I had a great time riding in Scotland with Sharon and Tony over several days
added to our American Independence Day in early July, and Sharon just told
me she had a great time too. We did this trip in our usual "incorrect"
style: rented a car and used it to take our bikes to the best riding we
could find on the days with the best weather (and doing other activities
when it was wet). Our focus was on the west coast, especially the isles of
Skye and Mull, but we also did some fun rides in eastern Scotland.
I thought the seacoast riding was in the first rank, in good weather
comparable to the west coast of Corsica. The samples I got of farm country
riding around the Tweed River and near Loch Ness were impressively
pretty. Overall perfect temperature for riding, get away from the heat of
summer.
Highlights for us:
* spectacular descent: west down from the Klyerhea - Breakish pass, near
Broadford on Skye.
* gentle pretty seaside ride: north side of Mull South, along An Leth Onn
bay.
* adventure in a single day on both isle + mainland: Skye bridge - Plockton
on mainland - Shiel Bridge - Glenelg-Kylerhea ferry - Breakish.
* sustained coastal atmosphere: Trotternish peninsula loop on Skye.
* pretty farms and fun smooth pavement south of Melrose in the Tweed valley.
* city exploring: in and around the city of Edinburgh on our tandem bike.
More details below.
Ken
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Overall impressions of riding in Scotland:
* special mix of sea/lakes and mountains
* offers both open spaces and trees
* sheep and other animals by the road were cute
* we like the Scottish stone-house architecture
* lots of coarse-stone pavement, especially in the isles and northwest and
in the cities -- but most of the surface was sound, a few short
mildly-eroded sections.
* hilly. Glad we trained in advance for it. Sometimes we walked our bike up
a steep hill, and then were glad for the reward of the view at the top and a
fun roll down the other side.
* single-lane lane roads with pull-outs ("lay-bys"?) -- lots of them on the
west coast.
* multi-sport: lots of options for hiking + scrambling, rock climbing,
kayaking.
* our Bike Friday Project Q bicycle worked fine to pack on the airline, and
we used it as both a tandem and a single bike.
* the Lonely Planet "Cycling Britain" guide was a helpful source of ideas.
Below are some detailed notes on specific areas. Many guidebooks and reports
are designed for traditional multi-day point-to-point cycling-only tours, so
I want to contribute some ideas for the many of us who enjoy great
single-day rides and get to them by driving our car.
Western isles and coast: See separate note.
Loch Ness:
Tony and I did a pretty loop clockwise along the southeast side of Loch Ness
around Foyers and Dores on the B862 + B852 (around 32 miles). We met other
happy cyclists who had ridden out from Inverness (adds another 17 miles or
more). I almost liked the farm country more than riding alongside the big
lake.
We drove with our car on the B851 and an un-numbered road from Inverness,
and those also looked pretty and promising. Also drove the A82 on the
northwest side of Loch Ness, and didn't like the looks of that for cycling,
so I do not think we'll try riding all the way around the loch.
River Tweed:
Sharon and I rode a semi-random loop around St Boswells and Melrose and
Selkirk, both on roads and off-road cycle paths. We liked the farm plots
covering the moderate hills; the mix of cows, horses, and sheep; and the
smooth pavement on quiet roads way outside the villages.
I suspect there's lots of pleasant pretty farm country to ride around in
other areas of eastern Scotland.
Edinburgh city:
Sharon and I spent a fun day exploring all around Edinburgh. Started in
Dalkeith, rode into Edinburgh roughly following roads from the Lonely Planet
Cycling Britain guidebook (day 3 of Scottish Borders), explored the Old Town
and New Town, then took an off-road cycle path to the harbors of Granton and
Leith, on the streets back to Holyrood Palace, the Queens Rd (?) around the
hill of Holyrood Park, then the National Cycle Network route 1 (much on
off-road paths) back toward Dalkeith. Some of the off-road cycle paths were
elevated above the surrounding streets and houses, and that gave me a nice
feeling of openness.
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