The Great North Trail - August 2021

I’m not quite sure how we did that. I don’t think any of us do. We sat in the pub last night to go through our options, as it was clear our original plan was in tatters. We had hoped to get within striking distance of Durness today, giving us time to get the ferry to and from Cape Wrath and back to Durness for the bus to Inverness. In the last 2 days we had done just over 50 miles each day and finished the day completed ruined. We needed to do 86 today. That meant 12 hours in the saddle and the cumulative exhaustion from the last 9 days meant that was vanishingly unlikely. We looked at road options, we contemplated not going to Cape Wrath. In the end, we just decided to go for a gravel ride and see where we got to. And we did the 86 miles.  To give ourselves a chance, we were on the road before 8.30. The first 10 miles was easy, on roads, before we headed off up a farm track, tarmac eventually giving way to hard packed gravel. Perfect conditions for our bikes. We never gave muc...

When I planned this day of the route, my main concern was to make it longer. We had planned to stop in a B&B on the 9th night and had to book it well in advance before really understanding what each day held in store. In my head, this was an easy day: Short and limited climbing. So, when the sun nudged us awake past 7.00am, we were all looking forward to a less demanding day. Sure, there was a fat looking hill first thing, but nothing too scary thereafter.  Hang on a minute, I hear you say, I haven't logged in to read this nonsense to hear about fun, easy days riding, I want pain and suffering. I want to know who wins the midge wars. You can relax - this was another trip to the pain cave, dropping in on despair on the way through. This bloody adventure has gone well past anything any of the 3 of us has done on the bonkersness scale. It started beautifully with a giant 'full Scottish' at a cafe a mile down the road. Kate's front brake was a concern, well more than t...

I guess it won’t come as a big surprise that this thing isn’t getting any easier. Today was a relatively short day, mileage-wise, but there were many of the particularly Scottish challenges as well as the particularly Scottish treasures.  My vain attempts to wake my travelling companions with cups of tea meant we weren’t quick out of the blocks. When we did finally move, it was time for breakfast, only we were the breakfast. The damp, low cloud beside the Loch meant the little bastard midges were out in their billions. In the frenzied panic to load my bike, I almost left half my stuff behind, as clouds of the nibbling little sods closed in. One mile to the Carrour Station café, (The station is the highest one in the UK - remember the one in the film Trainspotting?) where we were to eat breakfast. If there is a nicer café and better breakfast with friendlier staff anywhere in the world, I’ve not been there yet. An absolute delight. From there we rode down through the Corrour esta...

Breakfast by the loch at a relaxed pace was a pleasure. The bike shop wouldn’t be open until 10.00 so, whilst this would come back to bite us later, an enforced slow start was bliss. A lovely sunny morning, lighting up the water and the rolling green and purple Trossachs made quite a backdrop. Kit packed, we set off back towards Callender for essentials, leaving Emma to get her seat post fixed. Coffee and muffin at Fat Jacks and when Emma joined us it was time to ride.  The first section from Callander to Strathyre and on to Killin was a breeze, along tarmac or packed gravel cycle track following the old railway line. The odd little climb and a few twists, but fast progress. Before Killin, the track tilts upwards, with a long, steady pull. Not steep and a good surface so we pushed on. If only we knew. Awesome descent into Killin and the popular Falls of Dochart. We had arranged with one of my dad’s old army pals, Tobin, who lived in Sterling, to meet us for lunch in Killin. T...

If you follow the Strava track of today's route you'll see it's a 'C' shaped curve to to East of Glasgow. The Great North Trail is mainly a combination of existing long distance routes. Today we joined up with An Turas Mor, the epic mainly off road route that goes from Glasgow to Cape Wrath. However, to get there, we had a few more miles of the canal to wrap up.  It seems churlish to complain about canal rides. Fast, flat, scenic. But this one had gone on, so when we joined after a substantial Scottish breakfast (Emma and I had the haggis and black pudding, throwing ourselves into the local culture) our hearts sank a bit, especially with a headwind and complaining legs. Nonetheless, the weather was good and getting better and the time passed quickly enough.  Even with a slightly tardy start, we were in Milngavie by lunchtime with just another 30 or so miles to do, and we'd done zero climbing so far. Milngavie will be familiar to those who have hiked the West...

Massive breakfast onboard, off we set on our new itinerary. We had lost so much time and distance yesterday that we decided to get back on track with some help from the train, so 20 plus miles to Galashiels, train to Edinburgh, then canal tow paths the 30 plus miles to Bonnybridge Eco camping. First though, a stop to buy anthisan. Whilst frigging around in Kielder, Kate and I had been savaged by midges. Despite the comfortable hotel bed, sleep had been elusive due to the incessant itching of 1000 bites. Miserable little bastards.  Quite a big hill out of Hawick, road at first then a gravel track. Just 3 miles in, though, disaster struck and Kate's dodgy wheel died again. Quick re-plan meant all of us (heartbreakingly) descending back into Hawick to the bike shop, with plan B being Kate in a taxi to catch the train in Galashiels. No truck at the bike shop in Hawick, so plan b it was. Would have been much better to ride as the 3 Musketeers, but with one in a taxi, it did mean the o...