Big country for an old man
Racing the rain along the forest roads and quiet lanes of Galloway. (And hoping my family had saved me some biscuits.)
This had to be the one. No. Maybe that one over there? Wrong again. Each time I decided a towering hill was the one guarding the head of the glen, signifying I was nearly home, my hopes were dashed. Eventually, I stopped torturing myself and just let the climbs come. The glen would appear in its own time, it couldn’t be rushed.
I was riding The Big Country Route, 58km of gravel forest roads and quiet lanes through the lochs and hills of Galloway. I'd grabbed the chance to ride it one afternoon during our stay in Glentrool. I’d enjoyed our family riding, but this was an opportunity to push a little harder and explore further.
Described as an epic journey that encompasses staggering views of Galloway’s lochs and hills, the route drops south-east from Glentrool then heads back north-east towards Clatteringshaws Loch. Before reaching the loch it turns north for some gruelling climbing, twisting around the logging road hairpins to then head west and skirt Loch Dee. Finally, it descends back into Glen Trool to follow the loch shore home.