Cairngorm Loop XL on a full-susser

With the newly revised Sonder Cortex set to land in June, I’d been scratching my head about a suitable testing challenge for this updated version of one of my favourite bikes in the Sonder lineup. What ride could put a true ‘do it all’ full suss through its paces?

And then it landed in my inbox, the Cairngorm Loop group finish. Of course! A very un-racey 300km mtb challenge looping (twice) around the Cairngorms National Park. Set off whenever you like, but the only stipulation is that you finish at some point on Saturday afternoon with pizza and beer with other Loopers.

Perfect!... but wait, Huw (the custodian of all things loopy) had put out a brand new / never been ridden ‘XL’ version that takes in a host of unexplored trails out towards Aboyne and then back again traversing the Southern Cairngorms no less than four times! The prospect was too good to pass up: 100s of km of fresh trails on a brand new, fresh, out-of-the-box bike!

Struggling to stay upright in the gusts whilst heading over Mount Keen did not help matters but, as is often the case on these rides, the ‘sweet’ reveals itself only in contrast to the ‘sour’ and some epic technical descents more than made up for the suffering to get there.

The only snag was (as it turns out is quite often the case as a freelance working father of 2) that my window of opportunity for completing the XL Loop got squashed and squeezed down to just 48hrs, ambitious for the standard 300km version but pretty ludicrous for the full-fat XL 500km one. Oh well, it’s worth a shot. What’s the worst that could happen? So at 5 pm on Thursday evening, I strap my bivvy kit to the Cortex and pedal out of Feshiebridge into the unknown.

The Cortex, my trail companion of choice for many MTB adventures over the years, has undergone a face-lift for 2024. Sticking to the do-it-all 29er full-suss platform, it’s now got longer travel and updated geometry to suit everything from long XC rides & big mountain days out to tearing up trail centres & hitting enduro trails. (All, incidentally, characteristics of the Cairngorm Loop).

Full suspension might not be everyone’s first choice for a bikepacking rig, but I’ve found that the advantages can be huge with minimal luggage on technical trails. The ‘Aero rack’ setup worked perfectly on a full suss. It allowed me to stash an Elan hooped bivvy, Pipedream 400 sleeping bag (thanks for not showing up summer!!) and Cloudbase sleeping mat in a 12l waterproof pack and then carry whatever else I’d take on a typical big day out in a custom Stingray frame bag (pinched from my original Cortex) and an Artlu vest. The question was, though, how would an entirely new bike feel straight out on a long & challenging ride?

The first 200km went pretty swiftly on smooth trails and with a convenient tailwind. A surprise initial slog up the ‘Burma Road’ quickly identified that the new Cortex was very happy climbing. The lockout was super effective on smooth trails, but even with the suspension open, it made short work of technical climbs with little bob. Rolling into Aboyne at 8 am just in time for a snatched co-op picnic breakfast, I’d had a few hours kip sheltering from the rain under a bridge and felt a growing confidence about making it all the way around. Then the trail headed back West & into a building headwind, and the hard physical nature of the XL Loop began to be revealed.

My plans for an early lunch in Ballater, or perhaps even Braemar, quickly evaporated with the realisation that the next four climbs would be monsters! Struggling to stay upright in the gusts whilst heading over Mount Keen did not help matters but, as is often the case on these rides, the ‘sweet’ reveals itself only in contrast to the ‘sour’ and some epic technical descents more than made up for the suffering to get there. ‘Heartbreak Ridge’ heading down into Ballater, in particular, blew my mind. The extra weight of my luggage quickly got forgotten, with the Cortex soaking up this supremely technical, slabby trail. Refuelling on a burger in Ballater and some quick calculations made, finishing the total 500km XL Loop before Saturday afternoon pizza begins to look unlikely. Still, the trails were sweet, and the sun was out, so all began to matter less and less than the joy of just moving on an unknown trail.

Things continued to get more & more physical, and by the time I’d dragged my bike up onto the largely unrideable ‘Jock’s Road,’ the light was fading, and it seemed unlikely I’d make it down to anywhere near Braemar before total darkness (around 11.30 pm in July in the Highlands!) Fortunately, I happened upon ‘Davie’s Bourach’, an innocuous pile of stones with a tell-tale red hobbit door in it, tucked into the hillside, which, as a climber’s shelter, provided a couple of hours hiding from the wind before the sun rose again and I could drag the bike down into Braemar to catch a joyous costa-machine coffee from the early opening store. By this point, the choice was simple: a full XL Loop completion or pizza & beer with the other loopers.

It didn’t take much consideration, and I consoled myself with the knowledge that I’d ridden almost all of the trails that were unfamiliar to me and, in doing so, had a wonderful time getting acquainted with the new (and now we’ll have truly proven) Cortex.

I was further consoled when I bumped into Huw to ride the last few km down Glen Feshie only to find out that he’d taken the same shortcut I had, making a super-challenging 300km ‘XL-lite’ alternate Loop in around 46hrs. In fact, it was telling of the nature of the Loop-group-finish ethos to find out, whilst swapping stories with old friends and new over well-earned pizzas, that only one rider had completed the Loop they had set out to. Strong headwinds had played their part, but ultimately, the focus of this friendly and approachable (yet challenging) ‘event’ is to have fun on your bike and hang out with like-minded folk. This, I and my new Cortex-pal had undoubtedly achieved. I get the feeling it will be the start of a beautiful relationship! And besides, it is tempting to think that a ‘first completion’ of the new Cairngorm Loop XL is still up for grabs.