West Highland Whew..

So after thinking about doing it for years, I've finally done all of the West Highland Way http://www.west-highland-way.co.uk/, well kind of. So for those of you that don't know what the west highland way is, let me explain. It is a route that goes from Milngavie (pronounced Mulguy) outside of Glasgow, up to Fort William in the highlands. It's a 96 mile (155km) trail that combines a number of old paths, trails, and roads to take you through some of Scotlands most awesome scenery on the way from Central Scotland to the Highlands.
Me and Dan a mate from work chose to cycle it over two days. So if you're interested in how it went, read on:

Stirling to Milngavie by train

We were tired and excited, we left at 5:30 for Milngavie...no real problems getting there...just not enough sleep the night before!

Dan wondering what he's got himself into....
We're on our way!

Milngavie to Drymen (12 miles)
We found the start of the trail and I struggled on the first wee hill as I was going to fast at it with too much weight in my back. The track wasn't particularly impressive, used a bit of road, and there were a lot of gates to get through...but it wasn't hard riding and we were in good spirits.

The starting point....let's get going!!
Dan, stoked about getting going.

The keeper of the gate....bloody cows wouldn't let us by, until they eventually ran away and jumped over a fence...I'd never seen a cow do anything except eat grass and look dumb, so the whole jumping over the fence thing was pretty cool.

A frightened wee hedgehog that we nearly flattened on the way...I'd never seen a live wild hedgehog, so that was cool too!

One of the many bloody gates...

Past Drymen on our way to Loch Lomond...this bit was ok, sunshine and no gates!

Strange photo of my foot while riding...around Tyndrum Dan started to see everything look like this....not enough food I reckon.

The boys racing into a photo finish....

Drymen to Loch Lomond to Inversnaid (22 miles)

The difference between getting to Loch Lomond and riding through Loch Lomond was night and day, up to Loch Lomond we felt like we hadn't really made progress, there was lots of road and gates, and most of the riding was through farmland. Loch Lomond was a big milestone, had awesome scenery of hills, forests and the Loch, provided lochside beach riding, some awesome singletrack, a few carries, and the first days halfway point of Inversnaid. For the record we gave Connick hill a miss, we figured we'd need the energy for later.

There was a seriously scary moment though where I was in front and absolutely blasting through a singletrack section, and up onto a bridge...unfortunately the bridge wasn't as flat coming out as it was going in. In a split second after getting onto the bridge I realised that the bridge dropped off about 3 feet with a set of stairs....feck. I tried to pull up and drop the stairs, then also realised that dropping 3 feet with my body weight and a 12kg rucksack might not be good for anyone, and kind of stopped halfway...as a result I kind of nose dived off the bridge and dropped onto my front wheel as I was unceremoniously dumped onto my ribs. Fortunately Gigantor (my massive rucksack) broke the fall and I got away with it. My wrist was a bit strained, my ribs were sore, but my bike and body were largely uninjured. Close call...time to slow the pace down a bit...you just don't have the same bike handling with a 12kg rucksack on your back, ya know?



We carried on and got rained on a few times, and were getting a bit tired, and I had a puncture....a slow leak which we opted to try pumping up rather than changing....and although we had to pump it a few times, it seemed to keep going! We were wondering at one point how much longer we had to go through the Loch Lomond woods (which were awesome riding in parts, when you weren't carrying!) when we decided to stop for fuel...literally 5 mins after eating we came to Inversnaid....whew what a relief!! We had opted to skip out the north section of Loch Lomond, as it we'd heard it was a nightmare on bike, and you ended up carrying your bike for most of it. So instead we decided to get a ferry across the Loch and then cycle up by road to rejoin the WHW in Crianlarich. So waited for the ferry which was 15 mins away, and got on only to find out that it wasn't going to Inverugle, it was going to a place 3 miles south of Inverugle! We didn't fancy an extra 3 miles so we got off to catch the next ferry to Inverugle...except we found out it wasn't for another 2 hours. £$%&*! If we'd known at the time, that we had to wait 2 hours for the next ferry, I think it's safe to say we'd have sucked up the extra 3 miles. Doh.



So we had to wait around in the hotel, wet, hungry and cold for the next ferry, and it added 2 hours onto our first day. Up until now the times that a friend of ours (GI Joe) had provided were pretty much bang on and we were pretty much following his suggested timings...so this put us back a bit. However we were hoping that a quick road ride would balance out and help us gain some time.

Riding the shores of Loch Lomond...awesome.

The bridge of doom....bloody hell I wish I could have that moment back, boy was I lucky, you should have seen me slam on the brakes, nose dive, and land on my ribs...not pretty.

One of many pretty waterfalls around Loch Lomond, and along the way.

One of the many hill climbs, a bit more challenging with Gigantor on my back...can you see us?

a taste of the awesome singletrack around Loch Lomond.

Getting onto the wrong ferry, which was really the right ferry.

Well, at least there was a pub that was willing to let us sit our mucky, wet and cold bodies on the floor....we did get a whiskey down us to warm us up a bit. Small consolation.

2 2 hours later we finally made it across.

Inversnaid to Crianlarich to Tyndrum (19 miles)

To make matters worse, once we got across to Inverugle, the rain was hammering down. We sat for about 15 mins waiting for it to let up, before giving up and going into the cafe for a hot chocolate to lift our spirits, and wait for the rain to lighten up a bit. In what was pretty good timing the rain actually stopped as we got to the bottom of our hot chocolates...I wouldn't say that it was sunny, but no rain was just as good. We'd hoped the road would help us get back on track if not put us ahead of Joe's timings. It didn't. It was mostly uphill, and just about killed Dan between the boredom of a long uphill slog on road, and the twinges and hints of a cramp that were niggling in his calves. However after a while we finally made it to a wee sign telling us we were in Crianlarich, and Crianlarich is near Tyndrum...and Tyndrum we decided was where the first day was going to end. We had a push up from Crianlarich to the first flat section of the trail to Tyndrum, and it was pretty tiring, but we knew we were only a few miles from salvation. Unfortunately it started raining again, and Dan was running on empty. So we stopped so Dan could fuel up

Relief at getting the long road climb out of the way, and getting near to our day's end.

A tired, wet and hungry Dan cramming another energy bar into his face inbetween Crianlarich and Tyndrum.

Dan descending the stairs out of the woods, hills, and climbs that took us from Crianlarich to Tyndrum.

We opted to stay in a campsite rather than wild camp...it was too wet, and we were too tired and hungry. The push to Bridge of Orchy for the night was less than appealing...so Tyndrum it was. Note the difference in Dan's bag (right) and Gigantor on the left...yup, he's a superlight, supernut. With Dan it's ultralight...or go home.

The face of a happy boy, food, warmth and dry clothes...ahhh, bliss.

We did have to set up our sleeping accomodation in between bouts of heavy rain, drizzle, and light moments of no rain.

Me in my Bivvy Sac, under my tarp, and kitted out with my midge net ready for bed. You wouldn't believe how well I slept.

Dan next morning still fast asleep under his tarp.

Getting geared up for day two in sunshine...spirits soared! My slow leak finally gave up the ghost, but not after taking me from Loch Lomond, to Inversnaid, up through Inverugle, over Crianlarich to Tyndrum. About 22 miles...not bad, that tube was a wee legend so he was. Unfortunately my rear brake pads had worn away, so I replaced them with an older pair without much bite on em. Bummer.

Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse Pub Glencoe (29 miles)

Our legs were sore as we'd done about 50 odd miles at this point, our asses were even worse. The wonder off Assos (lovingly called Ass Sauce) which helps prevent chaffing helped us mentally and physically prepare for the next section. We knew we had to climb Rannoch Moor which was going to be long, and hard, but we concentrated on getting to Bridge of Orchy which was a relatively gentle climb along wide track, and which also included a brilliant downhill. Unfortunately my brakes had been rubbing in the back coming down Tyndrum, and that morning I'd noticed that the pads were quite badly worn. So I undid my brakes to avoid any extra resistance from the pads rubbing on the rims, and also to save what was left of my brakes for the Devil's stair case. As a result on the descents into Bridge of Orchy I had no option but to go full tilt...this resulted in one spectacular spill on a particularly steep and rocky section. Ouch. To add insult to injury the bad weather blew in and we got very wet, and very cold, very fast. So we layered up, forgot about the joys of sunshine, and powered on in the wind and rain towards Bridge of Orchy. When there, we couldn't bear the thought of an unecesary climb up and over the back of the train station to the wee pub on the other side...so we opted to ride the road and save our legs and spirit. This was a good decision, as the sun came out we warmed up, enjoyed some nice views, and had a wee boost to our morale. We made our way along to the gate leading up to Rannoch moor in good spirits, we stopped to stuff our faces, put on more ass sauce, and settle in to the climb in some summer sunshine, except the clouds rolled in again and we got soaked on our way up...however halfway up the sun came out yet again and we grinded our way up to the top amid 360 views of grass, hills, blue skies and sunshine. Happiness was here yet again. However bliss was just around the corner. The descent into Glencoe was awesome. Not too many walkers, lots of wee drops and jumps, and plenty of speed. I don't know how fast I was going, but it was fast....and all under blue skies and sunshine...it really doesn't get better does it? We headed over to the Kings House pub pretty much on schedule as according to GI Joe, and sadly got pissed on yet again. So we went into the pub, and caved...we ordered hot chicken baguettes and chips knowing the horror of the Devil's staircase loomed ahead, and that the rain was pouring down outside....a brief but welcome respite even if it took us off our self sustaining mission.

Dan somewhere along the way, I have no idea where I took this! It's sunny though..whoo hoo!

Looking back at the wee pub on the other side of Bridge of Orchy

Starting the long climb up Rannoch Moor...in the rain.

But the sun came out and the views were very memorable...this part was awesome.

Sunny Rannoch Moor.

Happy Scott in Rannoch Moor

A pretty wee waterfall in Rannoch Moor

The weather changing.....again.

Kings House Pub Glencoe to Kinlochleven to Fort William (22 miles)

This was the last push, we still had a lot to go, but we knew we were in the final stretch, we left the Kings House pub and the showers let up, to reveal blue skies again. We set off to tackle the Devils Staircase, which we knew was one tough push up. I'd done it before, but forgotten how long and steep it is. We were passed by a walker on the way up, we could only hang our heads in shame at the sorry state we were in. We did make it to the top, and surprise it started raining again. The view was awesome though...like something out of Lord of the Rings with hills on top of hills reaching out into the distance, and mistly swirling rain clouds hanging over their tops. The next bit was one I was looking forward to with one part excitement as it was a fun, fast, technical downhill, but also one part fear as I only had about 30% braking from my front brakes, and 20% from my back brakes. So we set off with me avoiding using my brakes as and where I could...we wheel lifted, bunny hopped, and rolled over all manner of rain gutters, ditches, boulders, and rocky slopes until I punctured....again. I also had a problem with my left shoe, the rubber sole was coming off and getting jammed between the crank and the pedal. So as the sun came and went, and the rain checked in on us to make sure we were still miserable I changed my tyre again, and put my last tube into my tyre, and tried to fix my shoe. We descended the last rocky section down to the power station fire road, both of us very wary of going over the bars on some of the very steep rocky step downs....and we then rolled our way into Kinlochleven....in the rain! Dan got some water, I called Penny to say that Joe's times were all pretty accurate and we were in Kinlochleven now (5pm) and should be in Fort Bill in 2 hours based on Joe's sheet.

This is kind of where the wheels fell off the wagon. The push out of Kinlochleven was a nightmare. We were 2 days, and 70 odd miles in, body and mind were pretty tired, and the end was tantalizingly near at the end of this final section...it couldn't come soon enough! Unfortunately it was still raining, and bar a few minutes respite it rained all the way up to the top, we started riding again and the road just climbed up and up. Then path got rocky, very, very rocky. So not only were we tired, cold and wet but the path was exposed, wet, rainy, and windy on top of being rocky. Not a good place to puncture. We just powered on at our own paces and disappeared from each others views at times, and somehow I was flying. Perhaps it was desperation to stay warm, get off this path, out of the rain, into Fort William, into the arms of my little fish, and into the warmth of a pub. Fortunately no punctures, unfortunately I couldn't get my foot to clip into my pedals anymore, and on closer inspection that was because the clasp bit in my SPD had actually fallen off. Great.

It seemed like we were on this path for ages dodging rocks and punctures (which was sketchy as I couldn't clip in properly, kept jamming the sole of my shoe against the crank, and didn't have brakes that would stop me anymore...just slow me which all said and done lead to a few amusing stacks), freezing our cajones off, and willing our legs to keep moving. We stopped at an old abandoned building for Dan to get a photo opportunity that he missed last time. A big sign warning of a dangerous building...but almost inviting travellers to get a photo in it! We finally got to the end of this section with both our brakes suffering and a little worse for wear. Then we had to push up yet another soul destroying section while trying not to notice a sign outlining that a nice comfy fireroad to our left would take us into Fort Bill....WHW it was. We pushed, and pushed and got a bit of a break when the sun came out and we saw green everywhere, and the 5 finger gulley off of Nevis, and finally Nevis climbing up and into the clouds. Not only was it sunny, but it was green, warmer, and Nevis meant we were almost there....and we were on singletrack again! We thoroughly enjoyed the next few miles of track and got to the first forest which had been logged quite a bit, and then on to the second forest, which I would later describe as Pain Forest. This forest went on forever, or so it felt, and it also went up...lots. We had to walk a few innocent uphills as we were toast by now, and even if we had the strength in our legs, it wasn't in our hearts so we walked a few long, but rideable hills wishing the end to appear around each and every corner. Instead, there were more uphills, some tricky rocky downs, and then finally we came out of the forest into the most heart lifting sight of the trip. Fort William nestled in the valley below us. We didn't hang about, Dan literally flew down the last bit of single track (which was a diversion of the main track) while I followed suit until my brakes let me down and I ended up over the bars, suspended over a wee stream, with my arm in a pile of muck the consistency of horse shite, and smelling not far off. My bike and body were on one side of the stream, with my left arm holding onto the bar of the bike to keep that side of my body out of the stream, the bike was on top of me, and my right arm was sticking out of the pile of muck, and holding the rest of my body and bike up. My arms were shaking with exertion trying to prevent me from sinking into the wet, cold stream and getting stuck in it. My calls to Dan went unheard, and so with a desperate lurch I managed to shift the bike back and pull myself up enough to roll forward out of the muck and away from the stream. I was truly shattered at this point. However I took a few moments to gather my composure and wipe myself as clean as possible, and then walked my bike down. Not being able to clip in properly, not having a whole lot of brakes left (fully expecting to hear the screach of metal from worn V brakes on the metal of rims) I chose carefully which sections to ride...unfortunately each attempt saw me wobble off as I couldn't get clipped in. I got to the bottom pissed off that I'd missed a good descent, and that I fallen over a few times stupidly, and then the midges set upon us as I realised I had my third puncture....the midges were to brutal to suffer a tube change, and I was out of tubes anyway...so we pumped it up with the intention of rolling as far away from the midges as we could to change the tube. It turns out that it was mostly fire road down, so no brakes, a slow leaking tube, and a dash of reckless abandon I stormed down the fire road to get as far as I could on my tube....which as it happens was all the way into Fort William......at last. We were pretty stoked. We had to stop and pump my tyre a few times, but we got into Fort Bill, called Penny and did a double take when we saw the time. We had left Kinlochleven at 5, and told Penny we'd be in Fort Bill around 7-7:30 based on GI Joe's times. It was 9:15. The last section that Joe had estimated to take about 2 hours took us 4 hours and 15 mins. I think a combination of 3 unrideable pushes, coupled with some really tough cycle climbs we opted to walk made it a longer ride than we had expected, but even if we had cycled more I don't know the last section from Kinlochleven to Fort Bill can be done in less than 3 hours by your average rider. Unless you're running up the pushes with your bike!

Penny had been waiting for us for almost 2 hours. Her initial excitement gave way to concern, and finally anger. She wasn't happy when she came to get us at the Morrisons, but when we'd explained what had happened she slowly mellowed out, and it was awesome to see her. We went for a big Chinese Meal, headed to our hostel had a cider and called it a night....awesome trip. A constant cycle of high's and low's both mentally, and physically as well as geographically and climatically. Having done it now I know that even when it's bad, it will get better, and when it's better, it will get bad again....the key is just to keep moving, keep focussed on small accomplishments, and stay focussed on the finish. It was hard, but not as hard as I thought it would be. Next time I would probably tackle Connick Hill, and the Hill behind Bridge of Orchy....but would still leave of the section North of Lochlomond.

It was an awesome experience, and my fitness was never a real problem....but the last section from Kinlochleven to Fort Bill was definetely the hardest, and both mentally and physically I did start to flag. Mucho thanks to Dan for doing it with me, and to Penny for coming to collect us, and waiting for almost 2 hours for us to show up.

Let's do it again!!

Leaving Kings House to tackle the Devil's Staircase.

A bit of sun on the way to the Devil's Staircase

A big push up to the top of the Devil's Staircase....not fun.

However, a rewarding view from the top once you get up.

Dan reaching the top of the Devils Staircase

Me tired, and well ready for a good long stretch of downhill off of the Devil's Staircase into Kinlochleven, even with what little was left of my brakes.

Dan gingerly making his was down some of the smoother bits of track

The only decent bit on the push out of Kinlochleven...apart from getting to the top.

This part was good, flat, relatively smooth, and dry! This is just before the wheels fell off the wagon.

This track went on forever, and mostly up...then it got really rocky and uneven, and wet, and cold.




It may not look it, but it was pouring with rain.


The end was near though, just not near enough.

Behold, Nevis reaching into the clouds on the right, with it's gullies to the left...this was a sweet section of singletrack, with lots of greenery, flat, and sun.


This piccy sumarises the whole trip. Sunny, cloudy, wet, lots of uphill, and lots of rocky path.


The view of Fort William is there...trust us, this was the start of our last descent.

The forest of Pain, dark, wet, and full of hills to climb

Officially done the West Highland Way, in 2 days, with roughly 21 hours on the bikes...would've been 19 if we hadn't missed the frickin ferry. My tally was roughly 10,000 calories burnt, 2 inner tubes, 3 sets of brake pads, set of pedals, one pair of shoes, 3 cliff bars, an energy gel, 4 lucasade sports drinks, a snickers, tub of pasta, boil a bag veggie curry, cup a soup, apricots, bag of bombay mix (which really kept me going!!), and a bowl of chips and a hot chicken baguette which injected protein and life into me.

A cider to celebrate the end of a hard, but rewarding cycle through some of Scotlands most beautiful scenery

Thoughts on the ferry in Inversnaid....video clip