Cyclist Mark Beaumont turns spotlight on Falkirk in new online documentary

The Guinness World Record holder for the fastest circumnavigation by bike has explored the gravel routes around the council boundary.

‘Explore Your Boundaries’ was inspired by the desire to create adventures close to home, a way of seeing the familiar in unfamiliar ways.

Mark was joined by Markus Stitz, single speed round the world cyclist and filmmaker, and together they mapped 24 Scottish council boundary routes to encourage people to stay active - whether cycling or walking, and to inspire adventures that started and finished at their front door.

The routes along the boundaries of Falkirk (133km/83mi) , Clackmannanshire (79km/49mi), East Lothian (169km/105mi),and Glasgow (119km/74mi) allowed the duo not only to experience the varied landscapes, but also offered them an insight into the historic places they experienced along the way.

To create the routes, they uploaded the council boundaries GPX files onto the mapping platform Komoot and matched them with the closest existing pathways.

Mark said; “The thing I love about the ‘Explore your Boundaries’ concept is that it forced us to find routes which we never would have looked for.

“Often it felt like you were in the middle of absolutely nowhere, and yet if I stopped and thought about it, I was only 25 miles from home.

“ It's really interesting when you have a project, a journey, which is defined by a route which is not necessarily a trail. Straightlining expeditions have always fascinated me, and in a weird way ‘Explore Your Boundaries’ is like a straightlining expedition, albeit most of them are big circle routes, because you're following this predefined line.”

The idea for the series came during lockdown.

Markus explained: “We jointly turned a limitation, having to start any exercise within or close to the boundary of our local council area Edinburgh, into an opportunity.

“We used the council boundaries to map 24 different gravel routes throughout Scotland.

“From the feedback on social media those routes inspired people to ride their bikes - and they motivated us to get this film project off the ground.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwDEAg9s1xo&feature=youtu.be

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