakech to the Tichka Pass, the highest in the High Atlas, and then southward, descending along the Draa Valley to the fringes of the Sahara Desert.