Ultracycling

Come up for a clubrun at some point!

We are slowly getting a group going every weekend from Dunkeld/Grandtully.

Going to do Ben Lawers and Glen Lyon this Saturday.

think thats one of the best loops in scotland.

It certainly is isn't it.

I'm lucky to have it on my doorstep, and the rest of the routes around here.

sorry, thread de-rail

Trans Alba looks like a shit version of the HT550

Weather in Scotland is fine all the time. I visited briefly a couple of months ago and it was "nae bother"

Was 18 degrees today actually.

For all the negativity on here regarding the Tour D’Alba (tm) I can’t see why starting a new event is a bad thing. Only thing I can think of is that it’s so badly planned that it stops others in the future.

Not every event can be a classic.

what bothers me is that the people who made the route either a) haven't recce'd the route or b) don't care enough about rider safety

Both are pretty bad.

It's a draft route. This looks quite nice:

wikipoodia does say it's a "major road in Scotland" but how busy is a major road in Scotland?

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/road-safety-fears-long-distance-cycle-ride-133100

Though this is some tosser sooking about "overtaking opportunities". This ride is also 800 people rather than single riders so less risky due to numbers.

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/a82-to-fort-william-cycle-friendly/ "hell no!"

but how busy is a major road in Scotland?

That should probably be "how busy is a major road outside of the central belt/cities, in Scotland"

In the cases of many of these roads, they are busy as they are the main and in some cases only routes between towns and villages. Everything goes along them, HGV's, local traffic, farm traffic, seasonal traffic etc.

Sometimes you can plan around them, sometimes there just aren't the roads/cycle paths to do it so you have to use whats there. To be fair, there is a lot of rural cycling infrastructure around a lot of these trunk roads. From memory, the A82 isn't one that's served particularly well, but I'm that way next weekend, so i will re acquaint myself.

A82 is a great road, if you are in a decent motor or on a motorbike.

The A82 has zero infrastructure in place for cycling, least it didnt have three weeks ago when i was on it.

It did however have 3 articulated lorries and one logger i got stuck behind climbing Glencoe until the started booting it at 70 down from Rannoch Moor to Tyndrum.

The A85 has a great off road section from the Killin junction to Callander to be fair, that's on NCR7 and probably in my eyes the best part of the NCR7.

Infact theres a better route. NCR7 NC500 NCR1 home

I'd not want be caught on the A82. Drivers mucking about with phones trying to take pictures, lots of tourists who are not familiar with the road/UK roads, tourist buses everywhere, very narrow, poor visibility due to twists/turns and trees etc. As has been said it's a nice road but only if you're in a car.

A pedestrian was killed on that bit heading to Glencoe last year, it would be no safer on a bike

Fair enough, but the same could be said for many of the roads used in TABR, TCR, etc.
Do their rules mandate high-viz and proper tail-lights?

Do their rules mandate high-viz and proper tail-lights?

If they do it's hypocritical if they continue the "We don't have liability insurance, you're on a private excursion on public roads, you must follow the rules of the road." and then mandate things on top of the existing laws. (Whether or not they are sensible...)

I see many people point to the "private excursion on public roads" bit of Audax and claim that the organisers have no liability at all.

For ultras like the above it's even trickier if you describe it as a race and publish finish times.

Audax does have insurance though, yeah? Every entry and membership covers insurance. Audax isn't a race whereas this is marketed as a race. I'm just saying we're picking them up on using a busy road when every other race save for MTB ones uses busy roads.

but the same could be said for many of the roads used in TABR, TCR, etc.

Yes, I agree. Probably just high familiarity with those roads (and alternatives) × high concentration of people interested in ultracycling. No one complains about the roads in Slovakia because by comparison barely anyone has ridden on them, even though they might be worse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSBso_JliP4

Audax does have insurance though, yeah?

Yes, members are insured whilst riding an Audax, but I'm talking about organisers liability insurance (which Audax UK organisers are provided with via Audax UK).

NCR7 to Mhor84 for cheesy chips, out and back is a true joy

i grew up in Oban and travelled to Fort William and Glasgow etc regularly - i know the roads pretty well.

I had at least 2 people i went to school with crash and die on those roads and countless more in my small town had injuries and totalled cars. People drive like fucking maniacs round there, and that's not even factoring in the tourists in their motorhomes (which btw is how I was knocked off last time I was riding up there) that swarm the place from June to August.

My point is that there are lots of ways to get around Scotland on nice, scenic and quiet roads... but in this part from Loch Lomond to Fort William, you really don't have many on-road options.

As others said - these roads can be really busy and they are definitely fast with poor sight lines. You couldn't pay me to ride them, especially during peak summer.

Are chips and gravy a thing in Scotland or is it just Norf Englerland

The issue with TransAlba in a nutshell

these roads can be really busy and they are definitely fast with poor sight lines. You couldn't pay me to ride them, especially during peak summer.

So, what are the options? Leave that area out?

Wash your mouth.

Chips and cheese >>>

Chips & gravy ftw blows kisses at Manchester