Touring Scotland

cheers, will probably just be ready to slog it out to finish, a tail wind would be nice

Can anyone recommend a map or website that shows the forestry / unpaved roads of scotland. Trying to find roads that I can ride wide slicks on, but are not tarmaced

Staying near Dumfries next Thurs and Fri, then have the weekend free before back to Dumfries Mon and down to Brighton on Tues.

Driving and working so no bikes but any suggestions for Sat and Sun? I think getting to the real highlands and back is going to be too much of a push even from there. Would like to do some wild camping. I know Oban a bit and love the west coast - was toying with Arran as it seems the most accessible chunk of diverse island. Islay/Jura seem like they'd take most of the day to get to and the same back.

Any tips?

Arran is easy enough to get to, yeah. Plenty of decent camping spots! Get up the Goat Fell for a good view.

Goat Fell sounds good though not sure how my pregnant wife will feel about it :)

Anybody cycled the West Highland way?
I'm thinking about doing it (North to South) and have read various reports, some saying there's too many parts you can't cycle so end up walk quite a bit and some others say it's do'able and good.
I'm looking for something that's reasonably easy as it's my first jaunt.

I was considering it recently. Pics I saw of the trail in the northern Trossachs are of stuff that is not ridable. Would be even worse with a loaded touring bike. But there are reports of people doing it with mountain bikes.

Not sure if this link will work:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=west+highland+way+north+trossachs&safe=off&client=ms-android-zte&prmd=mniv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjjho-A1PXOAhWkLsAKHXVUCBgQ_AUICSgD&biw=360&bih=559#safe=off&tbm=isch&q=west+highland+way+loch+lomond&imgrc=5fVVbt5eUcM-BM%3A

I am aware of chunks of the trail along Loch Lomond being hike a bike, they did also have a no camping ban in place (although that may have been seasonal).

many have done it on bikepacking setups on mountain bikes. I would say it's doable on a touring bike but will be very hard work in places and the trails can be rough and rocky so expect lots of punctures on skinny tyres, i wouldn't fancy it on drop bars.
The Highland Trail 400 and HT 500 event is a good research place as they use elements of the Trail from Tyndrum to Kinlochleven.
Panniers are not favoured as they tend to drag in thick heather when pushing the bike, but the HT 400 does go seriously offroad in places.

I should have said I was try it on 29er, minimal kit not tent etc. I don't mind carrying the bike for a bit, 10 - 15 mins here and there but don't want extended stretches or a proper hill walking with a bike on my back.

Good idea re good snaps on google, will dig a bit deeper.
ta

Anybody cycled the West Highland way?

I did it about 12-13 years ago. If you're carring a heavy bike( and/or ) kit, the slog alongside Loch Lomond is absolutely hellish. Everything else is great though. Perhaps a little easy to get lost early on ( no GPS back then ).

The riding up near Glen Coe is absolutely stunning though. Would definitely ride the Northern half again.

Several good pubs along that bit too........ haven't been up for a couple of years now but Glencoe Ski center did a killer breakfast and i used to veer off up to them just for that :) and it's less touristy than some other places.

@BareNecessities, nice one ta, I'll pick your brains a bit more when I see you at Epping. I would have thought the Loch Lomond bit wouldn't have been easy!
I've buggered my rohloff so it's off to SJS to get it repaired. I couldn't get sprocket off without it damaging the Drive unit, I suspect previous owner and possibly the previous previous owner had attempted it and opted to leave it on. It was quite worn. Any road up Dave (Mr Rohloff at SJS) reckons a turnaround of 3/4 days at the moment so should be back in plenty of time for the 24th. R hubs aer great for mainteance free running but when they go they're expensive.

I couldn't get sprocket off without it damaging the Drive unit

I think removing old sprockets is quite a common issue. They've usually been on there for quite some time :-)

Might be worth fitting the new splined carrier, if it doesn't mess up your chainline?

@BareNecessities, cheers. In retrospect I should probably have taken it into BikeFix on this occassion and got them to remove it as it was probably a mix of my inexperience and the sprocket being stubborn. I'm getting the splined carrier installed when it gets serviced as I could be changing it a bit whilst bedding it in and don't want this hassle again.

http://Www.opentopomap.org

Or the walk highlands website

Hike-a-bike section around Ben Lomond, other than that it's pretty much all rideable. Bike-wise it's up to you, HT would be more than enough, rigid would beat you up a bit and FS would maybe be a bit too much if it was over 120-130mm.

For the hike-abike bit get some foam pipe cladding that fits your top tube and carry it in your bag.

You can also skip that bit easily enough by riding up around the Lochs before re-joining it (so lovely in the Trossachs around there). You can also skip a chunk of it with the ferry/water-bus.

The road up to Stronachlacher from Aberfoyle? Does that miss all of it?

That road is entirely ridable and really nice. The other side of Loch Katrine is a bike path, as well. But I think Inversnaid north along Lomond is the problem area? You could take the ferry across Inversnaid and take the A82 (I think there's a bike lane alone here as well?) until you get back on the trail.

Ah ok, no I don't think the bike path goes that far up on the A82, starts around Tarbert heading south from memory and it's not a nice road at all to ride on. It would be quicker but not at all pleasant.

Yeah, it's not the nicest road for sure. But it can be ridden! You can hook up with the NCR 7 from Drymen (and meander around the lochs if you've got the time/inclination) and cut across the northern bit of the Trossachs before re-joining. This would result in fairly minimal time on road, I think?

Or just go for it and tell us how awesome or shit it is when you get back!

I'm putting together a Monster Cross bike based on a Cotic BFe frame, so once its sorted I'll take it out there with a camera and see if it's really hike-a-bike or not.

@GavBGlasgow, good man, be interested to hear your experiences and see your snaps.

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