Inverness 1200

[ianrobo]

I never realised how light Scotland was at this time of year at 22:30 this was her view north of Glasgow

[FifeingEejit]

Ach the nichts are fair drawing in noo and it'll nae be a braw bricht moonlicht nicht tha' nicht wi the mune settin at midnicht.


Yes, it wasn't lost on me that I'd traveled somewhere that there is actually nighttime for the solstice when I looked out the Sleaford travelodge window and saw the sun setting at half 9 at night.

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@2640677

There's no actual night time in Paisley until the 9th of August, and in Inverness it's not until the 15th

[disrail]

I was thinking of stashing a tiny tent and sleeping bag at the paisley control, then keep riding as far as my legs will carry me till i need sleep. Then dropping tent and and sleeping bag back at the Paisley control on the way back. Is anyone else approaching it in this way? I may get a few hours at Paisley, but ill prob want a beer and chill time at inverness, and CBA with booking accommodation, so will carry my little tent and risk getting eaten by mosquitos!
Thanks in advance for all the route notes, ill probably just copy someones well planned RidewithGPS route, as i have zero time to look at this in detail myself! Plan is to load up with food and see what happens lol!

I'm thinking along the same lines

I'm testing out a light sleeping bag and bivvy bag combo which go in my bar bag, but not popping them in the bag drop. We'll see how far my legs and brain get me past Paisley before having a kip.

[ianrobo]

Disfail, foolishly I am going to try to get to Inverness after Paisley without kip but got the bivvy

[Clemo]

I live in Kendal and would strongly recommend avoiding the A591 during the daytime. A reroute from carnforth to the A6 north of Kendal is possible avoiding the really busy roads and avoiding adding significant distance. If your not familiar with the area taking the Burton road A6070 and then the A65 through Crooklands is the easiest way. Even nicer routes are available but increases Nav requirements.

Would also recommend taking in Hutton in the Forest and Durdar between Penrith and Carlisle to avoid the rolling schlep on the A6

As other have said thanks for the suggestions, I had planned the first suggestion by looking at the map prior to you mentioning it based on previous experience, the A6 between Penrith and Carlisle I have ridden before but it was at silly o'clock so no traffic so thanks for the suggestion I have included your advice in my plans.

I have split my ride into 4

324 kms day 1 to Paisley
421 kms day 2 to a wild camp somewhere near Fort Bill on the return.
402 kms day 3 with a stop off at Paisley
106 kms day 4 mostly downhill and easy on the head.

That's the plan lets see how it goes.

[alexberry]

I live in Kendal and would strongly recommend avoiding the A591 during the daytime. A reroute from carnforth to the A6 north of Kendal is possible avoiding the really busy roads and avoiding adding significant distance. If your not familiar with the area taking the Burton road A6070 and then the A65 through Crooklands is the easiest way. Even nicer routes are available but increases Nav requirements.

Would also recommend taking in Hutton in the Forest and Durdar between Penrith and Carlisle to avoid the rolling schlep on the A6

As other have said thanks for the suggestions, I had planned the first suggestion by looking at the map prior to you mentioning it based on previous experience, the A6 between Penrith and Carlisle I have ridden before but it was at silly o'clock so no traffic so thanks for the suggestion I have included your advice in my plans.

I have split my ride into 4

324 kms day 1 to Paisley
421 kms day 2 to a wild camp somewhere near Fort Bill on the return.
402 kms day 3 with a stop off at Paisley
106 kms day 4 mostly downhill and easy on the head.

That's the plan lets see how it goes.

I was thinking of camping at fort william, but the midge forecast look pretty horrific there Midge forecast says "thats no mist thats midge" https://www.smidgeup.com/midge-forecast/ I have never cycled in scotland so i dont know if this is hype or not!

[FifeingEejit]

It's not hype...

[disrail]

Disfail, foolishly I am going to try to get to Inverness after Paisley without kip but got the bivvy

You're not the guy with the full disc rear wheel are you?? 

[disrail]

So a quick routing question?

I'm going to do the alternative to the A82 between Fort Augustus and Inverness either on the outward or return.

Any opinions on which this should be or the decision I should make on the time of day? Guessing the Alternative will be nicer during the day??

[Ajax Bay]

So a quick routing question?
I'm going to do the alternative to the A82 between Fort Augustus and Inverness either on the outward or return.
Any opinions on which this should be or the decision I should make on the time of day? Guessing the Alternative will be nicer during the day??

Because the profile is a steady but steeper climb going north and then a long run in to Inverness, mostly downhill, I think going SE of the loch on the way up is best, as I have routed.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28872782
If you press on up the A82 then going that way south means you have a rather wasteful (in potential > kinetic energy terms) descent to Fort Augustus. And the temptation to just bang down the A82 instead of enjoying the Foyers road.
As for light, there's less than four hours of darkness and some/most of those are going to be spent kipping.

[ianrobo]

So real question everyone ... if midge report is high and even on the move are shaved legs better than unshaved as I never shave mine as pic shows very hairy ! today’s ride even here bitten a lot !

[Ajax Bay]

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[FifeingEejit]

Midgies have a speed limit at which they are effective; this should also be considered with gradient of hills.

Rúm is one of the worst locations for the dreaded Midge and I managed to keep them off me on a reasonable climb (MTB) by staying above 5kmh, however I stupidly made the schoolboy error of stopping to take a photo (because the roads are too rough there to do so on the move) at which point I was surrounded by them and somehow avoided being bitten to death, it seems they just don't like my blood.

A wind speed above 10kmh is desirable on the west coast of Scotland because that exceeds their safe flying conditions and they stay hidden or congregate in shelter, the bad news is that most places that look good for bivvying or camping are in that shelter and are often also cracking photo spots.

In reality the only way to minimize your midgie annoyance is to have a sacrificial "Bruce"; these are people who are the most attractive to midgies and therefore get the attention.

[ianrobo]

Forecast for Oban next week is cool, cloudy, a bit damp but low wind .... midge perfect

[ianrobo]

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Not that bad !

[FifeingEejit]

Forecast for Oban next week is cool, cloudy, a bit damp but low wind .... midge perfect

Yup.... But long term forecasts are meaningless in maritime climates....

[ianrobo]

Disfail, foolishly I am going to try to get to Inverness after Paisley without kip but got the bivvy

You're not the guy with the full disc rear wheel are you?? 

Haha nope not me but someone who struggles to sleep so might as well push on

[ianrobo]

Forecast for Oban next week is cool, cloudy, a bit damp but low wind .... midge perfect

Yup.... But long term forecasts are meaningless in maritime climates....

Yeah I know ... just praying it is right !! But no signs of heat like today so that’s perfect for me !

[FifeingEejit]

Anything over 15c is excessive heat up here, I'm on my way to Gourock for the Argyll alps tomorrow and there was the typically Weegie sight of men in summer business suits standing along side men thay really should be wearing more than just a pair of Nike shorts and sannies

The official term for these conditions is "taps aff"

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk

[ianrobo]

Said before my inspiration was always ‘saddle sore’ I saw with the temps in mid high 30’s and just how bad was that !!!

[FifeingEejit]

The previous post was a warning not a weather forecast!
At 30c im in hiding..

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk

[ianrobo]

The previous post was a warning not a weather forecast!
At 30c im in hiding..

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk

So am I !!! And no worries next week of shirtless jocks !

[Rod Marton]

Midgies have a speed limit at which they are effective; this should also be considered with gradient of hills.

Rúm is one of the worst locations for the dreaded Midge and I managed to keep them off me on a reasonable climb (MTB) by staying above 5kmh, however I stupidly made the schoolboy error of stopping to take a photo (because the roads are too rough there to do so on the move) at which point I was surrounded by them and somehow avoided being bitten to death, it seems they just don't like my blood.

A wind speed above 10kmh is desirable on the west coast of Scotland because that exceeds their safe flying conditions and they stay hidden or congregate in shelter, the bad news is that most places that look good for bivvying or camping are in that shelter and are often also cracking photo spots.

In reality the only way to minimize your midgie annoyance is to have a sacrificial "Bruce"; these are people who are the most attractive to midgies and therefore get the attention.

One of my abiding memories of the West Highland 1000 is riding through the night with a continual stream of midges impacting on my face. Fortunately the impacts were too rapid for them to bite. I'm hoping that this event will have rather fewer of them.

I must confess that before this I had had little experience of midges, but I have had many intimate encounters with Siberian mosquitoes. The good thing about mosquitoes are that they are smaller, so they are swept past you rather getting a face full of them. The bad thing about them is that they are even more voracious than midges. So when I am attacked by midges I can just think back to western Siberia and remember how things could be much much worse.

[AlanM]

Morning All
I've booked a room at Travelodge Glasgow Airport, just a couple of KM from the Paisley control, for the SUNDAY night. I'm not planning on using it any more. It was £40, would be accept a donation to a cancer charity I support. DM if interested. See you soon

[disrail]

I've just been routing and looking at the A82 on google maps. Wondering if a reroute through Dumbarton and the Renton on the B857 may be more pleasant. The National Speed limit Dual carriageway, with narrow lanes at times and no shoulder looks a bit spicy!