To me, today was one of the ‘big challenge’ days. I kinda expected the lousy weather, but i also know how exposed the route is and approached it with due respect.
Getting out of Loch Lomond early was a good plan. The road surface isn’t great and you have to be pretty bolshy to manage the traffic safely on the windy road – by manage i mean, positioning yourself assertively so that people don’t have the option of squeezing by if you don’t think it’s safe.
The next section to Crianlarich is wide and safe, largely an uphill gradient. Crianlarich to Tyndrum is more exciting, particularly the last few windy corners, where visibility isn’t great and it’s uphill.
North of Tyndrum is fun. A long steady climb followed by a very long steady descent. You glide along for miles at speed!
Then on to the serious stuff. A big sweeping switchback after a bridge marks the start of a long climb up into the elements to about 350m and across the moor. After that, the remaining climb into Glencoe feels pretty minor, and the descent through Glencoe is very enjoyable, fast and sweeping.
I stopped before the descent to adjust clothing. By that point, i was a walking advert for Sealskinz clothes, with socks, hat and gloves all coming from them! But it’s all good stuff – doesn’t matter if the outside is wet so long as you’re warm on the inside.
I had a lot of food with me today, and ate it all. My favourite food is random flapjacks – the ones with icing or jam centre. Good mix of short and long term energy, robust in the panniers, and easy to eat. I had a massive dinner last night, big breakfast and regular snacks throughout the day. I can definitely feel the benefit when i’m more careful about managing my energy levels. Some days it’s fine to pootle along, but on days like today I need to know I have the fuel to cycle hard for hours on end.
Day: May 23, 2009
Ballachulish
Some video during a break in the rain. It did dry out after this. In fact, I was nearly getting dry as i reached the 40mph limit for Fort William. But it’s a long way into town from there, and a further deluge let rip for the last 10 minutes leaving me soaked again. Still, bnb has electric heater and forecast for tomorrow is good. Three days left! Eep!
Trials
What do you least want when you’re cycling in the rain across a barren moor, and have just climbed up to about 350m? Answer, to stop for several minutes at traffic lights! Just long enough so that you stop generating all that lovely heat. Just long enough for the wind to start chilling your soaking wet rain gear. And just long enough that blood in your extremeties gets a bit chilled, so that when you start pedalling again, you sent a cold chill into your core. No other options except to crank a big gear hard until you get some heat going again.
Loch Bà
I always think this place should be the dictionary definition of ‘desolate’. Loch Bà is just north of the big switchback climb in Rannoch Moor. It’s like some place out of Lord of the Rings, I think. If the weather was nicer, I would’ve tried to see if Gollum lived here. But it wasn’t nice and so the hobbitsies got back on their bicycles and cycled on, my precious.
Highlands
Middle of nowhere, drizzling non stop, windy and cold? It must be the Highlands! Still, it keeps the midgies away!
Glencoe
Made it through Rannoch Moor in pretty bad conditions. Up and now down Glencoe. No shelter on the moor. To stop being cold, pedal harder. 50 miles in 4h 40m. Hopefully lunch awaits down at sea level. 🙂
Crianlarich
Crianlarich, then onto Tyndrum for more gps batteries. Been in cloud all morning. Not expecting to see many wildebeasts magestically sweeping across the plains of Rannoch Moor. 23 miles done so far, at a fair old pace due to the busy road round the top of loch lomond. Traffic wasn’t too bad, with it being early morning and also some roadworks bunching up the cars.