Inverness In March

NWLondoner

I am thinking about going up to Inverness for a few days towards mid/end March.

Is the area any good for any gentle road cycling say 3-4 hours rides and do you know of any reputable road/hybrid hire shops?

I would like to see Loch Ness (doh!!) and some hills (not mountains).

Also getting the train down to Aviemore and renting from there would an idea as well.

Ideally I would like to rent bike in the morning and return later that day then pickup again next morning. Don't really want to risk/hassle of keeping at hotel unless any really friendly cycle hotels in Inverness.

I would be looking to stay very central to Inverness Station as I would be using the Highland Chieftain to arrive/depart from Kings Cross.

Thanks in advance

Ryan

unixnerd

I'm from Inverness and live in Aviemore :-) I'd say most of the hotels would be OK with you having a bike, especially B&Bs.

Loch Ness is great, but if you're doing a circular tour the nasty bit is the hill coming out of Fort Augustus on the east side of the Loch. It's a huge climb, best to go down it :-)

In March the weather could be anything from reasonable to serious amounts of winter with uncyclable roads. Best to play it by ear nearer the time.

The Black Isle to the north of Inverness is wonderful for cycling and generally not too steep. Another great run is Inverness - Drumnadrochit - Cannich - Beauly - Inverness. The back roads between Inverness - Nairn (NOT the A96) and around Culloden battlefield are excellent. Aviemore to Inverness is good run with a combination of back roads and cycle paths, it's very steep in places if you do it from Inverness to Aviemore though.

If you want any advice please ask :-) I think Mike's Bikes in Aviemore hires road bikes, most other places just do mtbs.

meanredspider

You have a PM.

Happy to lend you my Variado for the day if you want to do road bits. Though, as above, there's a zillion B&Bs up here - pretty much all of which would happily have a bike - as would many/most of the hotels.

TBH there are so many great rides around here - even my commute from the Black Isle to Inverness.

I'm sure between unixnerd, me and anybody else who wants to chip in with ideas, we can sort you out for a great trip.

meanredspider

Oh - and for any route planning, worth knowing that the prevailing wind is very much from the west....the Great Glen makes a great wind tunnel.

NWLondoner

Thanks for the info guys. Gives me some ideas.

Thanks meanredspider for the bike loan offer but it would be too small.

Cheers

suffolk rider

Picking up the thread, I am interested in doing some of the Lochs and Glens route, but would prefer to do it in May or June, as I assume the weather will be better then. From what you are saying, with the prevailing winds from the west I would be better starting off in Glasgow, and heading northwest from there. I can look this up of course, but if 50 miles/day is feasible, how long would that take me?

meanredspider

The shortest route up the main roads is about 180 miles from Glasgow to Inverness. I think cycle route 1 goes up next to the A9 which takes you up from Perth past Aviemore. However, you might want to head up to Ft Willian - Ft Augustus - Inverness to do the Great Glen and Loch Ness. You are rather spoiled for choice though. Bring your hill legs with you though! 50 miles is certainly do-able - I do 30+ on my commute in under 2 hours even in Winter. During the summer months, it stays light much longer though it's always windy (except when it's -10C in the winter)

suffolk rider

Thanks. I think I'd prefer not go on main roads! So a week should be ample, and maybe allow a bit of extra time to explore off the main route.

meanredspider

suffolk rider wrote:

Thanks. I think I'd prefer not go on main roads! So a week should be ample, and maybe allow a bit of extra time to explore off the main route.

Yeah - I think the A9 route doesn't actually go on the A9 (there's a cycle track near the road at parts) I've never actually seen a bike ON the A9 (and I've done that route a good number of times). But, yes, a week should be absolutely fine. A cyclist I met at the hotel I was staying at in Kinross (south of Perth) was expecting to make it from there to Aviemore or Inverness in a day. That sort of speed would see him from Glasgow to Inverness in two days.

unixnerd

I've seen quite a few cyclists on the A9 and I've done it on my youth when I didn't know any better! But you don't need to use it at all. The Sustrans cycle route uses local B roads and a few sections of dedicated path.

The path is in serious need of repair and a tidy up. The worst section of around 1km north of Drumochter can be cycled on 28mm tyres (my tourer) but I'd be a wee bit worried doing it on my nice bike (23mm). It's not a long section though. Other bits have a good road surface but lots of wee stones and grit which I'd be worried about at high speeds. One annoying thing is that many of the small bridges are at 90 degrees to the path and can require some interesting braking to get around.

Tim Farr

To summarise what others have said - lots of opportunities for rides north, south, east and west of Inverness. Just go for it.

nwallace

unixnerd wrote:

I've seen quite a few cyclists on the A9 and I've done it on my youth when I didn't know any better! But you don't need to use it at all. The Sustrans cycle route uses local B roads and a few sections of dedicated path.

The path is in serious need of repair and a tidy up. The worst section of around 1km north of Drumochter can be cycled on 28mm tyres (my tourer) but I'd be a wee bit worried doing it on my nice bike (23mm). It's not a long section though. Other bits have a good road surface but lots of wee stones and grit which I'd be worried about at high speeds. One annoying thing is that many of the small bridges are at 90 degrees to the path and can require some interesting braking to get around.

Agree about the bit over Drumochter, wee narrow path with a bit of very fast single carriageway next to it.

The map is also shockingly bad in places.
I've seen people appearing on the A9 from the Ford in Blair Atholl looking like they don't a have a clue where the path has gone! (You keep going through BA and through the gorge at Killiecrankie to Pitlochry)

The hills are apparently easier doing Inverness to Perth. I've not gone the other way but as I remember it the only absolute bastard going that way was Slochd.

meanredspider

nwallace wrote:

the only absolute bastard going that way was Slochd.

Ouch!!!

unixnerd

Yeah Slochd (gaelic for The Slot) is a steep one when heading south, going north it's more of a long drawn out climb. But it all depends on the wind up there. 40+mph going down either side ;-) I love it up there, one of my training runs is Aviemore to Tomatin and back climbing it twice.

Going south there's some very steep bits between Daviot and Moy on the old A9.

If you're doing it in March it's worth remembering that the cycle paths aren't gritted so can easily have black ice.

nwallace

meanredspider wrote:

nwallace wrote:

the only absolute bastard going that way was Slochd.

Ouch!!!

Wasn't that bad in the end really, although I has 22-34 available and stopped about half way up the steep looking bit.
The worst bit of it was actually the flat looking bit at the top.

I also forgot to mention the wind at Drumochter!
I'm also forgetting about the hills from Culloden to Moy

Good 2 day trip.

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/117381
http://www.hyperthenellyphantsports.fot ... 50863.html

andrew_s

The A9 dual carriageway section is being extended between Etteridge and Glentruim this year, so the A9 cycle track won't be usable between Dalwhinne and Newtonmore. It may be necessary to go round via Laggan (A889/A86), though there have been mutterings about a shuttle bus.
There are a few forum posts with more info if you search (here, Cyclechat or CTC, probably)

unixnerd

The scenery around Laggan makes that the preferred option anyway :-) Must be one of the nicest bits of cycling in Scotland.

nwallace

Going over THAT hill, Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

It's tough enough in an underpowered old car. (Both Directions)

unixnerd

Some good news:

Scotland Transerv on behalf of Transport Scotland are going to resurface 1.7km of cycle path south of Dalwhinnie. (At last!) Work starts in January for about 6 weeks. There will be some minor disruption to cyclists, but we don’t expect many in January or February.

I wonder what bright spark decided to do tarring up there in the middle of winter ;-) Great news though.

unixnerd

Something else you might not know. If you take your bike anywhere in Scotland by train Scotrail offer a free "get you home" service if your bike has a mechanical problem or you're in an accident. You phone them and they send a free taxi for you by the sound of it! Full details are on their website, very handy service.

nwallace

Details:
http://www.scotrail.co.uk/content/cycle-rescue.html

Tim Farr

NW Londoner - get yourself a cheap road atlas and study the 'Inverness page' loads of possibilities. West to Strathpepper or Strathfarrar or Glen Canich; north to the Black Isle and cromarty (think the ferry Balnapaving does not run in March); south west to Daviot and Foyers. There is also the train to the Kyle of Lochalsh - go to the Kyle and have a ride around there, or retrace your steps by road to Plockton, Achnasheen or Garve and catch the afdternoon train for the last leg into Inverness.

For navigation the torn out 'Inverness page' from the atlas will suffice. However extras would be the Sustrans Aberdeen to Shetlands Map 1 and there are of course the OS Landranger maps (three for the price of two the last time I was on the OS site.

My other tips would be - avoid the A9, stick to minor roads close to Inverness, don't overreach yourself - Scottish miles can be tough miles and iit s only March, wrap up well and enjoy. Good luck.

Dr U Idh

Having passed the roadworks at Crubenmore, I reckon that the cyclepath has been re-surfaced in order to use it for motor vehicles while they are developing the dual carraigeway.

Dr U Idh

I did a wee write-up of an A9 trip last year...

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/t ... to-content

Tim Farr

Dr U , enjoyed your account of your A9 odyssey.

nwallace

My understanding of the upgrade at Crubenmore is the new carriageway will be on top of the old road which is what was previously used for NCN 7.

Nice write up, as for cycling the dualer between Ballinluig and Pitlochry, all I can say is you're mad. (It's not exactly a slow bit of road)

And isn't the answer to most "Which road is Wade's?" usually,
"mightn't it be a Caulfeild?"

Dr U Idh

If you have a look at the road/cyclepath layout "on the ground", it becomes a lot more clear what's going on.

I know what you mean about the Ballinluig-Pitlochry section. Thankfully, I was only on it for a very short distance.

meanredspider

Jeez - frankly I feel like I'm taking my life into my hands when I do a few hundred yards of the A9 north of Tore. The dual sections of the A9 north of Perth are frantic as everyone tries to overtake the Tesco lorries and the beardies in the camper vans. Certainly not safe bicycle territory...

nwallace

Dr U Idh wrote:

If you have a look at the road/cyclepath layout "on the ground", it becomes a lot more clear what's going on.

I know what you mean about the Ballinluig-Pitlochry section. Thankfully, I was only on it for a very short distance.

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/roa ... on-project

Plans are on the TS website, if it wasn't for Adobe not rotating images I could have a decent look at them.