At the moment it's cold, miserable and dark. Things will change though, in a few months time it will be warm and sunny and perfect for a nice holiday.
It's important not to miss opportunities for a good holiday so here is an idea for a cheap and healthy holiday which will provide unparalled opportunities for experiencing the clear, fresh air of the countryside and the thrill and excitement of travelling through magnificent scenery and homely, inviting villages and towns where fine, hearty meals can be obtained and refreshing, alcholic drinks can be drunk.
This would be a cycling holiday, so anyone who doesn't like excercise should look away now, through some of the best scenery the UK has to offer following the Sustrans route number 7 from Inverness to Glasgow. In total this is a journey of 214 miles, a third of which is on purpose built cycle tracks and the rest of which aims to stick to small, low traffic B Roads where possible. In theory this should take around a week to complete but at a nice leisurley pace and with time to stop off and take detours to interesting places would probably take more like a week and a half - you could for example take a detour down the side of Loch Ness which would probably take and extra day or two.
There's plenty of B&B's, Youth Hostels etc along the route so you won't have to take too much stuff with you, the route is rated as being "moderate" which means there may be some hills but also lot's of flats and downhills.
I was thinking of doing this at the end of Spring/beginning of Summer sometime when it's warm but not stupidly hot ( if that's possible in the UK ). If you don't have a bike you can hire them in Glasgow from between £40 - £50 for a week, I already have a puncture repair kit and a pump and my map reading skills are generally reckoned to be excellent so there'd be no danger of getting lost.
What To Take
I reckon we should plan on washing important stuff every 3 days or so, the less you take the quicker you can wash it and dry it. Here is a guide to the types of things you might consider taking with you. Basically it's common sense, you will want stuff which is comfortable and will keep you either warm, dry or cool as the conditions allow. The tried and tested method for this is to use 3 layers of clothing; an underlayer which goes next to your skin which can take the moisture away from your skin ( i.e. nothing cotton based ) a secondary layer of a lightweight fleece and then a water and windproof layer, something like an anorak. This type of arrangement you can add or remove layers easily to suit the conditions.
The Route
Behold, the entire route in all its glory.
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Progress . . .
Things are beginning to come together, the only problem so far is that no one I have had to e-mail to enquire about accomodation has got back to me as yet but they are probably just lazy.
On the positive side the itinery is probably looking something like this:
Thu 27th July: Arrive Glasgow.
Fri 28 July - Cycle to Loch Lomond and the Youth Hostel there which my mother has apparently stayed in before and which she says is very nice. She has slightly higher standards than me when it comes to staying in places so this is a good sign.
Sat 29th July - Cycle to Loch Venachar and Callander, maybe take in Loch Katrine on the way. Planning to stay in Hostel which is also a large cycle shop with bike parts and mechanics etc. Yet to finalise booking here
Sun 30 July - Hang around Callander and visit Stirling, see the castle and other stuff
Mon 31 July - Cycle to Killin past Loch Lubnaig and Loch Earn
Tue 1st August - Cycle down Loch Tay, lots to see here including Crannog Centre and watersports centre. Not a very long day so plenty of time for site seeing
Wed 2nd August - Cycle 50 miles up the longest and highest hill of the journey. Arrive at Newtonmore where we have a place in Newtonmore hostel
Thur 3rd August - Meander towards Inverness, perhaps check out Cairngorms, Aviemore and various Whisky Distilleries
Fri 4th August - Continue towards Inverness, perhaps head to Moray Firth and see some of the villages along there, dolphin spotting boat rides leave from some of them
Sat - 5th August - Decide what we do next, I think it will be more fun not to make too many advance plans from here, we have until the following Wednesday before we need to be back in Inverness and there are numerous opportunities for adventure including Loch Ness, trips to the Orkney islands, further North to John O Groats, we could even follow another Sustrans route down Loch Ness and the Great Glen to Fort William and Oban and meet up with our train back in Glasgow. The possibilities are endless.
thinking....
It's only 100 miles from Inverness to Oban through Loch Ness and the Great Glen, we could probably do this in 3 days without too much trouble at all and arrive in Oban on Monday. From Oban you can catch the CalMac ferries to all of the Western Isles which would be fun to do on Tuesday. Our inverness train wouldn't arrive in Glasgow until around 4PM so depending on what the services are like from Oban we'd have Wednesday to explore as well. Just a thought though.
What to take ?
It is vital to be prepared for everything the Scottish climate and terrain can throw at us, this is what I think I will be taking.
Bike Related
Outdoor Living
To Wear
To Navigate
I'm sure there is more than that needed but it will do for a starter list.
More things
I think it's probably also a good idea to get some spare brake and gear cables, they're only around £1 and don't weigh anything but without them bikes are pretty much useless. Also make sure that you have the necessary sized spanners, allen keys and screwdrivers for all the important bits of the bike, from my recent experiences those all in one screwdriver/allen key sets are a pain in the ass to actually use - especially the screwdriver so I think i'm going to bring a lot of seperate ones.
But...
But I'm not coming and if I was I'd get the train.
GIGO
We wouldn't have it any other way !
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ho
You could not have it any other way!
Ooo Hooo Hoooo Hooo
We would not want it any other way !
Yearly
Will this be the event of the year???
Also, can Rich re-publish his blog address? I have lost it in a recent hard drive incident.
Definitely
It certainly will be, both for Scotland and us.
You will be wanting http://st00ka.blogspot.com. In the latest installment Rich says that Sonar was just exactly like, what he terms as, the Leicester festival for embarrassing dancing dads.
Sónar de Dia
Ah yes but I haven't yet written anything about the night part which was any but like the Leicester Dancing Dad festival.
Anyway, You surely won't deny that Summer Sundae has more than it's fair share of embarrassing hippy parents??
Trousers
ONE PAIR OF TROUSERS!!!!
Smelly boy!
Safety First
I only own two pairs of trousers so it would be simply foolish to risk both of them in dangerous Scotland.
Kilt
Where is your Kilt on the list and a tube of lubrication for tossing your cabre
Oh the chafing
If I was to wear a kilt on me bike I suspect I'd need far more lube than I could carry in my sporran for my caber.
Basically Working
Here's where we have to go and some stuff along the way, next step is to sort out some dates.
Things to see and do along the way
The plan is beginning to come together so here is a brief itinerary together with some ideas of things to see and do along the way.
1. Glasgow - Loch Lomond ( 19 miles, 17 of them traffic free )
There's plenty to see and do in Glasgow including wandering around the centre, visiting pubs and nightclubs and some of the numerous attractions in the city.
The cycle route takes us out of the city along a nice flat gradient along the northern bank of Clyde where we should be able to see the remains of the once great ship building industry which used to flourish here. At Dunbarton we will swing north towards the foot of Loch Lomond at Balloch. A nice place to spend the first night with a good meal, a few drinks and a wander down to see the Loch which features heavily in romantic scottish literature due it's great beauty.
Places to stay, there's the Youth Hostel at a very reasonable £15 a night ( details here ) but you may to have book quite early or the Time Out B&B at a slightly more pricy £30 a night.
2. Loch Lomond to Loch Venechar ( 30 miles, 12 traffic free )
Leaving Balloch and swinging away from Loch Lomond on quiet B roads the route starts off flat but encounters the first 2 climbs to 200 metres interspersed with some nice long downhill runs.
Detours are possible from here to visit several local attractions including Stirling Castle ( known as the key to the Highlands due it's location guarding the bridge over the Forth river ), Stirling Bridge the scene of a famous battle as popularised by the film Braveheart, The Wallace Monument where you can see William Wallaces sword, Doune Castle which was made famous from it's inclusion in the film Monty Python & The Holy Grail and Deanston Whisky distillery which it may be possible to tour around and the Lake Of Menteith which is the only lake in Scotland. These detours would probably take an extra day to visit properly ( and could easily be done by bus should you be wanting a break from the cycle ). There is also Loch Katrine which could be visited where you can go on the steamship which travels up and down the Loch or cycle around it. Loch Katrine found fame through various novels by Walter Scott and turned it into a major tourist attraction. The number of carriages goig to the Loch apparently increased 100 fold after the publishing of Rob Roy.
There is a backpackers hostel near Callander which looks ideal at £15 a night and in a good location for site seeing.
3. Loch Venechar to Loch Tay ( 30 miles, 20 traffic free )
The day begins with a nice long flat stretch along the shores of the picturesque Loch Venechar which takes down backroads into the small town of Callander. Callander is the heart of the Trossachs region and is an excellent place to stop for a break and stock up on things to eat for lunch. The road continues past the famous Wollen Mill towards Loch Lubnaig which is again another very beautiful Loch on the shores of which you can find numerous nice places for lunch. There used to be a wildcat in a large cage along the shore of this Loch but when I went to see it the cage was open and the wildcat was not inside it.
Continuing North past Lochearnhead you can visit the grave of the famous highland bandit Rob Roy at Balquidder and begin the next major climb to 300 feet through Glen Ogle before a nice descent in the Killin on the shores of Loch Tay.
There are numerous attractions along this route including the aforementioned grave of Rob Roy and including several waterfalls and the first real of view of proper mountains.
4. Loch Tay to Strathspey ( 25 miles all down a B Road )
The road heads almost directly North with a nice rolling section along the side of Loch Tay ( the busy A road takes the opposite side of the Loch ) for quite a while before flattening out completely through Aberfeldy and the the destination Strathspey.
5. Strathtay to Dalnacardoch ( 28 Miles all down B roads )
This day is mostly flat but with a long gentle uphill pull towards the end.
6. Dalnacardoch to Newtonmore ( 24 miles, 16 traffic free )
By contrast this day is mostly a long gentle downhill with just a small climb up to Drumochter pass at the beginning of the day.
7. Newtonmore to Carrbridge ( 29 miles, 5 traffic free )
A nice flat day with a few bumps and small climb before the end.
8. Carrbridge To Inverness ( 30 miles, 2 traffic free )
A few small climbs in the morning with a great long fairly steep downhill into Inverness.
9. Off to visit Loch Ness for a few days.
As I conduct further research on each area I will add the various highlights ( lowlights ), attractions and pubs to be found along the way.
Stupidly Hot?
Stupidly hot in Scotland, don't be stupid!
Lots of interest?
Lots of interest in this then Joe.
I'm hoping most interested pa
I'm hoping most interested parties might be writing to me in the normal mail and that's why the flood of interest is taking so long to gather pace.
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