Outer Hebrides Cycling Adventure

Day 1 – Oban to Isle of Barra

We arrived at Oban in the car, parked up and set about the transformation from car travellers to cycle tourers, wheel bags and frames out, reassuring ourselves we definitely had 4 wheels with us. With bikes assembled we  finished packing bits and bobs into the panniers and loaded the bikes up. We decided to walk the bikes the short distance to the ferry so we could enjoy the 5 hour journey to the Isle of Barra in ‘normal’ clothes. We got to the ferry terminal and bought the 7 (!) ferry tickets we needed for our trip. Ready to go we queued alongside the other 20 or so cyclists waiting to catch the ferry to the Isle of Barra.

We felt slightly better about the amount of luggage we had when a chap from Adelaide who was cycling round the world turned up with his bike completely laden with what looked like everything but the kitchen sink!  Apparently 28kg of gear!!  After chatting to him for a while and hearing his amazing stories from his travels he then started asking us about our trip and our bikes and then said ‘you guys don’t have many gears’ 😱. It’s true our bikes are more or less set up for road cycling without gear in Leicestershire, although I do have a 32 which I chose when I recently replaced my group set for times like this but even so!!  Ah we’ll be fine we said!

We boarded the ferry, cyclists first and tied our bikes in with ropes, all bikes stacked together in a tangled mess, you definitely can’t be too precious when travelling like this!  We found ourselves a nice spot and sat admiring the beautiful scenery of Oban bay with all the islands framing the port. The sailing was going to be 4 hours 45mins!

The first couple of hours was spent negotiating the ‘Sound of Mull’ a narrow’ish channel between the mainland and the Isle of Mull, even without the sun shining the scenery was still stunning. We looked out for the ferries we would be taking on our circular route back. Once we’d passed Mull we headed out into the ‘Minch’ and even though it was apparently a calm sea there was quite a bit of swell, or maybe the smallish boat (compared to the big cross channel ferries I’d been on before) just accentuated any swell there was. As we sailed the temperature dropped further still, we left Leicestershire basking in a heat wave of around 30 degrees, the temperature in Oban had been 10 degrees cooler, at sea it was now down to 13 degrees and we were surrounded by a curtain of sea mist. It was around now that it really sunk in just how far north we were going!

With around 40 minutes to travel we transformed ourselves into ‘cyclists’ donning our Lycra and prepared for our first few miles. As we approached Castlebay harbour on Barra the sun was out and the beautiful beaches the islands are famous for were glistening, we were both excited to be finally arriving.

We had  an hour an a half before we needed to arrive at our hotel on the north of the island so we decided to cycle south to Vatersay where the official Sustrans route begins. The profile of the route (18 miles) appeared flat but we soon realised that the route was made up of constant very short but steep climbs followed by descents. With panniers on we knew we couldn’t cycle 18 miles of this terrain in the time we had so we decided not to cycle all the way to the start, we turned around and cycled north.

Barra didn’t disappoint at all, the white sands and turquoise seas reminded us of the Bay of Islands on New Zealand’s north island, I’ve heard others describe them as reminiscent of the Caribbean. Before we knew it we were arriving at the hotel, the island really is very small, we’d navigated the western side of the island from south to north in just under 9 miles.

We arrived at Heathbank Hotel and were treated with the most warm welcome, something we would become accustomed to on these islands. We asked where would be the best place for us to leave our bikes and was told ‘you can lean them up against the side of the hotel or pop them round the back, no need to lock them, nobody locks anything on these islands’ and we could really believe that, it was like being in a different world. So we propped our titanium bikes which we wouldn’t even dare leave locked up in Leicestershire against the building and didn’t give it another thought!!  How different this place was!

We had a lovely meal of fish and chips (again) and I had a glass of wine too many!  We went for a walk after dinner and couldn’t believe how light it still was at 10:30, sun set is about an hour later than in Leicestershire!

Day 2 – Barra to North Uist

The next morning we got off early to catch the ferry (9:25 am) to the Isle of Eriskay.

Eriskay is very small, just a few miles long, even smaller than Barra, from here we crossed to South Uist on a mile long causeway. This island is very flat on the west where the Sustrans route runs and edged with beaches of white sand and turquoise waters. The sun wasn’t out and it was quite chilly so we were wrapped up warm. One of the things we were noticing was how few places and people there were, you could cycle for miles without seeing anyone. The Sustrans route takes you off the ‘main’ road onto smaller roads, the kind which have very broken tarmac and grass in the middle instead of lines! There seemed to be lots of suicidal rabbits which took to playing chicken in front of our wheels which added a degree of entertainment!  We stopped for a coffee at a little community run museum which was the only place to stop for 30 miles.

Not long after we left the cafe the road came to the edge of a beautiful white beach just as the sun came out so we stopped for a walk. By now we were quite accustomed to parking our bikes up without a care in our minds for security. We met a very interesting couple as we were leaving the beach, they had toured the UK in a campervan for 12 years before deciding to settle on the Isle of Berneray. When they asked where we were cycling they put fear in us about the hills we had to climb to get to Lewis. I don’t know why I didn’t click at the time that it’s all about perspective, to them they are big hills but we’re strong cyclists and so to us they would be a challenge but not a problem, or at least that’s what I tried to convince myself!

We crossed another causeway onto ‘Benbecula’, another small, flat island. We found somewhere to eat, which was the second and last place we would pass today where we could get food.  We ended up having lasagne at 3pm which would double up as lunch and dinner. We were soon crossing another causeway onto North Uist, our final destination island for the day (Monday). North Uist was again quite flat (on the west). We stayed the evening at the ‘Tractor Shed Bunkhouse‘. By the time we arrived it was threatening rain and was quite cold, the wind didn’t help either. We decided to buy some Sultana loaf, tea (essential), milk (for the essential tea) and bananas from the garage at the end of the road.

The shed we had booked came complete with turf roof and double mattress (made up with ‘proper’ bedding, no sleeping bags!). Duncan, the guy who had built the sheds had positioned them all a good distance from the bunkhouse (which had a kitchen, seating area, toilets and showers) with their fronts facing the sea (and away from the bunkhouse). There was a veranda with a roof and side walls with a stove and socket for the all important kettle!  We set up the place as home for the night, again just leaning the bikes up, unlocked and put the kettle on.

Once we’d had a shower and changed into the only change of clothes we both had we headed down to the beach.

Now you might be thinking warm relaxing thoughts but unfortunately not, the sand was white and if the sun had been out the water would have been turquoise but if that was the norm the place wouldn’t be so deserted as it is so we accepted the weather and went for a walk.

It seemed like the gulls had been taking lessons from those at St Ives and one started diving at us, we didn’t have any food with us, but it still persisted so we cut the walk short and headed back. I was quite cold and sitting around the shed I felt cold and was dreading having a sleepless, very cold night. When we got into bed we soon got very toasty. The very light nights meant that the light glinted in between the boards of the front door. We had a good nights sleep and woke early, lying in bed with the doors open and a view across the moorland and sea, very special.

Day 3 – North Uist to Isle of Lewis

When we woke up it was raining so we decided to aim for an earlier ferry from Berneray to the Isle of Harris and miss touring around Berneray.  We had just over 20 miles to cycle, around a 1.5 – 2 hour ride with luggage and on the small roads.  As we got going the rain soon became very heavy so there were very few views.  The ferry wasn’t particularly big which meant it hadn’t got a cosy lounge so we gradually became very chilly. When the ferry arrived in Leverbugh on the Isle of Harris an hour later we were very cold and as we set off into the drizzle we were both feeling a bit miserable!  But on the plus side I’d found the most amazing looking place for lunch and it was at the most 10 miles away so we both got our heads down and got going. The western coast of Harris is stunning, much more undulating than the southern islands we’d been on until now, the road undulating up and down as it winds around the coastline framed by white sands and turquoise seas. Not quite looking that way today but we kept trying to imagine and reminding ourselves to seek out the beauty in the mist shrouded beaches and hills.

The Machair Kitchen didn’t disappoint at all, it was a newly opened very modern sedar clad gallery and café in a dominating position  looking over Niseaboist beach and the sound of Taransay, on a clearer day the view would be like this:

Photo credit to Talla na Mara Community Enterprise Centre which owns and manages the Machair Kitchen.

We ordered soup and a sandwich in the attempt to warm up and were glad we’d packed space saving towels as we were wet through, it also functioned well as a blanket!  It looked like the rain was perhaps slowing but by the time we were thinking of getting going the heavens opened and we found ourselves nursing our drinks and then buying cake just so we could shelter a while longer. But the time came, we had to get going, just 30 miles to go but some big hills to climb, the ones the people on South Uist had warned us of!

The route was undulating for the first 5 miles after the stop before we started the climb which would take us up and over into Tarbert, the town where we would return to catch the ferry to Skye in a few days.  The second climb out of Tarbert would be harder and even in my lowest gear I was struggling to keep the bike going, fortunately after a quarter of a mile the gradient eased slightly and I was able to get into a climbing rhythm.  The rain had eased now although as we climbed over the passes we rode into the cloud and we started to wish we’d brought lights with us!  We both enjoyed the descent and were looking forwards to getting warm and dry, just another 10 miles or so to go to the Blackhouse Bothies where we were staying for the next two nights.

The Blackhouse Bothies.

We turned off the road onto a stony drive down a steep hill, it wasn’t obvious where we needed to go, we came to a newly built huge garage and shouted hello, Mark shouted back to ask if he could help us and then proceeded to pull our leg, suggesting we weren’t in the right place!  They welcomed us in with one of the warmest welcomes possible and made us feel like we’d known them for along time.  They suggested we left our bikes in the next door garage, then turned the underfloor heating on in the utility and told us to help ourselves to the washing machine.  Mark asked us what alcohol we liked, we both politely diverted the conversation as we walked down the path to the Bothies which were much closer to the Loch Shore, the scenery was just stunning, even in the drizzle.  As we walked we chatted and found out a lot about Mark and Joanne, they really were fascinating people.  They showed us round the Bothie and then Mark reminded us we hadn’t answered his question about alcohol, he then listed every kind of alcohol under the sun and asked us what we would like.  We went in to get dry and settle in and 10 minutes later there was a box of beer on the table outside!

When I’d been planning the trip I’d enquired where the nearest place to buy food was as the bothie had an outdoor cooking area, there was a shop 11 miles north but for us arriving from the south this would add an extra 22 miles to our day, I enquired where the nearest place to the south was to be told it was 18 miles away and the other side of a mountain pass!!  A week or so later Joanne emailed me to say they would cook dinner for us, she gave us a few options and we accepted gratefully!

Once we were clean and dry we wandered back up the hill to do our washing and ended up having another hour or so chat with Mark and Joanne, learning all about their lives and adventures they’d been on.  Joanne presented us with a hamper with dinner in along with a bottle of wine, they then told us they didn’t want any money and said it was a poor world if they couldn’t feed their guests!  After we’d eaten in the Bothie we again wandered back up the hill and ended up have cups of tea in their house until after 10pm!  What a day it’d been and what amazing people we’d met.

We arrived to a very warm welcome from Jo and Mark.  Well, where to start with the place, the people, I’m almost speechless, I don’t think either of us have ever met people quite like Mark and Jo, they instantly made us feel at home and at ease.

Isle of Lewis to Skye

We  packed up and walked up to the garage to pick our bikes up and load our baggage on, we knew it wouldn’t be a quick goodbye to Joanne and Marc and we were right, another brilliant chat and 20 minutes or so we were finally on our way, back up the 200m climb over the mountains back to Tarbert.  The climb didn’t seem so bad in this direction, either this was due to our legs being fresher or the gradient wasn’t as back on the approach from the north.  We’d allowed ourselves a lot of time, just under 3 hours to ride the 18 miles to Tarbert and the ferry, there was only one ferry on a Thursday so we couldn’t risk missing it.  On the plus side there was a distillery and cafe at the ferry port so we enjoyed a nice tea and coffee before boarding the ferry.

This could possibly be the major blip in my organisation of the trip, I booked a lovely looking B&B only 5 miles off the route but I didn’t check the profile, only 200m of climbing and descent to get there 😱. In the end it didn’t seem so bad and the place was well worth it, absolutely stunning views!  Of course it also meant the first cycling on Day 5 would be straight back over the hills!  With no warm up!

Skye to Loch Shiels

The hill didn’t seem too bad as we left on Friday morning, it was worth it for the view! The road to the ferry had a few climbs which were made worse by the headwind, 20 miles seemed harder this morning. As we were approaching the ferry we could see it at the dock and the road appeared to follow the contours round the headland. As we got closer we realised we had yet another climb away from the coast!!  Up the hill, yet another one of the outings for my 32’er!  But at the top of the hill was a castle and we saw a sign for drinks and snacks, we pulled into the castle and treated ourselves to tea and cake. The most amazing chocolate and apple cake.

The ferries from Skye to Mallaig run very regularly so we decided to relax and get the next one, sitting in the sun was quite a novelty for the trip so far. Back on our bikes and ‘down the hill’ at last (!) to the ferry, one was due at 13:00, we had 30mins to wait or so we thought!!  …..but it turns out that occasionally the tide isn’t right and they have to modify the timetable, today was one of those days!!  We have 3 hours to wait!!  Fortunately we only have 37 miles to go after the ferry but these are hilly miles with luggage, not quite what we’d planned but it’d be fine, we didn’t really have an option!!. A bacon buttie later and a lot of sitting in the sun (would have been worse if it’d been raining) we boarded the 5th ferry of our trip so far.

Its only a short sailing of around 30mins and the scenery is stunning. We had a nice chat with another couple doing a similar route who had experience of quite a few other routes in Scotland (ideas for next time!!) and then set off. To start with we were on an ‘A-road’ from the ferry which was relatively busy but nothing like as busy as an A-road back at home, we then turned off this road onto the scenic coastal route. This reminded us of cycling in Cornwall, if the road was flat you knew it wouldn’t be for long, it was constantly up and down, short, sharp pulls sapping the energy out of our legs, cycling with panniers I always feel like I have a bungee tied to the pannier and all of a sudden as you start the ascent it pulls and then harder and harder!  On the flat you can almost forget you have the weight in the bike but not on the hills!!!  but the views 😍wow, Bay of Islands New Zealand!  Turquoise sea, white sand and islands of varying sizes splashed about for good effect, well worth the hard work!

This road finally came to an end and we were back on the ‘A’ road but it was even less busy than it had been, quite amazing and it soon became a single track road with passing places like we’d been used to on the Outer Hebrides. Today was a big climbing day (well for us and with the panniers) and we were starting to feel tired when the 430ft climb started. This was the time for the 32’er (again!), I just grinded up and after this we were both starting to count the miles, not long after this was a 300ft climb with an average gradient of 10%. I just kept telling myself I should be flying in Leicestershire after this with no panniers and a faster bike, just think of the training gain!!  I had a little chat with myself which went a bit like this…’I can’t get up this (as I could see the steep incline bending round the corner out of view) and the response was ‘well you have no option and cycling will be quicker than walking’. The last decent brought us over the final peninsular of the day and down to the valley of Loch Shiel. The last 5 miles or so was mainly flat and we could soon see the village of Archaracle in the distance.

We were pleased to arrive, at the Loch Shiels Hotel, a very busly place in the back of beyond with some good beers and a fully booked restaurant (we had fortunately reserved a table, there was no way I was going to risk it, the closest place was miles away). Another room with a view and if we hadn’t been Loch side for the past 3 nights we would have thought this view spectacular but as it was I said ‘it’s quite a good view’ !!  A shower and a cup of tea after a hard day in the saddle is the best thing, now just lying on the bed looking at the sunshine and contemplating what I might eat tonight (& drink!).

Great meal. All staff so friendly and efficient. In bed for 10pm with the curtains open and the view in front, sunset up here is considerably later than back in the midlands.

Loch Shiels to Salen and Kilchoan

As soon as we left the hotel the climbing started, up and over the hill to the other side of the peninsular to Salen on Loch Sunart.   A very pretty tiny village with a little harbour with sailing boats. The road from now followed the shoreline Of loch Sunart with numerous little coves and off shore islands. The banks were densely wooded and the sunshine was glinting through, extremely beautiful and again reminded us a lot of New Zealand. The road was a single track with passing places but there wasn’t much traffic to negotiate as the road only leads to a village, Kilchoan, and the ferry to Mull.

The road had contours like many roads in Cornwall, steep ups and down which barely show up on the elevation profile but drain your legs all the same. As we cycled along (East to west) we had a side head wind which was tough. The road had to negotiate another pass which meant another big climb but this somehow felt easier than the constant sharp ups and downs we’d experienced along the length of the Ardanunchan peninsula. It was a climb where you just got in the right gear (not quite the 32’er this time) and got into a rhythm. Up and over the top and what should have been an easy descent to the ferry. Unfortunately the road surface was terribly potted and the wind was now a full on head wind that we had to pedal hard at times just to make progress. The clouds had now come in well and truly and nothing looked quite as pretty as earlier in the day. There were two ferries we were considering catching, the 11:45 or 13:45. We pushed on and arrived at the ferry just minutes before 11:45. This was the smallest ferry we’d been on so far, more like a boat bus shuttling people to Tobermory on Mull to shop as there was very little in the way of shops on the whole Ardanunchan peninsula.

We sat in the little indoor seating area which smelt distinctly of dog and I saw a notice that said due to low tides the following ferries would be cancelled…. The list included the next, 14:45 ferry we had thought of catching, we breathed a big sigh of relief that we’d managed to catch this ferry otherwise it would have been another 3 hour wait like the other day and we would have been pushed to catch the ferry back to the mainland.

Tobermory is quite a pretty little port with all buildings brightly painted surrounding a pretty little harbour. We decided to find a nice café for lunch. We had two options now, the short, 20 mile route down the east coast of the island or a 43 mile loop of the northerly part of the island, a part which is meant to be particularly spectacular, but this did involve two 200m climbs and a couple of 100m climbs!  The forecast had been for heavy rain but this had changed to just 10% chance of rain so we decided to take the opportunity to explore the northern part of the island. We climbed out of Tobermory up a ridiculously steep hill, another 200m climb but as we neared the top moorland the wind was brutal, the drizzle was turning to driving rain and we could no longer see any of the hills through the swathes of rain sweeping the hillside. We stopped to chat and decided there was no point persevering into the rain and wind for views which wouldn’t be visible in the weather. I said it gives us an excuse to come back again!  We turned back and enjoyed a respite from the hard cycling as we descended. As had been the case with our whole trip you couldn’t fully let go on the descents as the single track roads meant there could be a car just round the corner in your path.

The option we had decided to settle for was the short 20 mile route following the shoreline which we presumed would be flat. I’m not sure why we thought this because this had never been the case at any point during the rest of the trip, so why now……let’s just say it wasn’t flat!!  And that wind seemed to have moved round and again we had an epic headwind. Afterwards we discussed whether we were feeling so tired at this point because we knew we were nearly finished, almost like the body starting to relax, or whether it was just the cumulative effects of the mileage and the climbing, neither of us had really trained for this trip after all. Anyway we battled on into the rain and wind ticking the miles off. By this point in our adventure I’d decided I wasn’t riding on the front anymore, my rationale for this was that I was carrying much more luggage and so it probably balances out!

We arrived at the ferry at Craignure just 10 minutes before the next departure (another jammy manoeuvre and were able to walk onto the ferry past the cars which were going to have to wait for the next ferry. This was one of the things we’d loved about cycling and catching the ferries, you couldn’t book and so you could just rock up and board no problems, it was nice having this flexibility.

This final crossing was just 50 minutes back from Mull to Oban and the end of our trip. I feel a bit sad writing this now but at the time I was so glad to be finished!  Sitting on the ferry looking forwards to the cup of tea John had just gone to get a couple sat down next to me and asked where we’d cycled. It turned out this couple had owned a bike shop in the midlands and had a passion for cycling and bikes. One of the many things I loved about the trip was the people we met and the chats we had a long the way.

Back in Oban we cycled back to the car and transformed ourselves from cyclists to drivers and drove to the hotel on the sea front just a mile away. Another one of my loves of these trips is the transformation, taking the bags off the bikes, wheels in wheel bags, packing the car systematically.

At MacKays we were shown to our room which had a massive Victorian bay over looking Oban Bay with chairs to sit and admire the view. It seemed I had yet again scored full marks with John for accommodation selection. As we hadn’t cycled as far today it meant we were at the hotel just before 6pm meaning we had 3 hours til dinner. We vegged in the chairs overlooking the bay watching the numerous ferries coming and going whilst drinking gallons of tea and eating biscuits.

Beauty of the changing weather. Magical mist veiling the hills, trees wondering in and out!