Western Isles prevailing wind direction

RonL

Hi,
A mate and I are planning to cycle from Barra to the Butt of Lewis ( or vice versa) mid to late May. Any advice on the prevailing wind direction.

bompington

South west, and lots of it. Go from Barra to Butt, no question.

daviesee

I drove north to south a couple of years ago and passed loads of cyclists.

They were all going the other way!

That should tell you something.

Start at Barra.
From Castlebay, the east side is shorter and more scenic but hilly.
The west coast is flatter, still scenic but longer.
On the other hand, the island is only a 14 miles circuit :P

Once on South Uist, I can recommend a slight detour to the Polochar Inn for lunch. The fishcakes are amazing!

Weather:- be prepared for anything but wind is guaranteed. It does mean no midges though :P

Richard Barrett

If all you are doing is riding from Castlebay to the Butt of Lewis and nothing else, then start from Uig on Skye where you can leave a vehicle and then use the buses to get you down to Castlebay - they all take bikes. Once you finish at the Butt you can also ise buses to get back to Tarbert and catch a ferry back to Uig.

If you're doing the Outer Isles as part of a longer tour or have plenty of time, then getting back to the start is no issue, but every year I bump into loads of people in Tarbert who leave a vehicle at Oban, only to realize it's a fair ride back from the Butt to Oban and give up half way.

Alternatively if you're arriving at Oban by rail, check out the Highland Bike Bus that links Ullapool to Inverness and the national rail network - worth it if you're limited for time

cycladelic

The wind does ususally blow from the north, but when I did it last June - from Barra - I had a head-wind for a couple of days. The good news was I didn't see one single midgy all week on the Isles.

priory

I always plan for sw or w winds but the reality for the past three trips has been againsterlies. In 2008 the wind veered as we cycled round a circle and was in our face for the whole week.
I try to plan assuming a headwind. Actually with luggage in the highlands and islands there is so much climbing the wind is not ususally the problem, although it is not good for morale when you are struggling.

RonL

Guys,
Many thanks for the advice. really appreciate it. We do plan to spend a week on the route just hope the weather and midge remain in our favour !

daviesee

Ron,

Best of luck with the weather but the good news is that there are no midges in the Outer Hebrides.
The bad news is that this is because the wind blows them away

roryboy

DEFO from barra. its why there are no trees on the islands and dont be surprised if you come round a corner and see the occasional roof lying on the road. These are the isles where i first noticed caravans lashed to the ground with ropes and half ton boulders. Brilliant trip though. Enjoy.

Dr U Idh

I did that route two years ago - in May/June. We had a Northeasterly the whole way. On the upside, a NE wind is usually dry, so we had one hour of rain the whole week. SW winds are often wet.

As regards travel to/from the W Isles, we got the train to Oban and the train back from Inverness. Ullapool - Inverness is a fine end to the week.

http://www.scotroutes.com/Slide%20Shows/Barra%20to%20the%20Butt/default.htm

RonL

Dr U Idh,
It was from your photos on an earlier thread which gave us the inspiration. Looks great, just hope we get as good weather.

Slange !!

Dr U Idh

Cool - if you want any additional info, just let me know.

lloyd_bower

Barra northwards is the way to go. Worth doing a full spin visiting both coasts of Barra as it's small enough.

An idea trip, is ferry to Castlebay from Oban, cycle most of the length of Western Isles to Tarbert and return via ferry to Skye, riding length of Skye and another ferry to Mallaig, then down the beatiful Western Coast and Ardmurchan Peninsular to get another ferry to Tobermory on Mull, picking up a further ferry back to Oban from Craignure after riding stretch of the Eastern Coast on Mull.

marcusjb

Having done north to south a couple of years ago, I can highly recommend south to north!

Particuarly through the Uists, the headwinds were shocking and made for some tough days to say the least.

But still some of the most beautiful scenery in the UK, if not the world. I went up there again last year, and now trying to work out how/if I can get up there this year!

More info here - http://marcusjb.wordpress.com/2008/08/2 ... 851-miles/

Drop me a line with any questions.

Marcus