The West Highland Way was Scotland’s first official long distance route (152kms). Originally conceived in the 1960s, it was completed in October 1980. The goal was to ride the entire length from south to north self sufficient and in a day. Here’s the tale of first attempt at the start of May 2007.
The ride started in Milngavie and heads out into the Trossach’s. The opening part of the ride consists of riding through forest tracks before it opens out to a flat route following the River Blane. The route then heads into Garadhban
Forest. The riding here consists of mainly hard pack tracks and was reasonably speedy and a nice warm up. Once you get through the forestry commission land the riding becomes more moor land paths, something you would compare to the Yorkshire Dales or Peak District. The continuous rain of the morning and day before had left the track a complete mud field and some sections were unridable. There was also some sections that involved “hike a bike” to get up some ascents. The moor land section certainly shows this is a rambles track rather than an MTBers but the climbs are steep so it would be difficult to ride them anyway so walking does not really cost any extra time.
On hitting the highest point of the ride so far (Conic Hill) you get some great views over the bottom of Loch Lomond and a steep 400m descent into the main car park of Loch Lomond. The wide descent was scattered with rocks and roots so picking a route through added a bit of excitement to the end of the long first section of riding. The track up Loch Lomond was far more difficult than I considered given I expected it to be reasonably flat as it follows the lake shore. The track in fact was equivalent to single track with many staircase climbs and boulders. There is also lots of wide man made water channels in the path that need to be bridged on the bike, not all of which can be rode as they are wider than the wheels. This was a section that provided frustrating and a bit draining as it was difficult to keep a constant pace. On hitting the first checkpoint I had completed 40kms with 1000m of ascent in three hours forty minutes. After much research and reading before the adventure I had heard the most difficult part of the ride to traverse was the top end of Loch Lomond so I got a lift to the top end of the Loch to carry on the ride where the route went under the A82. Starting the second part of the ride its was easy to see that loch Lomond is the divide between the rolling, wooded countryside of the central Lowlands and the foreboding peaks and shadowy valleys of the Highlands, which laid ahead. This was the section of the ride that was to prove the hardest and most weathering. This ride continued with a climb onto an old military road that was open in sections but rutted in many areas with the rain of the previous 48hrs forming huge puddles. These puddles with the masses of Scottish mud made progress slow and broken. After leaving Glen Falloch and entering the woods again a little cover was afforded from the rain. The wood offered lots of small steep climbs and descents giving a bit of excitement to the previous wet and muddy military road. As the military road passed through Tyndrum and rolled out into Gleann Ach-innis Chailein the track opened up and it was easier to build a bit of speed. Given blustering head winds and relentless sheets of rain the elements certainly made it more difficult than it needed to be. Coming into the Bridge of
Orchy after 7hrs in the saddle it was time to review the state of affairs. Finding some solitude under the rail bridge and looking at the rest of the ride together with descending fog and rain I decided to call off riding the next 60kms that would have been tougher as the conditions were worsening (impossible it seemed at the time) and more difficult climbs lay ahead. On reflection the ride south to north is the easier way to compete the west highland way as the harder riding comes towards the end but then at least you have covered most of the distance. However my enjoyment of the scenery and the ride was washed away with the rain. The long old military road section through Gleann Ach-innis Chailein should have been a great opportunity to appreciate rolling glens. However, a determination to keep moving meant much of the ride was about buckling down and riding on. I will return to do the West Highland Way knowing that it is possible to ride in a day but it needs dry conditions. Interestingly during the entire ride I saw no other cyclists (tyre tracks were also rare) and only about 20 groups of walkers so maybe I had missed some local knowledge!
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