Drumlanrig Castle is the ancestral home of the Duke of Buccleuch and will play host to the Challenge and provides the ideal backdrop to the Challenge.
Surrounded by the 120,000 acre Queensberry Estate, Country Park and Grand Victorian Gardens, Drumlanrig Castle was completed in 1691 by William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry and is one of the first and most important renaissance buildings in the grand manner in Scotland. Steeped in history this unique and historic Scottish Castle, with its magnificent Estate and Gardens offer some of the best sports opportunities in Scotland. For further information please visit http://www.drumlanrig.com/
Drumlanrig Castle's grounds have been the focus for cyclists of all abilities for many years. Kirkpatrick Macmillan, the inventor of the first bicycle (propelled by pedals), had his first job as a Blacksmith at Drumlanrig where he learned his trade. Soon after his apprenticeship he left and set up in a Smithy in Keir a few miles south of Drumlanrig. It was here he invented his velocipede around 1840 and cycling as we know it today was born.
