‘Perfect’ region gets new cycling route

A NEW long-distance cycling route through Dumfries and Galloway launched this week.

Created by national cycling charity Cycling UK, the ‘Gallodovian Gravel’ is its the first entirely Scottish route traversing Dark Sky forest tracks, winding coastal back lanes, towns and hidden lochs.
Beginning in Dumfries the 330 kilometre (206 mile) route was designed by adventure bike-packers Guy Kesteven and Kieran Foster,

who described Dumfries and Galloway as the ‘perfect biking area’. Guy said: “We’ve worked hard to create a moving story of an adventure that takes in traffic free paths and quiet back lanes, linking trail centres, craggy coasts, smugglers coves, seemingly endless forests and wild mountain-scapes.

“Despite being the closest part of Scotland to England, the area remains largely overlooked and undiscovered. It’s somewhere you can experience the wild solitude of Scotland’s Dark Sky parks, whilst also taking in deep history, delightful towns, villages, remote farms and stunning scenery at every turn. In short, it really has been the perfect biking area to build a route in. Similar to when we made Royal Chilterns Way, we’ve built in three distinct sections that are linked. That makes Gallovidian Gravel one of our most accessible routes yet for those without the time to tackle the full adventure in one go. We guarantee even the shortest ride in Galloway will grab your heart and make you want to return as soon as possible though.”

Full details of the ‘Gallodovian Gravel’ can be found at: www.cyclinguk.org.