Scottish Ski Area Bike Challenge

I’d heard a few people talk about the idea of cycling between all the Scottish ski areas; Glencoe Mountain, Nevis Range, Cairngorm Mountain, The Lecht and Glenshee. It’s not easy to find a workable route given the distance and the busy roads. A circular route would inevitably have to use the narrow and dangerous A82 between Crianlarich and Fort William and at 230 miles would be bit long for a single day.

Misery at 6am

Brian Fishpool came up with the idea of an end to end ride starting at Glencoe and finishing at Glenshee. A 170 miles sounded at bit more reasonable.

The weather wasn’t great on the day but we left Aviemore in the G2 van at 3.45am and started cycling from Glencoe Mountain at 6.06am in the pouring rain. The weather improved by Onich and we had dry conditions with a following wind through to Cairngorm, arriving at 1pm after some mechanical issues. We hit heavy rain again after Nethy which continued all the way to The Lecht.

Bacon butties at Spean Bridge

The bunch was getting a bit jaded on the two big climbs over to Deeside and by the time we had descended to the A93 we were cycling into a strong head wind. A quick stop at Braemar before the final 9 mile climb to Glenshee finishing around 9.30pm.

Glenshee at last

I have to admit that my motivation for the challenge wasn't soley fueled by my charitable nature but it's nice to be raising some money for local and national causes all the same. If you feel inspired to donate please visit our Just Giving Page

Cyclists: Brian Fishpool, Rob Edmunds, Paul Wainwright, Hamish Irvine, Andy Hyslop.

You can find full details of the ride on Paul Wainwrights Strava Page including distance, elevation and riding time.


View Scottish Ski Area Challenge in a larger map