big-bill
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The Bear and Big Bill have taken those GS's to Scotland again…..
This was our proposed route:-
We prepared for departure under blue skies , The Bear managed to drop his bike before we had even set off!
A little shaken we headed north up the A1 for our first planned stop at Seahouses in Northumberland, the clouds became thinker and the mist descended…
Managed to see Bamburgh castle though!
With the help of the mist we managed to miss the good views of the East coast as we approached Edinburgh.
By the time we crossed the Forth Bridge the rain was falling, and was giving us a good soaking by the time we stopped for fuel at Perth.
We headed for our first night stop http://www.scotland2000.com/oakbank/
The track was muddy and wet and Big Bill managed to drop his bike in the mud, with some brusies and a modified pannier we eventually arrived!
Neil and Janet were super hosts and managed to dry all our gear for the next morning.
Sunday saw us avoiding a cycle race to pick up the A9 north for Sleeperzzz at Rogart calling at http://www.ralia.co.uk/ and Aviemore.
We crossed the Black Isle and the Cromarty Firth,
And headed for Bonar Bridge, taking the minor roads across to The Mound.
We spent two nights at http://www.sleeperzzz.com/ the weather was being very kind to us.
On Monday we headed north on minor roads from Rogart
Picking up the A9 at Brora heading for Wick, and the John O’Groats, which was as lovely as ever!
Dunnet Head was much nicer!
We returned to Rogart via Strathnaver and Lairg.
On Tuesday we headed west under blue skys .
Taking the A837 and A835 to Ullapool, pausing for tea at Elphin.
We filled up at Ullapool, and we able to enjoy the excellent customer service skills on offer at the filling station, what a pleasure it is to deal with such nice people (not!)
We paused for lunch at the head of Loch Broom…
We continued south on the A835, turning right at Garve and taking the A832 for Kinlochewe, turning left towards Torridon on the A896.
Glen Torridon is a spectacular spot…
We paused at Shieldaig for an ice cream, as the sun was very much out!
After Shieldaig, we turned right to take the north costal route to Applecross, a very nice bit of road with super views…
With splendid views back towards the Torridon mountains….
We spent Tuesday night at Mrs Gilroy’s B&B in Toscaig, with a very interesting drive, Big Bill rode up, and the Bear elected (wisely!) to leave his bike at the bottom. Mrs Gilroy had managed to fall off her rather nice MZ on the very same drive a few weeks previously.
Wednesday saw us crossing the Bealach na Ba in light rain, with the cloud base at around 1500’ we were sorry to have missed the views from the top.
With the rain well and truly set in we headed around Loch Carron, via the Kyle of Lochalsh and eventually the ferry terminal at Armadale.
We boarded the Mallaig ferry and by the time we reached the mainland the rain had gone and we were able to ride in the sunshine.
As we were planning on travelling on three ferries, we used the Island Hopscotch ticket http://www.calmac.co.uk/hopscotch_route7
Taking the A830 south
then the A861 to Salen, eventually heading west to Kilchoan on the B8007
We spent a very pleasant night at Tigh a' Ghobhainn http://mairihunter.kilchoan.portland.co.uk/
On Thursday we took the ferry from Mingarry to Tobermory
Nice views of Loch Sunart and the Sound of Mull
We disembarked at Tobermory
With the Sound of Mull on our left, we headed for Craignure and the ferry to Oban.
The A85 took us south east towards Lochawe to spend the night at http://www.corriebank.co.uk/
The pub in the village, the Tight Line http://www.tightlinebar.co.uk/ served excellent food, a fitting meal for our last night on the road.
Friday took us south on the A85, picking up the A82 at Tyndrum.
At Crianlarich, we again took the A85 to Callender and Doune, where we picked up the motorway to Penrith and the A66 back across the Pennines and home.
According to the GPS, that’s 1179 miles, with 26.5 hours on the move.
We hope you enjoyed our tale!
I've complained to the council as they shouldn't have moved the road whilst i wasn't concentrating...
DDDOOOHHH !!! It was a great week away again and the roads are bliss compared to our over crowded ones down in Cornwall.. Plus we got to see some fantastic scottish scenary too.... enjoy ... and cheers Bill and Dot
onyack and just can't wait
. It's the best place to ride yer bike !!
