Scotland Writeup/Tedious Rambling (With Pictures)

[divuk83]

Following on from my last trip to scotland in May..
https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=147575

......I went on another last minute tour of North Western Scotland, I only decided I would go on the night before! Was dithering about wether to go as the weather has been so crap for the last few weeks.

Each days route is shown output from Garmin Mapsource into Google Earth.

Click on the pics for bigger photos.

Day 1 (Wednesday)
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_day1route.jpg
Set off mid morning from York heading for Reraig Campsite, pretty much the whole journey it was chucking it down and I was wondering why on earth I had bothered to set off on a camping holiday? By the time I got within about 20 miles of the campsite the rain stopped and the roads were dry and even the ground at the campsite was dry. Put my tent up and despite the clouds of midges all over the site all was going well. Attempted to dry my kit out with the 10p operated hair dryer in the shower block, which made no difference so I gave up, left all my stufff hanging up inside and went for a wander as the site is across the road from the coast. At this point it started to rain so I headed back to the tent to cook some dodgy camp food and make a cup of coffee with midges floating in it. Decided to go for an early night as it was raining and I was tired.

Day 2
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_day2route.jpg
Got up about 6.30am and it was still chucking it down, as it had been all night as I hadn't really got any sleep. Had a shower for 3 mins at a cost of 10p per minute, rather than going off after your money runs out it just goes cold! Annoyingly all my kit hanging up in the shower block was still wet on the inside. As all my stuff was still wet, it was still pissing it down and there were loads of midges I gave up on camping and checked into the hotel next to the campsite.

After sticking all my kit in front of the heater in the hotel room for a few hours I decided to head off round Skye for the rest of the day. It was still pretty wet and visibility was pretty poor as it was very cloudy. All the way from the Skye Bridge to Portree it was pretty much the same and I couldn't really see much of Skye. Stopped off for some lunch in Portree then decided to continue round the island despite the weather. (up to this point it was so wet and cloudy I hadn't bothered to get my camera out)

By the time I drove up the single track road to the northern end of Skye the weather was improving, it wasn't raining and the cloud was clearing so there were some decent views. By the time I got down to Uig it the Sky was blue and it was sunny.

Few pics from Skye:
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0004.jpg

https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0021.jpg

https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0032.jpg
Skye Bridge (you can see blue sky over the island and dark sky over the mainland)
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0058.jpg


Spent the rest of the day going round the coast roads and as soon as I got back over the Skye Bridge and the cloud started to close in and the roads were wet again. Stopped off to buy a some food from the local shop and went back to the Hotel to try and catch up on last nights lack of sleep.

Day 3
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_day3route.jpg
[url=][img][/img][/url]
Another early(ish) start at 7am and after a cooked breakfast I started packing my tent away that had been hanging up over the bath in the room drying out. Packed all my stuff onto the bike and put all my now dry kit on and set off along the coast road to Ullapool. The A832 is one of my favourite roads and despite a few showers on the way it was still a great drive with some fantastic views. Stopped several times on the way to take pictures as it was now sunny and the sky was blue again. Got to Ullapool mid afternoon and stopped for a wander around and got some lunch in the Seaforth Pub. After lunch I drove a few miles north to the Ardmair Campsite. I was a bit unsure about wether to camp and risk getting wet again or take the soft option and find a B&B. The site is right on the coast and has really good shower blocks and even a laundry room with a tumble dryer, ideal for drying out rain soaked waterproofs! As the weather was good and site was really nice and there were hardly and midges I decided to set up camp. Went for a walk back down to Ullapool in the evening, as it was a bit dodgy walking along the road I cut across some fields which gave a fantastic view over Ullapool and the surrounding bay. Bought some food from Tesco and made my way back to the site for the night.


https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0068.jpg
Gairloch Harbour
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0069.jpg
Loch Ewe
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0073.jpg
Ullapool
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0075.jpg
The Campsite
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0085.jpg
The shoreline next to the campsite
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0088.jpg
Looking out to sea from the hills above Ullapool
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0092.jpg
Ullapool in the distance
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0096.jpg
Ullapool
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0101.jpg
The shoreline next to the campsite (again)

Day 4
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_day4route.jpg
Up early again for todays ride up the north west coast round to the the Kyle of Tounge. Loads of single track roads which ment it took a while to cover any real distance, which was fine as it gave me chance to take in the scenery. Hardly any traffic on the roads either which is one of the many reasons why I love scotland. My only regret was going back inland for the drive back to the site, quite a boring single track road that seemed to go on forever. Got back mid evening and cooked up the last of my dodgy camp food and tired to decide which route to take home in the morning.


https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0104.jpg
The Summer Isles
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0112.jpg
Looking Inland from near Altandhu
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0123.jpg
Kylesku Bridge
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0125.jpg
Just East of Durness
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_DSC_0129.jpg
Kyle of Tounge

Day 5
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/albums/scotlandaug08/normal_day5route.jpg
Packed up all my kit onto the bike and left the site at about 10am heading back to York. Heading towards Inverness the roads were wet and there were patches of light rain. Got on the A9 north of Inverness heading south and looked at the depressing "107 miles til next turn" message on the screen of my GPS, little did I realise just how long I would really spend on the A9.

Just south of Inverness near Aviemore my bike started to slow down and the throttle went slack. Buggar, my throttle cable had snapped. Coasted to a halt on one of the fast single carrigeway sections of the A9 about a quarter of a mile away from the nearest parking place and on a slight uphill slope. In a gap in the traffic I tried to get the bike up onto the grass verge out of the way of the traffic, bad idea... I dropped the bike on its side, which was a swine to get back up as even without the weight of fuel or all my luggage the bike ways the best part of 250kg. I then pushed it up the busy road to a layby and called the RAC at 11.30am. After an hour or so the RAC man arrived and we both spent an hour or so trying to fit a new cable however we were unable to. Personally I thought the cable he had was slightly wider and less flexible than the old cable so I was not the surprised that it didn't fit. I was surprised that my 9 month old, well maintained/cleaned bikes throttle had been weakened by rust and had snapped.

After this he called me a recovery truck and went off leaving me sat in the laybay, bored off my arse. At about half 4 in the afternoon (meaing I had been sat about in the layby for 5 hours) the recovery truck arrived and after strapping it down we set off at about 5pm on the 350 mile trip to York. At recovery truck speeds this took an age and I finally made it home at quarter past midnight.

Despite the breakdown and the rain on the first day it was still a great little holiday. 1008 miles covered up to the point where I broke down.

I'm sure I will be back up to Scotland again in the not to distant future.

The most gutting part was dropping the bike as it didn't have a single scratch prior to this, thankfully there is hardly any damage and the 3 black plastic panels that are scratched only cost about a tenner each to replace. There are a few scratches on the painted rear panel which should polish out, or at least look less bad than they do now. I can't really be bothered to spend 80 squid on a rear panel that doesn't look that bad.

Rest of the pics:
https://www.divuk83.net/images/gallery/index.php

...and well done to anyone who is still reading this/hasn't fallen asleep!

Dave

[kitty kat]

Lovely trip, great pics, shame you had such a shitty end to it. I was lucky on Skye, no midges, but I had sausage, bacon,tomato & midge for my tea in Inverness I intend going back up there one day and going even further north than I did this time. as you said, the roads are fantastic and very little traffic.
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[pa_broon74]

Thats a pretty mighty trip, it sometimes seems every time anyone does one of these trips something goes amiss, be it a throttle cable or a spill, mind you though, we tend to discount those trips where it all goes swimmingly.

You covered alot of the same roads we did on our wee tour. The road into Durness and beyond on the North West coast for me was most memorable. The beach at Rispond (you have a photo of it) is especially nice.

Not sure about camping though We did it the first night but soon got bored of it. In future, we're going to factor the cost of Hotels and B&B's into our plans.


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Didn't catch anything.

[meach]

Nice writeup/pics mate and fair play to you.
Shame you dropped the bike but how the hell do you drop a 3 wheeled bike on its side?????????? That must take some doing??????
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2005 xt660x in red, not everyone's cup of tea but neither is coffee
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[Stevie GooGs]

Nice trip pitty about the wait for the recovery truck. The west coast the a832 is one of my fav roads up here. I tend to go down the A832 then across to applecross then back up for a short run on the bike.
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[divuk83]

[DidierD]

Nice seeing so many great Scotland photots. Brings it all back, I wish I could be there again!!

Looks like you stayed in the same campsite I did in Ullapool, the pebble beach is lovely
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Bike - '98 Yamaha YZF600 Thundercat Pics

31st March 2008 - Fully converted from four wheels to 2 sets of two wheels

[stinkwheel]

I like Kylescue bridge. 120mph left hander, you go to change up and find there's no room to get your toe under the lever, then you look to your left and notice you're on a bridge.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Radar]

Absolutely stunning photos. I have not ridden in Scotland since the 1980's. I need to go back by the look of things!