Breaking News: RtN 2026!

For thirteen years our event has moved around featuring new locations and working with different communities.  The event has taken place over 5 different Council areas.  I’ve known since the return after the pandemic that the days of changing the event every year were limited.  It’s just not viable and not especially satisfactory to say “thanks …but goodbye” to communities that have embraced the event and contributed to it’s appeal.

Ride the North 2026 will be a very similar route to the 2025 event and will take place from Glamis Castle on Saturday 29 August.  This is not (at this point) a declaration that this is the end of moving the event BUT to organise an event of this size I have to work with those who want to work with me.  The creation of an Angus Council led advisory group for RtN 2025 brought all Council Departments and public agencies into a forum that discussed and developed the event plan and this contributed to the smoothest event planning experience I’ve had – by some distance. Particular note of thanks to Sandy Brodie at Angus Council. 

Communities along the route through Moray, Aberdeenshire and Angus have always been so kind and very welcoming to cyclists from the very outset of our event but community engagement in 2025 did reach a new level too.

The honest response to anyone disappointed that there is no spinning the Ride the North Wheel of Fortune to determine ‘where next’, is that the ‘rip it up and start again’ model took me to places that were pretty unhealthy in terms of workload and stress.  This signals a change …by declaring ‘no change’!

However, it’s not quite all over yet for the Ride the North origins of cycling mystery tours …which is why this is being announced at the same time!