My advice would be to cover a smaller area and explore it more thoroughly. There's probably 400+ miles of touring just in the Hebrides.
I am going to stick my neck out here - it is over 25 years since I cycled seriously in Scotland. The A82 up Loch Lomond is not a pleasant road and there is not much alternative to avoid it. I may be wrong.
I did Glasgow to Killin once. Damn near killed myself but hey ho.. There is a cycle route along Glen Ogle and if Im not wrong along the other side of Loch Lubnaig. A much slower route than the A82 but much more pleasurable.
But just checking, what's the bit of offroad in the middle there? It looks a bit like the track from Strath Conon to Achnasheen/Strathbran - I haven't ridden it, I rejected it after reading a few reports ;D
...On the return rather than coming down the A9 track from pitlochry ,id go to aberfeldy up griffin then down the sma glen, heelanman loan then kinky bridge to auchterarder, over gleneagles, dither through clackmannanshire and lowland perthshire to townhill then accept dunfermline and rosyth are dumps enroute to the bridge.
On the return rather than coming down the A9 track from pitlochry ,id go to aberfeldy up griffin then down the sma glen, heelanman loan then kinky bridge to auchterarder, over gleneagles, dither through clackmannanshire and lowland perthshire to townhill then accept dunfermline and rosyth are dumps enroute to the bridge.
I did Glasgow to Killin once. Damn near killed myself but hey ho..
I wouldn't bother going inland on the way to oban, just batter up the coast road.
On the return rather than coming down the A9 track from pitlochry ,id go to aberfeldy up griffin then down the sma glen, heelanman loan then kinky bridge to auchterarder, over gleneagles, dither through clackmannanshire and lowland perthshire to townhill then accept dunfermline and rosyth are dumps enroute to the bridge.
True but I think eating before Kenmore or aberfeldy might be handy, there's only the shop at Tummel Bridge caravan park, and I think the shop at the deer park caravan park after going up schiehallion....On the return rather than coming down the A9 track from pitlochry ,id go to aberfeldy up griffin then down the sma glen, heelanman loan then kinky bridge to auchterarder, over gleneagles, dither through clackmannanshire and lowland perthshire to townhill then accept dunfermline and rosyth are dumps enroute to the bridge.
Or turn south to Trinafour and Tummel Bridge to Aberfeldy. Nice & scenic :)
I've sent roamin in the Gloamin right through Perth, it was fine when we tested it and was necessary to get little glen shee in without flat crossing the a9 at findo gask which I'd include just for the name otherwise.I wouldn't bother going inland on the way to oban, just batter up the coast road.
On the return rather than coming down the A9 track from pitlochry ,id go to aberfeldy up griffin then down the sma glen, heelanman loan then kinky bridge to auchterarder, over gleneagles, dither through clackmannanshire and lowland perthshire to townhill then accept dunfermline and rosyth are dumps enroute to the bridge.
Damn, I thought it was the other way round :facepalm:
Anyway, FE describes pretty-much the reverse of this route, which does at least miss Dunfermline. You still get Rosyth, but it has the bonus of not going through Cowdenbeath or Perth. I've always found Perth a right pain to get through onna bike.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30166330
Although on the basis that the Bealach nam Ba is in there
Auchterarder - Dunning - Path of condie - Milnathort ;D
Although on the basis that the Bealach nam Ba is in there
Auchterarder - Dunning - Path of condie - Milnathort ;D
+ Strathmiglo - Falkland - Leslie ( - Ballingry - Lochgelly - Cowdenbeath - Crossgates :P )
Bobb, you may be interested in having a play with brouter: https://brouter.de/brouter-web/#map=7/57.454/-3.988/standard
And there's the option of the Kylerhea ferry to get from Skye to the mainland.
Have you been to the Hebrides before?
IMO the spinal Hebridean Way misses some of the best riding there. It's hard to come up with circular routes, but it's all stunning enough to ride out and back. Harris is also worth a full circle, the contrast between West and East coasts is stark, I did a little reading on the clearances before going, the scenery put it into context.
My advice would be to cover a smaller area and explore it more thoroughly. There's probably 400+ miles of touring just in the Hebrides.
Whatever you do will be good, I just have some regrets about missing parts of an area toured which I can't now visit unless I retrace a lot of the original tour.
Looks a great adventure. I see you have gone for route 7 through the Cairngorms national park with a wee visit up Cairngorm. I suggest a nicer route down to Perth is head to Tomintoul from Grantown on Spey. Continue south over to Corgarff then Crathie to Braemar. Plenty of fuelling opportunities there. Then continue south through Glenshee to Perth.
My suggested route is hillier but is one of the best routes in Scotland.
I hope you have a great time. You probably don’t have much of an option, but the road on Skye east of Portree is the worst road I have ever cycled on for frequent, fast close-pass traffic. My recommendation, if not too late, is to get off of it asap and take the road to the ferry rather than the bridge.
It’s a road a will never cycle again. If you go that way, I hope you have a better experience.
I'm assuming that Spacebadger means the A87 south of Portree to the bridge via Broadford.
Our experience is probably not that relevant as when we went, there were massive road works along there and a convoy system in operation. It seemed that when the road was originally built it was probably done on the cheap and where it crossed what I assume to be a peat bog, it sunk. We were also there in early April (apart from the first day, we had fantastic weather, astonishingly warm and sunny) so maybe there wasn't so much traffic about as there is likely to be in the summer.
I would recommend this coast road (https://goo.gl/maps/UNGRE3T51FogGnjH6) though as an alternative to the A87. It was virtually empty and utterly beautiful. A few extra miles, but worth every pedal stroke.
The 'ch' is soft, if that helps...
The 'ch' is soft, if that helps...