Donnie Campbell, of Inverness, has been on the FKT (Fastest Known Time) trail again – this time cycling the 745km Pictish Trail from Dunnet Head to Edinburgh in a time of 40 hours and 47 minutes (1 day, 16 hours, 47 minutes) on August 10, 2026. The total ascent for the route is 9275m. An earlier FKT had been set by Henry Pemberton in May 2026 of 3 days, 3 hours and 49 minutes.
The 41-year-old athlete, originally from the Isle of Skye, said: “I first discovered the Pictish Trail when I watched a YouTube video by Huw Oliver. He had put together the route, from Dunnet Head, mainly down the east coast of Scotland, to Edinburgh.
“I decided I’d like to do it and the perfect opportunity came up in a good weather window recently. I also did the ride as part of my training for my big event this year, the Alps Divide. I carried all the kit I will need for this endurance bikepacking event, even though I didn’t end up using much of it.
“I also like a cycling adventure in Scotland and having done the Badger Divide and An Turas Mor and, more recently, a Great Glen Way double, I thought the Pictish Trail would be good next one to try as an FKT.”
What is there Pictish Trail?
The Pictish Trail is a bikepacking route, linking the most northerly point of the British mainland at Dunnet Head, with Scotland’s capital city of Edinburgh. Over the course of 750km of mixed-terrain riding, it traverses Scotland’s ancient Pictish kingdoms, weaving between the present and the past, the mountains and the coast.
Donnie’s Pictish Trail FKT
Dunnet Head to Inverness
Donnie boarded a 4.30am Ember bus (along with his bike) from Inverness to Thurso, then needed to ride 20km to reach Dunnet Head and the start of the Pictish Trail.
He set off on the official route at 9am, cycling west at first and into a headwind along the north coast of Scotland. After this, the route turned south on to a singletrack road towards Helmsdale, when the head wind became more of a cross tail wind.
Next, came a section of gravel track that Donnie described as “champagne gravel”. He added: “I really enjoyed this part of the ride. It was great to be on gravel in Sutherland after the first 50km of tarmac. It was also really stunning with lovely views and the sun was out.
“I felt like I was making good time, although I wasn’t pushing too hard. I kept a steady rhythm with my heart-rate around 120 to 130 bpm and averaging around 200 watts of power. Overall, this felt good.
“Added to this, by 3pm, the wind had dropped and the conditions were pretty much ideal.”
Donnie made this first stop at Helmsdale, refilling water bottles and buying some food. Again, at Golspie, he stopped for more water and food before he faced a long night stint.
The daylight faded into darkness as he cycled towards Evanton in Easter Ross. He rode on towards Inverness and described the mental challenge of riding past his own home.
He said: “To stay true to the FKT rules, I was not allowed to visit my own home for a nap or to pick up extra supplies. This felt quite tough mentally, especially as it was around 1am and still the middle of the night.
“However, my home city was around the half-way point and I still felt good so I just kept riding on.”
Inverness to Edinburgh on the Pictish Trail
From Inverness, the Pictish Trail heads towards Nairn on the Moray coast but Donnie needed to ride through Balloch Woods, on the outskirts of Inverness. A number of trees had fallen during a storm and he found it hard to make his way though the woodland.
He said: “I tried to clamber through the trees because it seemed like someone had been trying to chainsaw a way through. But then I got stuck and I spent a couple of minutes trying to get unstuck. This was frustrating and I decided I would need to backtrack.
“From here, I took the road up to Culloden Battlefield and then rejoined the Pictish Trail a bit further on. I was worried about coming off the trail but there was little I could do about it.”
Donnie rode from Croy to Cawdor and on to Nairn. He said: “This was one of the worst sections of the whole trail. The route was narrow singletrack and the vegetation was very overgrown.
“When thinking about my longer rides, I consider whether I would take friends along each section if we were on a social ride. I don’t think I would recommend the section from Cawdor to Nairn because it was not enjoyable riding.”
Finally reaching Nairn, Donnie turned towards Forres on a flatter section. He says: “This was another great part of the trail. The sun started to rise, which always makes me feel better when on a long ride. I was running a bit low on food but the route offered better cycling.”
Donnie arrived in Forres around 5am but there were no shops or cafes open for him to buy food and water. He had to wait to reach Tomintoul to refuel.
Donnie said: “Sadly, I was still too early for the cafe and I went to local shop. The porridge pot and cereal bars were not ideal for proper refuelling but they got me to the next stopping place at Ballater, where there was a cafe and a Co-op.
“I also had a freshen up in the public toilets and brushed my teeth. I felt good after all this.”
The Pictish Trail took Donnie to Aboyne and then the Fungle Road, which travels uphill out of Deeside and into Angus. Donnie said: “This was another favourite section of the whole route. It’s a tough climb but I enjoyed it. I then headed to Tarfside but, again, this was not that enjoyable because there was a lot of overgrown vegetation, especially tall bracken, beside the track.
“Physically I was feeling fine but I found the route here hard-going mentally.”
Once at Brechin, Donnie rode back on to tarmac to reach Arbroath. He bought more food and also checked the bus times back to Inverness from Edinburgh.
He said: “I had a choice of a 5am bus or a 2.25am bus. I decided to take a gamble and go for the earlier bus. This meant I needed to ride consistently to the end so I got my head down and cycled from Arbroath to to Dundee and the across the Tay Bridge into Fife.
“Through Fife, I kept pushing. Darkness fell again as I approached Falkland Hill – the final big climb on the route – and this was when I began to feel nauseous. I knew I was close to the finish so I also started to struggle a bit mentally. I just wanted to be there.
“I had 60km to go at night-time and I’d had no sleep. During the last 20km into Edinburgh I didn’t feel like eating anything because of nausea. I got to Edinburgh Castle, the end, at 2am. No one else was about at that time!
“I made the bus and slept all the way back to Inverness arriving at 6am on the Wednesday. I really enjoyed the Pictish Trail and I am happy to have set a new FKT. It’s a really nice route. It was also a good training ride for the Alps Divide.”
- Donnie rode his 3T Italia Extrema bike with Vittoria T70 55mm tyres.