Mountain Biking in Southern and Central Scotland. Peter Edwards

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      National Cycle Route and John Muir Way signs at Gartness near Loch Lomond

Food

      Carry enough food and/or make certain you can buy some food en route. If your energy levels dip when cycling it’s difficult to maintain output on an empty tank. When walking, hunger can be ignored to a certain extent, but cyclists are prey to the phenomenon of gnawing pangs that won’t go away, which is known in some parts as ‘bonking’. It makes sense to carry lightweight, high-energy foods such as flapjack, trail mix, ‘hi-energy’ bars and bananas – but try not to take a tumble if carrying the latter.

Rights of way and other users

      Since the establishment of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act of 2003, mountain bikers, walkers and horse riders have had unrestricted access to vast tracts of Scotland’s magnificent landscape. Unlike England and Wales, however, there are no dedicated bridleways and relatively few way-marked footpaths; indeed, path signposts and waymarkers are generally thin on the ground in Scotland. Because there is no parable system of footpaths, bridleways and byways marked on OS maps covering Scotland, it’s difficult to plan MTB routes in a given area merely by studying the relevant maps. Outside of the trail centres, popular mountain biking routes tend to be established through word of mouth and internet forums by mountain bikers living locally. For people travelling from different parts of the country or from outside of Scotland, the whole prospect of seeking out viable, quality mountain biking routes provides something of a challenge, which is where this guidebook comes in.

      Mountain bikers should always give way to walkers and horse riders. Don’t approach walkers or horse riders at speed from behind or in front. When approaching from behind, slow right down and announce your presence with a ‘hello’ so as not to startle man or beast. When approaching from the front, slow down and give a wide berth or stop and make way for them to pass you (some riders use a bell, but experience suggests that some walkers and horse riders find bell-tinkling mountain bikers irksome in the extreme!).

      This is more than a matter of politeness; if you approach walkers or horse riders at speed and/or fail to warn of your presence then you might cause a serious accident. There are already far too many walkers and horse riders with a low opinion of mountain bikers as it is, and poor behaviour could lead to some paths and tracks being closed to mountain bikers in future. We’re all ambassadors for our sport and for each other when we’re out on the trails.