Drumochter Cycle Route

Please don't be put off doing the route by this report. The object of the report was get get something done to improve the route. If you are on a mountain bike, a touring bike, a hybrid or even a road bike with some slightl;y heavier duty tyres (700x26mm or above) you should be OK. If you take your latest Trek Carbon beauty with 700x23 or less you should still be Ok providing you are careful on the bumps, ride round the holes, don't mind risking a puncture or two or getting your bike dirty. The alternative of cycling on the main road is dangerous and a non-starter.

Dalwhinnie Distellery - well worth a visit especially if you have 'survived' the cycle track through Drumochter or a good way to get fired up for it if travelling south

I’ve cycled all my life (my accumulated mileage exceeds 160,000 miles) and I still cycle between 2000 & 4000 miles a year. My wife Kathryn and I own & run Newtonmore Hostel where, during the summer months, up to 20% of our customers arrive on a bicycle. Some are doing Land’s End to John o’Groats, some are following the Sustrans Route 7 (Glasgow to Inverness), and others are simply touring. A lot of cyclists use a lightweight road bike with fairly narrow tyres; I estimate that about half of those who come to us via Drumochter use this type of bike. The state of the track means that these cycles are prone to punctures and possible damage. However if they switch to the main road cyclists are in danger of an accident.

Much of the information I’ve set out in this document comes not only from personal experience but has been offered by our customers. Many of the customers are not impressed with the Drumochter Cycle Route, particularly the section from Dalnacardoch to Dalwhinnie. Possibly the only positive thing that can be said about it is that it's a safer option than using the main road (the A9).

I have ignored the section from Dalwhinnie to Etteridge as it is on a public road and has no identifiable problems.

The start is at Calvine where two strange looking ‘sculptures’ mark the entrance together with a notice warning of ‘dire weather’ ahead. Strangely there is no warning of a ‘dire track’ ahead. This section uses the old A9 and is, generally, in excellent condition. The first few miles are really beautiful, a quiet tree lined route alongside the river Garry. After a few miles the route climbs out of the trees to give wide views of the surrounding mountains. The road is shared with local traffic so cyclists should watch out for the occasional car. I found no evidence of rubbish dumping on this section. The only problem is a bridge with a very loose surface.

Apart from some improvement to the route across the bridge little needs to be done.
Although the small amount of motor traffic keeps the carriageway clearer than on traffic free sections, the route should be swept, at least annually.

This section was purpose built in 2000/01. Most of it is ‘new’ track although it includes short tarmac sections of old A9. It is a very scenic section spoiled by the on-track problems.

The Track Surface
The surface is not sufficiently robust to stand up to the climate; most of the track is over 1000’ above sea level, and the summit is 1500’ above sea level. The result is that, in many places, the track surface is breaking up. The chippings cause many punctures and this problem is worsening as the track deteriorates.

The loose surface is potentially dangerous when combined with the sharp bends at the bridges. Although it is incumbent on all cyclists to ride safely however when descending Drumochter (in either direction) it is easy to pick up a lot of speed only to find (too late) that braking at a sharp bend on the loose surface causes a skid (or worse).

I know that on the Newtonmore to Kingussie section an impermeable layer of thick plastic was put down before the track was laid, preventing plant growth through the track. Judging by the number of plants growing up through the track I suspect that this was not done on the Dalnacardoch to Dalwhinnie section. North of Dalnacardoch there is a short section of tarmac and even on this section numerous plants have penetrated the tarmac.

North of Drumochter, just before Balsporran Cottages (going north) the track was built about half the width of the earlier section and directly adjacent to the A9. There is another section like this on the south side of Drumochter. In the winter when the road is ploughed all the snow and detritus is pushed into the track by the snowploughs. Very few cyclists use the track in winter but when the snow melts all the gravel, rock and rubbish are left behind. I’m not aware of any organisation clearing this debris from the track. This section is deteriorating even faster than the rest and will soon be useless for anything but a heavy duty mountain bike.

Litter and Glass
There is a terrible problem, with litter being thrown into lay-bys when cars are stopped and out of car windows when cars are traveling. Included in this litter are glass bottles which smash when they hit the track, adding to the puncture problem for all types of bike. Litter bins are provided in the lay-bys and are used by some people but not by everyone. Clearly the ideal solution would be to stop people throwing the litter, but that’s not going to happen and therefore it needs to be removed. The litter on the track and in the lay-bys looks dreadful. Is this really what we want visitors to see when entering our National Park? North of Drumochter near Dalwhinnie the track runs 10’ below the A9. Beside the lay-bys the banking is used as a toilet. The excrement and toilet paper are a very unattractive sight when cycling along the track.

Gates and Bridges
There are several gates along the route. These were all built with a cattle/sheep grid alongside. For some reason every grid has been blocked off by a variety of arrangements from wooden pallets to plastic netting. This looks very unattractive.

The gates (the alternative to the cattle/sheep grid) are now held closed by the time honoured means of a piece of cord. It looks as though all the catches have been removed. Again, this looks very unprofessional.

A lot of bridges were built on this section. The bridges have stayed put but, in several cases, the path has sunk leaving a sharp ridge as you come onto the bridge. Hitting one of these edges, even at low speed, can cause what is known as a ‘snakebite’ puncture; so called because the tyre is compressed hard onto the rim and the tube is punctured twice giving the appearance of a snake bite. Several customers have reported suffering snakebite punctures on their way through Drumochter.

Vegetation & Rockfall
This section of route is at such an altitude that plant growth is not as vigorous as it is lower down, however, after 7 years there are some problems. Just after leaving Dalnacardoch there is a short section sheltered by trees. The surface is now completely overgrown by moss and is quite slippery and tricky to ride. In other areas, trees, bushes, nettles, and bracken are narrowing the route to the point where it is very uncomfortable to ride.

In places where there is a steep bank from the A9 down to the track there are small rockslides where boulders end up on the track. This problem was particularly bad in the spring but I guess that from time to time passing cyclists must have stopped and removed a few boulders from the track.

The track surface needs all degraded sections, holes, & bumps repairing.
All loose gravel and glass must be cleared from the track. Possibly the best way to do this would be with a mini mechanical street sweeper
Litter needs to be cleared from the track, lay-bys and embankments.
The sharp edges that cause snakebite punctures on the bridges need smoothing out.
The cattle/sheep grids need opening up or re-building so that they work.
The gates need proper, working catches.
Vegetation narrowing the track needs to be cut back.
Vegetation growing up through the track needs to be removed as part of the repair process

This section uses ‘old’ A9 and some excellent work was done two years ago (by Bear Scotland) to remove overgrowing trees and clean the surface. At the same time, they removed large amounts of dumped material. It is mostly an attractive, wooded, and well surfaced section of the route.

There is one very easy vehicle access from the A9. This problem has never been addressed so it is easy for someone with a load a builder’s rubble, bags of old clothes, gas cylinders, garden rubbish, unwanted sofas, or anything else to simply drive onto the track and dump it. Until this access problem is dealt with the dumping will continue.

A large section (about two miles) of the A9 north from Etteridge is about to be upgraded to dual carriageway. I trust that the cycle route will remain available for use. Would it be possible to sort out the access problem as part of the dual carriageway upgrading?

Fencing and gates need to be installed to prevent casual access and dumping. This could be done as part of the dual carriageway upgrading.
All dumped of rubbish should be removed.
The route should be swept annually

The Politics
When the route was built, I volunteered as a Sustrans Ranger with a brief to try to look after the track, make small repairs, and report bigger problems. Two years later I resigned because I found it impossible to get support from of the agencies involved, get anything done, or even get an admission as to who was actually responsible for maintaining the track. My experiences of these organisations are detailed below and apply to 2002 when I resigned as a ranger and gave up hope of ever getting it fixed. I hope the situation may have improved. These agencies are;

1. Sustrans
The main aim of this organisation seems to be to get cycle routes built and then tell everybody how wonderful they are. My experience is that they have little interest in route maintenance as it’s ‘not their job’.

2. Highland & Perth & Kinross Council
They were very helpful when it came to the sections of track on their ‘patch’. It does seem that lay-bys and litter on the trunk road are also their responsibility, although I found them not very keen to admit it. The first two pictures were taken in 2003, below is what the site looks like in 2007

3. Transerve (formerly Bear)
They have spent a lot of time denying they have any responsibility for cycle route maintenance. This is understandable as their primary function is to make a profit for their shareholders and one way to do this is to keep costs down. About two years ago they did some excellent work maintaining the Etteridge to Ralia section.

4. Scottish Executive
They say it’s nothing to do with them, it's all contracted out.

The buck was (and still is), passed between organisations while the track deteriorates; an expensive project gradually becomes a derelict eyesore, to the detriment of the environment, the economy, and Scotland in general. Unless something is done, the whole project will have been a complete waste of time and money.

Close inspection of the track, after several years shows clearly that particularly the Dalnacardoch to Dalwhinnie section has been completely neglected since it was built. In seven years absolutely no maintenance of any sort has been carried out. Volunteer Rangers can deal with small problems but the larger problems need more ‘firepower’. This has not been forthcoming. As an aside I find it strange that a long distance footpath such as the Speyside way generated a maintenance infrastructure which includes paid Rangers whereas no such support is given to cycle routes. The state of the route tells me similar support is needed.

Current State of Track (Summer 2007)
The track, particularly Dalnacardoch to Dalwhinnie, is deteriorating quickly and can only be comfortably used by heavy-duty touring or mountain bikes. Many cyclists on lightweight bikes choose to use the A9 because:

A puncture or two is almost guaranteed either from gravel, broken glass or snakebite on the bridge ends.
The risk of damage to bikes.
All the sharp bends and loose surfaces, taken at even moderate speed, add to the risk of an accident.
Speed of travel is slower than on the main road (this is important for a Land’s End to John O’Groats rider on a tight schedule

I will only very reluctantly use the Dalnacardoch to Dalwhinnie section while on my best bike (the one I use for long rides). It cost me a lot of money, is my pride and joy and I don’t want to damage it or get punctures. Many of my customers don’t use this section of the track either. I wonder how long it will be before there is a serious accident involving a cyclist who returned to the main road because of the state of the cycle track.

Future State of Track
If nothing is done it will continue to deteriorate. In ten years it will be a ‘green’ track passable only by mountain bikers, thus excluding 50% of the cyclists who pass through Drumochter. In 20 years it will be derelict and impassable to all bikes. Maybe by that time the whole A9 will be dual carriageway with a nice little cycle lane along the edge!

Best Long Term Option
Complete re-surfacing of all chipped and graveled section with tarmac installed with an impermeable base layer.

Cycle Cairngorms Challenge
This event has my full support and up to 1000 cyclists in 2008 using the track during the event will be helpful in keeping the track open and usable by all types of bicycles. Work needs to be done on the track for all users but there is no reason why a large number of cyclist cannot use the track providing the are suitably briefed about the track conditions, safe riding and use suitably robust tyres.

I am not aware of any figures of cycle usage on the Drumochter Track but close examination of the picture will show lots of tracks. Until a more rigorous system of recording is set up it is the best I can do. Taken in July 2007

The above report represents my own views and I would welcome any debate and discussion about any of the issues raised. All photographs are copyright and may be reproduce with an acknowledgement