Sunday, August 7, 2011

Scotland Coast to Coast, The Beginning

   As blogging is always best done on beer in a pub, we are starting the Scotland C2C blog section in the Grog & Gruel in Fort William.
   Arriving in Edinburgh, we were met by Pete and James of Trailbrakes and were especially happy to see all of our gear arrive and bicycles intact. Thanks Lufthansa! Unfortunately this was not the case with others of our group that arrived via British Airways, gear together but bicycles damaged. BA also states that bicycles are free but they charged 60 US dollars, only one bag is allowed and the bicycles counted for that.
    After putting bikes together and loading things up we were off to the start of the trip on the Isle of Skye. On this trip we have decided to hook up with Trailbrakes who provide a variety of services for bicyclists from baggage transfer on each leg of your trip and up to any combination of services and assist a traveling cyclist may desire. We went for the fully guided trip which includes baggage transfer, support vehicle and accommodations of which we chose the bunkhouse/hostel group.
  

     Bicycles repaired and gear stowed away at the Sligachan Bunkhouse we headed over to the Sligachan pub for dinner and a pint. Originally planning to stay in Portree, the highland games were on and accommodations fully booked. The Sligachan bunkhouse was nice with great views but very basic and a bit drafty, there is a pub, hotel and restaurant across the bridge. However it was quiet which is a bonus and appears to be frequented by climbers.  It is out of town, about 10 miles, and can be reached by bus but there are no other services available so for the independent cyclist the towns of Broadford or Portree would be possibly be a better choice. On the plus it is at the beginning of 10 miles of technical single track which is part of our version of the C2C.



     We headed out the next morning to the ceremonial tire dip in the Atlantic Ocean and officially begin the trip. Continuing on we road a combination of double track connected by road to single track. The single track is a technical riders dream but was accomplished by even the least experienced in the group, everyone have at least an occasional bike hike over an  unaccommodating obstacle. Those were usually created by a combination of deep loose scree and steepness.
   

Scot, the best of the riders (with the exception of our guide Pete) couldn't keep from exclaiming over and over again how much he loved this single track as he grinned from ear to ear. The single track had everything the technical rider could love from lifts to babyheads to flowy sections. Slabby sections like Moab flowed into sweet rolling hills and open meadows as we moved farther down through the valley and its lochs connected like a string of jewels sparkling in the sun.




The trail meandered through the rolling Scottish hillsides, passing through grand patches of blooming heather in a variety of purples, across small, easily negotiable streams and along the lochs. Butterflies and bees were in abundant attendance with nary a midge in sight. With blue skies and sunshine overhead, sunscreen was the one item we forgot to pack. The single track meandered along the side of the a valley eventually climbing up and over and delivering us to a small cobblestone lined bay where we basked and baked in the sunshine and had lunch.
     
 

  
After a long climb on scree laden double track we ascended to the grand view of the island of Rhum, Eigg and Muck, descending down to a quick double track of cobblestone road built by William Wallace's troups and finally onto the final road that once again brought us seaside into Broadtree to the Broadtree Hostel.
       Although the rooms were tight, the Broadtree Hostel is large, centrally located, within easy walking distance of stores and pubs, has a good view both from the outside and from several community rooms inside. An excellent drying room and a locked bicycle room rounded out the establishment. It should be noted that if you are a couple traveling together, the rooms are separated into men's and women's, no mix.
   

    With the long daylight hours Scotland in August we had to keep in the time as it always seems so early
in the evening and we have to make sure to do any store runs before they close and the pubs stop serving food at 9 p.m. and after a pub style meal we called an end to a fabulous first day of riding.  57.37 Kilometers 2710 feet of climbing

1 comment:

  1. I've always wanted to ride in one of those. They look like they would be fun. :-)
    tours of scotland

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