Cycling UK Forum

It is true that those who campaigned for the bridge did this with the intention of improving access to the mainland but did not really realise that this would be two way traffic to the extent it has now become.
So far as the tourist business is concerned I do not have statistics but I wonder how many in this business are from Skye. I have spoken to tourists who remarked that it was very rare to hear a Scottish accent.

Am Bodach should really be two words meaning The Old Man which I used as a pen name for writing articles for a local paper. This is also a good description. Somehow when I first registered the words got run together and I never got round to changing it.

You never said goodbye
Author unknown.

You never said I'm leaving,
You never said goodbye.
You were gone before I knew it,
And only God knew why.

A million times I needed you,
A million times I cried.
If love alone could have saved you,
You never would have died.

In life I loved you dearly,
In death I love you still.
In my heart you hold a place,
That no one could ever fill.

It broke my heart to lose you,
But you didn't go alone.
For part of me went with you,
The day God took you home.

For roof rack mounted ones low bridges are not the only hazard. Last year I saw somebody with bikes on the roof turn into the Lochavuillin car park in Oban. Solid looking height barrier is 6ft clear passage. Not sure about the bikes but the roof bars come off. I was in moving traffic and could not stop but did see the load heading back as the car went forward.

I had no watch for a few years but then inherited a Tommy Hilfiger which has hands and keeps accurate time. There was also a Swiss Railway watch which was weird and had a very strange dial. I discarded it but it is still probably lying around somewhere in the house. I now know what the time is anywhere I do not have my phone. What else is needed?

A few years ago my van was written off by an army cadet minibus being driven round a blind bend far too fast. I had stopped as it was a single track road. Vision was obscured by some bushes and the attending police officer said that the local council would do nothing unless there were 4 or more accidents at that spot. My van was 3rd and sure enough after the next bump the vegetation was cut back.

UpWrong if you see any used recumbents trikes for sale in Scotland it would be good if you could repost them here. I am on the lookout for a folding trike for off-road so would need hub gears. There was a nice one for sale recently but the rear gearing would have been mashed immediately off-road. I no longer have my large workshop so am not interested in too much fettling so rebuilding is not an option.

I find the references to black deposits or lichen a bit strange. I lived for a few years next to the Littlemill Distillery in a house built in 1772. The distillery buildings were whitewashed but I do not remember any black deposits except sometimes there was a boiler malfunction on starting up causing black sooty smoke. The office windows had a good view of the chimney and the staff there alerted the stillhouse immediately so while this was a rare occurrence it was stopped within minutes. The warehouses were also white and remained so although everything got an annual smarten up.

Cyril Haearn the smell did not penetrate as far as my bedroom. However yes the smell does vary according to what is going on. Silent distilleries have a very distinctive smell which cannot really be described to a layman. Generally the smell is a lingering odour of feints which contain more odds and sods of alcohols,esters,phenols etc than silent spirit which is to me anyway not unpleasant. Before it is mature whisky is, or was Plain British Spirits.

I lived about 300 yards from the distillery. Apart from the main boilers starting up there was a background hum. A working malt distillery is like a living thing with all sorts of background noises and gurgles. Sometimes during the night I would waken for no apparent reason and knew the phone would ring very soon. There was some almost imperceptible noise missing and I knew there was a problem immediately.

I certainly agree with the comments regarding the roads on Skye and as they campaign for more and better ferries from Mallaig the Armadale road can only get as bad. Skye was the only place I have been refused when asking to get my water bottles filled.
The days of carefree cycling here are long gone and I certainly would not go back due largely to the increase in trying to suck every penny from the visitor.
Leaving a car at Uig I think is probably still safe enough.

Hamish I have had a problem with children or rather their minders. On the shared use path near Appin the local playgroup had come outside on a nice day. They all had bikes which were strewn over the path blocking it completely. The supervising adults could see me coming but could not be bothered interrupting their conversation and clearing a space to pass. I did not get verbal abuse but glared at when I stopped and asked politely if I could pass. An example to the children?

I have 3 bikes and a trike in regular use. One bike and the trike have the same size tyres but not the same valves on the tubes. Each one has a saddle pack attached permanently with a couple of tubes, repair kit and appropriate spanners and tyre levers. I also have a pump each and CO2 inflators. No idea what it all cost but built up over time and I cannot forget anything.

Everything where I live gets delivered by Royal Mail. They have recently had staff changes and got people with no local knowledge so over Christmas letters seem to have been distributed at random. I have had several for people with a different name but same house number tho’ not same street. It would not happen if they got staff with at least some local knowledge.

I would go with your idea of leaving the car at the B&B. Far better to have it where somebody can keep an eye on it.