Dances with wolves(and bears)

HAVING A CRAZY IDEA FOR A GREAT MOUNTAIN BIKE FILM IS EASY ENOUGH. BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE TO GET OUT AND ACTUALLY FILM IT IN THE WILDS OF SCOTLAND. ANDY MCCANDLISH INVESTIGATES…

WORDS BY ANDY MCCANDLISH

How could I not go?

PICTURES BY ANDY MCCANDLISH

After all, it sounded like the perfect storm of nonsense. A brief phone call told me all I needed to know. Andy McKenna was about to head north with Ed Oxley to shoot one of their legendary mountain biking short films – if you haven’t seen them yet, you really should – and they were going to base themselves in Alladale Reserve in the very north of Scotland. And there was space in the van if I wanted to join the fun.

Two furry adventurers roaming the Highlands. Plus some deer.

A quirky mix of comedy, mountain biking and wild places, Andy and Ed’s films are always entertaining, poking a finger into the recesses of modern mountain biking culture. This was a chance to see how they come together from behind the camera, to see if they really are as fun as they look. They might be fun but they are always slickly shot and edited, so just how much planning and commercial nous goes into them?

The answers to all this were still to come as I met the boys in Perth along with Tim Royle the cameraman/director and we headed north into the unknown.

Bears and wolves.

Why Alladale? Well, that was a long story involving the owner inviting Andy up to the estate for a brainstorming session and a light bulb appearing above Andy’s head. However, I did already know a few tantalising facts about the reserve that had long ago sparked my interest in visiting.

The first was tied up in the use of the word ‘reserve’ rather than the more traditional ‘estate’.