5 Cycling Weekends In Scotland

You can have a holiday for two days each week and it does not have to leave your pockets empty. When you go back to work on Monday you will be refreshed and when someone asks what you did with your weekend you can tell them that you watched no Big Brother at all. Everyone should have a bicycle. A second-hand mountain bike can be very cheap (on gumtree and ebay for instance) and will give you the chance to get about at a perfect pace. Here are five weekends in Scotland.

1. Great Glen
Starting in Fort William, follow the off road cycle route, through the stunning Great Glen formed by the Highland boundary fault. The path will take you past Ben Nevis, and along side Loch Lochy before you arrive at Fort Augustus, a picturesque town where there are a good range of B&Bs, pubs and restaurants. Suitably fed, watered and rested, the next leg follows Loch Ness, so keep your eyes peeled for Nessie! If you arrive early, Inverness is a fascinating city to explore.
Both Inverness and Fort William are well served by rail from Glasgow and Edinburgh.

2. Arran
Easily accessible from the central belt by train and ferry, the Isle of Arran is a favourite for cyclists and walkers. A circumnavigation of the island is comfortable in two days by bike, with plenty of camp sites and B&Bs.
If you are a cutting a speedy pace the whole island is manageable in a day. On the remaining day a hill walk (or run) up Goatfell is a worthwhile outing, as is Caisteal Abhail.
For the more leisurely, why not take on just the north half of the island (with the most dramatic scenery). If you are heading round clockwise, you can whizz down a long hill, after climbing out of Glen Chalmadale, down in to the charming village of Lochranza. Here you will find a welcoming pub with good food, and a convenient youth hostel. On the way back, cross the island by a road built by Thomas Telford. Once back in Brodick, if you have time to spare waiting for your ferry home, bear in mind that Arran is famous for its whiskey, seafood and (especially for calorie-consuming cyclists) chocolate.

3. Ardnamuchan
Whilst crossing the Coran Ferry, there is a magic view south-west up Loch Linnhe as far as Mull, perfect for contemplating the tough weekend of biking ahead. Then it is time to put in some miles. Turn away from the waterfront at Inversanda and pass the foot of Garbh Bhienn. Follow the road along the north shore of Loch Sunart and then join the winding B8007 with a left turn at Salen. This fantastic but gruelling road, with all its bumps and bends, eventually leads you out to Ardnamuchan Point, the most westerly point on the mainland in the UK and a great place for spotting whales. Do not miss the pure white sandy beach at Sanna Bay, which feels almost Caribbean (if the sun is out). The most enjoyable way to spend the night here is wild camping. That is as long as you have remembered to bring the midge repellent.
Return to Fort William via Kinlochmoidart, Glen finnan and Loch Eil.

4. Mull
Mull offers great wildlife with a chance of spotting birds of prey, seals and dolphins. It also has Ben More the only island locked Munro outside of Skye. The scenery is fantastic, especially around Loch Na Keal.
Once you roll off the ferry in Craignure, follow the coast north east to Salen. Then pick up the cycle track that goes through Salen Forest and beside Loch Frisa (keep your eyes peeled for Sea Eagles above the trees). Turn left on a quiet road and spend a few hours picnicking on the delightful Calgary Bay. Then follow round past Loch Tuath and Ulva. There is a basic campsite at Fidden farm or you may prefer to wild camp a little further on (with the sheep for neighbours).
Wake up, pack up and cycle. Those with more time on their hands will follow the road out to Iona, whereas those constrained to a weekend will head back around to Craignure through Glen More. If there is time to kill before your ferry home, pop out and see Duart Castle.

5. Islay and Jura
There is and old Gaelic proverb that says; find you horse on Mull, you cow on Islay and your wife on Jura. However even if you already have a cow (and a wife) its still worth coming for the great views, standing stones, beaches and low-traffic cycling.

You can coordinate ferries so that you arrive at Port Ellen and return from Port Askaig. Once you have crossed Islay, take the ferry across to Jura and saunter along to Craighouse. Here you will find a distinct aroma of whiskey in the air and a nice pub. You may succumb to these delights and camp in the lawn in front of the pub, but a better spot just half a mile further, is a pure white beach by Loch Na Mile. Perhaps you can spend the next day looking for standing stones, or walking in the hills before riding back to catch your ferry home.

The Adventure Show

You've got till Sunday 12th April 2009 to see me running about in the hills in the Adventure Show filmed during the Carnethy 5 hill race.

See here for my post about the race.

Road of Death (goes to Duns)

Something is killing the rabbits, pheasants, crows and hedgehogs. Cars probably. Saw more road-kill on this trip than ever before (although I did see two dead deer on the Gaick).

Another thing we saw rather too much of was water droplets propelled at us by a strongish westerly wind. (In one of the Calvin and Hobbs cartoons, Calvin's Dad tells Calvin that wind is caused by trees sneezing much to his Mum's amusement. He then admits that this was not true but that the real explanation was too complicated.) Nevertheless, the wind did serve a useful purpose of propelling us up in to the Lammermuir Hills.

Our route then took us up and down a series of hills. At one point Magda braked sharply and I ran into the back of her. The funny connector bit on my (soon to be upgraded to v-brakes) cantilever brakes then slipped. I had to spend 5 long cold minutes in the wind and rain with freezing fingers and two almost useless spanners fixing it enough to go down hills without resorting to walking (walking down hill ranks high in my Top 5 Demoralizing Cycling Strategies).

It should probably be noted that the scenery was beautiful in this part although I didn't take any photos because of the weather. As we approached Duns the sun came back, a rainbow formed and our smiling faces were seen once more. We warmed up in the Black Swan Inn and got ourselves a slap up dinner. Then we inquired about a room, and all thoughts of getting in the tent that night evaporated. For £20 each quid for B&B you can't complain. So we arranged our wet socks, shoes and gloves in front of an electric heater, drank beer, ate chocolate biscuits and watched Nicole Kidman in some kind of convoluted African political thriller. Well I did. Magda fell asleep.

Sunday started well (full english), got better (sunshine) and we pedaled back (on a slightly different route). Although the scenery was not as impressive as the moorland of the day before, there was lots to see. Coming up a steep hill by the Whiteadder Reservoir there was a great view out over the rolling hills. And once we had turned off toward Garvald there was a moment when North Berwick Law and the sea came in to view that was a cool sight.


We passed a few interesting cultural things too. We stopped at an Iron Age hill fort and then zoomed off down a hill past a monastery where the monks don't talk, to Garvald.

Pressing on to Haddington, I had my second roast dinner of the weekend in a pub by a row of trees each planted in commemoration of the coronation of all the kings of the last two centuries.

Post lunch the cycling was a bit drab, but we made good progress into a stiff headwind along the A199 back to Musselburgh. Then, on a bit of a hunch, we discovered a new shortcut back home. This followed the Brunstane Burn path, then a section of the NCN 1 route. This led us up to an interesting (but only if you are interested in these things) section of disused railway line. The so called Innocent Railway was built in 1830. It was one of the first railway lines and called innocent because the trains were at first horse-drawn. There was a 350 yard long tunnel (probably the first ever railway tunnel) built by Robert Stephenson up till then only famous for his lighthouses (and not to be confused with Robert Stephenson who built locomotives or Robert Stephenson who wrote stories).

Gaick

"Black Gaick of the wind whistling, crooked glens, ever enticing her admirers to their destruction" - An eighteenth-century Gaelic poem.

Loch an Duin under the slopes of Creag an Loch

I have had Exploring Scottish Hill Tracks by Ralph Storer knocking about for ages and it is a very readable guidebook full of interesting history and funny anecdotes. I selected the Gaick, filled a pannier and bungeed the tent on and got a train up to Blair Atholl.

In the first part of the route you head up through some woods and out on to a huge wild moor. Then its a case of following the track alongside Edendon Water. This soon leads to a few river crossings where I miraculously managed to keep dry feet. As I headed toward Loch an Duin, which is really in a dramatic spot. I got a bit lost and had to push the bike through some heathery stuff on the side of An Dun, and then when I found the path not much of it was ridable for about a mile along the side of the loch. At the N end of the loch I had to squelch my way though a peat bog before another land-rover track appeared and I continued with no problems.

With another couple of river crossings out the way I came across the ruins of the bothy where Captain John MacPherson (known as the Black Officer (how racist)) was killed in an avalanche in 1800. It must have been some avalanche. The bothy was a fair way back from the steep slopes and apparently, when it was destroyed, the roof was swept a mile or so down the glen.

My bike is by the end of the ruined walls of the bothy

Then I passed Loch an t-Seillich which has a big dam at the end and a long down hill tarmac road all the way to Kingussie. On the way I found a good spot for the tent, ate malt loaf and finished reading The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Its a great book with an interesting idea of how humans might evolve into two breeds. Firstly, the hairy, ugly, nocturnal, carnivorous, and industrious Morlocks who live underground. Secondly, the bald, dim-witted and beautiful Eloi who run about in the sun, picking flowers, fornicating, eating fruit and getting eaten by the Morlocks. The idea seems to be that the divide between the working class and aristocracy became so great that they became two radically different breeds of human. I liked it but not as much as The War of the Worlds which I think has a stronger ending. It is undoubtedly an important little book though as it was the first to introduce the idea of time travel (and coin the name time machine) and was the fore runner of science fiction.

I would have thought a simple No Camping sign would have done

On Monday I cycled past Kingussie and Newtonmore down to Dalwhinne. On the way I dodged showers by popping into a cafe for breakfast. I took the track along Loch Ericht to Ben Alder Lodge and then up to Loch Pattack. From here there are great views of Carn Dearg, Geal Charn, and Beinn a Chlachair. I took the decision to go back the way I had come, rather than complete a circuit via Kinloch Laggan, because the rain was pretty miserable and I didn't want to miss the train. With half an hour to kill, I got a bowl of soup in Dalwhinnie and read about Bonny Prince Charlie, the Jacobites, and General Wade's military roads.

Loch Pattack and the bad weather arrives

Prison

Recently we saw Bronson at the movies. Its a dark comedy about Charles Bronson. He went to prison for stealing £26.18p in 1974 and he is still in jail now because he kept beating people up and taking hostages. He is undoubtedly a very bad person but he does have a fantastic moustache.



In the film he is played by Tom Hardy and narrates his own life story. The film is told through Bronson's own warped and violent perspective and includes surrealist sets, a Monty Python style animation, weird characters and people getting beaten up to classical music or electro-pop. It feels a bit like a cross between Chopper and A Clockwork Orange. The film doesn't seem to want to make you sympathize with Bronson or offer any suggestion as to what motivates him to be so violent other than he wants to be notorious.

According to Wikipedia, during one of his hostage taking incidents he demanded "a plane to take him to Cuba, two Uzi sub-machine guns, 5,000 rounds of ammunition, an axe and a cheese and pickle sandwich".

Going to prison, or even working in one, seems to me decidedly risky with characters like that around.

The other prison film we watched recently was Hunger. This was darker, more serious, and in my mind a bit lacking. The film is about members of the IRA who protested against being considered normal criminals because they wanted to be considered as prisoners of war, or at least as political prisoners.

After smearing excrement on the walls of their cells and refusing to wear clothes, one of them Bobby Sands, begins a hungerstrike. There is a really long scene where the camera doesn't move and Bobby and a priest have an argument about his reasons for going on hungerstrike. The gist of this is that the priest thinks it is suicide (which is frowned upon by the Catholic church) and Bobby thinks it is murder (by Maggie Thatcher). Either way the rest of the film has no dialogue we just watch him shrink and die.

I don't understand what the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, and Glasgow to some extent, is all about really and this film didn't clear much up. To be honest if, like me, you knew nothing about the 1981 hungerstrike, after the film you wouldn't know much more. You'd be better off just taking 5 minutes out of you day to read this article.

Grade II

Jamie attempting decidedly not grade I conditions on South Castle Gully

I'm halfway through reading Andy Kirkpatrick's book. Its pacey, gripping and very readable but not full of as much humour as his talks (yet) and the photos in the middle are not quite up to the quality of the ones on his website. Also, recently on his blog I read this, bearing in mind I have pretty much stuck to grade II winter routes since climbing in scotland (or read the whole article):

"The most exposed period for a winter or alpine climber is on the easy routes, PD’s, grade 2 gullies, moderate low angle cascades. Try to get through this period of climbing as quickly as possible, or better still get your skills up to scratch on rock, then transfer them over to easy hard routes, namely routes with belays, runners and avoid other numpty climbers who increase your chances of an incident dramatically.
Sticking to the buttress has served Mick Fowler well. It will serve other climbers well."

On a different tack, I found this funny and this worrying.

Bike Project

Reminds me of the Blind Lemon Jefferson song, Black Horse Blues (and I'm taking slight liberties here).

Woman, I got a black bike
And she rides just fine
Woman, I got a black bike
I say, she rides just fine
I want you to come on over
Woo-hoo-well, girl and drive with me some time

She's a good ridin' bike
And she runs steady all the time
She is a good ridin' bike
And she runs steady all the time
Then come on over
Woo-well-well, a little ride on
This black bike a-mine

I know once I lend my black bike
To a related friend
I know once I lend my black bike
To a related friend
And she said, 'Please Mister

Let me ride on that black bike, again'

I've been doing up an old Trek 820.

Had it shot blasted and powder coated black and put some shiny components on.
Headset: Shimano STX.
Bottom bracket: Shimano UN54.
Crankset: Shimano Deore M442.
Cassette: Shimano Mega Range, 11-34
Rear Deraileur: Shimano Mega Range (lucky find second hand)
Front Deraileur: Shimano Deore
Levers & Shifters: One of them is 2nd hand Deore LX and the other is a random 2nd hand one.
For now I put the existing cantilever brakes back but I am thinking of switching to some Deore LX v-brakes I have on another bike.

Still to do:
Put on a better saddle, maybe a Brooks B17.
Switch to v-brakes.
Fit racks and panniers.
New wheels and tyres.

Dunkeld to Dunfermline via Dundee

Duetting with Jimmy Shand in Auchtermuchty

Magda and I got the train to Dunkeld and cycled to Dundee following The Salmon Run (NCN 77). It was a windy day, but there were some lovely bits of scenery, especially following the River Tay for a stretch into Perth. From Perth over Corsie Hill to Glencarse was also nice, especially as the wind was now behind us.

The breeze pushed us along at a fair old pace from St Madoes, past Errol and on to Dundee in time for dinner (and some lively debate about God, crime, and masculinity) with Beata & Artur.

Sunday promised to be a long day. We crossed the Tay bridge and set off west along the opposite coast. We passed Wormit, Balmerino and Hazelton Walls before reaching Newburgh. We ate some chocolate biscuits and drank some coke by the waterfront and then turned south and headed up hill.

The road to Auchtermuchty is surely a strange one. We passed a rabbit rescue centre, a house with (at a conservative estimate) 1000 cats (plus geese, ducks and hens), an old gnarled walker on one bench muttering words of wisdom, and some freakish horror movie teddy bears on another bench.

Roadside weirdness

We were welcomed in to Auchtermuchty by the statue of Jimmy Shand (wiki), and pushed on toward Strathmiglo as the Lomond Hills loomed large in front of us. As we skirted round them we had a sustained gradual climb into a westerly breeze. The effort was rewarded by great views of Loch Leven and a pub lunch in Kinross. The next section was my favourite of the weekend: a climb up to Loch Glow. On the way I spotted a Kestrel and then we had a great descent through Blairadam forest to Dunfermline.


By this stage it had got dark so we slinked into Inverkeithing and got the train home. It was a shame not to cycle all the way back to Edinburgh, but nevertheless a good trip.

How to play Peanuts

As well as being a comic strip and a tasty snack, Peanuts, is also a fast paced card game.

Lindsay taught me this game as follows.

Two players sit opposite one another with a standard pack of playing cards (without jokers) each. The backs of the cards must be different so they can be identified later.

Each player shuffles a pack and then passes it to their opponent.

Each player then deals out their cards in this way.

11 cards face down to form the Peanut Pile,

4 cards face up side-by-side in a row,

and the remaining cards are left in a stock pile.

Space should be left between the players for a maximum of 8 Suit Building Piles to be built up.

The winner of each round of the game is the first one to get rid of all the cards in their Peanut Pile and shout, "Peanuts!"

When play begins, the horizontal row cards can be played out into the Suit Building Piles, or built on top of one another to form columns of alternating colour and descending rank (King of Clubs, Queen of Hearts, Jack of Spades, 10 of Diamonds, etc).

At the beginning of the game each player turns over the top card of his Peanut Pile this card can then be played either onto one of the horizontal row columns (as described above), into an empty cell in the horizontal row, or on to one of the Suit Building Piles. Once it is played you can turn over the next card in the Peanut Pile.

Aces go straight out into the middle, where they become a Suit Building Pile, and can then be built up in suit order (Ace of Spades, 2 of Spades, 3 of Spades, etc.)

If you can't go, you turn over three cards from the stock pile (like if you are playing solitaire) and continue doing so until you can go. If you reach the end of the pack, you turn it over and continue. (If both players go right around the deck twice without being able to go, they both take one card, put it to the bottom of the pack and continue as before.)

Both players play concurrently and as fast as possible. They cannot touch their opponent's cards but both share the same 8 suit building piles in the middle, so you need to be quick before you are beaten to it.

At the end of the game the cards in the Suit Building Piles are sorted and counted.

The winner is awarded 10 points for winning and an additional point for each card he got out into the Suit Building Piles.

The loser gets 1 point for each card he got out into the Suit Building Piles and -2 points for each card remaining in his Peanut Pile.

First to 150 wins.

OPTIONAL EXTRA PLAYERS (ideal for the pub, but a bit frenetic):

Can be played in teams of 2 or 3 on each side. For instance, if there are 3 on each team, the first player controls the horizontal row, the second player controls the draw pile, and the third player the Peanut Pile. They can only touch the cards in their control, but can shout at each other as much as they like! For 2 players in a team one player controls the Peanut Pile and the other controls the horizontal row and the draw pile.

A Wet WHW and a Thumps Up for Al's Part 2

Soggy

Yesterday, I put in a long run from Crainlarich to the Falls of Falloch near Inverarnan along the West Highland Way. It rained continuously with the wind in my face all the way there. I then ran back with the wind and rain on my back. Dripping, I joined the girls in the pub for a hot coffee and some sticky toffee pud with custard. Ahh!


Today I finished reading Thunder and Sunshine by Alastair Humphreys. Russ gave me his first book Moods of Future Joy for my birthday last year. The second book completes his low budget journey around the world by bicycle. It is better written than the first book, both in terms of being a more interesting read and having a more fluent pace. In Moods he dwelt, a little too much for my liking, on his own moods, crying, and navel gazing. In Thunder he is more outward looking with great descriptions of the places he travels through and he gets stuck in with a confidence and an upbeat outlook. There are still a tedious number of quotations littered everywhere, but thankfully some humor too. Such as this conversation with a Chinese Dad.

"I life Lady Dee."
"Lady Di?"
"Yes, Lady Dee Die. You life red and white?"
"Yes I like riding a bike."

If you'd like to read it too let me know and I'll post it to you.

Alastair is now raising sponsorship for another challenge, SOUTH, the longest unsupported polar journey in history. Go him!