A cycling trip through the Outer Hebrides – May 2019
Day 1 – Saturday 11th May 2019
It’s a long way to Scotland, at least the bit we’re going to. Five hours in a car, then an (almost) 5 hour ferry crossing just to get to the start of the ride. But I’m sure it’ll be worth it. Google reckons that Castlebay on Barra, our first overnight stay, only boasts two eating establishments but the first one we rang was fully booked but the second proved fruitful so we’re booked in for 8pm.
Car parking in Oban proved challenging. The recommended free car park on social media turned out to have to changed to pay-and-display last year and now wanted £192 for the week! I declined to pay this (I hadn’t enough pound coins, amongst other things) and instead found a quiet street not far from the port which will be great, as long as the car is still there next week. If not, the ride will be extended by 290 miles.
The crossing is fine, and the ship serves good beer and coffee (we had to try both before deciding which we wanted). I’m still trying to work out why there is a lonely man sitting in the place reserved for dogs even though he clearly doesn’t have one. Perhaps he just likes dogs and is hoping for someone to bring one to him. We’ve seen dolphins, but they were too fast (or shy) for me to capture them on camera.
Many of the other passengers are cyclists also planning to tackle the Hebridean Way, so I’ve no doubt we will meet them again along the route.
I’m posting this now since the hostel tonight might not have Wi-Fi. Or electric. Who knows?
Day 2 – Sunday 12th May 2019
Having arrived at 6.15 in the evening and being the last two off the ferry, we decided to ride to the start of the Hebridean Way this evening before checking into the hostel. This ride was originally on tomorrow’s schedule, but hey, we’re nowt if not flexible. The ride was gorgeous, alongside turquoise blue sea and white sandy bays. Didn’t see any otters, sadly, but did see the wreck of a Catalina flying boat.
Taking a slight detour meant that I almost made us late for the meal booked at the Castlebay hotel: we were only 10 minutes late, but I can now claim to have ridden all the roads on the island. The meal was delicious, but expensive and even though we are on a tiny island, the one thing unavailable on the menu was the fish of the day. I ordered fish pie which presumably was not that day’s fish. Tasted OK, though.
I mentioned about checking onto the hostel but this wasn’t quite true. I’d pre-booked, and my name was on a blackboard against a room number so we just took up occupancy. The system seemed to work, since no-one else tried to claim the room.
We awoke to stunning views and can’t wait to get on the road to cycle on three more islands: Eriskay, South Uist and Benbecula.
We were treated to a gorgeous sunny morning, so after a swift breakfast, we quickly got on the road to see three more islands: Eriskay, South Uist and Benbecula. We set off northwest to find yet more beautiful white sand beaches before heading towards Barra airport which sounds much grander than it is. In essence, it’s just a small terminal building, a windsock and a beach. We were lucky to see a Loganair flight from Glasgow land and later take off, but whilst we took care to avoid the blast from the engines on take off (the aircraft was just 10m away when it began its run) we had parked the bikes earlier and never considered them in the excitement. Consequently, they got sandblasted and I spent the next five minutes brushing the sand from my freshly oiled chain and cassette using grass. Oh well, I’ll know for next time.
We caught a very full ferry to Eriskay, our 2nd island today, before swiftly passing over a causeway onto South Uist. This was (imo) the least pretty island we’ve seen so far, but it still knocks spots off Central Lancs. A 15mph tailwind soon boosted us to our lunch spot on a gorgeous white sand beach (sorry, I’ll stop going on about them soon (perhaps)).
Benbecula was our final destination and a cute glamping pod, our gaff for the night. After a brew and rest, we went for a ride (without luggage) to Peter’s Port, a posh name for a slipway, a load of lobster nets and a collection of pieces of scrap including an old Spanish truck and the tanks from two road fuel tankers.
The pod is great, with everything we might need including more food supplies than we can carry on our bikes.
Already looking forward to continuing cycling through Benbecula tomorrow then on to North Uist, Berneray and Harris.
P.S. Just seen the weather report, and where is the warmest place in the UK tonight? The Outer Hebrides!
Day 3 – Monday 13th May 2019
A 20mph tailwind quickly helped us through Benbecula and across the causeway onto our 5th island, North Uist, which initially didn’t look too promising, but the scenery improved as the sun came out and was soon at the standard we’ve grown to expect on this trip. I promised not to mention the turquoise sea and white sand beaches any more, so I won’t. We were on a schedule to meet a ferry, but the tailwind advantage allowed us enough time to take a detour to a 6th island, Berneray which also had stunning views.
The ferry was interesting. The route necessitated weaving through many small islands and rocks, but the pilot (captain?) was helped by carefully placed coloured buoys. He/she simply had to keep the red ones to the left and the green ones to the right. Simple and effective, and it felt just like a slalom. The hour-long crossing passed very quickly chatting to a couple from New Zealand who were in Europe for 2 months.
We were met off the ferry at Leverburgh (on Harris, island 7) by Nigel who happened to be staying locally. In duller conditions, we made our way north on some recently top-dressed roads. Note to self, and more urgently to Jim; riding fast downhill on half an inch of loose gravel is NOT recommended. Fortunately, grippy tyres, a bit of skill and loads of luck got us all down safely. To be fair, Nigel had ridden this road earlier and had warned us about loose chippings, but Jim though he said ‘loose chickens’ so he wasn’t that concerned.
The digs tonight didn’t offer food and since they are miles from anywhere, we stopped for dinner at about 3pm at the Machair Kitchen, Talla na Mara. By the time we came out, so did the sun, transforming the scenery to five-star once more.
We are staying in the last house before the beach at Luskentyre so Jim felt he had to go for a swim in 8°C temperatures – good on him! I’m sure the chilblains won’t last long. Spent the evening chatting to our landlady’s husband, listening to the many interesting tales he has to relate of his youth living in a crofters cottage.
The route today was quite flat, but tomorrow we’re prepared for more hilly terrain on North Harris and Lewis. With the continuing tailwind, I doubt we’ll even notice them.
Day 4 – Tuesday 14th May 2019
A full Scottish breakfast set us up very well for today, as we headed still further north. The first 6 miles or so were into the wind, but that just served as a useful reminder of what we could have had. The other 50 miles were wind-assisted once more – we are certainly getting spoiled this week. So far. It’s only Tuesday after all.
This was also the first hilly day, which was quite challenging since I was hauling 8kg of luggage. Much of this stuff is wet/cold weather contingency which may still be required. Despite the huge breakfast, we stopped for more refreshment just before leaving Harris at what appeared to be an upmarket burger bar. It sold good coffee and terrific brownies. It also had strawberry cream cakes, but I managed to resist.
All day (in fact each day so far), we have been leap-frogging groups of cyclists who travel at different speeds. One group today comprised two French, one American and one (possibly) German who were all speaking English. One bike was electric, one a lightweight road bike (with close ratio gears and carbon wheels) and two ‘normal’ bikes. The group appeared to be supported by three French women. We haven’t yet worked out how such a disparate group managed to team up. We had fun with the guy on the lecky bike. He’d pass us on the climbs pedalling really slowly and sat bolt upright, but couldn’t keep up on the flat or downhill when his electric assist ran out at 15mph! It reminded me of the old Harry Enfield jockey sketch. (Look it up on YouTube if you’re too young to remember)
At one point today we had to ride through ‘roadworks’ in a convoy, following a truck doing about 25 mph. After about half a mile he pulled over to let the traffic continue and only at that point did we realise that the only obstruction were the guys operating the stop/go signs! It’s a job, I suppose.
The standing stones at Callanish were a disappointment this time since there were so many crowds around them they lost their spirituality (for me, at least). I still had to take some pictures though.
We arrived at our digs at 3pm but since we were staying in what is actually a museum, this was fine. We’re in a black house village in a stone-built hut with a thatched roof. It isn’t quite authentic since it has 21st century plumbing, electricity and WiFi, but that suits me fine.
It’s a gorgeous location though, beside a secluded bay overlooked by steep cliffs. Unfortunately, we couldn’t buy food here, so we had a decent lunch and decided to just have a couple of cheese butties for tea. The trouble is there are a couple of American girls staying here who have cooked a whole chicken along with a huge tray of baked veg. Made us look really cheap. I don’t reckon they had to carry their gourmet feast on panniers for 50 miles which was the last proper shop we passed.
It’s our last day travelling north tomorrow as we head for the Butt of Lewis then back down to Stornoway. It’d be OK if the wind changed back to a northerly at that point. Just saying…
Day 5 – Wednesday 15th May 2019
Why is it that artistic-types seem to think that in the remotest parts of NW Scotland travellers need to have craft shops/art galleries every 5 miles but yet can manage 40-odd miles without a tea or coffee shop? If I owned a gallery out here, I’d certainly have a coffee shop attached. What better way to get customers through the door? But no. There was one gallery about 20 miles into our ride today which advertised coffee, so we pulled in at 10.15 only to find that although the gallery was open, the coffee shop wasn’t! So six hungry and thirsty cyclists walked out (without buying any £300+ paintings either).
After another few miles we found an honesty box by the road offering brownies, flapjack and water. This was operated by a man from Yorkshire who ran the Hebridean Brownie Company (other brownies are available (but not here)) and spotted a marketing opportunity. He sells snacks and water to cyclists who are not served by anyone else. Seems to be doing OK, too.
He also recommended our next café shop which was run by a guy from Sheffield. It’s like Little Yorkshire round here.
The Butt of Lewis was lovely. Far less crowded than John o’ Goats and not in the least commercial yet almost as far north and more remote. The lighthouse is over 120 feet high and unusually, made of brick.
We didn’t stop long, wanting to get on the road south and find some grub. The wind was against us, but not as fierce as in previous days. No food to be had though, although we did persuade a pottery owner to make us a cup of tea and some shortbread biscuits. We had to wait until 3pm before we could buy some chips in Stornoway; they were good!
It’s going to have to be an early start tomorrow since we’re booked on a ferry soon after 11am and it’s 36 miles away! I’ve planned the first part of the journey to be through the grounds of Lews castle – quite a complicated off-road route, so I had to do a recce tonight to make sure we didn’t get lost in the morning. The things I do to mitigate all the risks in the plan!
Great pizza and 2-for-1 beer in the pub tonight. Perhaps it wasn’t 2-for-1, but we didn’t get charged for one round so it was the same effect. They got a big tip, however.
I should go to sleep now, but it’s still broad daylight and doesn’t feel like bedtime. But that’s what you get at 58.2° latitude in May.
Day 6 – Thursday 16th May 2019
The 7.30 start today felt necessary at the time, but since we arrived at Tarbert at 10.15 for an 11.50 ferry, perhaps we were a smidge over-cautious. But anything could have happened – punctures, breakdowns, serious headwinds, stress-related lethargy, – but didn’t. That’s the thing with risks, they don’t always occur, especially if they’ve been mitigated to the point of non-existence.
Once more, last night we stayed in a rather eccentric B&B. The owner was a lovely lady who cooked a mean breakfast, but employed staff for the menial stuff, including her son, a 40-odd-year-old who was a cracking artist, but perhaps lacking the acumen to run a small business and Guido (“Hello, I am Guido and I am from Holland”) who showed us to our room in a most meticulous manner. In the morning, the receipt, which ‘the lady of the house’ (Guido’s phrase) insisted we accepted, was an exercise in precision and very neat calligraphy. Everything in the place worked, and was clean and tidy but just ever so slightly odd. Just the way I like it.
Once on the ship, I bagged the best seats (deck 5 on the port side at the bow, if you’re interested) and began the lookout for dolphins and whales. If there were any, I missed them ‘cos I promptly fell asleep, no doubt catching up on what I missed last night. At least I didn’t dribble or snore – did I?
The pace relaxed once we landed at Uig on Skye since we had all afternoon to travel the 16 miles to our digs in Portree. But of course it wasn’t 16 miles, was it? We chose to travel over the famous Quiraing road, listed as a dangerous road in several websites, but made more dangerous for us due to loose chippings, loads of left-hand drive cars, tour buses and huge camper vans driven by morons. Perhaps. Well, very likely. There was even a traffic jam at the top.
Once back on the main road to Portree, the enjoyment was curtailed as the traffic density increased and so did the rain. The rain wasn’t heavy, but enough to require waterproofs. Looking on the bright side, at least I didn’t carry them all this way for nothing.
Tonight’s accommodation is unusual – a big black campervan parked on a drive in downtown Portree. The owner wasn’t in when we arrived, but the van was open and also held keys to the house. Needing a shower and a brew enticed us to enter the house and ‘borrow’ some water and milk. Later, a young lady come out of the house and when I spoke to her, she almost accused me of breaking and entering! “I know you’ve been in the house, I heard you!” she said, accusingly. Well, yes, that was probably because I shouted ‘hello’ really loudly as I entered the hall and again before going into the living room. Apparently, she was in bed upstairs before going out to work this evening but chose not to answer Jim rapping on both front and rear doors and windows.
The owner was lovely (once she made an appearance). She was Scottish, but married to Vitaly, a Muldavan chap with many stories to tell. There were more interesting stories in the restaurant later sitting beside a New York psychiatrist who was visiting Skye on the strength of watching Skyfall. He was also a bit miffed that five days into his 7-day holiday, United Airlines still hadn’t found his luggage. However, he has found that Tesco can provide almost all of his needs. He is now hoping never to see his suitcase again, since then he’ll then be $1500 better off and completely re-attired courtesy of Tesco.
At present, both Jim and I are being sad gits sitting in a pub both tapping away on our phones whilst quaffing the very drinkable Skye ales. But it’s more comfortable than a 1996 Mercedes Sprinter.
Day 7 – Friday 17th May 2019
After a surprisingly good night (possibly helped by a few beers the night before), the initial journey south was a bit chilly and on a very busy road. Jim said “Can we get off this road soon?” “Yes, I know a route,” I replied with confidence, “ignore the road closed sign, it was fine three years ago, and anyway, the instruction won’t apply to bikes”.
OK, I’m big enough to admit to being wrong now and then, and sure enough, about 4 miles into the five mile deviation, the road disappeared entirely – it was indeed closed to all but climbers! And neither of us had had the foresight to bring ropes. But we managed to find a way round and were then able to help a pair of fully-loaded Australian cycle-tourists coming the other way. “Aye, it’ll be reet”, we told them and they carried on their way oblivious. For a while. 😉
I know a terrific pizza restaurant on the route, so we agreed to have an early lunch there, but I failed to account for the fact that the pizzas were only available from noon which was a little too late for us. The superb breakfast baps went a long way to correct things however.
Coincidentally, as I was eating, an email came through about a forthcoming charity ride, asking me to choose my dinner menu for the final evening at an hotel just 1/4 mile away in Broadford! Spooky.
The road to the Armadale ferry was wonderful – quiet, generally smooth and almost flat. Well, it was what counts for flat up here. Pleasant ferry ride over to Mallaig, but awfully busy with (mainly) French tourists who were seriously overdressed for the 20° sushine we enjoyed on the crossing. No dolphins, however. Too hot for them, you reckon?
Straight off the ferry, and we took the old road towards Arisaig and we are plunged right back into turquoise-sea-and-white-sand country. Photos to follow since they’re still in my camera.
It’s an idyllic area, as is the setting for our evening meal for tonight. I cycled out for a recce, but found myself forced to check the quality of the beer after reserving a table. I have just contacted Jim to tell him that I’m settled here for the next few hours. He’ll be joining me soon to enjoy the 17° evening sunshine prior to the 12° and rain which is forecast for tomorrow’s leg of our journey. Ah well, we’ve done really well so far: better than we could have expected, or perhaps deserve.
Day 8 – Saturday 18th May 2019
All good things come to an end, and in our case it was the run of dry, sunny weather. For our last full day of cycling, we’ve had rain just about all day. But let’s count the positives:
- I have now worn / used every optional item of luggage that I brought,
- my waterproofs work,
- we still had a tailwind (generally)
- I didn’t get sunburned.
There are no negatives: as they say, a bad day on a bike is better than a good day in the office.
We arrived at the Loch Shiel hotel in Acharacle at lunchtime, and after a bit of a struggle we found someone willing to take our order for food and drink. (I thought perhaps they didn’t get much passing trade and having a rush of 2 cyclists at noon took them by surprise, but before we left further 8 people arrived. Not sure how they coped).
We got more food than we bargained for since cullen skink appeared on both the starter and main course menus. We ordered the one priced as a starter but received the main! I thought it was a remarkably big (and delicious) starter, but only when we received the bill did we realise that there had been confusion.
As we were leaving, three cycle tourists arrived, all riding apparently brand new, but retro-looking Paul Hewitt hand-made bikes. They’d stayed in the same hostel as us in Castlebay and probably arrived on the same ferry from Oban. I know that everyone has their own foibles and odd ways, but these people seemed unusually trusting. In Castlebay they left their very expensive bikes unlocked overnight and once more today, the bikes were unlocked but this time, with top end Garmin GPSs still attached, yet the panniers (presumably only containing next week’s washing) were taken into the hotel for security! Very odd.
Today’s ride was the hardest of the tour, not just because of the rain, but the terrain was very undulating. For the first 40 miles there were no flat bits, even though we were cycling alongside lochs. Then when we thought we’d nearly finished, we were faced with climbing a huge hill rising from Loch Sunart. Although it was on the plan, it was still spirit-sapping. The road was almost straight so you could always see what was coming up. (Steep bits, if you’re interested)
But we arrived no worse for wear and were soon settled in a lovely Victorian villa (which is too hot, but we can’t open the windows because of midges!)
We were advised to book a meal at the local hotel which we did (“I’ll see if I can fit you in.” said the landlord) but when we arrived, the waitress seemed surprised to see us. The landlord (a Cap’n Birdseye lookalike) appeared shocked when Jim asked to sample the draft ale, and sort-of insisted he bought a half. I bought a bottle of local ale, got scowled at for asking for a chilled one, and then was given a half-pint glass. Another scowl (worthy of Ronnie Corbett in the four candles sketch) accompanied the provision of a pint glass.
The waitress took the order, then the chef showed us to another room which turned out to be the dining room, set for about 24, but with only us in. The whole experience was bizarre.
We left soon afterwards to find somewhere that would sell us a pint with no scowls, but the only place left in town was a working men’s club where we had to sign in as temporary members. Here we became best friends with a 6’4″ drunken Glaswegian whose accent was as thick as a docker’s butty. This is one weird place. But I love it.
Day 9 – Sunday 19th May 2019
And finally, I’m home again after driving 612 miles, being ferried for 152 miles and cycling for 472 miles (which included almost 24,000 feet of climbing). There were a few walks, too, but these don’t count. I was surprised at the climbing; I had gone with the notion that the Outer Hebrides were quite flat, but of course, the return journey included Skye and some mainland which were anything but.
The last day saw little cycling. It was damp and midgey, so we were just glad to be on the move or indoors. Two more ferries and a short bike ride and we were back at the car facing a long drive south. Already planning the next ride in June, however…
I’m now waiting for a rainy day so I can sort through my pictures; there may be enough for a ‘deleted scenes with a director’s commentary’ yet. Watch this space.
