 |
| View of Loch Moidart (tide out) from Tioram Castle, Oct 2008 |
And so the planning has begun... I'll say "in earnest" although right now we're trying to keep our options open. The key elements agreed at the moment are: (1) we're free from Tuesday evening 10 June (i.e. if we leave that night and take the sleeper) through Sunday 22 June, and (2) our "must see" priority is the isle of Skye -- I've been there, Adam hasn't.
Many of my thoughts on this trip are inescapably shaped by the trip my sister and I took in October 2008. We were on a two-week "Literary Tour", keen on having a good look at places that featured in books we'd both frankly 'wallowed' in our childhoods. The books and locations inspiring our itinerary were: To The Hilt by Dick Francis (the Monadhliath Mountains), Wildfire At Midnight by Mary Stewart (Camasunary/the Black Cuillin), Under Gemini by Rosamund Pilcher (Arisaig) and The Whistling Bagpipes by Carolyn Keane (the Glenelg Brochs). The last of those was more my sister's 'thing' than mine but the location sounded so compelling, I was 'keen' to go there. And then of course there were the "must sees" e.g. Loch Ness, Eilean Donan Castle, Tioram Castle (hers) and Kilchurn Castle (mine) and my sister's avid historical interests (especially Culloden and Glenfinnan). The resulting itinerary was pretty ambitious, taking in the Trossachs, Loch Tay, over Ben Lawers, down Glen Lyon, Aberfeldy and Wade's Bridge, Pitlochry, Blair Castle and Aviemore, Culloden, the Clava Cairns, Inverness, Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, as well as all those other places named above. We put in long miles when we could, then stopped to soak up particular places of interest as much as possible. And some locations warranted staying put in one accommodation for several nights -- handy for doing laundry and having a bit of a 'rest' i.e. not driving much. Our overnights were (if I recall rightly): Glasgow (1), Weem (2), Inverness (1), Torrin on Skye (2), Sligachan on Skye (2-3, don't remember), Arisaig (2), Inveraray (2), Glasgow (1). Or something like that. The weather was stunning in October - crisp sunny days, incredibly autumn foliage. The exception was on Skye: after a wonderful day at sea from Elgol, a storm came in and we had the most absolutely appalling wind and rain the rest of our stay, to the point where the ferries were cancelled and we had to take the (very) long way round via the Skye Bridge to get to Arisaig. I remember roads on Skye being very narrow and quite rough/broken, steep on the hills with impromptu fords from floodwaters tumbling down mountainsides and spilling over the roads. It was all a bit challenging for a heavily loaded 602cc-engined Citroen Dyane...!
And this time? Well, for one thing, we'll be on bicycles. Obviously, our daily and total mileage will be much less than what we could do by car. But we wish to -- and will be able to -- experience and absorb our environment -- including the weather! -- to a much greater degree and, time permitting, stop much more often simply to gaze at whatever catches our eye, be it views or wildlife... or to catch our breath after a long climb!
In any case, we are narrowing in on touring a fairly small part of Scotland -- a part that I love and which Adam is keen to see for himself -- namely, Skye and the parts of the Western Highlands/Coastline closest to it.
Our thinking at the moment is to take an overnight sleeper train from London on Tuesday night, arriving in either Oban or Fort William on Wednesday morning. This would see us arriving on Skye in just a couple of days and let us spend a lot of time there. The plan is basically get to Skye, stay in Broadford two nights as our base around the day out to Elgol and any sea excursions we might want to make to the Black Cuillin and/or small islands, then transfer to Portree for 3 nights as a base for day trips to Talisker and round the northern end of the island, plus perhaps a rest day.
Based on that, this is Option 1 that I put together on Google Maps last night:
Adam has put together something similar on BikeHike to get a feel for elevation profile and gradients, to factor in when planning our daily mileage.
On Skye, my suggestions to Adam are:
- a day's outing by boat from Elgol over to the foot of the Black Cuillin, perhaps stopping for an hour or two for an incursion up to Loch Coriusk, and perhaps an add-on tour round the islands of Soay, Rum and Eigg
- a visit to the Talisker distillery
- a trip out to Dunvegan, both to look at the castle ruins and have lunch at a restaurant that is reputedly one of the best anywhere in Scotland (the name of which slips my mind at the moment)
- a tour round the upper tip of Skye taking in the Village Life Museum and the Old Man of Storr
However, in some ways, I'd rather cover more miles even if it means our stops are shorter in duration. For example, we could start in Glasgow and cycle up the side of Loch Lomond, then turn west over Rest And Be Thankful (which I'm sure I shall be!) Pass and then down to Inveraray and Loch Fyne, then turn north past Kilchurn Castle. I'd like to take in some of the stunning and remote Ardnamurchan peninsula and Loch Sunart -- having identified a nice small hotel that caters to cyclists (with drying facilities and secure under-cover bike parking!) -- and stop off at Tioram Castle (always worth the time, tides permitting) before making our way to Skye via the ferry from Mallaig.
Below are map outlines for each day, with links to the online routes if you wish to look at them in more details:
Our journey would begin properly when we leave the sleeper train at Glasgow Central, with a quite straightforward exit from the city (I've done it before) on the off-road cycle trails... up past Loch Lomond, over Rest And Be Thankful then fast descent and finish along the shores of Loch Fyne at Inveraray.
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3851690 |
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3851853 |
If there were time, I'd love to spend another day based at Strontian, so we could ride out on the southern side of Ardnamurchan peninsula, perhaps even cross over to Tobermory on the Isle of Mull and back. But we should instead make our way Skyewards -- with a challenging Day 3 taking us up to Moidart, with a detour to Toiram Castle, then on to Lochailort and the ferry across the Strait of Sleat from Mallaig to Armadale.
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3851926 |
After a night in Armadale or Ardvasar, we go to Elgol via the only roads I know of/can find! Sadly this is the long way round via Broadford, although the road from Broadford out to Elgol (though narrow and rough) is very pretty.
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3852176 |
Day 5 would be a (non-cycling) day trip out from Elgol, perhaps this and/or one of these.
On Day 6, we'd transfer our base from Elgol (where we'd have had two nights) to Portree.
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3852193 |
Portree would serve as "home" for a few days so that we could explore the northern end of Skye without carrying all our gear each day. Some options might be:
A loop taking in a visit to the Talisker distillery --
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3852334 |
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3852342 |
A loop taking in the northern coast line, with perhaps a visit to the Skye Museum of Island Life, the Kilmuir Cemetary next door where Flora MacDonald is buried in the MacDonald family plot, marked by what can only be called a monument rather than a headstone! On the eastern coastline is, of course, the Old Man of Storr. I don't know how easy it is to reach him on foot but since he was completely shrouded in mist the last time I visited, I hope he'll at least show his face!
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3852365 |
Day 10 would see us return to the mainland via (weather permitting) the turntable ferry from Kylerhea to Glenelg...
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3852379 |
... with (time and energy permitting) an evening ride out to the Glenelg Brochs and perhaps be lucky enough to spot the pair of sea eagles that have recently taken up residence in the area.
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3852393 |
From Glenelg, it's homeward bound. If our legs feel strong, the weather is fine and the wind favourable, then it may be possible to reach Fort William before nightfall.
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3852488 |
Alternatively, we could stop off for the nightat Faicharmand Farm at the bottom of Glengarry...
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3852529 |
... leaving us a leisurely 30-mile ride to Fort William the next day and perhaps a visit to Neptune's Staircase before catching the train back home.
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3852531 |
I may have stretched this plan over one day too many -- I'll have to double-check against a calendar. Either of Days 8 or 9 could be deleted, or one converted to a complete rest day, and it may be necessary (not optional!) to make that final run from Glenelg to Fort William all in one day -- gulp!
Do any readers with experience cycling around the parts have any thoughts/comments as to whether this proposal looks too ambitious in terms of daily mileage or climbing?
Addendum: 3 January
After posting last night, I solicited feedback from a few cycling friends on Facebook. David (whose summer tour write up is here) seemed to confirm my suspicion that my proposed route for Days 1 and 2 (Glasgow > Inveraray > Strontian) might be such a strenuous effort at the very beginning of the tour that I'd then struggle on Day 3 getting to Skye.
On that basis -- and bearing in mind that Adam's preference would be to get ourselves as far north as possible by train before getting on our bikes -- I came up with an entirely different plan for Day 1, which would entirely replace Days 1 and 2 of Option 2 that was set out above. Train timetable indicate we could get the sleeper train from London to Glasgow, then transfer after breakfast to a local service to Fort William, arriving in time for lunch. My new proposal would involve 30 miles of quiet cycling from Fort William to Strontian. Result? Gaining a whole day, cutting out a lot of miles and a lot of climbing.
Option 3 - Day 1:
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3854344 |
I put this to my friends and have had more detailed feedback. Thank you especially to Jane who writes the Skirtbike blog on my sidebar. Jane has cycled just about every road in Scotland, usually on her own -- and she wild camps! What an inspiration! She also provided some insight on trains, which we will be considering. This will feed into our final decision on where we're going to start and end this tour.
Based on comments from David, Jane and also intripid cycling explorers Kat and @McshroomUK, I've come up with a further alternative for Day 1. Ferry timetables permitting, it could be a nice way to cover a lot of ground, see a lot more countryside, with our cycling interspersed with rides on ferries -- I do love being on the water!
Option 4 - Day 1:
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3857739 |
Looking at this route, I'm thinking it would be very tempting to divide this over two days. This would put us back on the schedule of the first set of maps posted yesterday -- so possibly one day too many?
Option 5 - Day 1: Oban to Tobermory on the Isle of Mull
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3857836 |
Option 5 - Day 2: Tobermory to Strontian
 |
| http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3857840 |
With all these permutations (Options 2-5), once Days 1 and 2 are settled, all the other day routes (as Option 2 posted yesterday) would remain largely unchanged, subject to re-numbering. (Don't waste any time trying to keep track of all this -- that's my job!)
Adam is being very laid back about where we go in terms of "sightseeing", as this is all new territory for him, but he has spent a lot more time than I have looking at the logistics of getting ourselves to Scotland and back. We now need to sit down together and listen to what each of us has in mind. I'll probably not post again about the route until we've made some decisions. But of course there will be lots of other things to research, such as accommodation, so I'll post on our progress as things develop.
In the meantime, do please keep the suggestions coming!
****************************************************
Addendum: 9 January
No comments:
Post a Comment