Over the next few months, Team Wideopenmag’s Chris Hutchens will be exploring the best of Scottish mountain biking … taking in some old classics and fresh new yins alike.
In part 1 … Hutch is up in the north east of Scotland riding the Findhorn trails around Forres in Moray.
I’ve been riding bikes in Scotland for almost 20 years. I’m not really sure where the time has gone!  That’s almost two thirds of my life has now been consumed by riding these two-wheeled self-propelled machines. It’s taken me all over the World from riding in New Zealand and Canada and a little off-road in the Far East, albeit the bikes there were a little less robust!
It’s only been in the last half of my riding life that venturing further away from the racetrack has been of real interest to me. I’m glad of that, as while racing is great there’s a definite freedom of going into the unknown and away from the relative safety of an event.
The past few years have been a revelation. With the advancements in bike technology and the introduction of the ‘enduro’ bike going big mountain riding, or hitting more technical tracks further away from civilization has become far more enjoyable. It’s probably the reason I stopped racing downhill and went ‘full enduro’.
Over this year and maybe a few beyond I want to share a few of the adventures and rides I get up to. Some of these are with friends and then some are solo depending on who’s around and how schedules align. Either way these mini adventures are a little showcase of the riding in Scotland, maybe further afield depending on how things pan out over the year.
Dropping first is somewhere I’ve been wanting to ride for a long time – Findhorn in Moray, near Inverness.
I hope you enjoy! It’s awesome fun making these little edits and I hope to keep them coming.
Thanks Team Wideopenmag’s sponsors for supporting me this season:
