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Scotland

Apr 26, 2017
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Hi,

I'm working in a Norwegian bike magazine called "Landevei". In each issue of our magazine we usually write an article from a particular region we've visited in order to inspire our readers to travel the world with their bikes. This June we've planned going abroad to Scotland to do an similar article there. The idea is to stay in Scotland for four days and ride approximately 150-200 km a day, enjoying the Scottish countryside and hopefully spending the nights at old castles drinking whiskey.

Of course we've heard of Loch Ness and the Highlands, but apart from that we're not very familiar with Scotland. Thus, we're hoping that some of you could help us with some ideas on routes, areas and places which could be worth a visit. :razz:

Best Regards
Gjermund
 
Do a day on Arran, an amazing place for a bike ride, do the Bealach Mor route...I you want a crazy tough route do the 3 pistes sportive route, I've done it the last 3 years but I'm sitting this year out and doing the Mull sportive instead, the lord of the Lochs route up in Fort William is also a good route. the Ben Lawers - Kenmore ride is a tough cycle

I've done a bit of cycling up north so I've got it on my strava I can give you the routes if you want


stay away from A82 road along the side of Loch Ness, its a death trap and its a shame that the riders doing lands end to john o groats have to cycle the A9 or the A82, people down south don't mind cycling on these roads but I wouldn't brave it

But as King Boonen says the north coast 500 looks the dugs baws, here is Mark Beaumont's doing it in one day
https://vimeo.com/143976799
 
Re:

del1962 said:
The road to Applecross over Belach Na Ba, is definatley worth a ride up.

Also the Isle of Skye is worth a visit as well.
great road to Applecross that I found ok, not too tough but it does ramp up at the top , the weather was a bit blowy near the top....it was the coast road after Applecross that destroyed me, I had a head wind I done it and them constant ramps took its toll on me, I'm sure there is something 25 steep rises on the road and they end up getting the better of you.
 
Apr 21, 2017
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Re:

del1962 said:
The road to Applecross over Belach Na Ba, is definatley worth a ride up.

Also the Isle of Skye is worth a visit as well.

Anywhere on the west coast is amazing. Ardnamurchan peninsula, inner Hebrides, the loop round from Ullapool to Gairloch and Achnasheen are all stunning. East coast not so much. If you get good weather Scotland is fantastic. Bring warm clothes just in case it isn't!

Have a great time and post up your photos please!
 
Re:

rick james said:
Do a day on Arran, an amazing place for a bike ride, do the Bealach Mor route...I you want a crazy tough route do the 3 pistes sportive route, I've done it the last 3 years but I'm sitting this year out and doing the Mull sportive instead, the lord of the Lochs route up in Fort William is also a good route. the Ben Lawers - Kenmore ride is a tough cycle

I've done a bit of cycling up north so I've got it on my strava I can give you the routes if you want


stay away from A82 road along the side of Loch Ness, its a death trap and its a shame that the riders doing lands end to john o groats have to cycle the A9 or the A82, people down south don't mind cycling on these roads but I wouldn't brave it

But as King Boonen says the north coast 500 looks the dugs baws, here is Mark Beaumont's doing it in one day
https://vimeo.com/143976799

That Kenmore climb is great fun, they should do that! 74" for that I think. I'm thinking about doing this:

http://www.theracingcollective.com/transscotlandrace.html
 
Re: Re:

King Boonen said:
rick james said:
Do a day on Arran, an amazing place for a bike ride, do the Bealach Mor route...I you want a crazy tough route do the 3 pistes sportive route, I've done it the last 3 years but I'm sitting this year out and doing the Mull sportive instead, the lord of the Lochs route up in Fort William is also a good route. the Ben Lawers - Kenmore ride is a tough cycle

I've done a bit of cycling up north so I've got it on my strava I can give you the routes if you want


stay away from A82 road along the side of Loch Ness, its a death trap and its a shame that the riders doing lands end to john o groats have to cycle the A9 or the A82, people down south don't mind cycling on these roads but I wouldn't brave it

But as King Boonen says the north coast 500 looks the dugs baws, here is Mark Beaumont's doing it in one day
https://vimeo.com/143976799

That Kenmore climb is great fun, they should do that! 74" for that I think. I'm thinking about doing this:

http://www.theracingcollective.com/transscotlandrace.html

Offt that looks amazing, we do have some great roads for rides like that, its just a chance you take with the weather
 
Re: Re:

rick james said:
del1962 said:
The road to Applecross over Belach Na Ba, is definatley worth a ride up.

Also the Isle of Skye is worth a visit as well.
great road to Applecross that I found ok, not too tough but it does ramp up at the top , the weather was a bit blowy near the top....it was the coast road after Applecross that destroyed me, I had a head wind I done it and them constant ramps took its toll on me, I'm sure there is something 25 steep rises on the road and they end up getting the better of you.

I feel a bit of a cheat as I only did the road up to Bealach Na Ba while my wife drove up, it is one of Simon Warrens 100 climbs and staying a week near the Kyle of Lochalsh I had to do it along with the Quarraing on Sky and another hill from his second book on the road to the Skye ferry (can't remember name) from his second book. Couldn't spend to much time riding though. I see Simon Warren has a book out next week on climbs in Scotland, I intend to do some of his climbs in a weekend while wildcamping ometime this summer.
 
Re:

42x16ss said:
Have any of you ridden around St Andrew's? Mrs 42x16ss and I are there for a wedding in July and will probably be looking to hire bakes and get out and around for a morning.
I cycle around that way a lot, we are up there a few time in the summer, great place for cycling when you stay away from the main roads.


this place has bikes outside for hire, and its just a few doors up from an amazing ice cream
http://www.spokescycles.net/page/15/Bike_Hire

if you wants any ideas for routes just let me know

St Andrews is a great wee town for a drink, some amount of nice bars for a small town
 
Apr 26, 2017
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Thanks for the input everybody. It has really been helpful :)

These are some of the routes I've created thanks to your help.
https://www.strava.com/routes/8471151
https://www.strava.com/routes/8471110
https://www.strava.com/routes/8470832
https://www.strava.com/routes/8470770

As we are writing an articles that try to inspire the average Joe of cycling, we can't unfortunately do these long loops, exceeding 200km, even though i personally would like to do the North Coast 500!

We've decided to focus on one region of the Highlands this time, because we simply want to ride more and drive less. However, we're not traveling to Scotland before the start of June, so if some of you still have tips and ideas, please share them with us :)

Again, thanks!
Gjermund
 
Apr 21, 2017
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I can't open the first, but the rest look pleasant. On the loop round Morvern (near Fort William) the road from Strontian to Lochaline is nice. There is a great fish restaurant there too and a pub/hotel.
 
gkjord just had a close look at the loops you plan and they all look really good, when doing the Bealach Na Ba route keep a wee bit of energy saved for the coast road that comes after the big climb...the road is really tough, constantly up and down and it really takes the power out your legs


I really hope you get the weather for it as it will be amazing.

And how much do you know about the Scottish midge?
 
Apr 21, 2017
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gkjord said:
McDuff - I've made the first route public now.

rick james - Wow, nice hill you sent me. Added it on the fort william loop!

That Ullapool loop is awesome. There used to be a great little café in Poolewe that did great sandwiches and cakes. I wonder if it is still there
 
Re: Re:

rick james said:
42x16ss said:
Have any of you ridden around St Andrew's? Mrs 42x16ss and I are there for a wedding in July and will probably be looking to hire bakes and get out and around for a morning.
I cycle around that way a lot, we are up there a few time in the summer, great place for cycling when you stay away from the main roads.


this place has bikes outside for hire, and its just a few doors up from an amazing ice cream
http://www.spokescycles.net/page/15/Bike_Hire

if you wants any ideas for routes just let me know

St Andrews is a great wee town for a drink, some amount of nice bars for a small town
Thanks for the tip, looking forward to going there. I've had a look online and there's some good looking routes there.
 

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