My summer project is finally finished and I’ve made my cycle tour into a 92-page book:
Book
Follow this link to preview some of the pages:
www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1623137
I will be printing one copy to keep for posterity and to show friends/family. Unfortunately Blurb prices are prohibitively expensive (£35 + P&P for my own copy) so it’s not commercially viable for me to sell the book at a reasonable price.
Most enjoyable day?
Day 14 was my favourite day of the trip. The weather was excellent and the scenery was superb. I cycled up the Bealach na Ba, Scotland’s highest mountain pass before climbing Beinn Damh in the evening for an incredible sunset.
Me at the top of Bealach na Ba
Least enjoyable day?
Day 23. Although other days were more challenging, day 23 was probably the most depressing because of urban cycling through Blackburn, then Bolton and then past Manchester.
Most adventurous day?
Day 5 was probably the most adventurous day. I went scrambling on the Isle of Arran, but the ridge was much more exposed and much more difficult than I had anticipated with 1000ft drops off the sides. We couldn’t find the way off one of the pinnacles so used a rope that someone had left behind to get down. I slipped but fortunately managed to hold on!
Looking back up at the way I had to divert down the mountain
Most challenging day?
Day 6 was the toughest day because I woke up to flash floods in Lochranza, Isle of Arran, which almost went into my tent! Fortunately I was woken just in time but it took some determination to keep going after that incident. I had to wait around for ages until the ferry could get me off the island.
Floods at Lochranza campsite
Favourite place?
Overall my favourite place was Torridon in the NW Highlands of Scotland. I visited the area on Day 14 and Day 15. The mountains are superb and the scenery is breathtaking.
The idyllic Torridon area of Scotland
Most magical place?
Guirdil Bothy on the Isle of Rum is a very special and very remote place – the island is already 20 miles off the coast of Scotland, but to get to Guirdil you have to walk another 6 miles across the island. The bothy is on a beach at the bottom of a dramatic sweeping valley. When I arrived there was already another person in the bothy who invited me in for tea! See Day 12 for more details.
Guirdil Bothy
Best place to pitch a tent?
I have two nominations for this.
First, Killiechronan campsite on the Isle of Mull (Day 7), which is absolutely stunning and overlooks a beautiful loch surrounded by mountains.
Killiechronan - view over Loch na Keal
Second is a spectacular spot I found just outside Mallaig on Day 10. I came across a local crofter who told me I could pitch anywhere on his land. I ended up on the shores of a tiny little beach, which I had all to myself.
Beach near Mallaig where I camped
Worst place to pitch a tent?
On Day 13 it was getting dark and I desperately needed to camp somewhere. I asked some locals where might be suitable but they told me the only place was in the grounds of a burnt-out hotel, which was surrounded by “Keep Out” signs. After removing rubble and trampling down the area of overgrown vegetation I somehow managed to pitch the tent!
Pitched in the grounds of a burnt-out hotel!
Scariest moment
It was a dark, gloomy evening and I was pitching my tent absolutely in the middle of nowhere, in the far north of Scotland, on a roadside verge next to a quarry. When I was tightening the flysheet, it ripped. Instantly I heard this terrifying cackling noise as though there was some sort of deranged psychopath following me and laughing at the fact my tent had just broken! It scared me witless, but I think it was just a seagull! See Day 16 for details.
Favourite mountain walk
On Day 15 I climbed Liathach, near Torridon. This is a breaktaking mountain consistently rated as one of Scotland’s finest Munros (hills higher than 3,000ft).
View from Liathach
Best sunsets
Third prize goes to the sunset from Killiechronan on Isle of Mull (Day 7).
Killiechronan evening light
The second best sunset was from the Forth Road Bridge as I approached Edinburgh on Day 19.
Forth Bridge Sunset
Finally, my personal favourite – the sunset from Beinn Damh near Torridon.
Sunset from Beinn Damh, Torridon
Statistics
Total distances
Cycling: 1,630 miles
Walking: 68 miles
Ferry: 86 miles
Overall: 1,784 miles
Average daily distances
Cycling*: 82 miles
Overall**: 71 miles
Longest distance in a day: 130 miles (Day 17)
*Total distance cycled and divided it by the number of days on which I cycled more than five miles (20 days).
**The total distance travelled (cycling + walking + ferry) divided by total number of days (25 days)
The Route
On Day 24, I had a complete rest day to recover and spend time with a relative at their house in Telford – this is my reason for omitting it from the blog.
Route plan for the day’s cycling (Day 25):
Off by mid-morning in bright and sunny weather, I was soon out of Telford and into the beautiful Shropshire countryside. I took a minor detour to visit some kind cyclists at Burwarton who had once given me a room for a night when I was stranded during a freak November snowstorm. I was invited to lunch, so stayed for a while before embarking on the final 50 miles home.
I stopped at Clee Hill viewpoint to take some pictures of the beautiful English countryside, the first photos I had taken since I was at Ullswater in the Lake District! A remarkably different landscape to that of Western Scotland – the UK has an incredible variety of scenery.
View from Clee Hill
Shropshire view
From Clee Hill I cycled along familiar roads through Tenbury Wells, Bromyard and Ledbury. As I approached Cheltenham I was euphoric with a sense of achievement. After a long, strenuous, challenging but worthwhile and exciting 1,700 mile journey, I was home.
Route plan for the day’s cycling:
I left quite late in the morning after an enjoyable cooked breakfast. The ride started cloudy and showery as I pursued main roads through the urban sprawl of Blackburn, then Bolton. This was a most unpleasant stretch of cycling, due to endless potholed roads, busy traffic and navigational difficulties (signs cater for cars, not cyclists). I was also burdened with the broken luggage mount on the rear of my bike. I stopped at B&Q to buy more zip ties to resecure it. However this wasn’t very successful and I had to stop every few miles to readjust it. Bypassing Manchester was a nightmare because the route I had chosen was quite obscure and hard to follow.
I was relieved to cross from my “Northern England” to “Wales & West Midlands” map as I approached Northwich by about 5pm where I had a “lunch” of snacks bought from the Co-op. Determined to reach Telford, where I would stay with a relative, I made progress as quickly as possible. However I was delayed for an hour by my luggage – I decided to get rid of the mount completely and instead tied the bag to my bike with bungee cords and straps. After the delights of cycling in Scotland and scenic parts of England it was rather a mediocre experience shooting through the Midlands so I was extremely glad to reach Telford by about 10pm.
James Trickey's Cycling Adventures and Photography 