Graham moved to the Tweed Valley 16 years ago – having spent so many holidays and weekends here cycling and exploring it just made perfect sense!
A life-long cyclist he has spent many thousands of hours riding bikes: touring, racing & bike packing, on and off road, locally and around the planet. For a while he had some crazy commuting statistics and was known in the construction trade as the Cycling Engineer!
He quit his “career” job a few year ago to set up Cleikum Mill – a cycling-friendly accommodation provider in Innerleithen in the Tweed Valley and helps his guests have lots of knowledge about the area so they enjoy their time in the Tweed Valley and make the most of their stay. Cleikum Mill has won various awards including MTB Friendly Accommodation of the Year at the 2017 Scottish MTB Awards and more recently Singletrack Magazine Editors Choice 2020 and has played host to everyone kind of cyclist from casual cyclists, families, national cycling teams and world class Mtb teams. Graham has tried to think of everything to make life easy with facilities for guests with bikes.
He has built up an extensive knowledge of the many gravel and xc routes in the valley and surrounding area along with some truly classic and underrated road riding circuits.
Starting up Bike Valley Trails with Lucy who shares the same knowledge and ethos was a logical step. For more information about Graham’s bike friendly accommodation, check out the website here at www.cleikum-mill-lodge.co.uk.
“I have always found it frustrating that guests were missing out riding some of the best routes the valley had to offer because they could not easily plan and choose rides. I would often sketch something quickly for them but I wanted something better, I wanted riders to choose and make an informed choice themselves.”
Graham (Cleikum Mill Lodge, Innerleithen)
Lucy is a MTB guide and British Cycling MTB instructor and has been living in the Tweed Valley for over twenty years. She set up Swift Trails – MTB Guiding & Tuition in 2015 in response to the growing numbers of women enthusiastic about mountain biking. Swift Trails was very successful (currently paused 2022). Lucy now runs Swift First Aid teaching a comprehensive variety of First Aid training to suit a huge range of working environments and industries for individuals and Companies.
Her aim has always been quite simply to get as many people as possible out on their bikes into the countryside to enjoy the ‘simple pleasures’ of being outside in nature. In 2018 Lucy was included in Cycling UK top 100 inspirational women who promote cycling and has been instrumental in encouraging women to take up biking in the Tweed Valley.
In her spare time, she loves to explore the miles of trails and forest roads across the Scottish Borders that make this area such a magnet for bikers and more recently has enjoyed packing her saddlebags for a bit of bike packing further afield. Lucy also hosts guests at “Lee Penn” Airbnb, a lovely one bedroom guest suite in Cardrona near Peebles. For more information about Lucy and Swift First Aid Skills Training . Check out www.swift-firstaid.co.uk for the latest course dates and services available .
“I’m hoping Bike Valley Trails will enable more people to experience the amazing riding we have right here on our doorstep. There’s something here for everyone from long distance back country challenges to family friendly routes on flat riverside trails. I can’t wait to share our ‘backyard’ with visitors to the Tweed Valley”
Lucy (Swift First Aid Skills Training )