Category Archives: Cycling

Glen Kinglass, Mull and Ardnamurchan, July 2021

Sometimes the best adventures happen by chance….I had been keeping this week free as my sister and her family were planning on the long journey up from Kent to visit us, however just days before setting off, my young nephew tested positive for COVID and everyone had to isolate… I didn’t want to waste this week off, so I hastily started gathering my bike packing stuff together and gave the mountain bike some much need attention and made sure my tubeless tyres were topped up with fresh sealant. With not much time to plan I decided to go some where familiar and so made an early morning start for the 6 hour drive North up to Tyndrum in Scotland and parked up at the Green Welly shop, a familiar landmark on the busy A82 road to Glen Coe and Fort William. After an hours faffing around in the carpark, the bike was back together again and the bags strapped on, clothing and food decisions were made and I was off riding by noon. The weather was still glorious if a little breezy but this was to be the last day of the heatwave…the plan was to check out Glenkinglass, a well known and popular off road cycling route. From Tyndrum it’s an easy ride North following the West Highland Way and crossing the A82 at Bridge of Orchy, then along the very quiet road to the Inveroran Hotel. I had passed here many times before but never called in, this time I couldn’t resist and had a very nice pint sitting outside in the sunshine. Refreshments over I continued over the Victoria Bridge and turned left at Forest Lodge and headed west along the Abhainnn Shira, it would be off road all the way now to Taynuilt. I didn’t know how far I would get today and there are loads of places to camp/ bivi along the way, but with the lovely weather and the dry conditions making the boggy bits easy, I was flying along and was really enjoying the riding and the scenery. At the mouth of the River Kinglass the track crosses the river and heads South-West following the edge of Loch Etive, the views are great but the wide track undulates a lot with plenty of stiff, short climbs and I found this quite a gruelling section, I finally rolled into Taynuilt at about 7.30pm, tired and hungry. After a quick look around I called into the Taynuilt Inn for burger and chips and a much needed pint. I was looking for a bivi site now and checked out the Old Pier area but there were already quite a few camper vans and tents down there so I continued on the Oban road for a while and turned off at Airds Bay, where I found a grassy spot next to the loch, it seemed ideal and I was soon unpacked and tucked up inside a cosy sleeping bag, inside my bivi, supping on a small bottle of whisky… however it turns out this was not a good place to stop after all… Loch Etive is a sea Loch and during the night with the tide coming in, the water was definitely getting closer… but it also was raising the water table, so everything was getting decidedly squelchy everywhere, in the end I had to retreat a few feet higher up the shore… big lesson learnt, well at least I know my bivi bag is waterproof! The next morning I was up early and away on the A85 for the 12 miles or so into Oban, passing the impressive Connel Bridge on the way, 4 miles before Oban there is a signposted way for cyclists which takes you down to Ganavan Bay and a very pleasant quiet road into town along the coast. I headed straight over to the ferry port to find out when the next ferry was leaving for Mull and bought a ticket. It was here I got chatting to Indra from Wales…. she had travelled up to Scotland yesterday with her fully loaded touring bike and had had a bit of a nightmare due to delayed trains and missed connections, which meant her bike was no longer booked onto the trains she needed to catch. Her original intention was to start her tour from Lochailort but with all the confusion she decided Oban was just as good! As we chatted on the ferry I found out her plan today was the same as mine, to cycle the southern road loop of Mull, clockwise from Craignure and maybe head for the bothy at the end….We stocked up on goodies from the little store and I left Indra to write postcards to her friends and I headed off alone on the ride, which starts off easy enough before a long steady climb up through Glen More and a fast descent down to the road junction at Loch Scridain, the last time I was here I turned left, for the long detour to Fionnphort and ferry to Iona, but today I turned right around the head of Loch Scridain for a few miles, before another steady climb takes you over to the wild feeling Loch na Keal. At the road junction I carried straight on to Salen and called into “The Little Bespoke Cafe” for a much needed toastie and coffee. Suitably refreshed I then set off to check out the nearby Tomsleibhe bothy, which was open and unoccupied… I was there just over an hour when I heard someone else arriving… I was delighted to see it was Indra and we had a good catch up of the days event and I also had the chance to check out her bike – which was a rather fine looking Dawes Super Galaxy tourer, equipped with large Ortlieb panniers, I did wonder at the time what on earth she had in them as they weighed an absolute ton….over the next few days I would find out and the answer was….a little bit of everything!

The next morning we set off in the steady rain to do the Northern loop of the island, from Salen we rode the loop clockwise along the narrow twisty roads that included several long climbs before enjoying a really fast descent down to Calgary Bay, where we stopped for some food and coffee at the Calgary Arts Cafe and tried to dry out a little. By now the weather was improving and the rain jackets were soon off as we huffed and puffed our way steeply out of Dervaig and managed to hear and spot a distant Golden Eagle. We stopped to admire the view and take some photos high above Tobermory before dropping steeply down into the colourful harbour village. We wanted to catch the ferry from Tobermory to Kilchoan on the Ardnamurchan peninsula but we were unsure of the times, so we headed down to the harbour to check the timetable, it turned out we were in time to catch the 6.00pm sailing and even had time to get some tasty takeaway fish and chips from the mobile chippy on the Fisherman’s Pier. We stood on the upper deck of the ferry for the half hour or so journey to the peninsula with the warm air from the ferry’s funnel protecting us from the cold Atlantic wind. Once off the ferry we decided that the legs still had enough energy in them to get us to the Ardnamurchan Lighthouse, 6 miles away, we were partly lured on by a sign pointing to a hotel on the way (the thoughts of pub meals and beer did cross my mind) but it turns out the hotel closed some time ago and it seems to be a community garden place now, however the lady who lived there very kindly filled all our water bottles up…..needed for the camp tonight. It was about 8.00pm when we finally got to the lighthouse and from there Indra spotted a fine looking white beach in the distance, so we headed there to set up camp, it was actually a bit trickier to get there than it looked….. and involved a tough yomp over long tussocky grass, a boulder field and a couple of small streams but it was all worth it in the end! We soon had the tent and my bivi set up, carefully avoiding the scores of tiny little frogs which appeared to be everywhere and soon the stove was purring away as the sun was starting to set and the temperature dipped. Indra muttered something about it would be nice to go for a swim and I unenthusiasticly agreed as I pulled up the zipper on my jacket and cupped my chilled hands around the stoves flame….she disappeared into her tent and a few moments later to my amazement, reappeared in a swimming costume, cap and goggles, she was going for it and no messing about neither as she ran through the sea and dived in…… to say I was impressed would be an understatement!!

The next morning we were up early and after a quick brew, we fought our way back to the road and cycled the 6 miles back to Kilchoan and called into the “Puffin Coffee” cafe for much needed coffee and sausage and bacon sandwiches, which went down a treat. Fully refreshed we set off on the 19 mile section of road to Glenborrowdale and then along the shores of Loch Sunart to Salen. Just before Salen there is a very nice sheltered bay with a little path that takes you right to the rocky edge of the Loch, here we stopped to get the stove on and made a meal, once again the lure of the water was proving too much for Indra and it wasn’t long before the swimming costumes were back on for a chilly but enjoyable 10 minute swim in Loch Sunart. Back at Salen was to be the place where we went out separate ways, Indra planned on heading North to Lochailort train station, where she would get the train home early the next day, I was thinking about heading East to Ardgour and the ferry to Corran and cycling along the A82 for a few miles before picking up the West Highland Way, which would be off-road all the way back to Tyndrum. Indra spent almost an hour on the phone trying to confirm a place on the train for her bike but with no success. Having been refused access to a train already this trip she was reluctant to head to a small station without this reassurance, so we looked at the map…after some head scratching we decided on a new plan, in a nutshell the idea now was for us both to head to Oban… (via Mull again!) from here we could both easily get to where we wanted to be. So we set off on the flat, pleasant road that skirts Loch Sunart, past Strontian and around the head of the Loch before heading South on the A884 that goes to Gleann Gael, this route has a sting in the tail though, in the form of a hill that literally goes on for miles, it was gone 8.00pm by the time we finally got to the top, once over this formidable obstacle however there are 2 fantastic warp-speed descents to enjoy… About 4 miles before Lochaline (where the ferry leaves from) with the light fading we pulled off and found a place to camp and get the stove on….it took a while before they found us but word soon got around and before long it felt like half the West Coasts population of midges had come to join the party….. Indra had a rummage in her cavournous panniers and produced some smidge and a bush hat with a midge net on, I told you she had a little bit of everything in them!

The next morning we rode down to Lochaline for the short ferry crossing to Fishnish on the Isle of Mull and had a quick bacon sandwich at the ferry cafe before cycling the 6 miles or so down to Craignure and waited for the next ferry to Oban. Here Indra met up with Ruth, another cycle tourist whom she met on day 1 of the trip and had a catch up. Back at Oban we all went for a quick meal and pint at the Corryvreken pub before dashing off to catch the same train, Ruth and Indra heading South and me getting off at Tyndrum to see if my car was still there….it had been another memorable Scottish adventure…..

Rode past here many times but this time the temptation proved too much…

Riding West along the Abhainn Shira shortly after the Forest Lodge turnoff, heading for Glen Kinglass. — Rode past here many times but this time the temptation proved too much…

Tyndrum Bike packing Trip, September 2020

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With a week off work and the weather forecast looking ok, it was time to head North again to Scotland for another bike packing adventure. My starting point would be the small village of Tyndrum on the Southern edge of Rannoch Moor. The large car park next to the Green Welly shop is an ideal safe place to leave the car for a few days while you disappear off into the wilds. An early morning start saw me arriving at Tyndrum about 11.30am, the sun was out and it was pleasantly warm so I wasted no time in putting the bike back together again and attaching the bags, it was around about here that I realised that I had forgotten to pack my helmet, oh well, nothing to be done now, I just made a mental note to myself to not fall off. The Highland Trail 550 is a bike packing route that starts in Tyndrum and heads off Northwards to Bealach Hourn taking in some of the best natural mountain bike trails and quiet roads in Scotland and then heads South back to Tyndrum. The full route is 550 miles long and if you look at a map of this route it looks like 3 loops stacked on top of each other, my aim for this trip was to do the southern loop. I left Tyndrum heading North along the West Highland Way for about 5km then turned right and went under the railway viaduct between Beinn Odhar and Beinn Dorain, this easy track follows the Allt Kinglass for several kilometres and criss-crosses the stream many times at fords, almost guaranteeing wet feet. Soon Loch Lyon comes into view and after a short but steep climb up to the dam at the Eastern end of the Loch you get a great view down into Glen Lyon, the route then joins the very quiet road through the glen for 8 miles or so to Bridge of Balgie, where I stopped off at the Glen Lyon Tea Rooms for some soup and a coffee. After another 1.5km on this road you turn off left onto a forestry type of track and head North steeply up a stony track heading for Rannoch Forest, eventually you pass a lake and start heading Westwards through the never ending forest. After crossing the Allt Camghouran you turn left and head for the gap between two steep-sided hills (Leagag and Cross Craigs).

Bridge leading to Ben Alder Cottage

It was almost 6 o’clock now and I was looking for somewhere to stop for the night. i was only carrying a sleeping bag and a waterproof bivi outer so was looking for somewhere flat and soft. I decided on a soft grassy river bank spot next to one of the bridges, it looked idyllic and I soon had everything set up, however I had made a big mistake…. soon the midges found me and I was tortured that night by these small but infuriating insects. The next morning I was up and away as fast as I could before the dreaded midges could gather in numbers again, I was however slightly shocked when I saw all the red bite marks on my legs from last night. I cycled the 6km or so into Bridge of Gaur in a steady drizzle but by the time I reached the Rannoch road it was raining quite steadily, I turned right for a kilometer or so before turning left on the forest road that heads North to the shores of Loch Ericht and Ben Alder, it was now pouring it down but it didn’t last long and gradually the weather improved as the day went on. The trail was good most of the way but seemed to run out about a mile or so before reaching Ben Alder Cottage bothy and the way I went I had to cross some very rough boggy ground before the unusual wooden bridge that leads to the bothy came into view. There were a couple of other mountain bikes parked here but no sign of anyone, I’m guessing they were out climbing Ben Alder. After a coffee and some breakfast I headed off on the much anticipated single track section around Ben Alder, there’s a hike a bike start but it’s not long before it gets rideable, it helps if you are good at bunny-hopping as there are numerous drainage channels that cross the narrow trail, unfortunately I’m not but felt I was improving as the miles went by, I met another couple of mountain bikers as I was heading down, they had cycled in from Dalwhinnie and were doing the full Ben Alder loop which looks like a great day out. The sun was now out so I stopped by the stream for half an hour or so to have something to eat and to dry my damp sleeping bag out, then set off on the fabulous trail that leads down to the bothy at Culra.

Culra Bothy near to Ben Alder

Shortly after leaving the bothy I crossed the stream on the right at the bridge, there was a sign attached to it saying that the swing bridge at the ford on Loch Pattack was damaged, this trail leads up to the main track that goes past Loch Pattack and heads North along the River Pattack and eventually comes out onto the A86 main road from Spean Bridge, I turned right here and headed for Wolf Trax mountain biking centre, hoping to get there before the cafe shuts, unfortunately I was just too late, so I continued on my route and turned left off the main road shortly afterwards on a dead end road that leads down to the Spey Dam and followed this road to Melgarve Bothy at the end of the road and the start of the Corrieyairack Pass. The bothy was locked up due to the covid restrictions so I had bivi number two by the stream nearby. The next morning I was all packed up and away by 7.30am and it was a steady climb from the start, into the gloomy green and brown Corrie, with low grey clouds covering the tops and a line of huge electricity pylons on my left, snaking its way off into the distance, a lot of the trail is rideable which I was pleased about but the hairpins certainly weren’t and involved a steep push, a small square concrete building marks the top of the climb and from here it’s a very long fast descent, I had to stop a couple of times to let my brakes cool down as a I could smell them burning, eventually you come to a fork in the road which wasn’t marked on my old OS map, I went left and the road started climbing again into the distance and I thought I must have gone wrong but eventually after another long descent down some hairpins I arrived at a small lake and an easy track brought me past the impressive Culachy House and onto the road, where I turned off left at Ardachy Lodge, on an overgrown narrow trail that leads to the B862 road into Fort Augustus, where I had a coffee and something to eat at Cobbs Cafe overlooking the 5 canal lochs.

Looking over to Buachaille Etive Mor from the Kinghouse Hotel

The next section to Fort William is via the Great Glen Way and is 36 miles long, it basically follows the Caledonian Canal and is easy pleasant cycling, the only hilly bits being through Clunes Forest on Loch Lochy, there is even a nice bit of single track to look forward to between Bunarkaig and Gairlochy. Once in Fort William I went round to the Bank Street Lodge, a place I’ve been to many times before, to see if they had a room, I was in luck and tonight I would have a comfy bed to look forward too. The final section of this tour would be along the West Highland Way from Fort William to Tyndrum, a distance of 43 miles. I stocked up on food and drink from the local supermarket and was heading along Glen Nevis by 8.00am. It’s a long steady uphill ride through Nevis Forest up to the Dun Deardail ancient fort sign, shortly afterwards you turn off left on a single track section and it’s a bit of a roller coaster section and some pushing through the rest of the forest. Once out of the woods you are on a wider loose rocky path and you can ride it all the way to the turn-off for Kinlochleven where I pushed the bike down the steep narrow slopes into town and had a sandwich on a bench overlooking the river. The weather was improving rapidly and it was now a beautiful sunny hot day as I set off on the massive climb out of Kinlochleven up to the Devil’s Staircase, most of it was hike-a-bike and I did get some strange looks from the steady stream of West Highland Wayers coming the other way. The views were spectacular though, to the North the impressive peaks of the Mamores and looking South there was Buachaille Etive Mor and the Glen Coe peaks. I stopped off at the newly refurbished Kingshouse Hotel and sat on the wall outside drinking an ice cold pint of lager and enjoying the beautiful weather and views before setting on on the final 19 miles to Tyndrum, initially over the Black Mount to Victoria Bridge, then along the newly resurfaced and velvety smooth road to Bridge of Orchy and then finally back to Tyndrum. After packing the bike away in the car I headed over to The Real Food Cafe and had a much needed meal of fish and chips, then set off to drive home, arriving close to midnight… it had been another memorable trip up to Scotland.

5km after leaving Tyndrum the route goes under the railway viaduct and follows the Glean Achadh-innis Chailein

Exploring Arran, October 2019

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Arran Map

I first visited the island of Arran briefly in September 2019 on my way to a cycling holiday on the Outer Hebrides and was impressed by the outdoor possibilities, so I decided to return again in October and spend a few days exploring the island. Situated on the beautiful West Coast of Scotland, Arran is very easy to get to by public transport therefore I left the car at home and took my mountain bike with me instead. I got the mainline train to Glasgow Central , then caught another local train to Ardrossan Harbour, which is right next to the ferry terminal. The train and ferry timetable are intergrated so I had 30 minutes to buy a ticket for the 55 minute ferry ride to Brodick on Arran. The island is not very big, it is approximately 20 miles long by 10 miles wide, a road follows the coastline and is 56 miles long. For my first day here I decided to explore the Southern half of the island by bike, setting off from Brodick to Lamlash, Whiting Bay, Kildonan, Blackwaterfoot and returning to Brodick Bunkhouse via the String road.

Day two on this exploration of Arran was a tough and spectacular walk around the mountains in the North of the island that surround Glen Rosa, you can read about my day out on the Glen Rosa Horseshoe here.

After yesterday’s exertions doing the Glen Rosa Horseshoe I thought it would be a good idea to do a gentler walk today and set off to do part of the Arran Coastal Way. I set off from the Bunkhouse in Brodick for Lamlash, which is 3 miles away via the Fairy Glen track, Originally i had intended to get the ferry from Lamlash to the Holy Island and maybe climb the big hill there but it had stopped running for the season now and would be Easter before it started again. Leaving Lamlash I turned right onto the Ross road which crosses the hilly interior of the island, i took this road as far as the forestry commission car park, where I followed the signs for the Arran Coastal Way (high level alternative) which snakes it’s way uphill along a wide forestry road for a couple of miles. I’m not a big fan of walking in man made forests as they can be very boring and this one was no exception but eventually i came to a path split and the one i took went to Glenashdale Falls. A finger post leaves the main track and goes to an man-made viewing platform from where the impressive two-tier falls can be seen unimpeded. There are some good views over to the Holy Island and Whiting Bay on the way to the next point of interest which was the intriguingly named Giants Graves, which are the remains of two Neolithic chambered tombs, set in a flat grassy area with great sea views it’s a good place for a picnic. I then headed down to Whiting Bay via a steep eroded path and headed North along the pleasant bay road before turning off right and heading for Kingscross Point. I was hoping to walk along the Coastal Way back to Lamlash, however the tide was in and this made the path totally impassable, I had no option but to return to the road for a mile or two before a short cut lead me down to Cordon and Lamlash. It’s a very pleasant walk along Lamlash Bay with great views over to the nearby Holy Island. I followed the small road around the bay to Clauchlands and up past the farm to the ancient site of Dun Fionn fort and the nearby trig point which gives panoramic views of Arran, i then took the small road that leads back to Brodick.

After two tough days of walking on Arran it was time to get back on the mountain bike and explore the rest of the islands roads. The plan was to set off from Brodick and ride down to Lamlash again, from there I would pick up the Ross road that goes across the island and then head North to Lochranza Youth hostel where I would stay the night. Instead of riding on the road to Lamlash, i went off-road and took the narrow track through the Fairy Glen, which I had walked yesterday, this track takes you all the way to Lamlash where I turned off right onto the Ross road and headed across the island. The road is nice and flat to start with and has recently been resurfaced but it soon starts getting steep and it’s a long steady climb that keeps on going. The road crosses a remote and quiet part of the island and about half way across there is a Buddhist retreat center. Eventually the Ross road rejoins the main coastal road not far from Lagg, where the new whisky distillery has just opened, here I turned right and headed North through Blackwaterfoot and on past the tourist hotspots at King’s Cave and Machrie Moor standing Stones. The road hugs the coastline and is relatively flat apart from one short steep bit near Imarcar and in calm conditions like today it made for easy cycling, i can imagine with a strong Northerly wind it might be a different story. I rolled into the beautiful and peacefull Lochranza at about 1.30pm. To fill the rest of the afternoon i went to the Lochranza distillery and went on a very interesting tour and followed it up with a tutored tasting session immediately afterwards where the drams kept coming….

This was my last full day on Arran and on paper it looked like the easiest one, cycling from Lochranza to Brodick….. if i took the main road it would be only 14 miles, a steep climb out of Lochranza up the Boguillie climb followed by a swooping descent and a largely flat ride into Brodick. However there is another way and this is the reason i brought my mountain bike on this trip. This off-road route uses sections of the Arran Coastal Path from Lochranza to Sannox, followed by a short road section past Corrie before entering Merkland Woods for the final section into Brodick. After a leisurely breakfast at Lochranza Youth Hostel, i got chatting to the warden who was also a mountain biker, he warned me that with the heavy overnight rain large sections of the route would be very muddy and difficult to ride but i decided to go ahead anyway and was prepared mentally for any hike-a-bike sections on the way. Leaving the hostel i cycled up the road and turned off left to the golf course and explored the tracks around Newton point, one goes along the coastline and the other climbs quite steeply and gives great views back over Lochranza. With my curiosity satisfied i then set off on the route proper, along the track to the right this time and climbed steeply up a stony path/track heading for Laggan Cottage. The hostel warden was certainly correct about the difficult conditions, this was more like a stream bed and was unrideable. At the top of the climb there are good sea views out over the Firth of Clyde and the isles of Bute and Cumbrae. The long grassy slopes leading down to the dilapidated bothy of Laggan Cottage were treacherous in the wet conditions and it was a relief to get back onto level ground, though the coastal path was still quite rugged, all the way to the aptly named Fallen Rocks, after this it’s an easy ride to Sannox. A short road section was next, taking me past Corrie and then I turned off right into the forest at the Moal Donn car park. This rough potholed forest track was quite hilly and had some steep ramps in places. There had recently been some logging activity here with piles of timber stacked up on the edge of the road and I may have missed a turn here because the track became very rough and muddy and was covered in the discarded branches from the felled trees, it was a great relief to finally emerge from this quagmire onto the well trodden path that descends from Goatfell. There are some good trails leading off this path and I explored a couple of them before finally rolling into Brodick.

Specialised Hardrock SL mountain bike with Apidura frame fitting bags

Arran, Mull and The Outer Hebrides, Sept 2019

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Arran, Mull and the Outer Hebrides route.

I had visited the Hebrides with the bike in July of this year but I didn’t have enough time to complete all of the 185 miles of the Hebridean Way from Barra to the Butt of Lewis. I really enjoyed the trip and so I decided to go back again in September and complete the whole thing, to make it more interesting I would be starting and finishing in a different place to last time. Last July i drove up to Oban with the bike in the boot but this left me the problem of what to do with the car when I was off cycling. also it meant that I would have to return to Oban to retrieve the car when I was finished, which was not ideal. This time I would be using the train and my intended route was to head for North Ayrshire town of Ardrossan where the ferry departs for Brodick on Arran, then cycle North to Lochranza to catch the small ferry to Claonaig on the North Kintyre peninsula, then cycle up to Oban and maybe spend a day exploring Mull. I would then return to Oban briefly to catch the ferry to Barra on the Outer Hebrides. After finishing the ride I would head for Stornaway and get the ferry to Ullapool and then cycle to Inverness to catch the train back home. The ferry from Ardrossan to Brodick only takes 55 minutes and bikes go free, so it only cost me £4 to get to Arran. Once off the ferry I turned right and cycled North heading for Lochranza Youth Hostel which is only 14 miles away, it’s flat until just after Sannox then it’s a steady climb over “The Boguille” and a rapid descent down to the beautifully located Lochranza. The next morning I caught the early ferry for the 30 minute crossing to Cloanaig on the North Kintyre Peninsula. I headed North to Kennacraig (ferry goes to Islay from here…) and turned right along the A83, just before Tarbert i turned left and took the quiet undulating road around the Knapdale Peninsula which eventually rejoined the A83 again and entered Lochgilphead where I stopped at a cafe for much needed pie and chips. Leaving Lochgilphead and heading northwards again I picked up a quiet road along the Crinan Canal for a while then the B8025 heading for Kilmartin heading for the quiet road on the North side of Loch Awe. This road was actually in very good condition and had recently been resurfaced, I think with European money, to make it easier for big lorries to get the timber out, the drawback was it was extremely undulating with lots of short steep climbs coming one after the other, it was a relief to finally get to Annat and head left to Taynuilt, from here I took another small road along Glen Logan and eventually rolled into Oban at about 5.30pm. The next day I caught the early morning ferry to Craignure on the Isle of Mull, I was booked into Tobermory Youth Hostel for tonight so I had a full day to explore the island. From Craignure I cycled South through the mountains of Glen More and descended down to the road junction at Loch Scridain, here I had a decision to make….

Wet and very windy conditions on the road along Loch na Keal, heading for Tobermory.

I really wanted to visit the island of Iona but it would be a detour of at least 40 miles to do so and I would still have a long ride to get to Tobermory after that. In the end I decided to go for it and kept up a steady pace all the way to Fionnphort where a regular ferry does the short hop to Iona. The crossing was quite choppy and the ferry captain said that they would be halting sailing early because of an impending storm, so I had about an hour on the island and made my way up to the famous Abbey for a look around before returning to Mull and the 20 mile ride back to the head of Loch Scridain to continue my journey to Tobermory. It was quite calm cycling through Gleann Seilisdeir but when I descended down to Loch Na Keal the weather got quite wild with some very strong gusts making cycling hazardous. I had intended on cycling round the coast past Loch Tuath to Tobermory but in these conditions I had to bail and headed across the narrow neck of land to Salen and reached Tobermory via the main A849 road, the rain was very heavy by now but I couldn’t get much wetter and it was a relief to finally reach the hostel. I left Tobermory early in the morning to cycle back to Craignure and to catch the 09.45am ferry back to Oban as I was going to get the afternoon ferry out to Barra this afternoon, an island at the Southern end of the Outer Hebrides. The ferry from Oban to Castlebay on Barra takes 4hrs 45 minutes and during the voyage I got chatting to Helena a student from Glasgow who was also going to do the Hebridean Way, we agreed that after we landed we would team up and do the short ride over the causeway to Vatersay and to try and find the elusive sign signalling the start of the Hebridean Way which had eluded me last time, the poingent Annie Jane memorial is close by too, so we visited that also. After this Helena checked into the Dunard Hostel in Castlebay and I cycled off into the twilight heading for Barra Airport (Traigh Mhor) to bivi on the beach. Early the next morning I cycled further North on Barra and had a look around small church of Cille Bharra before catching the ferry for the 40 min voyage from Barra to the small island of Eriskay, which is connected to South Uist by a long causeway.

Part of the causeway linking Benbecular to North Uist

South Uist is fairly flat and the cycling is easy (providing the wind isn’t a problem!). I stopped off again at the Kildonan Museum cafe for some hot food, which has what looks like a Viking longboat parked outside it. The Hebridean Way continues Northwards along the main road and every now and then there is a detour off into the Machair, a low lying, fertile grassy plain, before returning to the road, then past Our Lady Of The Isles statue and over another causeway to Benbecular. This time I took the coast road which passes a supermarket and the airport. Yet another causeway takes you onto North Uist, i took the West coast route and the terrain here along the single track road is more undulating and harder work than earlier in the day. Eventually the final causeway of the day came into view, the one leading to Bernarey, last time I was here I stayed at the picturesque Gatliff Trust hostel but this time I decided to check out John’s Bunkhouse and I’m pleased I did as it was a very comfortable and pleasant place to stay. Chatting to a couple of other cyclists who were also staying at the Bunkhouse it was clear that the weather the day after tomorrow was going to be pretty horrendous for cycling, with rain and very strong winds forcast. I wasn’t booked in anywhere for accommodation tomorrow yet so I decided the best plan was to catch the 07.15am ferry from Bernarey to Leverburgh on Harris and see how far I could go. Harris is quite mountainous and has some long road climbs but with a strong Westerly blowing most of the day they didn’t really seem that bad and I was making really good progress and very soon I was past the turn off for Rhenigidale, which was as far as I got last time, with all the big hills behind me. The section where I turned off the main A859 and headed West to Callanish was torturous however and was straight into the wind. I stopped off to see the impressive Callanich standing stones and also made a small detour to see Blackhouse village at Gearranan.

The Callanish Stones on the West side of Lewis are arranged in a cruciform pattern.

Now the wind was greatly helping me and I was flying along the never ending road on the top of Lewis and reached Port Nis at 4.30 pm, from here it another 2 miles or so on a side road to the iconic end of this ride, the impressive Butt of Lewis Lighthouse. Now I had to find somewhere to stay for the night, the weather was changing, it was getting cold and windy and rain wasn’t far away, i tried at the pub a couple of miles back up the road and they suggested Galson farm about 4 miles away so I headed there and very luckily I got the last bed. It was only a small farm type hostel with 6 beds but it was warm and cosy and had a small kitchen to cook dinner, what more could you want after a long day in the saddle? As forecast the weather the next day was very bad, i had 20 miles to do to get to Stornaway so I made an early start. Progress was painfully slow against the wind and as soon as I turned South onto the exposed A857 that heads up and over the moors to Stornaway it became quite dangerous with very strong side gusts forcing me to walk at times, it was a massive relief to finally drop down into town. I checked into the cosy Heb Hostel and headed straight for a hot shower and some dry clothes then had a wander round town and explored the culinary delights of Stornaway. Before catching the 3.00pm ferry to Ullapool the next day I had time to cycle the length of the Eye Peninsula and visit another impressive lighthouse at Tiumpan Head, on the way back I made a small detour to see the Iolaire Memorial recalling the loss of over 200 lives as HMY Iolaire, which was carrying troops home from the First World War, hit rocks and sank very close to Stornaway in 1919. I stopped that night at the lovely Ullapool Youth Hostel and the following morning set off at 8.00am to cycle the final 60 miles of this holiday to Inverness Youth Hostel, the next day I caught the train home.

The Outer Hebrides, July 2019

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Map from Wikipedia Commons by Kelisi

The West Coast of Scotland is a great place to go bike touring and with a week off I headed back North, this time to Oban, a place I had never been to before, to continue my exploration of this beautiful area. My original idea was to take the ferry to Mull and spend some time there but having looked at some of the ferry options available I decided to head for the Outer Hebrides instead. Caledonian Macbain run the ferry services from Oban and are a great way to get around the western isles, for cyclists they are amazing value too as bikes go for free, you just pay a foot passenger fee. In summer the ferry leaves Oban at 13.30 for the 4 hour 45 minute voyage to Castlebay on Barra, at the Southerly end of the Hebrides, (the ticket cost £15.15 one-way).

Day 1 (Mon 15th July) Oban to Barra With the ferry departing at 13.30 this left the morning free to explore Oban on the bike, I first went along the quiet, dead-end coastal road for 2 miles or so to explore the peaceful sandy bay at Ganavan, then retraced my route back into town to visit McCaig’s Tower on Battery hill which overlooks the town, it’s not very far to the tower but it’s up some very steep residential roads and with a fully packed bike it got me huffing and puffing up to the top. It’s well worth the effort though as the views are stunning. Next it was back into town for a short scenic ride along the Sound of Kerrera, I only went as far as the campsite though. Then it was back into town for a full Scottish breakfast and waited for the ferry. The weather stayed warm and sunny for the rest of the day and I spent most of the outward ferry journey outside, on the upper observation deck, chatting to Angela, who was also with her bike. She was hoping to do the Hebridean Way cycle route (waymarked as route NCN 780), which starts in Vatersay and finishes on the Northerly tip of Lewis , a total of 185 miles. I knew nothing about this route and was just hoping to visit the islands. The Hebridean Way cycle route was launched in 2016 and Mark Beaumont was recruited to ride the 185 mile route in 24 hours to publicise it. Once off the ferry we turned left and cycled to the end of Barra and over the causeway to Vatersay and continued on until we ran out of tarmac and then returned to Castlebay where Angela was booked into the handily placed Dunard Hostel, unfortunately they were now completely full, so I headed back to Vatersay by myself, to a beautiful white sandy beach we passed earlier and found an ideal spot for an overnight bivi.

Causeway just North of Gramsdale on North Uist

Day 2 (Tuesday 16th July) Barra to Berneray After a good nights sleep I awoke about 6.00am and packed my stuff away in the pleasant morning sun. I then cycled back to Castlebay and up a rather long steep hill to the ferry on the far side of the island, this would take us across the Sound of Barra to the small island of Eriskay. Here I teamed up with Angela again as we traversed the island and crossed the causeway to take us onto South Uist. The terrain on the Uist’s in general was fairly flat and the direction we were going meant that the South-Westerly wind was on our backs most of the time. After a while cycling we called into the Kildonan Museum and cultural centre, it also has a good cafe where we stopped for a coffee and a meal. We then continued North on the main road, which became increasingly a single track road with passing places and crossed over the causeway onto North Uist and took the left hand fork at Clachan that took us round the top of the island, past Sollas, before turning off north and crossing yet another causeway onto the island of Berneray. The weather was changing now and becoming quite stormy and we rolled into Bernarey Hostel about 5.00pm, it was only a couple of small, single storey thatched roofed cottages and it looked quite full, luckily there were a couple of free beds. There was a lively and mixed group of people staying there that night, a mixture of cyclists, walkers and travellers some of whom were heading North to Stornaway for the Hebridean Celtic Festival (HebCelt), which was happening at the end of the week. We went to bed that night with the sound of folk songs being sung in the kitchen next door.

Angela on the way to Rhenigidale…

Day 3 (Wed 17th July) Berneray to Harris We awoke to the sound of wind and rain lashing against the windows and it looked like it was in for the day. After a quick breakfast it was back on the bike again for the 2 miles or so trip down to the ferry landing, this would take us across the Sound of Harris to Leverburgh on Harris. There was no let-up in the rain and soon we had to stop to put all the rain-gear on. We passed some fine looking beaches which looked stunning even in the deluge and the terrain was certainly more hilly than the Uists with some long climbs on the way to Tarbert. It was a relief to finally pull in to town and we looked straight away for a cafe to get some food and get warmed up again, but everybody else seemed to have the same idea and they were full, so in the end we settled for the local fish and chip shop instead. Tarbert is a ferry port with regular sailings to Skye (Uig), there is also a gin distillery with whisky on the way too, it has a good little store selling most things and a Hostel, which was also full. Refreshed and warmed up we set off again heading North to try the Hostel at Rhenigidale, about 21km away, it’s another long, steady climb through the hills but the turn-off for Rhenigidale soon appears, it’s a very quiet road that drops down to the shores of Loch Seaforth, before a long steep climb over the pass and a steep drop down to the charming hamlet of Rhenigidale with its hostel. We got there about 4.00pm, enough time to get some gear washed, get a shower and sit outside in the now much improved weather and enjoy the situation of this very pleasant hostel with some nice people. It was even more pleasant when another guy turned up with 2 bottles of single malt and insisted on sharing most of it. I was now running out of time on this holiday, I really wanted to complete the Hebridean Way, all the way to the lighthouse at the Butt of Lewis but that wouldn’t leave me enough time to get back to Oban on Friday, so I was resigned to cycling back to Tarbert tomorrow and taking the ferry from there to Uig on Skye and cycling back to Oban.

Uig Bay in Northern Skye with the Ferry that travels to Harris (Tarbert) getting ready to sail.

Day 4 (Thurs 18th July) Harris to Skye It was hard saying goodbye to my cycling companions knowing they were going to complete the ride but it gives me a reason to come back here one day. It was a steep pull-up almost immediately from leaving the hostel as the small road weaved its way up and down and back to the main road to Tarbert, I managed to make it back to town in the dry but as soon as I did there was a torrential downpour. The ferry to Skye took a couple of hours and was a chance to get a coffee and relax a while, it was about 2.00pm as I cycled away from Uig under leaden skies, it didn’t take long for the rain to start, gentle at first then a full-on prolonged deluge. I kept on going and as I approached Sligachan the traffic got quite busy, a mixture of heavy rain, traffic and road spray made it quite an unpleasant ride, conditions eased by the time I reached Broadford at about 5.00pm but I’d had enough by then and checked into the backpackers hostel there. After a hot shower and a change of clothes I felt much better and headed off into the small town for pasty and chips and the local chippy.

Day 5 (Fri 19th July) Skye to Oban I left Broadford the next morning at about 8.00am and after yet another heavy shower, which lasted for an hour or so, conditions rapidly improved and turned it into a beautiful day for cycling. I turned right off the main road and headed down the A851 for 17miles, heading for the ferry at Armadale, it was a quiet pleasant road. I didn’t have long to wait here before the Mallaig ferry arrived for the 30 minute crossing of the Sound of Sleet, back to the Scottish mainland again. I followed the main Mallaig to Fort William road for 19 miles to Lochailort before turning off right on the much quieter and very scenic A861 which heads down to Strontian, then around the head of Loch Sunart, then up a very long steep climb, before eventually dropping down to Lochaline, where there is a ferry across the Sound of Mull to Fishnish on the island of Mull. I had enough time here to enjoy a much needed cheese burger and mug of tea before the ferry arrived for the 30 minute sailing. Once off the ferry on Mull it was an easy 5 mile ride down to the main ferry terminal at Craignure for the hour long crossing back to Oban, arriving there about 8.00pm. I was already booked into the very comfortable Oban hostel a short distance away along the sea front.

I really enjoyed this week away, it was done at short notice and I never really had anything planned, carrying the sleeping bag and bivi bag gives you the flexibility and confidence to do this, as you know whatever happens, you have got somewhere to sleep. I had explored a part of Scotland I’ve never been to before and it has given me ideas for lots more trips around this area.

: Oban from McCaig`s Tower

: Oban

: Oban from McCaig`s Tower

: Oban from McCaig`s Tower

: McCaig`s Tower on Battery Hill in Oban

: Oban and the whisky distillery tower

: Sea views just North of Oban on short ride to Ganavan

: St Columba`s Catholic Cathedral in Oban

: View from Oban Youth Hostel dining room

: Approaching Castlebay on the ferry from Oban

: Castlebay town on Barra

: Castlebay on Barra

: Bivi site on white sandy bay on Vatersay.

: Bivi site on Vatersay

: Dunard Hostel on Barra, close to the ferry landing.

: Sculpture at he ferry landing on the North of Barra, waiting to go to Eriskay.

: Bikes on the Barra to Eriskay ferry crossing

: The Eriskay ferry

: Longship outside Kildonan Museum and Cafe, with the flag of South Uist .

: Causeway just North of Gramsdale on North Uist

: Bernarey Hostel

: Bernarey Hostel

: Harris beach in the rain

: The steep road that leads to Rhenigidale on Harris

: Angela on the climb over to Rhenigidale, Isle of Harris.

: Angela on the way to Rhenigidale…

: The final steep descent to Rhenigidale

: Rhenigidale (Harris)

: Rhenigidale Hostel on Harris

: The Harris to Skye ferry (Tarbert to Uig)

: The ferry sailing away from Tarbert on Harris to Uig on Skye

: Uig in Skye with the Ferry that travels to Harris getting ready to sail.

: Map from Wikipedia Commons by Kelisi

Cairngorms February 2017

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Early February 2017 I had a week off work and decided to head north to the Cairngorms once again. Last year sometime I requested to enter the group ride for the Cairngorm Loop which is a mountain bike challenge ride that takes in most of the Cairngorms in two loops (see map here) there is no entry fee or prize money and you have to be totally self supported. It’s a tough challenge, 186 miles in 56 hours, most of it off road. The group ride takes place at the very end of April……February is usually not the best month to go mountain biking around the Cairngorms but this year has been relatively mild so far and not a lot of snow. The plan was to take my mountain bike and riding gear and also take my hill walking kit too so if riding was impossible then at least I had something else to do. I based myself for the week at Cairngorm Lodge Youth Hostel next to Loch Morlich, about 7 miles east of Aviemore, which is an excellent, comfortable base to explore the area from.

Lochan Uaine

Monday The first day was cold about 3 or 4 degrees but the weather forecast was predicting very strong gusty winds late on in the afternoon (80mph!). My original plan was to try and do the inner loop on the Cairngorm Loop with a bothy stop halfway at Derry Lodge but this wasn’t really possible with the forecast. So instead I headed off on some of the excellent trails around Loch Morlich and Rothiemurchus Forest, crossing the Cairngorm Club footbridge and onto the path that goes around the picturesque Loch an Eilein, a rocky side trail from here goes up to the lovely little Drakes Bothy before continuing on through the forest to Feshiebridge. Here I turned right along the B970 road and headed north-east to Inverdruie. After a short detour along the “The Old Logging Way” into Aviemore for some lunch I returned to Inverdruie and turned left over the bridge to pick up the B970 road between Coylumbridge and Nethy Bridge, after 5 km or so turned right on a wide track and headed east to Forest Lodge in the Abernethy Forest, which is a RSPB national nature reserve centre, from here I turned south up the trail for the steady climb up to the Ryvoan Pass and down to the Bothy. By now it was late afternoon and the weather forecast was proving to be accurate, as soon as I left the forest I was buffeted by strong gusts and had to get off a couple of times and it was a relief to dive into the bothy to get out of the wind for 5 minutes before continuing downhill past Lochan Uaine and Glenmore Lodge back to the hostel.

Old Logging Way near Glenmore Lodge

Tuesday The next morning the strong winds had gone but when I opened the curtains and looked outside i was amazed to see everything covered in 3 or four inches of snow, quite a transformation and it looked beautiful. No mountain biking today then, instead it was on with the big boots and hill walking kit. I headed off towards Ryvoan Pass again past Lochan Uaine then followed the trail that crosses over the River Nethy and goes around the back of Bynack More. As I gained height the snow became deeper and the path was difficult to follow and subsequently the going became hard work, eventually I made it down to the Fords of Avon, a strategic mountain crossroads with a small emergency refuge no bigger than a garden shed. Here I turned west and made slow progress in the drifts to Loch Avon which was partially frozen over then headed steeply uphill to a feature called The Saddle, then even steeper ground up through a weakness in the cliffs to the flanks of Cairngorm Mountain itself. After a bit of navigational faffing around I eventually located the Mountain Funicular Railway and ski runs of the Cairngorm resort and slowly waded my way down through the snow drifts and onto the never-ending road that leads back to Loch Morlich, arriving back at the hostel at 7.20pm, it had been a tough day out.

Loch Einich

Wednesday Back on the bike again and headed over to Feshiebridge via the same route as Monday to check out another little section of the Cairngorm Loop route. This section started on the west side of the River Feshie and headed south to Ballintean along trails, road and forest tracks to the hamlet of Drumguish, i then picked up the B970 road back to Feshiebridge. With this little job done I retraced my tracks back into the Rothiemurchus Forest, past Loch an Eilein to a cross roads about a km before the Cairngorm Club Footbridge, the route heading north went down to Coylumbridge but I headed south on the track that led to the remote and magnificently located Loch Einich. After a couple of Kms the trail became quite snowy but not icy and the tyres were gripping well, the trail split after a while and for some reason I took the high route and ended up doing quite a bit of climbing for nothing because it soon descended back to the lower trail, which gradually made its way up to the Loch, the terrain is quite easy but there are a couple of stream crossings to keep you on your toes and the snow was becoming deeper and harder to pedal through, especially with a bit of a headwind too, but it was all worth the effort in the end to see the Loch surrounded by imposing snowbound cliffs. The ride back down was a blast, downhill with the wind behind and a great bit of single track along the river which I missed on the way up. It was dark by the time I hit the forest again but a full moon provided enough light to high-tail it back to the youth hostel and it was a great way to end to a memorable ride.

Thursday Similar ride to Monday, around Loch Morlich and through the forest to the Cairngorm Club Footbridge then at the crossroads I turned right on the very pleasant trail that heads down to Coylumbridge. I turned left here on to the Aviemore road then took the next left on a very quiet road that leads to Loch an Eilein and I done a circuit of the Loch once voted as Scotlands favourite picnic spot no less! then picked up the road to Inverdruie where I crossed over the river Druie on a shortcut to the B970 that leads to Nethy Bridge, I followed this road for a few miles before turning off right to cycle past Loch Garten which is famous for it’s Ospreys (which had long since migrated to sunnier climes for the winter), then onto Nethy Bridge. Here I took the road on the south side of the River Nethy that heads south back into the Caledonian Pines of the Abernethy Forest and headed for Forest Lodge and south again to the Ryvoan Bothy and back to the hostel.

Swing bridge next to the ford at Loch Pattack

Friday I drove down the A9 to Dalwhinnie and parked up at the railway station, a good track runs along the side of Loch Ericht to Ben Alder Lodge where the trail leaves Loch Erich and heads to Loch Pattack. The snow was a couple of inches deep here but again it didn’t feel icy and the tyres were gripping well so it felt ok apart from being harder work than normal. I turned off left when I reached the Loch and crossed the the river on a rickety wooden swing bridge next to the ford, then kept left at the next junction on the trail to Culra Bothy and Lodge. This bothy is situated in a fantastic remote location amidst grand mountain scenery which looked even more impressive covered in snow. I was surprised to see that the bothy is officially closed due to asbestos being found in its construction and the outer walls of the bothy are spray painted with warnings, however all 3 of the rooms I checked out were open and the main room with the stove in it looked very usable. I had a quick look at Culra Lodge, a short distance away but everything was battened up. Back at the bothy I retraced my route over the swing bridge, here I briefly considered heading left just before the Loch on the track to Lochan Na Earba and onto Ardverikie and back via the River Pattack but decided to leave it for another day! Instead I headed back to the car the way I came. Before putting the bike away I had a ride to the Whisky Distillery at Dalwhinnie had a look around the visitor centre and tasted a wee dram of their 15 year old single malt which i had never tried before but will certainly get a bottle of it in the future.

: Cairngorm Club Footbridge inscription

: Cairngorm Club Footbridge inscription

: Lochan Uaine

: Lochan Uaine

: Old Logging Way near Glenmore Lodge

: Fords of Avon Refuge

: Fords of Avon Refuge

: Fords of Avon Refuge

: Track to Loch Einich

: Track to Loch Einich

: Loch Einich

: Ben Alder Lodge

: Ben Alder Lodge

: Approaching Loch Pattack

: Swing bridge next to the ford at Loch Pattack

: Bridge near Culra Bothy

: Culra Bothy

: Culra Bothy

: Culra Bothy main room

: Culra Bothy plaque

: Dalwhinnie Distillery

Tyndrum to Inverness by Mountain bike

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October 2016 saw me heading Back up to Scotland again to continue exploring some of the excellent off-road mountain biking trails to be had up there. Since my last trip up here a few weeks ago I had come across an event called the Highland 550 a very tough mountain bike ride through some of the remotest parts of Scotland. This trip was meant to be a recce of the start of that route though things didn’t go entirely to plan… The starting point for the Highland 550 is Tyndrum, a very well-known stopping point for hikers on the West Highland Way and I booked myself in to the “By The Way Hostel”, i chose a trekker hut, which looked like a garden shed with a bunk bed in it but it had electricity and even a heater which was nice because it had been pouring with rain since I got here and feeling cold and it continued raining heavily during the night as well and I kept thinking might as well get it all out-of-the-way now and it should be dry tomorrow…

Monday dawned and the rain was still lashing down, I was booked into Loch Ossian Youth Hostel tonight, many miles away, so I had no choice but to set off early into the deluge, as usual it’s the first few minutes are the worst, once you are warmed up it doesn’t seem so bad. The route follows the West Highland Way to Bridge Of Orchy then climbs over Black Mount and descends past the Glen Coe Ski Center and the Kingshouse Hotel, before reaching the formidable obstacle of the “Devils Staircase” which involves a steep climb/push to a summit then leads down to the very long descent into Kinlochleven. Here I called into the Co-op shop for a sandwich and then began the long climb (push would be a better word) up to the transmitter overlooking the village. Up to this point I was still following the West Highland Way but now I turned right and headed past the disused Mamore Lodge Hotel and continued past the two lochs on good tracks to the ruin of Luibeilt and was faced with the infamous crossing of the Abhain Rath. I had been at this point a few weeks ago and the river crossing wasn’t too bad but today, unsurprisingly, after all this rain the river was a different beast all together. After a lot of faffing around I decided on a crossing point, a place where the river split around a mini rocky island and went across with just my rucksack the first time then came back for the bike and carefully picked my way across bracing with the bike at times and was very relieved to safely get to the other side,

I called into the Meanach Bothy and was surprised to see there was still some whisky in the bottle there from my last visit and had a much-needed swig to set me on my way. Unfortunately my camera somehow got a soaking on the river crossing and I wasn’t able to take anymore pictures with it from this point onwards. Up until now the route had been on a recognisable rocky trail but in these conditions from the bothy to Creaguaineach Lodge on the shores of Loch Treig it was a very boggy and unrideable section and I ended up walking this whole section. When I got back home I read a very funny and honest account by a guy called Dave Barter of his attempt on the 2014 Highland 550 event and his video diary refers to this very section. It was great to be on a rideable trail again which follows the loch side for a couple of km before a stiff climb up to the railway line and followed the wide rocky road all the way to Loch Ossian Youth Hostel, by now it was getting dark and it was great to see the lights of the hostel in the distance getting nearer and nearer. The small hostel on the shores of Loch Ossian is a gem in a wild and remote location, the central room contains the kitchen and dining area and has a great log-burning stove which makes it toasty warm, there are overhead racks on pulleys to dry all your wet gear (and cameras…) and either side of the main room there are male and female dorms. There were 7 other people staying there when I was there and I had a warm pleasant night there with plenty to eat and drink. The weather front bringing all the rain had finally passed during the night and the next day was clear but cold, all the tops of the mountains had a dusting of snow on them and cycling along the shores of Loch Ossian in the shadow of the mountains my hands and toes certainly felt the cold. At Corrour Lodge the route heads North on a very wide smooth track, there is currently a big hydro electricity scheme being built up here and workmen were busy laying big thick power cables along the side of the track.

As I entered the forest I noticed my front disc brakes were screeching really noisily after a while I stopped and had a look at them and i couldn’t believe the state they were in… the pads had completely worn away and on one side they were down to the bare metal! all the rain and grit and mud from yesterday’s ride had taken a terrible toll on them and I wasn’t carrying any spares. My intended route around the back of Binnein Shuas to Wolftrax and then over the Coireyairack Pass to Fort Augustus was no longer possible. I needed a good bike shop and headed for Nevis Cycles at Aonach Mor trail centre. I descended down to Luiblea and turned left on the A86 and headed for Spean Bridge, then turned left to Fort William before getting off the very busy A82 as quickly as possible by heading up to Leanachan and on the bike trails through the forest to Aonach Mor. Unfortunately the shop there was shut for the season so after treating myself to burger and chips at the Pinemarten Cafe i cycled another 5 miles or so to the main Nevis Cycles shop at Inverlochy just outside Fort William and they had the exact brake pads I needed. I spent the night at the Bank Street Hostel in Fort William and on the way there I noticed a sign for the Start of the “Great Glen Way” to Inverness, that got me thinking… As mentioned before my intended route today would have been going over the Corrieyairack Pass and stopping in Fort Augustus for the night, from there I wanted to head up into to Glen Affric and check out the bothy there and then start heading back via Morvich, Rattagan, Corran and the Scottish Coast to Coast route along Loch Quoich and Loch Garry to Invergarry then back to the car at Tyndrum along the WHW again. The distances were now starting to look too big for me so I had a re-think and decided on Wednesday I would now cycle up the Great Glen Way instead, which runs between Fort William and Inverness and is 73 miles long and largely follows the Caledonia Canal and is very well signposted all the way and has lots of information boards along the way explaining the history and significance of the Great Glen. I stopped off at Fort Augustus for lunch then continued into a hilly forest section heading for the “Lochside Hostel” 3 or 4 miles past Invermoriston on the shores of Loch Ness. Thursday it was back onto the Great Glen Way passing through Drumnadrochit then another climbing section, steep at times, through the forest then onto very quiet minor roads and lanes all the way to Inverness arriving at about 2.00pm. I was pre-booked into the “Inverness Student Hostel” which is centrally located close to the Castle, then spent the afternoon exploring the town.

I got an early start on Friday and the plan was to cycle back to Fort William along cycle route 78 which is part of the Caledonia Way (which runs from Cambeltown to Inverness – 237 miles). This was mainly on quiet roads to Fort Augustus, then it was back onto the Great Glen Way reversing my journey on the way up. About 10 miles from Fort William I noticed a problem with the free hub on the bike, sometimes I would pedal as normal and the pedals would just spin and not engage the chain at all, luckily I had enough time to make it back to Nevis Cycles again at Inverlochy while they were still open for business. It turned out that the “Hope Pro2 Evo” hub that is on my bike has 4 pawls and springs that engage and drive the bike forward when you pedal and also give it that distinctive buzzing sound when you freewheel, well it turned out that 3 of the springs on my hub has broken and I was operating on one at the end, I was lucky to make it to the shop! I spent the night in Fort William at the Bank Street Lodge again.

Another early start saw me back on the road for 8.00am heading for Glen Nevis and the start/finish of the West Highland Way, its uphill on wide stony forest roads for the first few km all the way up to the turn off for Dun Deardail Fort, then the riding becomes more interesting and apart from a short rocky section in the forest where you cross a stream and then carry up some steep steps on the other side it’s rideable all the way to the transmitter overlooking Kinlochleven, after this it’s a long steep technical descent into the town, I got off and walked most of it. I stopped off at the co-op again for a sandwich and a drink before starting the long climb up to the top of the Devil’s Staircase, the first half up alongside the giant water pipes is rideable, then it becomes largely a push job, at least for me. I was passed on one of the steep rocky sections by two mountain bikers coming the opposite way and was impressed by the way they seemed to float over some very tricky ground. Visibility was good and the views near the top looking over the Mamores was tremendous. From the top it another technical rocky descent down to the A82 road. After passing the Kingshouse Hotel I was getting hungry again so made a short detour up to the cafe at Glen Coe Ski Centre and had a burger and chips. From Glen Coe it’s a rocky climb for a while then a long fast, rocky descent down to Victoria bridge, then along the road to Bridge of Orchy and finally reaching Tyndrum and my waiting car at about 4.30pm.

: Railway underpass on the West Highland Way

: Bridge of Orchy

: Drove road to Glen Coe

: Telford`s Parliamentary Roads

: Approaching Glen Coe

: Glen Coe and the West Highland Way

: Glen Coe Ski Centre

: Blackrock Cottage and Buachaille Etive Mor

: Approaching Glen Coe

: Kingshouse Hotel

: Kingshouse Hotel info

: A Damp Buachaille Etive Mor

: The summit of the Devil`s Staircase, Glen Coe

: A Friendly Native…

: The Devil`s Staircase, Kinlochleven side

: Resevoir overflow near Kinlochleven

: The Ice Factor in Kinlochleven – the national ice climbing centre

: Loch Leven from the track below Na Gruachaichean

West Highland MTB bothy trip, Sept 2016

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Many years ago with a friend I did a really good winter walk from Fort William up in the Highlands of Scotland. We got the early morning train from Fort William to the remote Corrour Station on the edge of Rannoch Moor and set off walking westwards back to Fort William, following the Abhain Rath River and over the watershed to the head of Glen Nevis and through the gorge to the car park at the road head. luckily here we managed to hitch a ride back to Fort William. The reason i mention all this is that about half way through the walk we came across the Meanach Bothy and i was very impressed with it and i knew one day that I would come back to stay overnight in it, i never imagined that i would arrive back on a mountain bike though…..

Loch Eilde Beag and the lonely boat shed

Loch Eilde Beag and the boat shed

I started this 2 day ride from Fort William, where I was stopping at the Bank Street Lodge, a place I have stopped at many times in the winter when mountaineering around the West Highlands of Scotland, it’s a no frills well-run hostel in a good central location and a good place to meet people doing similar outdoor activities. I wanted to go as light as possible and in my small 20 litre rucsac I had my sleeping bag, a thin foam mat, a small stove and pot and lots of food as well as the usual bike essentials. I didn’t want to arrive at the bothy too early so set off riding up Glen Nevis just before noon and soon turned off on the broad trail for The West Highland Way and steadily climbed through the forest overlooking Glen Nevis. After passing the signs for the ancient Fort of Dun Deardail the trail got narrower and rocky and there were some stair sections to carry the bike over before continuing on the rocky old military road which is nearly all rideable. I followed the West Highland Way all the way to the turn off for Kinlochleven, the WHW turns right here and descends into the village but I carried on past the masts and past the derelict remains of The Mamore Lodge Hotel and climbed steadily up a good double width track. After a couple of hours seeing no one I suddenly started seeing lots of runners, its was the Salomon fell running weekend and today was the first of three days of running events, the first event was The Vertical Kilometer, a race from Kinlochleven to the top of Na Gruagaichean (1056m). Tomorrow would be a fell run round the Ring of Steall, then on Sunday the big one, the Glen Coe Skyline (a 55km gruelling circular route over all the Glen Coe mountains, including Curved Ridge and the Aonach Eagach). Still on the same track the trail heads NW and the next landmarks are Loch Eilde Mor and Loch Eilde Beag with its lonely boat house, shortly after this the trail reaches a crest and in the distance you can see the ruin of Luibeilt and the Meanach Bothy.

The ruin of Luibeilt and the Meanach bothy

The trail descends to cross the Abhain Rath river at the ruin of Luibeilt (more wet feet!) and 300 metres to the right is Meanach Bothy which has two rooms plus a loft accessible via a metal ladder if things get busy. I got there about 6.00pm which gave me a good hour to fill the water bottles, do the bothy book and generally get organised before the light faded. Then it was on with the stove and lots of food and drink, by 9.30pm it was pitch black outside and i was tucked up in my sleeping bag with only a flickering candle for company drinking a small bottle of Glenfiddich which my sister had given me for Christmas, i was keeping it for a special occasion and this seemed to fit the bill. The next morning I picked up the trail 350m west of the bothy, this heads north over the hill and eventually drops down to the Lairig Leacach valley about 5km away, a lot of this section is steep, rocky and unridable and involves quite a bit of bike pushing, however at the end there is a good descent down to the Lairig Leacach Bothy where the trail flattens out a bit. This bothy which is a lot smaller than the one I stopped at, had a group of people camping outside of it and they were getting ready to climb the nearby Munro of Stob Ban when I passed by. After the Lairig bothy the going is very easy, a wide stony track heading down towards Spean Bridge direction and through a forest for a while passing “The Wee Minister”, shortly after this I turned off left on a track sign posted to Spean Bridge and entered the Leanachan Forest. As usual in forests like this I got a little bit lost but eventually came across one of the Nevis Range man-made mountain bike trails (The Cour), so I followed this knowing it would bring me out at the Aonach Mor Ski Centre car park. It was a lovely sunny day now and there were lots of Mountain bikers out enjoying the man-made trails that start and finish from here, the braver ones doing the World Cup Downhill Course or the Red Giant XC course, both of which you can use the Gondola to get yourself and the bike to the top. I headed for the Pinemarten Cafe to put some calories back first. Suitably refreshed I tried a couple of the intermediate blue routes, Broomstick Blue followed by Blue Adder (which has a really good twisting descent) both were good fun and then set off on the side road to Torlundy and picked up the cycle way that takes you most of the way into Fort William.

: West Highland Way

: West Highland Way

: Looking down on Loch Leven from above Kinlochleven

: Kinlochleven from the West Highland Way track

: Loch Eilde Mor

: Loch Eilde Beag and the boat shed

: Meanach bothy with the Grey Corries in the background

: The ruin of Luibeilt and the Meanach bothy

: Meanach bothy

: Meanach bothy

: Meanach bothy

: Meanach bothy

: Meanach bothy

: Meanach bothy

: A wee night cap…

: Approaching the Lairig Leacach bothy

: Lairig Leacach bothy

: The ” Wee Minister” on the trail down to Spean Bridge

: The “Wee Minister”

: Aonach Mor gondola station, the finish of the mountain bike World Cup Downhill course is on the right

: Ben Nevis distillery at Lochy Bridge, Fort William

Cairngorms mountain bike tour Sept 2016

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During this weeks holiday I had hoped to do the classic Scottish coast to coast mountain bike route that runs from The Kyle of Lochalsh on the west coast of Scotland to Montrose on the east coast. A big problem with doing this route are the logistics of getting yourself and a bike up to the starting point, I had hoped to take the train up to the Kyle of Lochaslsh but I was told all spaces for bikes were full up on the days I wanted. So instead I started looking around for alternatives ride ideas and came across a great one in a book called “Scottish Mountain Biking – The Wild Trails” by Phil McKane (Vertebrate Publishing). The ride was a 4 day tour of the Cairngorms and had the added bonus of taking in large chunks of the C2C route I had originally wanted to do. Also being a circular route I could drive up to Scotland with the bike in the car and then ride a big loop back to the car. I already had the four Landranger OS 1:50,000 maps I needed (35,36,42,43) from previous mountaineering trips up here and I set about penciling in the route onto the maps. The more I looked at it the more i realised what a great route it was, it turns out that the Cairngorms are ideal for cross-country mountain bike touring, I would guess that well over 90% of the route is off-road using estate roads, stalkers paths and ancient drovers routes through the mountains. In a nutshell the plan looked like this :-

Blair Athol – Starting point, leave car here, ride to Kingussie.
Kingussie – “The Tipsy Laird” bunk house, ride to Tomintoul.
Tomintoul – The Smugglers Hostel, ride to Braemar.
Braemar – Stay at the Youth Hostel and ride back to car at Blair Athol.

Cairngorms map and my route

I drove up on the Sunday and spent the night at Pitlochry Youth Hostel about 7 miles away from the start in Blair Athol and made an early start on Monday morning. Quiet roads and tracks follow the main A9 road to Dalnacardoch Lodge, where you cross the busy A9 and the wilderness riding begins on good wide tracks, through the forest to begin with then onto open countryside. The weather was quite wet for the first couple of days and this made crossing the numerous fords on the route quite tricky at times, sometimes having to wade knee-deep carrying the bike on my shoulders to get to the other side. The hardest riding of that first day was along the banked shore of Loch an Duin which was very narrow and boggy at times, after this it was good double-width estate roads past Gaick Lodge and then surprisingly tarmac road for a good while down Glen Tromie. At Tromie Bridge I turned left and headed for Kingussie passing the impressive ruins of Ruthven Barracks on the way, which was well worth a look around. I stopped at the basic but cheap bunk house attached to the Tipsy Laird pub on the main high street.

It rained hard all during the night and for most of the next day as I retraced my way past Ruthven Barracks to Tromie Bridge and picked up the trail to Glen Feshie, crossing a couple of fords on the way. The river Feshie was looking flowing strongly after all the recent rain and i crossed it at the wooden bridge and headed north up the hamlet of Feshiebridge passing the airstrip of the glider station on the way, i turned right here into the forest hoping to navigate myself to Loch an Eilein, i dislike riding in managed forests as it hard to know where you are exactly when surrounded by trees, especially with an old map and tracks going in various directions, however this time i got lucky and picked up the very nice small trail to the lovely Inschriach Bothy. I had been to this bothy a few years previous on a day walk with a couple of friends and it was good to come across it again. After a sandwich in the bothy and adding another layer i set off again on the narrow rocky trail down to Loch an Eilein and then picked up the wide smooth trails that lead to Loch Morlich via the Cairngorm Club footbridge.

Drakes Bothy near Loch an Eilein

There are lots of way-marked trail around this area and seems a good place to come for day rides. At Lake Morlich i joined the main road that heads up to the big ski centre passing the youth hostel and then branched-off left on the side road that leads up to Glen More Lodge – the Scottish National Outdoor Centre, a place i knew well from having done a couple of courses there many years ago. Continuing along this track brings you past a magical little lochan and shortly afterwards you branch left heading north past Ryvoan Bothy and into the forest, i missed the turn off right here for the ford and ended up at Forest Lodge and i done a u-turn here heading south then east to Loch a Chnuic, some careful navigation is needed here to pick up the small trail to the narrow cleft of Eag Mhor then it’s onto the Braes of Abernethy to the hunting estate of Dorback Lodge. It had been a long wet day so far but my target for the day of Tomintoul didnt seems so far away now, however as i set off across the moors to Letteraitten i came across several 4×4 vehicles and then the sounds of gunshots nearby and beaters waving white flags, there was a shoot in progress and my intended route over the moors to Tomintoul was not possible. i had to retrace my route to Dorback Lodge and then down the access road to pickup the main A939 road into Tomintoul, a road that had several steep climbs on it but then again Tomintoul is the highest village in Scotland! i finally reached the Smugglers Hostel at about 6.00pm tired and dripping wet, it had been a long day but an enjoyable one.

Day 3 dawned dull and misty but largely dry just the odd light shower, the target for today was Braemar directly south of Tomintoul. I was on the road by 8.30am and had a short tour up and down the long main street of the village before heading off down the road that turns into a track that follows the River Avon south. i followed this wide easy trail all the way down to Inchrory Lodge, where i left the river Avon and kept heading south into Glen Builg via a vague boggy section then an improved track to Loch Builg after passing some small lochans its south again to the flanks of Cullardoch where a very long climb awaits you. Just before the climb starts i came across a brand new shooting hut, a high-class one that wouldn’t look out of places on the slopes of verbier. Once the high point on Cullardoch is reached all difficulties for the day are over and its a very fast descent down to the forest where there are some very nice old Scots Pines to be seen. Invercauld House leads to the main road turning left over Invercauld Bridge and you pass the old bridge of Dee (Brig O`Dee) after a couple of miles Braemar Castle comes into view and then the village itself, after exploring the village a while and a very nice meal at a local cafe i checked into Braemar Youth Hostel.

The narrow watershed area leading to Glen Tilt

Day 4 and the last day of this tour of the Cairngorms and the weather was the best yet, sunshine and light winds made the 6 mile ride along the tarmac to the Linn of Dee a pleasure, i stopped to take some photos of this impressive gorge before leaving the tarmac and heading west on a good track along the banks of the River Dee as far as the “White Bridge”. Here i left the Dee and headed south crossing the Geldie Burn and up to the ruin of Bynack Lodge, the grassy rocky track climbed steadily and was fairly obvious to follow as it made its way to the watershed and the start of Glen Tilt, here the valley narrowed sharply with the river and trail squeezed on both sides by steep grassy slopes. The very narrow trail became quite a technical challenge to ride with rocks peppering the trail and a large drop on the left hand side i got off and pushed a lot of this section. eventually after 2km or so the terrain opened out again and the going became a lot easier, shortly afterwards the Bedford Bridge came into view which provides a great viewing point for the spectacular Falls of Tarf waterfalls. All difficulties were now over as you follow the River down Glen Tilt, which was looking at its best in the bright sunshine, on a good track for mile after mile downhill, eventually joining the road at The Old Bridge of Tilt, not far from Blair Athol and my waiting car.

: Turn off just after Calvine

: Looking back on a tricky Ford crossing on the way to Sronphadruig Lodge

: Narrow boggy single track along Loch an Duin

: Approaching Gaick Lodge and Loch an t-Seilich

: Glen Tromie scene

: Waymarkers near to Tromie Bridge

: The view from Tromie Bridge near Kingussie

: Ruthven Barracks near to Kingussie

: Ruthven Barracks info

: The bridge over the river Feshie

: Drakes Bothy near Loch an Eilein

: The Cairngorm Club Footbridge in Rothiemurchus Forest

: Lake Morlich beach near to the watersports centre

: Ryvoan Bothy

: The steep sided cleft of Eag Mhor

: The Smugglers Hostel in Tomintoul, which is the highest village in Scotland

: Ruin on the river Avon

: Trail just after Inchrory Lodge on the way to Braemar

: Trail leading to Invercauld House on the way to Braemar

: Braemar Castle

: The Braemar Gathering site

: Braemar Youth Hostel

: Early morning sunshine on way to The Linn of Dee

: The Linn of Dee gorge

: Signs at The Linn of Dee

: River Dee track

: The “White Bridge” over the River Dee

: Bynack Lodge ruin

: The narrow watershed area leading to Glen Tilt

: The narrow watershed area leading to Glen Tilt

: The Bedford Bridge and the Falls of Tarf

: Glen Tilt salmon?!

: Glen Tilt

The Sandstone Way – July 2016

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The Sandstone Way is a new long distance mountain bike trail in the north of England that runs roughly north to south through the sparsely populated county of Northumberland, it begins in Berwick-upon-Tweed and ends in Hexham, though it is equally possible to do the route in reverse. It is 120 miles long and loosely follows a series of sandstone outcrops and rock features familiar to walkers and climbers who visit the area. Well over half the route is off-road on a mixture of bridle ways, byways, forest tracks and unclassified roads all linked together by very quiet country roads. The driving force behind the creation of this route is Ted Liddle from the Tyne Valley MTB club. The official Sandstone Way website and map give loads of information and are a great help in planning the ride. Its not a technical mountain bike route, there are no jumps or scary descents but it is a tough route and it certainly warrants the use of a good quality mountain bike, a hybrid or cyclo-cross type bike would struggle on some of the rougher rocky sections, especially in bad conditions. The route is signposted all the way though at times I did get a bit confused and you certainly need the Sandstone Way map to guide you. Time-wise you could take a leisurely 4 days to enjoy the route or if you like a real challenge and are very fit you could try to do it in a day, it has been done, Rich Rothwell (an endurance mountain bike rider) managed to get round in just under 11 hours, he used a full suspension mountain bike and said he was glad he did!

i decided to do it over 3 days and left home early on a Sunday morning to get the train up to Berwick-upon-Tweed arriving there just after 11am in the morning, you need to book a space for your bike in the goods wagon as there was only hangers for 3 bikes on the service i used. After a quick look around Berwick i headed down to the river and the bridges across the Tweed and found the official start of the Sandstone Way, right next to the Youth Hostel. The first 10 miles or so follows the coast and cliff tops and is fairly flat before gaining height as it skirts the edge of the Kyloe Hills to Detchant, here you turn right for a hilly section around Greensheen Hill. I saw quite a few hikers on this section who were doing St Cuthberts Way, a long distance trail (62.5 miles) between Montrose and Lindisfarne. The bike route then descends and passes very close to St.Cuthberts Cave, an impressive sandstone feature and well worth a short detour. Quiet roads take you past the craggs at Bowden Doors, then through Chatton and Chillingham before an energy sapping grassy ride up to the transmitter above Wooler, you get a good view of the town from up here and today the annual Glendale Festival was on and the main road through Wooler was shut and live music was being performed on a stage and there was a party atmosphere in town. I was booked into Wooler Youth Hostel.

The Sandstone Way start in Berwick-upon-Tweed

A nice feature about the Sandstone Way is that at certain points it offers a choice of routes, these could be used for day loop rides or bad conditions alternative or simply a more challenging option. The biggest route choice occurs on leaving Wooler, the normal way heads south to Alnham via Ingram and is waymarked with the familiar green roundels while a much more adventurous option heads south-west and into the heart of the Cheviot Hills and is not way marked at all – this is the way I went. The weather was good, a little windy but visibility was good, I took the precaution before I left of packing the OS 1:25000 map of the Cheviots and a compass and I’m pleased I did, a lot of the time there was a recognisable bridle way trail to follow but at other times it petered out to nothing and I was left scratching my head as to which way to go, sometimes having to bushwhack and push the bike over some very rough ground on a compass bearing to try and pick up a trail again. It was quite a relief to finally emerge at Alnham and pick up the normal route again. I finally arrived in Rothbury just after 5.00pm and made my way to Tomlinsons Cafe down by the bridge, which has a rather nice bunkhouse attached to it and has the added bonus of being right on the Sandstone Way route. I was surprised to find out that there was only one other person booked in that night.

Day three dawned nice and sunny and I was on the road again by 8.00am as it was going to be another tough day to get to Hexham, about 49 miles away. It’s quite a hilly start to get out of Rothbury up to Sharpe’s Folly tower before a flatter section and a short downhill to get into the forest, from here it’s a long steady climb up to the foot of Simonside Craggs on a wide, stony forestry track with good views over to the Cheviots, shortly afterwards the track finally starts heading downhill and it’s a fast ride for several miles through Harwood Forest until you arrive at the Elsdon road where you turn right and are soon going downhill passing Winter’s Gibbet on the left hand side. As you approach West Woodburn another one of those route choices appears, conditions were good and I was doing ok time-wise so I chose the more challenging option involving a steepish climb up an old road to a green lane route.

The finish in Hexham next to the golf clubhouse

This grassy and rocky lane was very well-defined at first but after a dip halfway along it seemed to disappear altogether and I just headed for a small forestry plantation visible in the distance (see photo below) and was relieved to pick up the green way-markers again to Bellingham where I stopped at the bakery to refuel. Leaving Bellingham it’s another stiff climb leading up to the transmitter above Shitlington Crags and then some tricky route finding as you cross first Houxty Burn (there is a bridge to your right!) followed by Wark Burn. A roller coaster road section leads to a nice off-road section into Simonburn, which has a cafe if you feel the need. Another stiff road climb takes you up to Hadrian’s Wall at Black Carts, then it’s across the fields dropping down to the South Tyne at Fourstones where one last climb takes you up Warden Hill before dropping down to cross the river and the route follows the railway line into Hexham and the Sandstone Way’s marker stone near the golf clubhouse, arriving at about 5.00pm. The railway station is not far away and I was on the train with my bike going home before 6.00pm. I had enjoyed my time doing the Sandstone way and found it a worthwhile challenge and certainly would consider doing It again sometime, maybe taking two days now that I know the route, going from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Rothbury in one day (and sticking to the signposted normal route) then Rothbury to Hexham the next day.

And finally, already done this ride? Maybe found using a bike a bit tame? Then how about running it? check out the Sandstone Way Ultra There is a good route guide PDF file available here too.