Radio silence

I might give you a day off from reading all this tomorrow.  I plan to visit the island of Raasay, and Glenbrittle. I may be wrong but I suspect they are both off-grid. The web is still owned by spiders in those places, and the only super-fast fibre is All Bran.  And the following day, I'm going somewhere even more remote.. 

Going nowhere slowly

After coffee in the picturesque sun trap of Isleornsay, the empty main road took me to the consumer paradise of Harrapool, with three cafés and a co-op.  Two of the cafés were closed so it was an easy choice.  I left my pannier and first took a detour to the dead-end hamlet of Heast, five miles to the south.  Not without interest but nothing to write home about.  The best bit was coming back - a long descent with great views of the red Cuillin.  Over there, in Lochalsh, it was raining, but over here, the sun was shining!
After lunch, a longer dead-end detour took me to Elgol. The first ten miles were surprisingly flat, with gorgeous views of the overlooking gentle giants, the smoothly rounded red Cuillin.   After Torrin the less gentle ogres of the jagged black Cuillin sprang out from behind a mountain and watched me as the road became hilly towards Elgol, ending with a  near vertical 100 metre descent into Elgol.  It's a stunning setting: a few houses, a harbour, a one-room school between beach and cliffs, and fantastic views across the sea to the mountains of Skye.   My detailed research told me there were two cafes, but they were both closed - it was just after 5pm, so fair enough.   But there was a little caravan by the harbour which was open, so my happiness was complete.

Tea and chocolate brownie: £2.90, picnic table overlooking the harbour: free, view: priceless.  For several reasons, I didn't want to leave.  Specifically, that hill. It was at least 1 in1, if not 1 in 0.  The rest of the return ride was good, dodging cars in the passing places.

I'm staying in Bradford youth hostel tonight. Currently sitting outside eating excellent pizza with the sun on my back. And a gentle breeze, meaning no midges.  A day to remember on the rainy days.

(ps. I meant Broadford.  Just wanted to give you a laugh at my expense.)

Have I Got Views For You

Arrived in Mallaig at 9:30 after a very scenic ride beside the Silver Sand beaches - thankyou Tim for the suggestion.  Suddenly it was 11:30pm and I realised I'd had a very long day.  But the first ferry to Armadale on Skye left at 7:40, so some speed-sleeping was called for.  No problem.
Arriving on Skye at 8:30 I decided to take a little detour to the Aird of Sleat, the end of the road 3 miles to the south.  It was brutal.  Hills designed for crampons.  But great views back over the water to the mountains of Knoydart, glowering under dark clouds, and the distinctive outline of Eigg to the south.  I also encountered a rush hour of cars, four of them hurrying to work in the big village, I guess.
An hour and six miles later, I was back where I started, joining the wide causeway that sweeps visitors along the coast to Broadford and the main attractions of Skye.  The Sleat peninsula isn't really one of them, but another longer detour to Tarskavaig and Ord turned out to be an excellent choice.
A 14% warning sign to start.  Up and over a big ridge revealed a panorama of the Cuillin hills,  the best view I've seen, perhaps because Sleat is a bit further away across an inlet.  It got better.  Downhill for a start, one in five at one point.  But the west side of Sleat is beautiful itself: the road wound through glades of silver birch trees and past alternately babbling and cascading burns.  Beautiful sandy bays, with that view of the Cuillin as a backdrop.  And more vicious uphills too, but highly recommended.
Despite the early start, I'd only covered 30 miles by the time I stopped for coffee at noon.

The Road To The Isles

Well, how could I resist a description like that?  Much better than sitting on my backside on a train or bus. 
Leaving Fort William, the first forever (15 miles) was okay: gently uphill alongside the railway line and an arm of loch Linnhe.  After that it was great, if hilly.  Hardly any traffic.  Up and over to Glenfinnan with the famous viaduct and an even better view in the other direction down the loch.  And then following the valley as it went from a gorge surrounded by rocky giants, through a lorra lorra lochs gradually flattening to an estuary with wooded islets framed by gentle hills.
Which would have been great if the road didn't decide to go across the valleys instead of along them.  Some nice sea views, but a bit too much effort after a long day.  I'm not quite at Mallaig yet: I was led astray by The Crofters' Bar in Arisaig.  A very nice pint of Cromarty Ale, bringing back unwelcome memories of non-existent ferries.   But hey, the cycling bit has started!

Rail Replacement Service

Words to strike terror into the heart of every train-cyclist.  The policy is that only folding bikes can be taken on trains.  Quickly, I started to list the folding characteristics of my bike. I was finished quickly too.  If my bike featured in Bicycle Top Trumps (an excellent game by the way), foldability would not be one of its winning characteristics.  Plans B, C, and D were developed, involving overnight stays at Glasgow or Inverness, and/or improbable amounts of cycling to catch up with my plan.

At Glasgow, only an hour late after two '... on the line...' incidents, there were already two other cyclists waiting for the bus, but amazingly we were all allowed on, and found ourselves in Fort William, 43 miles from Mallaig via The Road To The Isles, five stars on Trip Advisor: 'a stunning evening drive', at 3pm, with another bus promised at 4, but no promises of cycle carriage.  Still, it wasn't raining, and there was a café.  Things were looking up.

It all started so well

Last year I rushed across Skye against a strong headwind,  to catch a ferry to the Outer Hebrides, it wasn't a good experience.  There was nowhere to stay and I ended up in a freezing campsite outside Portree.   This time it will be different.  Accommodation has been booked and it's all waiting for me.

All I have to do is get to the start, at Mallaig.  Five hours from London to Glasgow, and another five from Glasgow to Mallaig.  Oh, and the Glasgow train leaves at 5:30, so I have to cycle through London in the dark.

Well, leaving home ay 3am, the cycle was a pleasure.  I would recommend it to you.  Well lit streets, no traffic to speak of, green traffic lights all the way, and a fresh wind at my back.  Just a few foxes for company.  I'm now relaxing on the train to Glasgow.   No worries.  Except one slight concern.  There are rumours of train strikes in Scotland, being spread by subversive elements like the ScotRail website.  A replacement bus service between Glasgow and Mallaig.   Ah well: here we go again.

Simon's Coastal Adventure, Episode IV - A New Hope

A long time ago, well in 2013,  in a galaxy not far away, I set out from home on a bike ride up the east coast of England.   It was sunny, fairly flat, and the coast is pretty straight.  In two weeks I was able to ride to Inverness in Scotland.    This is all right, I thought: I might do the rest next year.

It's surprising how wiggly the coastline of Scotland is.  And how windy, and hilly.  Especially if you go to some of the islands.    But it's beautiful, even when it sometimes rains.   So I'm going again for the fourth year, after Orkney, Shetland, the top of Scotland and Cape WRATH!!   Last year I made very little progress around the coast but I did visit the Outer Hebrides, which are bigger than they look on the weather forecast.  I chose June last year, to avoid the midge season and the peak holiday season, but it was very cold, so this year I chose July.   And it's been lovely up there all of June - 25 degrees.  Just my luck.

I'm heading for that wiggly bit on the left.

If you're new to the blog - welcome to my ramblings.   Several people seem to gain pleasure from reading about my trip - whether it's as an example of how not to do it, or to make your own holidays seem so much better in comparison; I don't really mind but I hope you will visit again once I start cycling (on Tuesday 12th July), and have something more useful to write about.    This year I'm going back to where I left off - the Isle of Skye, not properly visited or appreciated last year but used as a route to the ferry to the Outer Hebrides.   If you read the posts at the end of last year's trip, rather dry maps and statistics, they don't represent the majority of the blog, so scroll down to the actual cycling if you want to get an idea of the sort of rubbish I normally write.