Those of you who have been keeping a keen eye on the news from the gravel world will have no doubt spotted that Grinduro is returning to Scotland this summer for the first time since 2019. Rather than their previous island-based venue though, this time Team Grinduro are heading to the Scottish Highlands. A new venue brings a change of course, so we chatted with the team behind the event to get the lowdown on what to expect.
The last time Grinduro headed north of the English/Scottish border they were based on the Isle of Arran. After a six year pause, they’re returning to Scotland but this time the event will be based in the stunningly located town of Kingussie in the Scottish Highlands. The Gaelic origins of the town’s name translates to “Head of the pine forest” so you would naturally assume that forest riding will feature heavily in the routes for the weekend, but what else can you expect?
Phil, Douglas and David
Events like Grinduro take way more planning and behind-the-scenes work than you could possibly imagine. Everything from finding appropriate routes to booking the portaloos to finalising the design for the winner’s trophies all need to be ticked off (and a heck of a lot of other things too). We chatted with Phil Hodgkiss who helps coordinate the behind-the-scenes team and he gave us some great insight into what they do and who does what.
We started off by asking Phil to tell us about his background and how he first got into gravel riding. “I joined Lazy Duck in 2019 to help them grow their offer of hospitality, well-being and bike guiding. I have a very long history in cycling with everything from commuting by bike to endurance racing to touring. The second year that I was here, just because of the nature of the roads, I decided to by myself a Kinesis G2 gravel bike so that I didn’t trash my road bike. Where I’m based in Scotland, the opportunity for riding opens up exponentially when you can add gravel tracks into your ride. A capable adventure bike that allows you to smack along on tarmac and also cope with the gravel is ideal here and from my first multi-day gravel riding trip onwards I was hooked.”
We talked next about the area and the appeal it held for Phil. “Where we are based is really quite a stunning setting. We're very privileged with Scotland's access legislation, with the freedom to explore the outdoors responsibly. The range of riding that we have locally takes in everything from really high quality fire roads [vehicle width forestry tracks – Ed] to amazing singletrack and everything in between. The variable geology helps create the perfect environment for some relatively technical off-road riding.”
This led neatly onto talking about the Grinduro Scotland course and what it might hold in store for participants. Phil told us “We want to bring in a level of technicality into the route which will give expert riders a real thrill if they’re hoofing it along, but give everyone else that feeling of experiencing demanding riding in a stunning setting. There will be plenty of singletrack ascents and descents, with some lovely flowy sections. There will be plenty of river crossings and one memorable climb, known locally as Steepy McSteepness. It’s an absolutely killer, technical climb which goes straight out of the bottom of Glen Feshie. It will be a good test of equipment, heart, legs and lungs.”
Phil was keen to point out that he was part of a team and that the event drew on the skills, experience and contacts of a whole range of people. His key partners on the behind-the-scenes team are Douglas Carchrie (right in the picture above) and David Robertson (left, above). Douglas is the team lead, a keen environmentalist and is responsible for route planning. David is responsible for community engagement and helps Douglas with route planning too. Both are based locally to the event and bring a wealth of knowledge of the area, the riding and the people.
Phil then went on to say “Of course, it’s not just the local team. We work closely with James and Paul from Grinduro Global to make sure we take on board their vision of what a Grinduro event should look like. Our job on the ground is to add in the local flavour and to make the event special.”
What makes Grinduro Scotland different to many other UK gravel events is that the course is primarily being held on private land. We asked Phil for some background to how this came about “We already had a good relationship with the landowner at the Glenfeshie Estate [where the event is being held – Ed]. There is without doubt a big philanthropic element in everything that they do. They are really passionate about the environmental aspect of land management and have a huge rewilding programme, the aim of which is to preserve and regenerate big parts of their estate. But also, they are aware of and committed to their responsibilities to provide recreational access. In Scotland the freedom to roam legislation is one aspect of this, but private land ownership carries a legal responsibility to provide recreational access. When big landowners are approached by reputable organisations, particularly where the local team contains locally known and trusted people, it’s much easier to build a strong relationship. We had discussions right from the offset about balancing freedom to roam with the responsibilities under the countryside code, but also we really pushed localism – we’re going to be using local caterers/food suppliers, a local bar, local bands, plus plenty of local volunteers and we’re going to try and involve the local community school too. That all helped us build a better relationship with the estate owners.”
We talked finally about bikes and we asked Phil what he considered the ideal bike would be for Grinduro Scotland? “The ideal bike for riding is something suited to mountain gravel. I ride a carbon gravel bike which has big tyre clearance, plenty of mount points for bottles & accessories – it ticks all the boxes. I’m really excited that Mondraker are going to be sponsoring the event as their new gravel bikes look perfect with big tyre clearance, great geometry and the potential to fit a dropper post.”
Grinduro Scotland is being held over the weekend of 18th-20th July. You can find out more details about the event and sign-up via their website.
Images courtesy of @Phil Hodgkiss