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incorrect holiday in Scotland
I had a great time riding in Scotland with Sharon and Tony over several days
added to our American Independence Day in early July, and Sharon just told me she had a great time too. We did this trip in our usual "incorrect" style: rented a car and used it to take our bikes to the best riding we could find on the days with the best weather (and doing other activities when it was wet). Our focus was on the west coast, especially the isles of Skye and Mull, but we also did some fun rides in eastern Scotland. I thought the seacoast riding was in the first rank, in good weather comparable to the west coast of Corsica. The samples I got of farm country riding around the Tweed River and near Loch Ness were impressively pretty. Overall perfect temperature for riding, get away from the heat of summer. Highlights for us: * spectacular descent: west down from the Klyerhea - Breakish pass, near Broadford on Skye. * gentle pretty seaside ride: north side of Mull South, along An Leth Onn bay. * adventure in a single day on both isle + mainland: Skye bridge - Plockton on mainland - Shiel Bridge - Glenelg-Kylerhea ferry - Breakish. * sustained coastal atmosphe Trotternish peninsula loop on Skye. * pretty farms and fun smooth pavement south of Melrose in the Tweed valley. * city exploring: in and around the city of Edinburgh on our tandem bike. More details below. Ken _________________________________________ Overall impressions of riding in Scotland: * special mix of sea/lakes and mountains * offers both open spaces and trees * sheep and other animals by the road were cute * we like the Scottish stone-house architecture * lots of coarse-stone pavement, especially in the isles and northwest and in the cities -- but most of the surface was sound, a few short mildly-eroded sections. * hilly. Glad we trained in advance for it. Sometimes we walked our bike up a steep hill, and then were glad for the reward of the view at the top and a fun roll down the other side. * single-lane lane roads with pull-outs ("lay-bys"?) -- lots of them on the west coast. * multi-sport: lots of options for hiking + scrambling, rock climbing, kayaking. * our Bike Friday Project Q bicycle worked fine to pack on the airline, and we used it as both a tandem and a single bike. * the Lonely Planet "Cycling Britain" guide was a helpful source of ideas. Below are some detailed notes on specific areas. Many guidebooks and reports are designed for traditional multi-day point-to-point cycling-only tours, so I want to contribute some ideas for the many of us who enjoy great single-day rides and get to them by driving our car. Western isles and coast: See separate note. Loch Ness: Tony and I did a pretty loop clockwise along the southeast side of Loch Ness around Foyers and Dores on the B862 + B852 (around 32 miles). We met other happy cyclists who had ridden out from Inverness (adds another 17 miles or more). I almost liked the farm country more than riding alongside the big lake. We drove with our car on the B851 and an un-numbered road from Inverness, and those also looked pretty and promising. Also drove the A82 on the northwest side of Loch Ness, and didn't like the looks of that for cycling, so I do not think we'll try riding all the way around the loch. River Tweed: Sharon and I rode a semi-random loop around St Boswells and Melrose and Selkirk, both on roads and off-road cycle paths. We liked the farm plots covering the moderate hills; the mix of cows, horses, and sheep; and the smooth pavement on quiet roads way outside the villages. I suspect there's lots of pleasant pretty farm country to ride around in other areas of eastern Scotland. Edinburgh city: Sharon and I spent a fun day exploring all around Edinburgh. Started in Dalkeith, rode into Edinburgh roughly following roads from the Lonely Planet Cycling Britain guidebook (day 3 of Scottish Borders), explored the Old Town and New Town, then took an off-road cycle path to the harbors of Granton and Leith, on the streets back to Holyrood Palace, the Queens Rd (?) around the hill of Holyrood Park, then the National Cycle Network route 1 (much on off-road paths) back toward Dalkeith. Some of the off-road cycle paths were elevated above the surrounding streets and houses, and that gave me a nice feeling of openness. _____________________________________________ |
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