Bikepacking Scotland was founded by Markus Stitz, a German-born route designer, filmmaker, photographer and writer, based in Edinburgh. He is the director of Bikepacking Scotland and Dirt Dash Ltd. Markus caught the adventure bug while living in Wellington, New Zealand and has explored Scotland extensively since he moved here in 2009. 

Before cycling 34,000 kilometres unsupported around the world on a single-speed mountain bike he mapped his first bikepacking route, the Capital Trail, awarded best new route in 2015 by bikepacking.com. Shortly after his trip he founded Bikepacking Scotland and has worked in many corners of Scotland, designing bikepacking and gravel routes for Wild About Argyll, Visit East Lothian, the Cateran Ecomuseum, VisitCairngorms and others.

Markus is an ultra-endurance racer, with three successful finishes of the Highland Trail 550, along with single finishes of the Silk Road Mountain Race and the Atlas Mountain Race. Markus’s writing has appeared in a wide variety of magazines and online publications including Singletrack, Cycling UK, Cranked and Yellow Jersey.

He is the author of Great British Gravel Rides and Bikepacking Scotland, and co-edited Big Rides: Great Britain & Ireland.