Re: Inland route north of Inverness
Posted: 7 Sep 2015, 12:52pm
+1 for the Struie. It is not that hard a climb, is quiet and you get lovely views.
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Inland route north of Inverness
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Re: Inland route north of Inverness
Posted: 7 Sep 2015, 1:59pm
As you are planning so far in advance, why not go when it's likely to be a bit warmer?
Re: Inland route north of Inverness
Posted: 8 Sep 2015, 10:35am
Jimstar79 wrote:TheRedEyeJedi wrote:Cheers everyone .... my 2016 route is now pretty much done! Slight variant on my 2014 route where I have worked around most of the nasty bits of road.
Thanks to the last post for the best way out of Inverness ...hadnt even occured to me to go west around the south bay on the way out ...avoids the buisy road north!
http://ridewithgps.com/users/218007/routes
Glad that you now know how best to get around that part rather than use the busy roads.
I was just checking out your route from Fort William - after Fort Augustus you are looking at some fairly serious climbing, although this is mixed in with some beautiful scenery, flats and descents. Once over it though the run down to Inverness should be fairly relaxed. Have you heard of The Great Glen Way - traffic free cycling for approx 30 miles between Fort William and Fort Augustus - although not as fast as the roads it runs alongside canals and through forests - also dependent on whether you are on thin road tyres because some sections are quite rough. I wouldn't want to advise you to go somewhere where you might get lots of punctures!!
Also, is there a reason to go into Alness and then towards Dalnavie, instead of turning off onto the A836, which was a fairly quiet road when I was on it - there is a steep section but it's also more direct - there is a lot of elevation from Alness, too. I think this section, if I remember correctly is called the Struie? When I met it coming from the north it had a great big red sign at the bottom - yes, it was a fairly tough climb but I did about 10 of those a day over on the west coast!!
I found an interesting route from Loch Ness to Bonar Bridge on someone else's LEJOG plan:
http://79.170.40.239/pewseys.co.uk/blog ... arbisdale/
Anyhoo, best of luck with your trip!
Thanks for that - The steep climb on the south bank of Loch Ness from Fort Augustus is probably one of the highlights of my last attempt ...as you say - the scenery is definitely worth the climbing.
I researched the Great Gen way but we are all on road bikes with 23 or 25 mm rubber and bike packing kit so its not really an option for our group.
I have made adjustments to the section from Alness to stay on the main road- thanks for the tip!
Re: Inland route north of Inverness
Posted: 8 Sep 2015, 10:41am
Vorpal wrote:As you are planning so far in advance, why not go when it's likely to be a bit warmer?
Main reason is that it is hard for me and others in the group to get time off work and families in the summer months. I did my first lejog in April 2014 and used the easter bank holidays and weekend to minimize time off work. This time we are using one bank holiday also. We are also on a tight budget and going out of holiday season halves our accommodation expenses. Also means there is a serious lack of holiday traffic in Cornwall/Devon, The Lakes and the Great Glen way.
I also think it negates the midge issues in Scotland plus in recent years May has been a far better month for cycling than June,July and August!
Yes it is a logistical problem as you need to plan for all types of weather .... but when isn't that an issue in Britain
Re: Inland route north of Inverness
Posted: 8 Sep 2015, 12:07pm
TheRedEyeJedi wrote:... in recent years May has been a far better month for cycling than June,July and August!
This last May was horrendous in Scotland! But you are right, you can't plan much for the weather these days so just be prepared for anything.
Re: Inland route north of Inverness
Posted: 8 Sep 2015, 1:25pm
LollyKat wrote:TheRedEyeJedi wrote:... in recent years May has been a far better month for cycling than June,July and August!
This last May was horrendous in Scotland! But you are right, you can't plan much for the weather these days so just be prepared for anything.
+1 - I did a tour in Scotland last May and had to change course to go with the better weather, so instead of cycling from Skye to Appleshaw and up to Cape Wrath, Tongue and back down the middle, I rode over to Inverness and followed the east coastline down to Edinburgh and even though it was slightly better, the wind broke one of my tent poles and I had some longer days in the saddle due to head winds. The final day from Kendal to Manchester was one of the wettest and hardest days I've in the saddle due to the appalling conditions. It was the first time I had toured in May, hoping for the seasonal good weather that May has previously produced!
Re: Inland route north of Inverness
Posted: 8 Sep 2015, 3:11pm
Best of luck, mate!
Re: Inland route north of Inverness
Posted: 9 Sep 2015, 8:30am
lol - I don't think June, July or August have been too good up there either!
You got unlucky in May 2014 .... I was there in the last week of April/ first week of May and got sunburnt! My last day was pretty nasty in fog up the A9.... to be fair the weather was then horrible for a month across the UK and I remember feeling sorry for cyclists I saw on the last day heading in the opposite direction.
I actually don't mind bad weather for a few days anyway - I quite like the challenge and enjoyed doing long winter training rides in what I thought would be good preparation for lejog. In reality I was in shorts and t shirt most of the trip! The one thing I didn't pack was sun tan lotion.
You got unlucky in May 2014 .... I was there in the last week of April/ first week of May and got sunburnt! My last day was pretty nasty in fog up the A9.... to be fair the weather was then horrible for a month across the UK and I remember feeling sorry for cyclists I saw on the last day heading in the opposite direction.
I actually don't mind bad weather for a few days anyway - I quite like the challenge and enjoyed doing long winter training rides in what I thought would be good preparation for lejog. In reality I was in shorts and t shirt most of the trip! The one thing I didn't pack was sun tan lotion.