The route aims to show off some of the best mountain biking and scenery in Aberdeenshire and Royal Deeside. The route can be done in any way you want, whether in a group, individually, fully supported or completely unsupported. More detail on the route is hosted at Bikepacking.com. There is a Facebook group to discuss the route at https://www.facebook.com/groups/deesidetrail/
The route was conceived along the lines of the Capital Trail, Cairngorms Loop and the Highland Trail 550 so if you plan to complete the route as a mountain bike individual time trial and be recorded in the ride records then you should follow these rules:
- Complete the entire route, under your own power – no drafting
- Adhere to the Scottish Outdoor Access Code for cycling
- Be completely self-supported throughout the ride – absolutely no support crews, absolutely no gear sharing
- Only use commercial services that are available to all challengers – no private resupply, no private lodging
- If you have to leave the route, you must re-join it at the exactly same spot
- No third-party sag-wagon offering an easy bail-out option
- No caches of any kind, including postal drops
- No pre-arranged support, which means before you begin your ride – e.g. booking a B&B
- No travel by any motorized means. By all means do so if necessary, but understand if you do your attempt is over
- No ditching or stashing of any gear to pick up later
- Gear – nothing required, nothing prohibited
To record your finishing time submit the full gps track of your route by email to adam@deesidetrail.com
There are some blog posts and videos about the route here:
https://moab.in/deeside-trail/
https://jkbsbikeride.com/2021/12/26/deeside-trail-another-hit-run-to-scotland-01-10-21-03-10-21/
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=mikeduguid&set=a.10158125422146366
https://restrap.com/blogs/news/the-deeside-trail
https://drj0nswanderings.wordpress.com/2021/01/17/subtractive/
https://www.rabwardell.com/post/the-deeside-trail-the-most-challenging-route-i-ve-ever-ridden
http://philsbikepacking.blogspot.com/2017/10/deeside-holiday.html
http://www.iworm.co.uk/?q=node/601
https://challengescotland.wordpress.com/2020/07/18/deeside-trail/
The Deeside Trail 