Gravel biking the Highland Perthshire Drovers Trail in Scotland

Nothing says good morning quite like waking up in a tent that is cosier than a sardine can with friends who are just as sleep-deprived as you are. Welcome to Bonnie, Scotland. You join us after a rather wet and wild evening on a hillside in the Cairngorms. Let me introduce you to the crew. First up, there's Katie. Do you want to talk us through the glove situation with your marigolds? They are Japanese fisherman gloves. They have a fleece liner and a waterproof outer. They've been used in Scottish winter, hence the slight damage here. They work really well. Okay, something about you or your bike or... Can I just say it's orange? I don't really know enough about it. This is who, sorry? Walter. Okay. Walter White. I wanted to get a bike like this. £1,600 they quoted me. Meant to get it on Cypress Work. We weren't going to pay £1,600, so I was a bit gutted. Then my mate said, my mate's selling one, exactly the same, £900. So I got this bad boy, £900. It's got all the essentials, your Scotch eggs. And then there's me, who you might already recognise. Let's get going. Hello. A little bit of logic in my life. Over the next five days, we would attempt to cycle the Highland Perthshire Drovers Trail, a circular gravel bike packing route, starting and ending in Pitlockery. We would ride the route anti-clockwise, camping and staying in accommodation along the way. Mission success. What are you eating? Pasta. A whole. That's your lunch. It's like 10am. These are Tom's fat bowls. They are filled with dark chocolate, dates, peanuts, dark chocolate. What's the bog water taste like? It just tastes like normal water. Nice colour. Look at that. It's a bit squelchy. Looks like you're weeding that, to be honest. I have not weeded it. Oh, maybe Tom has. My socks. I've been wet all day. How long can you hold that for? How long? Are you holding the tree? Oh, I thought you were doing it. Yeah, it would be very impressive. To be honest, I am getting a bit of fire burn. Is that better? Not a bad day. Smashed my finger, like that. But the thing at the moment, the most pressing issue is I've still not had a poo. I'm wondering about shock therapy over there, just going in the river. Maybe that might send my body into a state of relaxing. Oh, there she is. Good morning. Morning. I'm patiently waiting for the emergence of a beautiful butterfly. Which one are you going to do first? Don't know. Just don't tell Katie? Not had a disapproving look or a shout yet, so. She's still not looking, you're okay. Red first. She didn't see that, it's okay. I can't say I've done it wrong because it's already done. Is that a good job? Why wouldn't it be a good job? What could go wrong? Excellent job, well done. Never get a 10 out of 10. Always room to improve. Route today goes like this, then it goes like this, then it goes like that, then it goes like that, and then it goes like this, and then that, and then we get to a hotel. Route was turning out to be a good mixture of small gravel roads, forest tracks, and cycling paths. We'd covered a little over 90 kilometers up until this point, and the ascent was adding up. Katie and Katie were doing a stallion job of the navigation. Tom was teaching us how to mount our bikes with style, and I spent most of the day at the back bringing up the rear. You got dry feet? You're happy? I'm gonna be even happier to give it 30 minutes from now. What's the first thing you do when you get into a hotel room, Katie? Brush your teeth with clean running water and clean your retainer. What a luxury. It's absolute luxury. It's not bike packing unless you're packing by the bins. How do you feel after a night in luxury? Not by the bins, but in the hotel. Hey, I haven't been sleeping in the bins. I feel refreshed, like I'm on holiday, ready to start again. Bed's too soft. Always a whinge. Yeah, should have just slept on the floor. Breakfast any good? Breakfast was decent, yeah. Fully refreshed. Smash it. Yeah, usual. When do you think we're going to get wet feet? Anybody's wet feet. Oh, we've got to narrow it down. Mine are slightly showery, watery. So I'd say a quarter past two for me, but yours look like they'll just be like a sponge. They are like a sponge. I'm going for ten. Ten? Ten. Ten?! I've just set the bar low so that everything else is better. Day three of our ride and the hills were not over with us yet. Today was going to be a killer leg workout with a fair share of push a bike. The Met officer suggested we could keep dry until lunch before being met by the rain. Fortunately, we had a warm bed to look forward to. Officially raining. Get a bit of warm food. Fort Pye. Piggledy Piggledy. Which way, Katie? Left. The sting of the hill. Yeah. Mink gravel. That's my favourite bit. I found journey home. And the scenic ride. Are we going to push him? You're going shorts. There's never a question. There's two of them. There's two of them brave enough to get the legs out in the Scottish April. Not as big as yesterday. So if this was yesterday and it goes like this, it goes a little bit up and down. And then it goes down and then it goes up. But not quite as high as yesterday. Cool. Is that a Scottish sunshine I see? Baby. Scotch eggs. It's been carried since Aberfelden. I'm on an absolute mission with the food. Getting as much as you can. I am, yeah. I'm eating so much. Does that feel better? Do you just really like getting sorted by the bins? Not again. They smell a bit. I think that's just Tom. I think that's me to be honest. How are you feeling about the last day, Tom? Fine. I've just, you've caught me at a bad moment. Let's put even more pressure on you then. Oh, yeah, that's better. I won't be giving a job at an airport pit stop. I won't be doing the expletives. It's good, isn't it? That's really tight. I know. You know all this CrossFit you're doing? Yeah. Do you think maybe we should do some yoga classes too? I do. Also, is that literally from just wearing socks? That is mad. Where you've worn your hairs away? Yeah. Well, I guess I'm stretching now. I do a lot of stuff like this, squatting. I guess I'm more flexible than Tom. If I'm recording, it can just be B-roll. I was trying to think of something profound to say as the ride was drawing to an end. What have the last 326 kilometres taught me? Probably that I need another gear and to pack less. What's my recipe for a great holiday? Find people as mad as you. Load a bike up and don't let the rain stop you. What's the home stretch now? Just had to dig through the trees. Yeah, you break that twig. Snapping branches.