Cycle West Scotland

Day 4: "Rest" Day (Ben Nevis) Time: 4:16:30 Distance: 15km Average Speed: Average km/h Last night after dinner Paddy made the point that it's not often that you find yourself beside Ben Nevis so we may as well climb it. We decided to take a day off the bike and then catch a train in the evening to Crianlarich. Romain and Paddy set a relentless pace up the climb and reached the top far faster than the rest of us. The sun was blazing all the way up and the clear skies made for great panoramic views. I found walking down the climb much tougher and was relieved to be back at sea level and on a bike again after the experience. Our train was set for 5:40 pm but some carriages were missing so we decided to wait for 2 hours for the next one. I called the rail company to see if we could reserve space for the bikes and they said that all 6 slots had been reserved so it would be best to take tomorrow's train. We asked the old men working at the station if there was there a...

Day 3: Oban - Corpach Time: 3:48:41 Distance: 78.6km Average Speed: 19.8km/h The Thais sharing our room with us were up early rummaging through bags for well over an hour. Oban had been good to us yesterday. We arrived early enough to walk around the promenade and see the town a bit followed by a weatherspoons dinner where Paddy ordered 3 dinners (for himself). I sampled some great whisky that they make in the distillery of the town. Oban is a lot bigger than I expected and I'd love to come back again sometime. One of the barmen from the pub below the hostel told us that there would be a bike path all the way to Fort William. I didn't believe him but we set off along the coast in a northerly direction. We reached the bike path soon after and stayed on it for around 50km until we reached Glencoe. This bike path has really been done well with a great surface, plenty of signposting and great scenery. I'd strongly recommend anyone (especially a first time cycle tourist) ...

Day 2: Inveraray - Oban Time: 4:02:41 Distance: 100.2km Average Speed: 24.8km/h The hostel had posters on the wall saying breakfast at 7.45am. We woke on time and waited around until 8 before losing patience and going to londis. Leeroy asked the employee who didn't wake up in time (to literally carry out a few loafs and cereals) if there was any milk in the fridge and she responded "eh, pleeeze". Bad service. The road went upwards early. The road surface was much better than yesterday and we didn't find much traffic. We stopped for lunch at a pub in kilmeldford. Everyone had steak and ale pie and a few of us had pints from the cask. After lunch the wind was relentless. We battled into it on the flat for many miles. When the wind changed we started to go uphill for an uncalled for climb before the descent into Oban.  The University town is a lot bigger than I expected and had scenic views of the coast from our hostel and the pub downstairs. We stayed out a bit late...

Day 1: Balloch - Inveraray Time: 2:43:20 Distance: 66.3km Average Speed: 24.4km/h Our flight got into Glasgow at around 10pm. The Polish bus driver was nice enough to let us take 4 bike boxes into the city. We walked about 10 minutes to the hostel and my shoulders are in bits today from carrying the boxed bike. We had 15 minutes to get beers in the hostel bar. The elite of Scottish culture were walking around the pub causing rows and trying to find out who was in the RA. The euro hostel did a fine breakfast before assembling the bikes. We took a train to Balloch to avoid the city traffic and began the Loch Lomond cycle path. The trail is narrow and mossy on parts. It's bumpy too and it was a relief to arrive in Tarbet and get on an actual road. The scenery picked up to the level of the roads. Our long and steady 30 minute climb was followed by an equally gradual descent. As we passed Loch Long the rain fell down for a while but the roads were flat and smooth and we had a ta...