With all this snow about, I’ve had to winter-ise my bike again. So here it is in the snow tonight after the commute up the hill.
Continue reading ‘Winter cycling’
Monthly Archive for November, 2010
I spent a great but tiring weekend recently in the west with Peter Evans, staying in Suardalan Bothy in Glen More, near Sheil Bridge, then in the Kintail Lodge bunkhouse.
On the Saturday we ventured up Beinn Sgritheall from its more dramatic north side, which has a much less demanding gradient than the roadside route from Arnisdale. We had a beautiful clear day – before all the snow arrived this week – so enjoyed views from the summit over the Knoydart and to the Cuillin ridge on Skye.
We walked in and out to the bothy in the pitch dark, so I’ve no idea what the route through the forest from Moyle looks like. We struggled to find the bothy late on the Friday night when we arrived, in fact. In hindsight, we should have taken a bearing from the bridge where you emerge from the forest, but thankfully there’s a wall which we followed round until we found our beds for the night.
There was no-one else there that weekend, and we found the bothy well looked after and in excellent condition. It even had some candles and firewood and coal waiting to be used. It was a cold night outside but I slept well in my down sleeping bag, and that was without us lighting the fire.
After doing Ben Sgritheall, we headed to Skye on the Sunday, to do another long walk (around 10 miles) around Elgol and above the cliffs from Camasunary.
In the lodge, we had the company of a chap who was cycling around Scotland for three months and climbing Munros as he went. And he was 60! Happy retirement – I hope I’m doing something like that when I’m 60.
I’ve had a busy few weeks and have managed to fit in a good few walks and rides, including a great 20 mile road ride from Auldearn.
I also walked the old drove road from Scotsburn to Strathrory in Easter Ross and on Sunday I followed General Wade’s Road from Inverness to Moy.
All these adventures will be featured in Active Outdoors in the Inverness Courier over the next few weeks, so make sure you get hold of a copy!
I love combining a bike ride with a mountain outing, even if it’s just for a few short miles. Starting from Inverlael near Ullapool, you get get quite a way into Gleann ns Squaib on two wheels.
That’s exactly what Meg, Peter and myself did when we did a round of three Munros, Beinn Dearg, Meall nan Ceapraichaen and Eldidh nan Clach Geala. We’d planned to add Cona Mheall to our route as well but decided to skip it, and we’ve still not got back up there yet, despite at least one attempt since!
The full route is described in the latest TGO magazine – that’s the December 2010 edition.
Now I’m looking forward to some more winter trips in the Scottish mountains. I just hope this wind will calm down soon, as we’ve got an interesting bothying trip planned for the weekend…
Work has started around Portland Place in Inverness on improvements to a section of the National Cycle Network.
The redesigned road layout involves installing extra islands in Waterloo Place and Shore Street, new bollards between Portland Place and Shore Street, reduced car parking (which blocked visibility for cyclists joining Shore Street), more drop kerbs and a safer crossing place on Waterloo Place.
Highland Council is doing a decent job here to improve facilities for cyclists on a busy route in the city. This part of the NCN also leads up Innes Street to the railway station and is regularly used by cycle commuters, so these changes will make a real difference to safety.
Cycle signs will be moved and new ones installed once the work is complete, so this should be a great area for cyclists now. Keep up the good work!
John Davidson's Guide to Walking and Cycling in Inverness and the Highlands
I'm a journalist in Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland who specialises in the great outdoors - including walking, cycling and mountaineering. I write a regular Active Outdoors feature for the Inverness Courier as well as contributing to other publications, including leading hillwalking magazine TGO.
