Skinny Tyres

28/08/2024

13/08/2024

The Skinny Tyres van parked up at ST towers last night.
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30/07/2024

⚡️Charlie Aldridge - 8th place Men’s MTB XC ⚡️
🔥 Tom Pidcock took Gold with a stunning last-lap-pass on the inside line retaining his Olympic title. 🔥

But, GB team-mate and first-time Olympian put in a stunning performance for a top-ten finish.

If I may share a moment of pride…

Charlie first started mountain bike racing in 2010, aged 8, with the club.
I helped set up the club in 2009 and was coaching at the club at that time Both my kids rode alongside Charlie as we all trained on Kinnoull Hill above Perth.
In 2019 he became the first British man to win a mountain bike cross-country world title at any level.
The photo is of Charlie with his 2019 Junior World Championships gold medal and Rainbow Jersey and the girl racing on the banner is my daughter Maisie

28/07/2024

https://www.skinnytyres.com/2024/07/28/american-flyer/
I'm just back from a week of guiding cyclists around the Dolomites and passes above Bormio with Marmot Tours.
In the Refugio di Bonetta on the Passo di Gavia I came across this signed picture of Andy Hampsten racing on the Gavia in
The Giro d'Italia 1988
Read the full story of this epic battle in the link in my bio.

Stage 14 – The Passo di Gavia

5th June 1988 Chiesa in Valmaenco to Bormio (120km)

The Gavia is a beautiful climb, surrounded by towering peaks, reflected in the crystal waters of Lago Bianco at the summit. It was not so on the 13th June 1988.

The Passo di Gavia was first used in the Giro d’Italia in 1960 and it had been causing occasional mischief in race ever since, but it was in 1988 that it would raised to the status as an iconic arena of professional cycling. It was one of those moments where the television images and photographs captured the brutality of professional road racing and the disregard nature has for humanity.

Many of the riders of that day’s stage will tell you that it was one of the hardest stages in the history of pro cycling. The Passo di Gavia is a hard climb, but in the valley it was clear that the weather was going to make this day even harder. There was some confusion as to whether the stage would be cancelled. There was a meeting of team Directors and with freezing rain falling in the valley it was clear that the summits would have snow.

Worse was the fact that the upper sections of the Passo di Gavia at that time were also unpaved, which would make conditions that much worse. Andy, however, was used to tough conditions; he spent his off-season training on unpaved roads in the mountains around Boulder, Colorado and he knew that other riders were underestimating the severity of the challenge that faced them.

7-Eleven team Manager, Jim Ochowicz was also thinking ahead. He was not just going to rely on his rider’s resilience and experience riding in extreme conditions. Hampsten was within the grasp of the Maglia Rosa, 1 minute 18 seconds behind race leader Franco Chioccioli; Ochowicz was not going to let the chance for a podium spot, or perhaps even an overall victory for his rider slip away.
Read more by following the link...

Andy Hampsten and the Passo di Gavia The Passo di Gavia American Flyers In 1985, 23 year-old American cyclist Andy Hampsten won stage 20 of the Giro

16/07/2024

60 miles in 2 hours and 6 minutes; I had never ridden my bike so fast for so long and I probably never will again. It was also in pre-Strava times, so I can’t actually prove the veracity of this story.

More…⬇️

60 miles in 2 hours and 6 minutes; I had never ridden my bike so fast for so long and I probably never will again. It was also in pre-Strava times, so I

14/07/2024

When coffee ☕️ and alpacas 🦙 come together. Alpaccacinos are the result.
Great, coffee, cake, soup and a very friendly welcome at Callanish Alpacas.
☕️🦙☕️🦙☕️🦙☕️🦙☕️🦙☕️🦙☕️🦙☕️

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12/07/2024

Miles and Smiles
Even when the weather is not on your side it’s hard not to smile when you’re out on your bike.

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09/07/2024

11pm in Oban 🚴‍♀️ 🚴🏼‍♂️

And we’re back.
What a beautiful evening in Oban on the eve of another Hebridean Way trip.

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04/07/2024

🚴🏼‍♂️ It sometimes surprises me how much cycling has been part of my life.
Although it is my “day job”, it has always been a passion, and even now it is much more than just a way to earn a living.

At two years old my Dad put me on a bike, which I immediately fell off and for years I had the gravel marks on my forehead to prove it.
Now I head off into the mountains with my family on multi-day bike-packing adventures. Along the way I have made many friends - in fact there are very few people I know who don’t have a link with cycling in some fashion or other.
I was never an academic school pupil, and it was the Duke of Edinburgh Award that gave me the confidence to venture further afield and realise that there was more to life than qualifications.
I grew up painfully shy, and it was being in the outdoors that helped me overcome that obstacle. From once lacking the confidence to put my hand up in class and answer a question, I now revel in standing up in front of large audiences and speaking about bikes and cycling.
It would have been hard to imagine then that my future self would travel the world, meet amazing people and cycling would be my career and my passion that permeated every part of my life.

My own children have just completed their exams, and my daughter her final year at school.
For them, their journey is only at the beginning and they are still at such a young age with so much to experience, but the pressure to consolidate learning and results with a view to future careers is immense.
I left school with very few qualifications and even less of an idea of what I wanted to do with my life. It has been a bumpy, but fascinating road to where I am now.
If I could tell my younger self one thing it would be not to stress on the details.
If you believe in and are passionate about something enough, then you will enthuse others and you can make a success out of whatever you want to do.

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04/07/2024

A review from one of our clients on a recent Hebridean Island Hopper trip.

🏝️ Barra
🏝️ Eriskay
🏝️ South Uist
🏝️ Benbecula
🏝️ Grimsay
🏝️ North Uist
🏝️ Skye
🏝️ Mull

2025 Dates coming soon for:
🚴🏼‍♂️ The Hebridean Way
🚴‍♀️ The Hebridean Island Hopper
🚴🏻 The Snow Roads
🚴🏼‍♂️ Coast to Coast
🚴‍♀️ MoGJoG (Mull of Galloway to John O’Groats)

04/07/2024

🚲 ☀️ 🚲 Fancy heading out for a bike ride with the kids this summer, but don’t have bikes.
This great cycling business in Kinross has the answer for you.
Their fleet of hire bikes are waiting to take you on your next family adventure.
50% off a hire for a child when you hire and adult bike. 👧🏽 👩🏼 🧔🏻‍♂️
And a competition to win a great prize. 🏆
Whats not to like ❤️
Get Out and Ride 🚴🏻 💨

30/06/2024

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Clisham South
(Scottish Gaelic: An Cliseam - rocky cliff)
North Harris
The Outer Hebrides - A859
6miles, 9.5km
+840ft (256m) ascent,
Max Gradient 11%,
Average Gradient (excluding the descents) 3.5%

Ridden on The Hebridean Way trip

At 799m (2,2621ft) Clisham is the highest summit on the Outer Hebrides. Fortunately we don’t cycle to the summit. Instead the road follows the eastern shoulder.

From Tarbert at sea level the climb is 9.1 miles to the highest point at the road at 1007ft. This includes some undulations along the way as you cycle past Loch a Siar, Loch a’Mhorghain and Loch na Ciste.
The actual climbing itself starts at the small village of Bun Abhainn Eadarra (start of the Strava segment) and finishes at the southern tip of Loch a’ Mhorgain. This section is 1.1miles in length with a gain of 406ft. The steepest gradient is 11%. However, after a short undulating section you will continue upwards to the highest point. Your efforts are rewarded with an amazing swooping descent back to sea level and Loch Shiophoirt.

The Hebridean Way
🏝️ Vatersay
🏝️ Barra
🏝️ Eriskay
🏝️ South Uist
🏝️ Benbecula
🏝️ Grimsay
🏝️ North Uist
🏝️ Berneray
🏝️ Harris & Lewis

Join us in 2025 on one of our fully supported cycling tours around Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

2025 Dates coming soon for:
🚴🏼‍♂️ The Hebridean Way
🚴‍♀️ The Hebridean Island Hopper
🚴🏻 The Snow Roads
🚴🏼‍♂️ Coast to Coast
🚴‍♀️ MoGJoG (Mull of Galloway to John O’Groats)

29/06/2024

🏔️ 🚴🏼‍♂️ 🏔️
That moment when you have given it everything to get to the top of a climb.

🏔️ The Quiraing 🏔️
Scottish Gaelic: Cuith-Raing

Old Norse: Kví Rand - round fold

Meall na Suiramach
The Trotternish escarpment
Isle of Skye

The Hebridean Island Hopper
🏝️ Barra
🏝️ Eriskay
🏝️ South Uist
🏝️ Benbecula
🏝️ Grimsay
🏝️ North Uist
🏝️ Skye
🏝️ Mull

Join us in 2025 on one of our fully supported cycling tours around Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

2025 Dates coming soon for:
🚴🏼‍♂️ The Hebridean Way
🚴‍♀️ The Hebridean Island Hopper
🚴🏻 The Snow Roads
🚴🏼‍♂️ Coast to Coast
🚴‍♀️ MoGJoG (Mull of Galloway to John O’Groats)

25/06/2024

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Two happy riders who have just finished the fifth and final day of our Island Hopper Tour.
🏝️ Barra
🏝️ Eriskay
🏝️ South Uist
🏝️ Benbecula
🏝️ Grimsay
🏝️ North Uist
🏝️ Skye
🏝️ Mull

Join us in 2025 on one of our fully supported cycling tours around Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

2025 Dates coming soon for:
🚴🏼‍♂️ The Hebridean Way
🚴‍♀️ The Hebridean Island Hopper
🚴🏻 The Snow Roads
🚴🏼‍♂️ Coast to Coast
🚴‍♀️ MoGJoG (Mull of Galloway to John O’Groats)

25/06/2024

🏔️ 🚴🏼‍♂️ 🏔️
That feeling when you’ve given it everything to get to the top of a climb.

Join us in 2025 on one of our fully supported cycling tours around Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

🚴🏼‍♂️ The Hebridean Way
🚴‍♀️ The Hebridean Island Hopper
🚴🏻 The Snow Roads
🚴🏼‍♂️ Coast to Coast
🚴‍♀️ MoGJoG (Mull of Galloway to John O’Groats)

23/06/2024

Cycling in Scotland
Join us in 2025 on one of our fully supported cycling tours around the Scottish Highlands and Islands 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

🚴🏼‍♂️ The Hebridean Way
🚴‍♀️ The Hebridean Island Hopper
🚴🏻 The Snow Roads
🚴🏼‍♂️ Coast to Coast
🚴‍♀️ MoGJoG (Mull of Galloway to John O’Groats)

21/06/2024

Isle of Barra - Eilean Bharraigh
Named after Saint Finbarr of Cork
Population 1,174

We’re back cycling on the Hebridean Islands this week. Starting in Barra then heading on to the Uists, Skye and then Mull.












Scottish Islands Passport

19/06/2024

When I’m not guiding cycling tours you can often find me coaching cycling at primary schools. 
Cycling was a rite of passage for me as I discovered a vehicle for independence, and it is something I feel genuinely passionate about. I love being able to watch children get the same enjoyment out of cycling as I did as I grew up. 

After a recent school session this week one young lad, of whom the teacher had told me prior to the session could be a “bit of a handful”, said, “thanks for that, I didn’t realise cycling could be so much fun”. 
I used to think that it was a given that all children would naturally learn to cycle and their bike would be a constant companion throughout their childhood, as it was for me. It seems however that those halcyon days are disappearing for many children. 
Perhaps it is the rise of electronics taking over all of our lives, but I suspect it is more to do with the roads become more choked with cars and the perception of cycling as a dangerous activity is stopping many parents from allowing their children to cycle everywhere. 
Ironically, it is a common sight with many parents dropping their children off at school for a cycle fun session and taking the bike out of the boot of the car.
It is a real shame as there is still certainly the enthusiasm for cycling, perhaps more so than ever as children look for ways to spread their wings. 
For all those children who are getting their bikes out of the shed everyday there are many more who are still disengaged. 
We know the bike is healthy, good fun and builds skills such as balance, coordination and spatial awareness, so it is surely something that, as a society, we should be looking to encourage. 
Perhaps the key to this is enthusiastic parents; children learn and look up to their Mum and Dad and if they are out on their bikes having fun it is likely the children will want to do the same. 
What better excuse do you need to get the bikes out and go for a family cycle this weekend?

17/06/2024

Like father like son. (dad, 3rd right)

Cycling, it would seem, is a hereditary condition. 
I inherited my love of cycling from my Dad who used to ride and race with the Dundee club, Charles Star in the 1950s. 
He never spoke much of his exploits (he still doesn’t), but I remember sitting in my room with each of the trophies he had won lined up on a shelf in front of me. I would sit with copies of my Dad’s old training manuals and diaries from two decades previously trying to decipher the secrets held within and failing miserably. They were packed with black and white line drawings of off-bike bike strength and conditioning exercises that promised to make you the next Eddy Merckx. In reality they looked more like the drills handed out to squaddies at 5am on cold and frosty parade ground, but I was entranced by them.   
The language spoken in the club meetings in Menzieshill on a Monday evening was of derailleurs and pelotons. I had no idea what they were and I felt that it was not my place to ask. Instead it was a lore that had to be learned and I had an apprenticeship to serve through a long initiation of club rides and 6am time-trials on the Dundee-Perth dual-carriageway on a Sunday morning.
In recent years there is a whole new first generation of riders taking to two wheels; cyclists who have found the passion themselves whether that be through watching the British success at the Olympics and Tour de France or just as a vehicle for getting fit and active. But the bloodline of cycling runs deep and it is apparent that this new “first generation” of riders are passing their devotion on to their progeny. The names of the riders may have changed, but the wonderment of the sport still seems to be intact. 
The sense of discovery gained from riding your bike never fades, no matter what age you are. I still get the same buzz riding with my son and daughter, stopping for ice cream on the way as I did when my friends and I used to cycle with my Dad out along the low roads of the Carse of Gowrie to “The Horn” milk-bar for a “Mr Whippy”. 

Those days were always long and sunny and they instilled a love of cycling that has endured with me to this day. 

Happy Fathers Day

29/05/2024

The Hebridean Way
From Vatersay to Lewis we make our way over the chain of islands that make up the Outer Hebrides. By bike, over causeways and on ferries we head north through stunning landscapes. On our way we pass Neolithic landscapes and pristine white sandy beaches; rugged coastlines and wild mountains.

Our final trip of 2024 starts on the 8th July.
Join us for a cycling trip unlike any other.

These trips are fully supported by our fantastic guides. You can ride at your own pace and enjoy the journey knowing that back-up is close by.
Included in the price is 7 nights accommodation and three course evening meals. We book all your ferries and plan all the other logistics leaving you free to enjoy this beautiful chain of islands linked by ferry crossings and causeways.

29/05/2024

Whisky and a kiss. 😘
Time to celebrate the end of a dramatic journey through 185 miles of The Hebridean Way.

Our final trip of 2024 starts on the 8th July.
Join us for a cycling trip unlike any other.

These trips are fully supported by our fantastic guides. You can ride at your own pace and enjoy the journey knowing that back-up is close by.
Included in the price is 7 nights accommodation and three course evening meals. We book all your ferries and plan all the other logistics leaving you free to enjoy this beautiful chain of islands linked by ferry crossings and causeways.

28/05/2024

The Hebridean Way trip may be over, but the views keep on coming.
Our early morning ferry from Stornoway to Ullapool gives us stunning views of the Assynt, Coigach, and Torridon mountains.

We’ve even had some porpoise 🐬 accompanying us on the way.

27/05/2024

“It’s not a race, it’s a journey, enjoy the moment!”

Arriving at the Stevenson Lighthouse after 185 miles of riding across the wild chain of islands that make up the Outer Hebrides.

26/05/2024

Clisham (An Cliseam)
At 799 metres Clisham is the highest mountain in the Outer Hebrides.
For road cyclists the route from Tarbert offers a steady climb from sea level up to 190 metres. At the highest point Loch a’ Mhorghain sits nestled between the summit of Clisham and Sgaoth Iosal.

It also marks the highest point on our guided Hebridean Way cycling trip. Next stop Stornoway

26/05/2024

After 2 days of cycling along through the machair and along miles of white sand beaches it was time to venture into the wilds of Harris on our Hebridean Way adventure.

25/05/2024

Cycling doesn’t get much better than this
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The Hebridean Way
8th - 14th July 2024 - a few places remaining on our last Hebridean trip of 2024.

25/05/2024

The Hebridean Way
Riding up to St Kilda View on North Uist
Cleitreabhal a Deas.
Height: 133 metres/ 436 feet

24/05/2024

The Hebridean Way
Our group of intrepid cyclists gathered on Vatersay to start their adventure cycling south to north on the Hebridean Way. The journey takes us 185 miles over 10 islands, 6 causeways and 4 ferries.
We still have spaces for our trip in July if you would like to join us for this stunning, fully-supported cycle ride.
Hire bikes from .coffee.thebarrabarista