Exploring Scotland with Manon Carpenter - An Ode to the land
Scotland is just epic, right? The land of Whisky, Warriors and Haggis is much vaunted, and rightly so.
While the mountains don't share the same sort of numbers as their European cousins, a weather window on the Cullin Ridge will send the hairs upright and make the buttocks clench with equal aplomb as our continental brethren. .
In 2018, over 11,200 hectares of woodland were planted in Scotland , of which 3,900 hectares were native broadleaves. In real terms, that means 84% of the UK's tree planting took place in Scotland. One of the many reason's (a lot them are too nuanced to go into here) this can happen is due to a low population density, coupled with vast tracts of open, wild spaces. It also has Britain's two cities with the most green space - Edinburgh and Glasgow, 7 Velo Solutions pump tracks and amazing land access.
With this in mind we invited some friends on a journey to see as much of the contrasting cultures of Scotland in six days as we could, get inspired by the landscape at home, avoid flying to some far flung location, use as little single use plastic as possible and all while having a flippin' mint time.
When you add in a former World Champion, a Highlander who is fiercely Scottish, a Geordie who operates at either 100% or flat batteries and some esteemed riders, then there's sure to be some stories to tell.
