322 mile tour of the Outer Hebrides completed.

[JamieRegan]

I completed my first tour going from Edinburgh to Stornoway and it was fabulous.

Day 1 - Edinburgh to Callander. 55 miles. Made the mistake of not stopping for a proper lunch, but other than that it was surprisingly easy.

Day 2 - Callander to Inveraray. 55 miles. Learnt from previous day's mistake and made sure we stopped for plenty of food and drink - and proper lunch. Very wet day and had to go up the Rest and Be Thankful, which was long, but not as tough as I'd expected.

Day 3 - Inveraray to Oban. 40 miles. Had to start the day with an 8 mile uphill slog to 800 feet. Not easy, but not many miles today and fairly easy. Ferry across to Castlebay, Barra.

Day 4 - Castlebay to Berneray. 70 miles. Had to start again with a tough uphill and this one was tough. Not long though, so soon underway. Had a real tough day with the wind though. Was told we should expect the wind from the south-west - WRONG!!! A North wind gave us a constant headwind for the whole day.

Day 5 - Eriskay to Stornoway. 69 miles. A headwind for the whole day yet again and this made it real tough going, but didn't take away the enjoyment. Had to climb An Clisham as well in Harris and that took some doing.

Day 6 - Ullapool to Garve. 33 miles. Massive hill climb up to the Braemore junction, but finished the whole trip with a downhill for the last 10 miles.

So, all in all, a great trip. Not easy - but surprisingly 'easier' than I'd been led to believe. The furthest I'd cycled before this was 36 miles and a few people on here said I shouldn't do this trip, but I never had a moment where I thought I wouldn't complete this, so not sure whether I'm super-human or that there are a few to many wimps on here .

 

[John H McKendrick]

Brings back good memories from a few year's ago!

Followed an informal charity biathlon on Bute (hike and bike around the West Island Way), with a solo cycle from Bute to Ardlui. Train from Ardlui to Oban to meet my brother and then catch the ferry to Barra. We did Castlebay to Tarbet (Harris) and then on to Stornoway (via Callanish standing stones). Ferry over to Stornoway and then cycled to Inverness for the train back home.

My abiding memories were (i) going for a wee sleep on Benbecula and waking up to a fish supper that my brother had brought back from the nearest hotel; (ii) drivers on the other side of the road who pulled over to let you pass through; (iii) a good night in the British Legion in Stornoway (it was the night before the Hebridean Celtic Music Festival started and the 'Legion' was the place to go).

Would recommend this tour to anyone. Didn't get the benefit of a SW wind, but Barra to Stornoway would be the preferred direction of travel.

John (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scottish-Lowland-Roads-Cyclists-Hillclimbs/dp/1907025251)

 

[toroddf]

Bad news, JamieRegan. I think you have now become one of us. Those of us who loves doing long bikerides over several days. Those of us who loves the rhythm, the smell, the views and everything about bikerides. You have become one of us.

Congratulations with this excellent bikeride and for having proven a lot of people wrong.

Feel free to post photos from your ride.

What is your bikerides plans for this summer ?

 

[stephenjubb]

photos?

 

[JamieRegan]

We didn't take too many photos, but what we did are here:

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjyY3oxh

 

[stumpy66]

Sounds a good trip, i did the outer hebs last year and going back this year, taking in skye on the way home. Bad luck with the wind, we met some guys who had went from stornoway to barra and had head wind all the way, it had turned for us to a south westerly so was mostly in our favour.