Twilight/Daylight 600 perm

[Jethro]

I was thinking or riding this in June or July but the noticed some adverse comments about some of the route (A82 - Glencoe?) as no longer suitable for cycling on.  Does anyone know if this is correct?

[Feanor]

The A85 from Lix Toll to Crianlarich and then the A82 to Tyndrum and Glencoe can indeed be a bit unpleasant.
I wouldn't go so far as saying unsuitable for cycling, but others may disagree.
Depends on your tolerance of that kind of thing.

I would not consider routing an organised event along there.

Time of year and time of day makes a difference.
But there's not really any other way to avoid it.

[salar55]

With the restrictions guess where people will holiday this year? We hope they will remember the midges and go to Cornwall instead. 😄.

[Redlight]

I rode Glasgow - Fort William in stretches last summer (when things were probably quieter than they will be this summer).  From what I recall, the road alongside Loch Lomond up to Tarbet is a reasonable width most of the way but traffic speeds were high and there were a handful of unpleasant overtakes from oncoming vehicles. It carries a lot of heavy trucks, some of which passed a bit closer than I would prefer. 

After Tarbet, it was horrible all the way up to Tyndrum - the road is narrow with blind bends. It was very unpleasant with some punishment passes.  It got a bit better after that as the road widens a little more and there are some long straight stretches on which it was easy for cars to overtake. Then, after Orchy, it gets narrow and a bit twisty again and the run into Fort William itself is a bit grim.

I'd last ridden that route about 20 years before and I was shocked at how much busier it had become. As Feanor says, it isn't a complete no-no but if you have the time I'd consider taking a (inevitably, considerably) more roundabout route. 

[John Stonebridge]

Agree with most of the above - Id not route a daytime event on the A85/A82 between Lix Toll and Glencoe.

If you are looking to faithfully ride the route of the Daylight calendar event your main mitigations would be time of day (going over Glencoe at night) and time of year (June will be quieter than July as thats when Scottish school holidays start) but youd have to be self sufficient for the first 200km or so.

I've considered organising a modified version which avoids the stretch between Tyndrum and Glencoe by routing via Connel both ways. If this were ever to make the calendar it would have an evening start so that the A85 between Lochearnhead and Connel would be ridden at night (going west) and early morning (going east).  It would also take place before the end of May to avoid the dreaded midgies.  Maybe a PBP qualifier in mid May 2023 though talk is cheap.   

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/35311458

[FifeingEejit]

Wot he above says.

There was a bunch of us planning a group perm on it last year that obviously didn't happen.
That plan involved starting in Crianlarich or the next village west erm... Tynrum, the local shop claims to open at 7am; that gives you enough of a head start on the hoards driving out of the Central Belt and Middle East to get onto the peninsulas, and unless you're quick should get you into Fort Bill around time for them to have either gone home or settled down for the night.
It also gives a midway stop and you can time your return up Glen Ogle to be after the eejits have gone home for the weekend too.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31921937

Really what you have to be willing to do is sit out the rush if you find yourself in it, doing it as mapped there also means once you're off the A85 on the way South on Day 2 you've got a decent selection of quieter roads for most of the day (negative split territory) and then Pop out at Lix Toll just as it's getting quiet for a full value blast along to Tyndrum when it's emptier, also get to use what you've booked accommodation wise all 3 nights...

Substituting the Fife leg for an East Highlands and/or Strathmore leg is another option, but then it wouldn't be the Twilight would it


Another option is to do it mid-week outwith the holiday season, yeah it'll be dark and cold, but so what.

[Pickled Onion]

Another option is to do it mid-week outwith the holiday season, yeah it'll be dark and cold, but so what.

Surely the point of the "daylight" is that it's not dark?

[DaveJ]

We rode the route of the Daylight in September, touring rather than audax.  The A85/A82 from Killin to Tyndrum was unpleasantly busy, but its mostly quite a wide road.  We found  out afterwards that it had been busier than usual because the A82 was closed south of Crianlarich because of an accident, putting all the traffic on the A85.

The A82 from Tyndrum to Glen Coe was fairly quiet, it was a weekday and we left Tyndrum mid afternoon.  I have some history with that section.  In 2007 on the Daylight we were hit by a car just after the Loch Tulla viewpoint.  But that was a very busy mid summer Saturday afternoon.

[Jethro]

Thanks for all of the advice. I have noticed how much more considerate motorists (usually) are when cyclists use a helmet camera and it can clearly be seen from the rear.

[FifeingEejit]

Another option is to do it mid-week outwith the holiday season, yeah it'll be dark and cold, but so what.

Surely the point of the "daylight" is that it's not dark?

The DIY is called the Twilight, also known as midday, in December these parts.

[Feanor]

FWIW, I just wanted to do it, and did it.
I accepted the shit bit, and yes, it was as shitty as advertised on the outbound, but not on the return, as I recall.
but it was totally worth it.

It's a small part of an otherwise excellent route.
I'd advise to go with it, accepting a short shitty section.

You will not regret it.

[John Stonebridge]

FWIW, I just wanted to do it, and did it.
I accepted the shit bit, and yes, it was as shitty as advertised on the outbound, but not on the return, as I recall.
but it was totally worth it.

It's a small part of an otherwise excellent route.
I'd advise to go with it, accepting a short shitty section.

You will not regret it.

+1 to that. 

I last rode the Twilight in 2009 solo and while 4 of us had much fun doing it the previous year if also felt a bit safer to be on my tod.     

[citoyen]

The A85 from Lix Toll to Crianlarich and then the A82 to Tyndrum and Glencoe can indeed be a bit unpleasant.
I wouldn't go so far as saying unsuitable for cycling, but others may disagree.
Depends on your tolerance of that kind of thing.

Time of year and time of day makes a difference.

Yes, very much depends on time of day, I would think.

It was fine on the West Highland 1k a couple of years ago - riding that stretch outbound overnight on Thursday and the return leg early Sunday morning...

Not sure I'd want to ride it in the middle of the day. I don't know the Daylight route.

[Flâneur]

TBH this incident put the heebie-jeebies up me as far as riding the A82 out-of-hours goes

[John Stonebridge]

The A85 from Lix Toll to Crianlarich and then the A82 to Tyndrum and Glencoe can indeed be a bit unpleasant.
I wouldn't go so far as saying unsuitable for cycling, but others may disagree.
Depends on your tolerance of that kind of thing.

Time of year and time of day makes a difference.

Yes, very much depends on time of day, I would think.

It was fine on the West Highland 1k a couple of years ago - riding that stretch outbound overnight on Thursday and the return leg early Sunday morning...

Not sure I'd want to ride it in the middle of the day. I don't know the Daylight route.

The difference in routes is that that the Daylight/Twilight uses the A85/A82 between Crianlarich and the Corran Ferry going north and the A828/A85 from Corran via Connel to Crianlarich going south.  With a 0600 start from Dalmeny that puts you on the narrow busy A82 over Rannoch Moor in the afternoon. 

The WH1000 used the A85/A828 both ways and the event timings were such that the bit between Crianlarich and Connel (that can get a bit unpleasant) was ridden by most in the dead of night heading up and early on a Sunday morning coming back though it probably got a bit busier for the lanternes rouge.  Overall it seemed to work pretty well - well enough for a similar approach to be plan A for any re run of a modified version of the Daylight.  Imho the usp is the bit round Ardnamurchan and Glenfinnan which would be retained. 

[citoyen]

With a 0600 start from Dalmeny that puts you on the narrow busy A82 over Rannoch Moor in the afternoon.

I did that road mid-afternoon on the Ride Across Britain too. The bit over Rannoch Moor wasn't too bad - well, the traffic wasn't so bad, but the headwind... What I really hated was the stretch from Ballachulish to Fort William. With several hundred riders strung out in groups along the road, the motorists really weren't happy about it either.

(They've changed the route of the RAB since I did it - it now goes via Strathdon and the Cairngorms, instead of Fort William. I wonder if that road is part of the reason why.)

[John Stonebridge]

With a 0600 start from Dalmeny that puts you on the narrow busy A82 over Rannoch Moor in the afternoon.

I did that road mid-afternoon on the Ride Across Britain too. The bit over Rannoch Moor wasn't too bad - well, the traffic wasn't so bad, but the headwind... What I really hated was the stretch from Ballachulish to Fort William. With several hundred riders strung out in groups along the road, the motorists really weren't happy about it either.

(They've changed the route of the RAB since I did it - it now goes via Strathdon and the Cairngorms, instead of Fort William. I wonder if that road is part of the reason why.)

Yes. 

The bit from the Corran Ferry to the Fort especially isn't that brilliant.  Of course the Daylight/Twilight only uses that stretch going south (late at night on Day 1 / early hours of Day 2 off a 6am start).   

An evening start from the events traditional home of Dalmeny/SQF would let a rider use the A861 after Kinlocheil via the west side of the loch & the Corran Ferry again from Ardgour to Nether Lochaber - as long as a rider could get to Ardgour by the last ferry at 2120. 

There's also dedicated cycle path between the Corran Ferry and Ballachulish now directly adjacent to the road.  Ive ridden it a few times since it opened and it has a lot of gravel and other debris, but is preferable to a close pass.   

[Grandad]

I don't know the Daylight route.

https://www.plotaroute.com/route/6232