Who We Are...

The Dukes Weekender is an all new event driven by the desire to bring you all the incredible gravel and trail riding in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.  The group working to put the event together are anything but new to the cycling world though…  We’re a small team of friends but we bring together a host of experience across events and the cycling industry. 

Here is a bit of background on who we are and what we're about :)

Rob Friel

Our resident athlete and a powerhouse of the Scottish Cycling community.  Rob is a multi-skilled elite level racer across an array of disciplines.  Among his achievements are a Scottish XC MTB championship, a Scottish Track record, silver in the 2018 Scottish Road Series and he even dabbles in a bit of MTB Enduro and 24 hour racing in-between…  Needless to say he’s always waiting for us on the trails!

Rob is a local to Aberfoyle and passionate about the area and has an intimate knowledge of the huge gravel trail network. 

Frazer Coupland

Frazer is the brains and banter (if Dad jokes count as banter) behind the infamous No Fuss Events.  No Fuss operate some of Scotlands biggest cycling events including 10 Under the Ben, Tour of Ben Nevis and the Scottish Enduro Series.

Frazer brings a wealth of knowledge in creating hugely successful, participation focussed cycling events and brings a laid back social vibe to them all.  A keen mountain biker and also rumour has it he was a top mogul skier back in nineteen oatcake… Either way he is known to take great pride in giving the other guys a schooling on the ski slopes.

Stu Thomson

The man often referred to as ‘the guy who made those Danny Macaskill films…’  Stu is a rider turned filmmaker who runs the Glasgow based advertising agency Cut Media.  Cut Media specialise in Outdoor and cycling industry work and produce a host of work for brands such as Santa Cruz, Cervelo, Red Bull and Adidas…. And yes, he also is the man behind the lens on many of Danny Macaskill’s biggest films such as The Ridge, Wee Day Out and Imaginate.

Stu is another accomplished local rider (he stood on a World Cup MTB podium once) who knows trails of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park like the back of his hand and when not pointing a camera at famous cyclists he is generally found exploring the hills on the mountain or gravel bike… Between Rob and Stu’s knowledge we’ve lined up the most beautiful route for the weekend.