Another Saturday rolls around. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, we are in the same town as a parkrun venue. Bught Park is a short drive away and the 5km course is alongside the River Ness. Three laps of the park later, I have ticked off Inverness parkrun, and we drive into the city for a spot of leisurely shopping (unsuccessfully seeking map software for Bruce's Garmin). 

It's not until much later in the day that we can motivate ourselves to think about biking. But fortunately, TD has lined up an afternoon option that he hopes won't demand too much of my legs. We take the road along Loch Ness then turn to head into the hills above the loch.

Abriachan Forest is  500+ hectares of woodland, managed by a trust in order to maintain community connection with the land. From their website: " . . . as a social enterprise, the Abriachan Forest Trust has managed this land to create local employment, improve the environment and encourage its enjoyment by the public through a network of spectacular paths, family suited mountain bike trails, innovative outdoor learning as well as health and well-being opportunities."

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The only mountain bike trail is a blue-graded 10km long loop - perfect! More technical than yesterday, it swoops up and down from dark forest floor to stony open country with sweeping views, and down again, keeping us busy for the rest of the afternoon. 

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We continue to be bowled over by stumbling across these wee gems of Scottish bike parks. It's a model I'd like to see taken up back home: to create boutique bike and hiking trails as part of a wider operation. Full-on mountain bike parks such as Whistler or New Zealand's Rotorua are wonderful facilities, especially for aficionados. But we've really enjoyed riding at these small places with fewer trails . . . and fewer people.