After riding the Yorkshire Dirt Dash in 2025 and 2026, I thought it was time I went North of the Border. So on 26th and 27th September I joined the Dunoon Dirt Dash for two days of bikepacking, one night under canvas and the kind of changing Scottish West Coast conditions that make a weekend memorable.
For those not familiar with Dirt Dash - run by gravel and bikepacking stalwart Markus Stitz - these events are non-timed. Nobody was racing - though some of us still climbed as if it were!
Arriving for anything by ferry is just better, and so crossing to Dunoon, leaving the everyday on the other side of the Clyde, felt particularly special. By the time we docked and the bikes were unloaded, the Cowal Peninsula was waiting: forest tracks, steep hills and sea lochs stretching between them.
Image: Iza Murtagh
I was joining for the weekend by Carradice ambassador Iza Murtagh, and we’d packed the bikes with the Carradice Adventure Range: a Colorado Saddlebag behind the saddle, a Bowland Bar Bag in 12L or 20L up front, a Pennine Top Tube Bag for snacks and phone, and a first proper outing for our new frame bag, launching this month.
Day One. Benmore, Loch Eck and the Forest Roads
From Dunoon, the route headed north into the wooded country around Benmore and Loch Eck. I tried by damenst to avoid looking at my GPS - the views are spectacular. Tall conifers reach skyward, and glimpses of water flash through the trees.
Image: Iza Murtagh
The riding mixed quiet tarmac, forestry tracks, loose gravel and a few rougher sections that took me out of my riding stupor. Some stretches were fast and flowing, others were a reminder that a loaded bike climb does make climbing harder, whatever your legs have to say about it. On the rough stuff, the Colorado Saddlebag rode on its Bagman support, keeping the load up and out of the way of the rear wheel.
Image: Iza Murtagh
The wider Benmore area, with its botanic garden and Puck's Glen, deserves a return visit when there is time to leave the bikes and explore on foot. We made a note, but we did not stop. Snacks came out of the Pennine Top Tube Bag without anyone needing to put a foot down.
At camp - arguably the best part of Dirt Dash - riders who had taken the hills at their own speed came together for food, conversation and a night under canvas. Sea loch, hills, a sky turning pink. There were worse places to pitch a tent! My camp kit came out of the Bowland Bar Bag, ready to be returned the next morning.
69km and 1043m elevation. View day one on Strava
Day Two. Rain, Lochs and the Road Back to Dunoon
By morning, the West Coast weather had joined the ride. Our waterproofs went on early and stayed on. Carradice ambassador Iza Murtagh's posts from the weekend capture both days, and Day Two was very much the damp one.
Image: Iza Murtagh
This is exactly why I like riding with our bags in the real world. Loading them at camp, digging out kit on the move, and seeing how they cope after hours of spray and grit tells us more than any showroom ever could. The Colorado and Bowland are both made from 1000 denier Cordura with a roll-top closure, and a wet day on Cowal is what they were built for.
Image: Iza Murtagh
The later part of the route took in the Loch Long side of Cowal, through Ardentinny and along the waterside stretch past Blairmore, Strone and Kilmun. The forest gave way to open views across the water. Even on tired legs, there was plenty of reason to pause.
Yes. That's wet. Image: Edward Kingston
The new Carradice frame bag, launching this month, getting its first taste of Cowal mud. Image: Edward Kingston
Blairmore pier, Marine Gateway of the National Park. Image: Iza Murtagh
One more stop before the return ferry. Image: Iza Murtagh
Shorter on paper but still a fitting end to the weekend.
33km and 338m elevation. View day two on Strava
The Bags We Rode With
Everything we carried over the weekend went in four Carradice bags, all handmade in
Lancashire. The 17L Colorado Saddlebag, behind the saddle, on a Bagman support. A Bowland Bar Bag on a Bagman Bar Rack. And a Pennine Top Tube Bag, behind the stem. Keep an eye on our Bikepacking range for the frame bag launch.
Good Company
Supporting Dirt Dash means more to us than seeing Carradice bags at an event. Riding alongside everyone, watching the different ways people pack and hearing what they need from their kit helps us keep making bags for the journeys people actually take.
Anything to dry out! Image: Edward Kingston
Just as valuable is being part of a weekend that welcomes riders to find out what they can do with a loaded bike. Work hard on a climb, stop for a view, share the campsite. That’s bikepacking, right? Thank you to the Dirt Dash team and to everyone who shared the tracks and the campsite with us. Dunoon sent us home damp, tired, and already thinking about the next ride. Where next?
