North Coast 500

[Six30]

18 hours ago, Trooper74 said:

We’re cycling it in September .. clockwise from Inverness ... Bivi sleeping, feeding via all and any sources ... 8 of us .. I'm the youngest ..60+ ...lol 

The British Olympic Cycling Team must be quaking in fear ....

 

This is us on the 3rd day of our Coast To Coast ride from Whitehaven to Tynemouth ... 140 miles ... the last 30 downhill ....

 

fook me... its the cast of Cocoon.

[Trooper74]

13 minutes ago, Six30 said:

fook me... its the cast of Cocoon.

 

Closer than you think ... 4th from the left, head out of sight, is the stunning female with the peach shaped bum very like the one that we saw in the swimming pool scene in the film .... You can’t hide in Lycra ... 

[Six30]

38 minutes ago, Trooper74 said:

 

Closer than you think ... 4th from the left, head out of sight, is the stunning female with the peach shaped bum very like the one that we saw in the swimming pool scene in the film .... You can’t hide in Lycra ... 

im afraid i would need photographic proof to believe you Trooper.

[jedibiker]

Count down has begun for us, its about 4 weeks. Now panicking at how much stuff we will have and il bet its a ball ache taking the luggage off the bikes every night. Do many of you feel safe leaving anything on the bikes? nothing of value of course but lets say a small tank bag etc/

[manxie49]

Not doing the full NC500 route, but we're going up the West Coast and coming back down through the Glens in July, hoping to do a bit of wild camping, as far as is allowed now anyway.  It's our intention this time round to try and get off the beaten track a bit.

[fastbob]

6 hours ago, jedibiker said:

Count down has begun for us, its about 4 weeks. Now panicking at how much stuff we will have and il bet its a ball ache taking the luggage off the bikes every night. Do many of you feel safe leaving anything on the bikes? nothing of value of course but lets say a small tank bag etc/

Once you're past Glasgow and up into the Highlands proper , you could leave your luggage unattended anywhere . Obviously not in Fort William which is a bit of a cesspit . Just put all your real valuables in one easily removed bag . 

[jedibiker]

9 hours ago, fastbob said:

Once you're past Glasgow and up into the Highlands proper , you could leave your luggage unattended anywhere . Obviously not in Fort William which is a bit of a cesspit . Just put all your real valuables in one easily removed bag . 

 

thats great cheers Bob

[fastbob]

1 hour ago, jedibiker said:

 

thats great cheers Bob

If you need any advice about campsites food or petrol  or anything NC500 related just let me know . 

[jedibiker]

Just now, fastbob said:

If you need any advice about campsites food or petrol  or anything NC500 related just let me know . 

cheers, were booked into airbnb and bookin.com places as its our honeymoon, goin anticlockwise. Il add a photo of our stays. fuel stops will be most important as Ive no idea whats about.

Weve broken it down into small bites so we can enjoy the place not just ride around it.

 

[Steve_M]

1 hour ago, jedibiker said:

cheers, were booked into airbnb and bookin.com places as its our honeymoon, goin anticlockwise. Il add a photo of our stays. fuel stops will be most important as Ive no idea whats about.

Weve broken it down into small bites so we can enjoy the place not just ride around it.

 

Looks a good itinerary. The joys of breaking it down to smaller days’ riding gives you chance to do things off the bike or explore some of the “off route” options. 
 

We spent a couple of hours exploring Inverewe gardens in 2016, and still had time to amble up to our hotel. 

[jedibiker]

18 minutes ago, Steve_M said:

Looks a good itinerary. The joys of breaking it down to smaller days’ riding gives you chance to do things off the bike or explore some of the “off route” options. 
 

We spent a couple of hours exploring Inverewe gardens in 2016, and still had time to amble up to our hotel. 

Ive made a note of that place as we stay near it cheers. Yeah saw loads of videos of people doing it in a few days, and I guess if i went alone id probably so same. But we want to take photos, video, drone etc and enjoy it all.

[Throttled]

On 06/04/2022 at 09:27, jedibiker said:

cheers, were booked into airbnb and bookin.com places as its our honeymoon, goin anticlockwise. Il add a photo of our stays. fuel stops will be most important as Ive no idea whats about.

Weve broken it down into small bites so we can enjoy the place not just ride around it.

 

 

That is short days riding. Day 3 to 4 is an hour and half. But you can spend a while in Durness at Smoo Caves.

 

I think you are going the right way round, get the boring A9 bit over with first.

[fastbob]

On 07/04/2022 at 15:10, Throttled said:

 

That is short days riding. Day 3 to 4 is an hour and half. But you can spend a while in Durness at Smoo Caves.

 

I think you are going the right way round, get the boring A9 bit over with first.

Personally I wouldn't bother with the NC500 at all . I like to go up the B7076 ( See my previous posts on the subject . ) Through Glasgow and up Loch Lomond . Through Glen Coe to Fort William . Detour out to Mallaig and get the Skye Ferry or continue towards Inverness but veer off to the Kyle of Loch Alsh via Invermoriston . Then take in Eilean Donnan Castle before taking the Loch Carron road all the way to Ullapool . Then you are in breath taking scenery all the way up as far as Durness and beyond . From there you can wend your way back to Inverness via Lairg . After that it's back down loch Ness , back down Glen Coe and Loch Lomond and home . I reckon this route is more scenic and your not doing any boring bits just to get the T Shirt . 

[Throttled]

There is some spectacular riding on the roads around Lairg, inside the ring that is the NW500.

[Bender]

On 06/04/2022 at 11:14, Steve_M said:

Looks a good itinerary. The joys of breaking it down to smaller days’ riding gives you chance to do things off the bike or explore some of the “off route” options. 
 

We spent a couple of hours exploring Inverewe gardens in 2016, and still had time to amble up to our hotel. 

I wouldn't trust any of the plant names, we used to camp near there as kids, entry was fairly easy out of hours, some (most) plant names were re located on a regular basis  what can I say it was before WiFi. 

[fastbob]

Great Bacon Rolls at Flossie's Beach Store ,  Clachtoll . 

[S-Westerly]

14 hours ago, Bender said:

I wouldn't trust any of the plant names, we used to camp near there as kids, entry was fairly easy out of hours, some (most) plant names were re located on a regular basis  what can I say it was before WiFi. 

That would explain my wife having a huff at them as she knows her plants and their names so was muttering darkly about folks not knowing their whatsits from their thingummybobs.

[jedibiker]

On 11/04/2022 at 17:19, fastbob said:

Personally I wouldn't bother with the NC500 at all . I like to go up the B7076 ( See my previous posts on the subject . ) Through Glasgow and up Loch Lomond . Through Glen Coe to Fort William . Detour out to Mallaig and get the Skye Ferry or continue towards Inverness but veer off to the Kyle of Loch Alsh via Invermoriston . Then take in Eilean Donnan Castle before taking the Loch Carron road all the way to Ullapool . Then you are in breath taking scenery all the way up as far as Durness and beyond . From there you can wend your way back to Inverness via Lairg . After that it's back down loch Ness , back down Glen Coe and Loch Lomond and home . I reckon this route is more scenic and your not doing any boring bits just to get the T Shirt . 

I guess we are doing it to say weve done it, but were doing the crap bit in a day or so and taking longer to do the nice bits. I dare say if we ever go again it would be a version you take and just enjoy other bits.

We go in a few days.

[veracocha]

Yesterday I returned from doing much of the NC500 by myself and it was a most enjoyable adventure having only passed my test in November. I read so many reports about dangerous road condition (potholes), bad weather and a lack of accommodation it was some trepidation that I set out. As it happened I was greeted with four out of five days of beautiful bright weather and some recently re-surfaced roads where I experienced very few bottom twitching moments. The scenery is stunning, truly stunning and I have been to Austria for many years on holiday. The nature spectacular (my hobby is birding) and seeing eagles, stags, kites, harriers in the same glen (Garry) made the trip so enjoyable. No point in trying to describe Skye, no words can do it justice but I was blessed with the weather. On the day I went from Ullapool to Durness I did not have a single vehicle in front of me for the duration. Annoyingly my Techalogic front/rear camera packed up mid-journey so I was left with only my iphone to record any images. One of note was the aforementioned Eilean Donan castle. It's the only decent picture I took and I hope you like it. Must convince the wife to join me even if it's by car.

[Fish]

We are planning on doing the NC500 sometime this year, but I did it pre-covid in my Abarth, and for me the best road was from Spean Bridge to Dalwhinnie Distillery.... The A86. Up along the River Spean/Loch Laggan.

[Yorky]

31 minutes ago, veracocha said:

Yesterday I returned from doing much of the NC500 by myself and it was a most enjoyable adventure having only passed my test in November. I read so many reports about dangerous road condition (potholes), bad weather and a lack of accommodation it was some trepidation that I set out. As it happened I was greeted with four out of five days of beautiful bright weather and some recently re-surfaced roads where I experienced very few bottom twitching moments. The scenery is stunning, truly stunning and I have been to Austria for many years on holiday. The nature spectacular (my hobby is birding) and seeing eagles, stags, kites, harriers in the same glen (Garry) made the trip so enjoyable. No point in trying to describe Skye, no words can do it justice but I was blessed with the weather. On the day I went from Ullapool to Durness I did not have a single vehicle in front of me for the duration. Annoyingly my Techalogic front/rear camera packed up mid-journey so I was left with only my iphone to record any images. One of note was the aforementioned Eilean Donan castle. It's the only decent picture I took and I hope you like it. Must convince the wife to join me even if it's by car.

 

You were doing so well until that last sentence

[Bender]

50 minutes ago, Yorky said:

 

You were doing so well until that last sentence

Car has advantages sometimes  

[Copycat73]

23 hours ago, Bender said:

Car has advantages sometimes  

yeah .. you can sleep in it .... when you see the price for inferior accommodation ... at least dick turpin wore a mask..  

[veracocha]

28 minutes ago, Copycat73 said:

yeah .. you can sleep in it .... when you see the price for inferior accommodation ... at least dick turpin wore a mask..  

 

I took in six nights accommodation at various stops and they were £42, £56, £64, £90, £50 and £42. Whilst the £90 job was sheer desperation it was a luxury room yet didn't provide breakfast whereas all the others did. In fairness all of the rooms were of a decent stamp. I'd expect prices to go up as high season approaches. When I go again in warmer weather I'll camp

[S-Westerly]

Trouble with Scotland is that warmer weather brings out the midges in their billions. Makes camping occasionally less than pleasant.