How bad is the A9?

[Firestorm]

I have not cycled the A9 but I have motorcycled it many times and it is a hideous road.
When holidaying in Scotland I tend to avoid the A9 for anything other than the final day when leaving Inverness and heading home as fast as possible.

its busy , single carriageway in a number of places with a lot of goods traffic and people in a hurry. The dualed sections are short and invariably there will be one or two vehicles barrelling down the outside lane of each dual section trying to overtake as many as possible before it goes single again, resulting in cars overtaking on the hatching as the lanes merge. I thinks its officially the most dangerous road in Scotland .

 

[Halfmanhalfbike]

I thinks its officially the most dangerous road in Scotland .

That's due to the large number of long constant radius bends. It's impossible to see far enough ahead to overtake safely and drivers get impatient, pull out and run straight into oncoming traffic. The number of head-on collisions on this road is way above average.

It's also got the largest proportion of accidents involving foreign tourists driving on the wrong side of the road

Having said all that. I would cycle it no problem. It's wide. It's well surfaced. And for the dualled bits there's a dedicated cyclepath alongside

 

[BigGee]

When I did my trip in Sept 2009 I was originally going to come down the A9 as far as Pitlochary and then branch off over the trossachs to glasgow were i have family and it was going to be a good place to get well feed and catch up on the laundrey. However in the event I had to change my mind as was unable to get any accomodation there. I was due there on a saturday and every B&B i tried would only take a booking for the whole weekend and the hostel was full. I did try and book up some time in advance, so maybe there was something going on there that weekend, maybe something to think about if you where planning to stop there.

So in the end I changed plans and went the Inverness-loch ness-fort william route on the main road and stayed the night at Glen Coe Youth Hostel. I have to say I am extremley glad this happened as it was the most fantastic ride imaginable. The views of the loch and the mountains are stunning. The commando monument at spen bridge with a crystal clear nevis range in the background was unforgetable and then the following day you have the pleasure and pain of climbing the monumental glen coe, probably the best days riding I have ever had in this country. I have to say i was very lucky with the weather on my trip, but fortune sometimes favours the brave. Despite what you may have been told, it does not always rain in scotland.

As for the traffic, I did not find it to be particularly heavy or bothersome and that was on a weekend day with good weather and a lot of people out for a spin. I have since been told that there is more comercial traffic on the road on weekdays. I do agree with the previous comment though that so much depends on the amount of traffic you are used to/feel comfortable cycling in. I live and cycle in london so I guess I am fairly used to heavy traffic and am not over phased by it. Other than a couple of bits around glasgow, I have to say I did not find the traffic in scotland bothersome at all compared to what I am used to.

One particularly moving thing I saw as I was coming into Fort William was a ghost bike attached to railings in the form of areodynamic time trail bike, , which I can only assume was a memorial to Jason McIntyre, the scottish and brittish time trial champion. As someone has alraedy said, it only takes one idiot driver no matter where you are riding.

Enjoy your trip whichever way you go, for a change I'll probably go the A9 way if I ever get the chance to do it again.

 

[vernon]

Like Snorri said people's individual perceptions of risk and danger vary widely. I have no direct experience of the A9 but have used the A82 twice on LEJOG and JOGLE rides and didn't find it intimidating at all. I wouldn't bother looking for alternative to the A82.

 

[Rebel Ian]

Traffic doesn't bother me at all. I've always cycled on the road and in the last year have cycled around central London and central Paris! In a perverse sort of way I quite like it!!

My thinking behind using the A9 over the A82 was that it's a wider road so whilst traffic will be moving briskly it generally has plenty of room to move around a bunch of cyclists. My recollection of the A82 from when I drove it a few years ago was that it was a great road but not the widest. I appreciate that both are quite long roads however and will vary a lot in places.

When I drove back from JoG a few years ago I recall going through Glencoe along the most beautiful road I've ever been on as it snaked and weaved through the hills. I can't recall what road it was so I'll have to find it. It would be breathtaking to cycle it but that means going through Glasgow which isn't ideal.

The route I've mapped out is pretty much fixed other than what we do North of Carlisle so I need to make my mind up!!!

 

[BigGee]

Getting through Glasgow is not so bad.

If you came from Glencoe it is a days ride and you would probably stop somewhwere just outside and then would whizz through the next morning while you where fresh. If you want to avoid the busy A82 down loch lommond side then take the A814 down loch long and gareloch and through helensburgh.

The route down south from glasgow is easy. Alongside the M74 motorway runs the B7078 and then the B7076. This is effectively the old A74, once the main north south road before it was updated to motorway. Much of it is dual carriageway, with virtually no traffic and a lot of it has one of the carriage ways designated as a cycle path. It is a bit of a surreal experience , a sort of end of the world experience, cycling along a dual carriageway in the middle of nowhere. The only thing likely to hit you on that is a stray sheep. The road has obviously never been maintained since being redesignated and is a bit rough. But as long as your tyres are good then you should be fine, you'll need good tyres for the trip anyway.

Glasgow to the boarder is a days ride again. I deceided to take a detour and went via wanlockhead, which is the highest village in scotland and then came down the mennock pass, which is also spectacular. I stayed the night in dumfries and then rolled out of scotland the next morning after a cuppa at gretna.

I am sure that if you planned it there are plenty of other ways of circumventing glasgow if you wished. It was easy for me to stop there as my family are from there and so i do have places to stay

 

[vernon]

My thinking behind using the A9 over the A82 was that it's a wider road so whilst traffic will be moving briskly it generally has plenty of room to move around a bunch of cyclists. My recollection of the A82 from when I drove it a few years ago was that it was a great road but not the widest. I appreciate that both are quite long roads however and will vary a lot in places.

The answer to that problem is not to ride as a bunch.

 

[Brandane]

As a truck driver I see some scary sights most days, but one of the worst I remember involving cyclists was on the A9. Granted, it was further south on the dual carriageway section between Dunblane and Perth where the lanes are quite narrow and no verge to speak of. Two trucks overtaking and that's it; no room for anything else.

I saw a group of 3 cyclists on fully laden touring bikes heading south, in the rain. Two were wearing hi-viz jackets, but the 3rd wasn't, and he was at the rear!!! . It's a busy stretch of road with loads of HGVs, and cars travelling at 70+ mph. One road I would seriously avoid on a bike.

 

[srw]

Traffic doesn't bother me at all. I've always cycled on the road and in the last year have cycled around central London and central Paris! In a perverse sort of way I quite like it!!

There's quite a lot of difference between the centre of a city (typical motorised traffic speed 20mph) and a rural single carriageway (typical motorised traffic speed 60mph). Especially when that city has a public bike hire scheme.

 

[Rebel Ian]

There's quite a lot of difference between the centre of a city (typical motorised traffic speed 20mph) and a rural single carriageway (typical motorised traffic speed 60mph). Especially when that city has a public bike hire scheme.

True but we did also cycle along some main A roads to get to Paris, most notably the A3 which was a bit of a chalenge!

 

[Brandane]

True but we did also cycle along some main A roads to get to Paris, most notably the A3 which was a bit of a chalenge!

Yes, but don't forget it has to go right countless number of times. It only has to go wrong once.....

Don't get me wrong, I suppose we all take our chances by being out there cycling, but as in my post above re the A9, some cyclists lower the odds of survival somewhat. Just not worth it IMHO. It's not your actions, it's the blind inattentive phone wielding, DVD watching (yes it does happen!), newspaper reading, texting etc. etc. car/truck/taxi driving idiots that are the problem!

 

[Kirstie]

I've been up the A9 (ish) from Pitlochry to Inverness twice. There's a signposted NCN route which avoids the actual carriageway of the A9 (it goes on the old A9) and takes in some B roads as well. At no point have I ever cycled on the actual A9 nor would I want to! On both occassions it was fine but during my lejog I hit it after 800 odd miles of cycling with a massive headwind, and I also had a p*nct*re at the top so it was absolute misery.

 

[Rebel Ian]

Thanks, Kirstie. I've decided to re-route us once we cross the border and we're going to head through Glasgow up to Fort William and along Loch Ness up to Inverness. I'm not overly fussed about the traffic on the A9 but in the end I couldn't resist the chance to ride through Glencoe which is stunning.

 

[robbiep]

Two of us rode the A9 September last and it was fine, infact we flew from Pitlochry up to Newtonmore (good place to stop - pubs etc) then back on the A9 up to Tain and JOG.

Lorry drivers would give us a toot, I don't think it was to wish us well the feeling I got was they were telling us to get off the road. The road is so fast though and we made such great time that it was quite addictive.........

I wore high vis and set the rear light on flash mode and went for it, I did see the track running adjacent but didn't fancy it to be honest. After Pitlochry the road does get a little busy but it's ok, I think it's ALL about time, how long to you want to be in the saddle for.......

The highlight of my 9 day trip was the A9 from Tain to JOG (maybe except for Ludlow) - stunning views and quiet roads, luckily the weather was fantastic, but I look back fondly on this leg of the trip.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

Robbie