WORDS TOM HILL PHOTOGRAPHY DUNCAN PHILPOTT
Our group paused at the high point of the ride. Huge wind turbines sprouted from the heather like giant white tulips. A bitter autumnal wind pushed and tore at rain clouds, granting us rays of golden light from the low sun then closing the curtains as an icy squall raced through. Despite the very obvious human impact on the landscape, it felt as though we were in the middle of nowhere; we hadn’t seen a single person since leaving the marked trails of Glentress an hour or so ago. We discovered a seemingly endless network of pristine forest roads, perfect for gravel exploration, granting views to Edinburgh in the north and linking into drovers’ roads that existed long before the commercial planting now below us.
I was in the Tweed Valley for a few days, invited by the newly established, and ‘does what it says on the tin’ monikered Tweed Valley Guides to be shown the best of what the area has to offer – whether that be big days on a mountain or gravel bike, or hitting some of the best enduro-style trails in the country.