Bivvy+tarp in Scotland

[Fab Foodie]

Luxury bivvy last night. FF heads on his way to Harris after a night with Wickerman.

Big thanks to @wicker man and lovely family for a warm welcome. Comfortble bed, good company and great food all at reasonable rates!
Long slog into the headwind. Ate at the cafe and stocked up on food at Luirbost. Big long hill just on Harris was ok, but the road to the hostel had me pushing on the near 25% sections .... I was pushing so hard the front wheel was starting to lose contact with the road!

Hostel is great as are the residents. Tomorrow will ride some of the gold road towards Leverburg and possibly the 1830 ferry try Bernaray. Alternatively the hostel you recommended in Leverbugh if they have space.

Cheers FF

 

[Fab Foodie]

Well what a day yesterday was!

Did bugger all, slept a lot, chatted to a lot of interesting people at the hostel, cooked a fab left-overs Fritatta from eggs, courgette, onion, sweet potato, chilli flakes ...

The gourmet sensation of the hostel! Good times chewing the fat afterwards with a good local ale.
3 young ladies and 1 chap also arrived after a fair hike. Took it in shifts to cook. Got a good fire going in the lounge to dry socks boots and other kit giving a distinctly cheesy note to the air ...

Packed kit for next day .....

Young French couple turned up sodden on a very nice Thorn Tandem to join the fun. Late arrivals .... A couple of Austrians.

 

[iandg]

Well what a day yesterday was!
View attachment 136699

Did bugger all, slept a lot, chatted to a lot of interesting people at the hostel, cooked a fab left-overs Fritatta from eggs, courgette, onion, sweet potato, chilli flakes ...
View attachment 136697

The gourmet sensation of the hostel! Good times chewing the fat afterwards with a good local ale.
3 young ladies and 1 chap also arrived after a fair hike. Took it in shifts to cook. Got a good fire going in the lounge to dry socks boots and other kit giving a distinctly cheesy note to the air ...

View attachment 136698
Packed kit for next day .....

Young French couple turned up sodden on a very nice Thorn Tandem to join the fun. Late arrivals .... A couple of Austrians.

Two tough climbs at the end of a long day into the wind (on a Brompton)

(I rode out to Ravenspoint in the afternoon and got an idea of how strong the wind was)

 

[Fab Foodie]

Two tough climbs at the end of a long day into the wind (on a Brompton)

(I rode out to Ravenspoint in the afternoon and got an idea of how strong the wind was)

Yeah .... But clearly you're crazy! Good tailwind home I guess :-)

 

[Fab Foodie]

So, today ....
Left the hostel at 10.30 in reasonable weather to roll down to Leverbugh. This was soon to change once I'd pushed up the hill away from the hostel. The wind picked-up and the rain did pour ... Mostly into my head direction backed-up with a 15mph wind.

The 2 big lumps before Tarbert were a hard wet grind. Probably the hardest 12 miles I've ever cycled.
When I arrived at The first fruits cafe In Tarbert (highly recommended) I was cold and drenched, the cafe was packed. The Glaswegian manager quickly found me a seat and the lovely waitress came over with a napkin to clean my glasses! She got a decent tip after a fab cheeseburger and yoghurt flapjack.
Eventually I left the comfort and warmth of the cafe for Leverburg ... Straight up hill.
South Harris is a revalation compared to the North. Whilst the North has the big brooding hills and dampnes, the south is lighter, lower, rockier more Derbyshire. Beautiful small lakes full of lillies. The beaches on the west coast are stunning! As beautiful as anywhere in the world, torquoise water, white sands, mountain backdrop. If only it was warmer ...
The sun did come out. Unfortunately my phone ran out of charge so no photos of the fantastic scenery.
Eventually made the bunkhouse in Leverburgh which is quite something else!
Met a young Korean girl and walked to the local resteraunt for dinner and a beer.

Main issue is that my wet footwear stinks .... Really hums ... As do my feet now :-(

Time for a cuppa. Nice sunset ...

 

[Fab Foodie]

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

You're a tougher man than me. 1 night and I'm off home. The midges and hills are too much for me.

 

[robjh]

I got out the bivvy bag + the tent, and have opted finally for the tent after all the advice on here.

If you look carefully, the bivvy bag is full of newspaper as a 'water ingress' test after I applied new tape over the now rather porous seams (it is 20 years old), and it passed rather well. Still, midges are midges so the tent it is.

 

[Kosong]

Following this thread as me and my brother are planning LEJOG for next year and pretty limited on timings...all this midge talk has got me terrified

 

[snorri]

Following this thread as me and my brother are planning LEJOG for next year and pretty limited on timings...all this midge talk has got me terrified

Have no fear, the areas in which midgies are likely to be seriously troublesome make up only a small fraction of the surface area of Scotland, contrary to popular myth.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Well where was I since I last had the interwebs?

Now on Bernaray at the hostel by the sea ... Fab, just fab location. Also pretty quiet at first but that soon changed ....
More peeps turned up, several Cyclewankers too, and one guy named Ian a regular to the hostel who came loaded with Whisky and shared it to his hearts content ... A good night was had by all!

I paid for a bed as an emergency but and getting some serious tarp practice in as well.

The island is stunning, especially the large area of 'Machair', as beautiful and diverse spread of flora and fauna you'll see anywhere, a riot of colour.

I'd post photos but the interwebs are too slow here. :-(

Today I've abandoned the bike and walked around the edge of the island, heated soup in the sand dunes and had it for lunch with some oat biscuits. Currently abusing the services of the ferry terminal before the last miles back to the hostel.

A tout a l'heure ...

 

[snorri]

Today I've abandoned the bike and walked around the edge of the island, .

It's always a good time on a tour when you choose to walk a bit, having decided the bike is just too fast

 

[Ajax Bay]

me and my brother are planning LEJOG for next year and pretty limited on timings...all this midge talk has got me terrified

On September LEJOG, didn't hit me till 30km south of Fort William (5pm ish) and then another hit the following day at a similar time of day in Lairg. Mercifully was not camping. As I rode out of Lairg, towards the Crask Inn, protected by my waterproof (it was not raining) it felt like riding through a blizzard - of the little feckers. Stopped on high ground with a bit of wind, to eat the rest of the chips, but they were there in an instant. Gobbled most of the chips and moved on pronto. At the Crask Inn wrenched myself off the bike, lent it up outside, dived for and through the inn's door, and closed it sharpish, to keep the hordes out. Gratifyingly smoky atmosphere inside, and an excellent meal and several ales. By the time I went out (10ish) they had turned in for the night and we were not bothered. Landlord handed out Avon Skin So Soft with the porridge at breakfast, however at 8am it didn't seem an issue, but we didn't stop till Bettyhill. Maybe east coast is better than west coast route in this respect (but imho not otherwise). Have bought midge headnet.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Another night under the tarp overlooking the beach .... But .... The wind dropped and the midge net unfurled for the first time. Light breeze now as I eat Brekkie and they're gone :-)

Packing now as friends arriving later and we'll drive to Grimsay.

Last night attacked smelly shoes with harpic pine fresh .... This morning I'm not sure which is worst!

Not having time to catch up on my diary, job for the next few days ....

 

[Kosong]

On September LEJOG, didn't hit me till 30km south of Fort William (5pm ish) and then another hit the following day at a similar time of day in Lairg. Mercifully was not camping. As I rode out of Lairg, towards the Crask Inn, protected by my waterproof (it was not raining) it felt like riding through a blizzard - of the little feckers. Stopped on high ground with a bit of wind, to eat the rest of the chips, but they were there in an instant. Gobbled most of the chips and moved on pronto. At the Crask Inn wrenched myself off the bike, lent it up outside, dived for and through the inn's door, and closed it sharpish, to keep the hordes out. Gratifyingly smoky atmosphere inside, and an excellent meal and several ales. By the time I went out (10ish) they had turned in for the night and we were not bothered. Landlord handed out Avon Skin So Soft with the porridge at breakfast, however at 8am it didn't seem an issue, but we didn't stop till Bettyhill. Maybe east coast is better than west coast route in this respect (but imho not otherwise). Have bought midge headnet.

That sounds savage! Although glad to hear they are not all over Scotland. We are planning on spending a few weeks in Scotland for our LEJOG/JOGLE as it's so. damn. far. from where we live we have little opportunity to get up there, so will be slowly crawling through the highlands, go to loch lamond, dumfries park etc. Have accepted that midges will just be something that happens at some point, and having lived in the tropics previously it's nothing that bothers me except my allergy to insect repellent...will invest in some sort of net burqa and maybe rig up a flamethrower that runs on a dynamo to kill any that come my way.

With the limited planning I've done so far we'll prob avoid the East coast A9 route as it looks boring and we're in no rush to do it in 10 days...got a month or so so will head towards the west then cut down the middle for some hill action