Since getting a touring bike for my 21st birthday I’ve hardly been off it. I have a Surly straggler and it’s fab.
As soon as I finished my last exam for summer, I was already planning my escape out of Aberdeen. I couldn’t wait to finally give my bike the test ride it deserved.
Panniers packed I raced down to Aberdeen train station, to board the Inverness train (by the skin of my teeth!). Then from Inverness, with more success, to Achnasheen.
My bike fully loaded (tent and all) I set off towards Torridon. Winding down the Torridon road, the feeling of complete freedom was overwhelming but completely satisfying. After a relatively short cycle, from Achnasheen, I arrived at the Torridon campsite; it was a beautiful evening and the midgies thought so too, so as soon as I put my tent up I went for a cycle without my gear.
The next day I cycled to Plockton via Tornapress in the sweltering heat. Once over the steep road section it was pretty much a pleasant descent down into Plockton. I took the track (which starts at the back of the train station) down to the coral beach, set the tent up and raced into the sea, losing my breath a little as my body submerged into the icy water.
I then dried off whilst making dinner which consisted of mackerel and cous cous, no clams this time! Tummy full I settled down into my tent and watched the sun go down.
The high pressure didn’t last for long, the weather front moved in for the last leg of my cycle to Rassay. Cycling from Broadford to Sconser was pretty grim (I wouldn’t recommend). I got totally blasted by the rain, but I didn’t mind too much. Once off the ferry it was straight to Rassay house, which was warm and dry and I soon forgot about the rain as I dived into a giant hot chocolate!
My time on the Island was spent exploring, bouldering and watching titanic. The hills on Rassay are wild and rugged. Exploring was satisfyingly isolating, with most of the pathways being made by sheep and roe deer. The only evidence of humans lay in the old stone ruins left during the clearances, I found them spooky but really endearing.
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A couple of weeks later Imogen and I headed out to Skye. We cycled from Kyle of Lochalsh to Staffin, which was pretty impresive for Imogen considering she’d never touched a road bike in her life! I did feel a bit mean making her cycle all that way (she probably thought so too at the time), nonetheless we arrived in Staffin in the evening and stayed in a cosy B&B.
The next morning we headed for the ferry terminal in Uig and cycled via the Quinraig which was hard work but enjoyable.
The next stop was north Uist. The weather was spectacular. We cycled around the island until the early evening, the sun setting as we cycled back along the long undulating road.There was a gentle breeze and the sky had a beautiful light that made everything seem to have a warm glow.
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Last cycle jaunt. Pete and I decided to do the Hebridean way (after doing some brilliant climbing on Mull and Iona). We started from Barra and made our way up to Stornaway on Lewis. I would definitely recommend this route to anyone, whether you’re new to cycle touring or not; quiet roads, amazing views and not too hard. We were quite lucky with the weather though, no rain whatsoever!
Eventually I had to go home, but what a fantastic summer, in fact one of the best I’ve ever had and it was spent in places right on our doorstep. If you plan ahead, cycle touring in this country can be so cheap, especially if you camp. Ferries are also incredibly cheap, it was just short of £30 for a hopscotch ticket (bikes get on free) from CalMac for our ENTIRE route each.
Nonetheless, 360 miles of quality touring done over summer. Not bad!
highlandskies 