The Adventure Syndicate have a long history of bringing together like-minded souls (most of them women) to adventure together. Alice, Phil and I met this way and make an inseparable trio when it comes to travelling unlikely distances by bike into remote and mountainous places. We love these physical challenges and the wild places they take us and as a result, our friendship has deepened.

Our mums have always wondered why we feel the need to disappear into the hills. They see us experiencing cold, discomfort, and fatigue but our adventures by bike don’t feel to us like suffering in the way they imagine. These adventures remind us how lucky we are to be alive and leave us in awe of our natural surroundings. We thought it was about time we showed them what we mean when we say travelling self-supported by bike is the simplest and greatest pleasure in our lives.

^{Mothers and Daughters! Left to Right: Lesley (top) and Lee (bottom); Linda (top) and Alice (bottom); Hilary (top) and Phil (bottom) © Olivia Grace Smith Photography}

In July of this year, we somehow convinced our three mums, aged between 63 and 79, to join us for a three-day cycling trip around the Cairngorm National Park. We hired e-bikes for Hilary, Linda and Lesley from Aviemore Bikes and helped our mums whittle down the clothing and equipment they thought they would need over three days. No travel irons. No make-up.

After an afternoon spent familiarising themselves with their unusual bikes, Alice's mum, Linda, and my mum, Lesley, felt ready to go but Phil’s mum, Hilary – despite being the most experienced e-biker in the group – suffers from MS and had to battle hard to get to grips with her unfamiliar bike. It was touch and go as to whether she would manage to mount and master it before we were due to leave the next morning but with perseverance and support all six of us decided by nightfall that we were ready to set off on a self-supported adventure together.

^{Visiting the Cairngorms Connect Tree Nursery © Olivia Grace Smith Photography}

After a good night’s sleep in our communal dorm at the Aviemore Hostel we rode from Aviemore to Nethy Bridge along the beautiful Speyside Way, it’s smooth surface peeking through heather strewn moorland on either side. We stopped for lunch in Boat of Garten before continuing round Loch Garten, pausing so the daughters could have a quick swim. After a fun night sharing a bottle of gin and a simple meal of pasta at Nethy House we began our journey south again towards Glenmore and the Cairngorm Lodge Hostel but on the way we wanted to include a visit to the Cairngorms Connect Tree Nursery to share with our mums something of the love and concern we feel for the natural environments we are constantly riding through and getting so much joy from. With Cairngorms Connect’s 200-year vision for habitat restoration there was something of the First Nation principle of “seven generation” about it. First Nations often consider their actions to be informed by the experience of the past seven generations and by considering the consequences for the seven generations to follow. A timeless, altruistic desire to live lightly and only take from natural resources what is needed. To visit such a place with our mums, who know better than us what it means to care for future generations and often get no immediate thanks or reward, it felt like parallels were being drawn between our love for the natural world and their love for us. I think we left the nursery more informed but also with a better understanding of what that motivates each of us to worry, care and want to protect that which we love.

^{Taking a break in RSPB Scotland Abernethy Reserve © Olivia Grace Smith Photography}

We had it on good authority that the infamous Sluggan Road had been recently resurfaced and that it would be a hard but rewarding way for us to reach Glenmore. It quickly transpired that the surface was far from friendly but by then Linda and Lesley had boosted out of sight on the steep, loose track! Phil and Hilary sensibly made their way round to Glenmore by the road but not before a stumble into a wasp nest added to the adventure.

Reunited at the hostel that evening we sat outside and watched the sun setting over the Northern Corries. Everyone was silently buzzing and quietly reflective, not least us daughters who had, by our reckoning just pulled off a small but exhausting miracle. We were struck by just how much care and consideration our mums must have given us over the years and taken aback at how much energy we had had to spend to keep them safe and cared for over only three days!

Our mums left energised and inspired to go further and faster by bike. (In fact Linda and Lesley have now joined Hilary in becoming e-bike owners!) 

This was a rare opportunity to share and connect with each other in a way that would bring us all closer in mutual understanding. At the same time we were able to create the sort of memories that will span generations and remind us all that we are all part of something much much bigger and more timeless than ourselves.

^{Admiring the view © Olivia Grace Smith Photography}