Mull, Skye and some bits between

[P.H]

Spent a great week cycling in West Scotland earlier this month. First time time I've been in this area, certainly wont be the last. As near to perfect cycling as I've come across, though that opinion might be influenced by the weather, really lucky.
I was going to write a sort of report, but the pictures tell it better than I could;
http://www.derbyctc.org.uk/pictures/Scotland2009/

 

[Renard]

Great pics

 

[summerdays]

Looks brilliant - were you B&B'ing?

 

[Brahan]

Hey P.H how nice is the ride to Sligachan with the Cuillins in the background? Did you camp there? Where did you ride to around Skye? I think you should write your report - I'd like to read it.

 

[summerdays]

I think you should write your report - I'd like to read it.

Me too

 

[Kirstie]

Is the photo entitled 'the last long downhill' taken from the summit of the climb on the B852 above loch ness?

 

[P.H]

Hey P.H how nice is the ride to Sligachan with the Cuillins in the background? Did you camp there? Where did you ride to around Skye? I think you should write your report - I'd like to read it.

Trouble with writing a report is trying to figure how to keep it short enough to be interesting, without leaving too much out. Not sure I've succeeded, but here it is;

Inner Hebrides tour 11th – 20th September 2009
I did this tour with a friend Ian, we didn’t always ride together, that’s the way it was planned and it worked pretty well. We started in style with the sleeper from Crewe at midnight to Fort William by 10am Sat morning. I woke up with the train climbing above the cloud filled valley just before Arrochar, I can think of no better sight to start a holiday. From Fort William, a short blast down the A82 before the Corran ferry across the Loch. The ride from there to Lochaline was quiet and scenic without being spectacular. We then crossed to Mull and rode a few miles north to Salen for the first night. We used hostels for this tour, partly influenced by the desire to travel light and a fear of midges. I’m not sure it was the right decision, I found all the distances comfortable and with two exceptions the hostels were no better than adequate. We were never bothered by midges. Next morning we retraced yesterdays route past Fishnish and continued round the east of Mull to cross over to Iona,
Iona was the highlight of the trip for me, the hostel is fantastic, full of quirky well thought out details, with the comfiest bed I’ve slept in away from home, a fantastic kitchen/lounge and to top it all an incredible location. The beach photos were taken a few hundred yards from the hostel, literally out the door and across a small field. Visitors are not allowed to take cars onto Iona and accommodation is fairly limited, therefore after the last ferry in the early evening it’s very quiet. I loved it.
After one night on Iona it was back onto Mull, this time following the west coast via Dervaig to Tobermory. This was a lovely bit of road, a fair bit of climbing and fast downhills, great views and often riding very close to the shore. After a night in the Tobermory SYHA I caught the first ferry over to Kilchoan on the mainland, while my companion had another hour or two sleep. I wanted to visit the Point of Ardnamurchan, the most westerly point of mainland UK, for me it was the last in the set of four. This was the only time in the week I got rained on and then only for half an hour, it soon brightened up. The first part of the road from there to Mallaig contained some of the bleakest landscape I’ve seen in the UK and after a pretty long drag you’re rewarded with a blistering downhill where you can see any traffic coming for miles. The last 20 miles to Mallaig were along the fairly busy A830, it’s recently had a lot of European money spent on it (As have a lot of the roads we used) it’s wide, smooth and with a decent cycle track for much of it. Ian did find a more scenic route for some of it, I enjoyed that smooth tarmac. We spent the night in Mallaig which is a lively small town, I got up early for a walk up the small hill behind the town which offers great views over the harbour. The ferry that morning was our longest and last of the tour. It took us to Skye where we headed north to Broadford. This section of road was pleasant enough, maybe I was suffering from scenic overload as I didn’t find it very inspiring. Then from Broadford it all changes, those volcanic mountains just rise out of nothing with a shape like a five year olds drawing of a mountain. The road climbs beautifully up and up between them, although a fairly busy road it’s wide enough even for the trucks to pass easily. Over the summit and another blistering decent to Sligachan where we stayed on the A87 to Portree for the night. Portree was fairly busy, the whole of Skye seemed busier than Mull. It seems the cheap pound has extended the season, there were plenty of Continental tourists about with nearly all the B&Bs displaying No Vacancy signs. This was as far north as we made it, the following morning we headed west over a road that reminded me of Bodmin moor, then south back to Sligachan followed by the really peacfull coast road instead of back over the pass. That night was spent in Kyleakin within sight of the Skye Bridge. Next day was 50 miles down the A87 to Invergarry, I woke early and fancied a blast, plenty of good views from this road, all of which can and were enjoyed from the saddle. I arrived at the hostel a little after lunch time and fancied a few more miles, so after dropping my panniers off rode south the Spean Bridge to have a look at the Commando Monument. I’d ridden past it a few years ago on an E2E but that time hadn’t had the time or energy to stop and regretted it later. So this detour made up for then, it is an impressive sculpture in an excellent position. However those 30 miles on the A82 were the least pleasant I rode in Scotland, IMO it’s a road best avoided. The hostel at Invergarry (http://www.invergarrylodge.co.uk/index.html) was like someone’s house (Well better than mine!) nice lounge, well equipped kitchen, free internet, spotless bathrooms, lovely bedding, simply a really nice place to stay and great value. From here to Inverness was our last days riding, we stopped off in Fort Augustus to watch the locks in operation before climbing up on the B road that Kirstie recognized. We stopped of at Foyers on the way down, this famous waterfall was a mere trickle, testament to the lack of rain we’d had so I wasn’t complaining. Before heading into Inverness we took a detour to Culloden to see the battlefield and pick up a BCQ point (Four this trip) Had a good look around Inverness and a pleasant end of tour meal before a night in a typical city hostel then the train home.
A great holiday, the sleeper up there and the ferries add a magical touch to the whole experience, The variety of riding and scenery was fantastic, we were so lucky with the weather and being slightly out of season the roads were mostly pretty quiet. It was all good, but walking along deserted beaches watching the sunset on Iona after a glorious days riding will be the lasting memory.

 

[summerdays]

Thank you - sounds tempting.

 

[Aperitif]

Interesting report PH and some lovely photos - the last descent...'I want to go on that!' - and I like the decaying boats in the landscape too...

 

[HJ]

Spent a great week cycling in West Scotland earlier this month. First time time I've been in this area, certainly wont be the last. As near to perfect cycling as I've come across, though that opinion might be influenced by the weather, really lucky.
I was going to write a sort of report, but the pictures tell it better than I could;
http://www.derbyctc.org.uk/pictures/Scotland2009/

Ach, did know-one not tell you, it is always like that...

 

[Brahan]

Thanks PJ. It sounds like you had a brilliant time!