Islands and Highlands

curto80

I'm in the early stages of planning a four day trip starting in South Uist and ending in Inverness, via Stornoway, Ullapool and Applecross, for next summer. Would love to here from anyone who has done all (or probably more likely, parts) of that trip on a bike. Just any general advice and tips would be great as well as views on routing.

mercia_man

Some years since I toured the Outer Hebrides but it's fantastic for cycling as long as the weather is decent. Here are a few thoughts:

Why not start the trip from Barra before moving on to South Uist? Barra is possibly the most attractive of the inhabited islands. Good coastal cycling on both west and eastern sides.

Midges can be a major issue in summer. They are not just annoying, they can ruin your day. If a midge cloud descends, your only remedy is to head indoors or cycle away as quickly as possible. Even then, you will be covered in itching red spots on uncovered parts of your body.

Things may have changed in recent years, but we had trouble finding shops selling food in the Outer Hebrides, particularly anything fresh. The fare in pubs tended to be of the basic sausage and chips variety. So stock up with things to eat.

Gatliff Trust hostels, such as the one on western coast of South Uist near Howmore, are a good option for staying overnight if you like company and don't mind roughing it a bit. You can also camp next to them and use the facilities.

RichiePortly

Get used to having no mobile signal.

There aren't many shops right enough but plenty of time in hand to use Google to find where they are and plan appropriately.

On your last day, don't underestimate Bealach Na Ba and eat in the Applecross Inn! (Applecross is the only bit I've done)

Enjoy!

Marik

Research well and you'll have no problems finding decent places to eat, fresh food, and pubs that don't have sausage on the menu. Yes there are midgies - sometimes. Not sure there's such a thing as a 'midgie cloud' - if there's no breeze at all in the evening/early morning, there may be midgies, but they're not a deal breaker. What you ARE likely to find is wonderfully friendly and helpful people, very quiet roads, amazing land/seascapes, countless interesting little ferry trips (Sound of Harris is amazing) and weather which can match, or outmatch, anything in the British Isles.

bompington

Marik wrote:

Not sure there's such a thing as a 'midgie cloud'

Oh yes there is....

Marik

ok,ok....there are midgies - but they're tiny! Just pack the 'Skin So Soft' and you're immune Do you know anyone who has ever not enjoyed a cycling trip to the Western Isles!?

curto80

Thanks guys for all the replies.

Been looking at trying to get Barra in but at the moment it's being sacrificed due to time constraints. We're only gonna have four days so to get Barra in we'd have to sacrifice something else I think.

Are the midges that bad on the Hebrides? There's a lot of chat how about they're not that bad that far out due to the breeze, or something. Been victim to the "midge storms" in various places in Scotland in the past although now I think about it I don't remember coming across any on Rat Race Coast to Coast so maybe outside of June to August they're not so bad? We're thinking early May for the trip so maybe we'll be there ahead of the feeding frenzy season...?

Plan is to take the flatter coast road into Applecross on day 3 (coming from Ullapool) and then out over Bealach from the West the next day, overnighting in the Applecross Inn. Is that the way to do it?!

bompington

Good luck with the Bealach: never mind the climb, I would imagine the descent might be a bit hairy if you're loaded :shock:. It's 20% for quite a long way, just watch for the smoke from your brakes. Your route is the opposite direction to the more popular way but it's the same up and down whichever way you go...

As for the midges, they're a pretty variable quantity: we spent most of July further down the west coast in Kintyre and they really weren't that bad, but a weekend in the Cairngorms in September was horrific - normally they're starting to die away by then, and there had been heavy frosts already at that stage, but my heartfelt response about midgie clouds was due to recent experience - when you can't actually breathe without inhaling several each time, you tend to notice them. You're right about the wind, they dive for cover when it gets above about 4mph - you just wouldn't believe how often the wind is that low in the Highlands. Most useful tip if you're camping is to find somewhere exposed to the wind - believe me, having your tent blown away in a gale is far, far nicer than being eaten alive by the beasties. They can be around any time from May onwards but you shouldn't be too bad in early May. Mind you, I have been on the top of the Bealach in August and it was 3° then, so be ready to wrap up as you have a significant chance of real winter weather in early May.

Check out Scotland's midge guru for lurid, and probably accurate, headlines about next year's forecast...

mercia_man

I reckon you should be fine for midges in early May. My highland and island tours have mostly been late May and I have not suffered too badly. The wind does keep them away so I reckon the islands will be better than the highlands part of your trip. My worst experiences have been on the mainland at Kinlochleven and Glencoe on still, damp days.

marcusjb

Early May should be fine for midges. They can be awful in various parts of the Western Isles for sure.

I've cycle toured twice in the Western Isles and they really do offer so much to see and do.

I would agree that missing out on Barra would be a great shame.

Food and shops can be tricky for sure, especially on Sundays in Lewis.

Camping is generally very easy, there are plenty of established spots with a tap and a loo and an honesty box to give some thing to the local community. Also the Gatliff hostels offer camping (though the one at Rhenigidale was very steep and only enough space for a couple of very small tents). Some proper sites as well, but not many. The wild camping is sublime and we have had some of our best ever pitches up there hidden away from the world.

If you are time pressured, I would honestly suggest dropping the apple cross bit. 4 days is not long enough to savour the western isles. They truly are worth taking your time over.

mercia_man

Another thought about the weather. You don't say whether you are camping or staying in B&Bs or hotels. If you are camping, it could well be very cold at night on the mainland. It's likely to be warmer on the islands. I've had to cope with ground frosts when camping in late May in the Glencoe area.

Don't let this put you off. I really want to go back to the Scottish islands. There's something special about riding in such beautiful wilderness with the clean smell of those northern seas.

curto80

Plan is to B&B hop, so that helps a little bit with the weather I guess and we'll be well kitted out for inclement and variable weather.

There's a couple of things that we're trying to achieve; one being to have a pretty tough endurance challenge in a beautiful part of the World and the other to climb Bealach na Ba. I guess that's limits our options a bit, although I have to say my head tells me that the advice above about taking our time sounds very sensible. I guess the one thing we could do is miss out Lewis and Harris by getting the ferry over to Sky from Tarbert and then going down through Skye and round to approach Applecross from the East. Not sure if that would free up time for Barra but will look at the logistics. That would mean Barra instead of the Tarbert to Stornoway stretch though, is that a trade-up?

crossborderreiver

Don't be fooled thinking the coast road to Applecross is easy. The constant up and downs are draining especially at the end of a long ride.

RichiePortly

If you're planning on staying at the Applecross Inn, then book as far ahead as possible, and make sure that there isn't anything on in the area that weekend. The campsite there is good and has huts if that is an option.

mercia_man

If you want an endurance challenge rather than a sightseeing holiday, it would probably be best to avoid Barra. The extra time on ferries would eat into the available riding time on such a short trip and Barra doesn't have any scope for high mileage riding.

My feeling is that the Outer Hebrides generally are more suited for pootling along and exploring there and back lanes and tracks onto the fantastic beaches. For example, the Uists are basically one road running north/south with the most interesting bits off to the side. Easy flattish riding normally although the winds can make cycling tough.

My wife and I missed out Lewis and Harris and the Applecross bit when we did our tour because we ran out of time. We started from Oban to Barra, then to the Uists, then Skye, then back along the mainland coast via the Ardnamurchan peninsula to Mull and finally back to Oban. Brilliant riding on Barra, Uists, Mull and Ardnamurchan. Busier roads on Skye.

raboldi135

Lewis and Harris are beautiful, did them this summer. This is a picture from Valtos beach, many more sites like this across the Islands.

http://i.imgur.com/WzMJJ2b.jpg