12 minute read
Up the airy mountain, down the rushy glen
Inverness-based Ian Milne and his wife Catherine took to the saddle to traverse Scotland’s mighty geographical fault line – the Great Glen, avoiding traffic and Nessiehunters by picking their way along forest tracks and quiet by-ways, through some stunning Highland scenery Up the airy mountain, down the rushy glen
THE MILNES
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Ian, aged 58, and Catherine, 51, belong to the Cycling UK Highland member group, as well as being members of an informal Highland Audax group. Ian is also a member of the Ross-shire Roads CC. He rode his first Audax in 1994 and since then has completed seven SR series, two PBPs and an LEL. His first PBP was in 1999, and the second 20 years later in 2019. “I thought I’d better have another crack at it while I still have it in me,” he says. “I think I can also lay claim to the first RRtY completed entirely in the Highlands, in 2013 – unless, of course, someone knows different.”
THE GREAT GLEN WAY has long been on my radar. I’d got as far as vaguely planning it a couple of times before drawing a blank on how to get bikes to Fort William. Bikes aren’t permitted on the direct bus, and the train would involve an all-day, 300-mile expedition via Glasgow.
Then in July our teenage daughters announced they were planning to drive to Fort William to visit friends. Bingo! Finally, dad-taxi payback time! The girls would take our bikes in the car and Catherine and I would follow on the bus.
But which bike to ride? I was very keen to take my recently acquired Spa Cycles Elan gravel bike on what would be its biggest outing to date, but would a hard-tail mountain bike be better suited to the task? A poke about on the internet soon reassured me that a gravel bike would do just fine.
However, the web also revealed lots of accounts and advice that the route should be done over two days, or, possibly better still, over three. I couldn’t find any accounts of single-day crossings. But how hard could it be? True, I’d heard tales of some ferocious hills, but all the online pictures showed happy cyclists on tracks with decent surfaces. These accounts, I concluded, were from casual, leisure cyclists, not hardened Audaxers experienced in the art of suffering on two wheels in all its manifestations. Heck, the first ascent of the north face of the Eiger took several days but now people scamper up it fast enough to be back down for lunch, so surely we could manage the GGW in a day?
It was cool and overcast as we set off from our friend’s house at 8.35am on the Friday morning, the brooding presence of Ben Nevis looming over Fort William, shrouded in mist and cloud.
With the prospect of a dry day, warming up later and a handy westerly breeze, we were eager to get going. We soon picked up the GGW which took us through the back streets and cycle paths of Fort William to the start of the Caledonian Canal which we would follow for the first leg to Gairlochy.
This is the longest canal section at around 11km. A short climb alongside Neptune’s Staircase, Thomas Telford’s magnificent flight of eight locks which take the canal up to the dizzying altitude of 30m, and then we were blasting along the pan-flat canal track at a steady 25 kph. We are talking super, deluxe gravel here: wide as a vehicle and smoother than many a Highland road. Catherine’s only option had been a mountain bike with impressively chunky, knobbly rubber, and I suspect she was rather envying my fast-running gravel tyres at this point.
We soon reached Loch Lochy, the first of the three large lochs that lie along the glen and which the canal links together. After a brief foray on to quiet tarmac to cross the noisily cascading River Arkaig, we joined the forest track that runs to the far end of Loch Lochy.
This rose and fell gently as it wound through the trees. Occasional clearings afforded intermittent views across the loch, the water glittering brightly in the sunshine. The end of the loch saw another short canal path section before we crossed the A82 to join the disused railway track cycle path along the south side of Loch Oich, the second of the three lochs.
The surface was up to canal path standard, and it was back to 25 kph cruising, enjoying views across the loch. Loch Oich is much smaller than its two larger cousins. The mountains on each side are lower and slope less severely down to the shores, giving it an altogether gentler feel.
It was here we had our only mechanical when Catherine’s dropper seat post started
to slowly sink, then sink a bit quicker before finally refusing to stay up at all. Slightly unscrewing the little cable adjuster widget seemed to make things worse, so I tightened it up as hard as I could which thankfully solved the problem.
At the end of Loch Oich, we crossed the A82 again to re-join the canal for a final flat 8km to Fort Augustus. Stopping for a snack on a jetty in the warm sunshine, we reflected on the fantastic variety of the route so far. We were half way, at the south-western end of mighty Loch Ness, the final, and by far the largest of the three lochs.
We’d covered the 52km in an encouragingly quick three and a half hours, but this is very much a ride of two halves. If ever that cliché applied to a ride this is it. So far we’d clocked up 538m of ascent while the remaining 68km had an alarming 1,893m still in store for us. And it wasn’t messing about.
We rode to the far end of the village, turned north on to a woodland path where it immediately hit us with a steep 60m ascent. We rapidly ran out of both gears and traction and started the first of a number of walks. Thankfully this didn’t last long, and having gained height we joined a pleasant, easy forestry track.
This second half of the GGW is made up of three progressively tough, high-level sections, punctuated by brief forays back down to loch level at the settlements of Invermoriston and Drumnadrochit. The first ❝ Avoiding the larger rocks and trying section was fairly easy, with nothing too steep, to minimise sliding on although there is a the loose stuff, I was harder option for the serious masochist, as briefly wishing for this, and the next fatter rubber and section, both offer alternative, higher level routes giving an additional suspension ❞ 500m of ascent. We kept to the lower option, where the forest track undulated between the 50m and 100m contours. But this was a very gentle warm up for what was to come.
There isn’t a lot at Invermoriston and we were soon through the village and on to the first of three substantial climbs brutal at the time. Naïve fools! We would between here and Drumnadrochit, the look back on it as almost a non-event. highest hitting 300m. This first one was The rest of the way to Drumnadrochit long and steep but thankfully on tarmac. is a bit of a blur of fast descents, slow It was now quite hot, and with the sun climbs, single track, lots of trees and beating down on us it seemed fairly tantalising vistas along the glen. It finished with a steep, twisty, single-track descent that called for a bit of concentration. Avoiding the larger rocks and trying to minimise sliding on the loose stuff, I was briefly wishing for fatter rubber and suspension for the first time on the ride.
Drumnadrochit is a pleasant enough village, though as the epicentre of Nessie mania it tends to be overrun with tourists. We sat at a table on the village green where we finished off the sandwiches followed by cold drinks, ice cream, coffee and a water bottle refill from one of
R&R… in Drumnadrochit before the final push
several cafes. We could have lingered long in the pleasant afternoon sun, but eventually conceded there was no further excuse to stay.
From here the GGW makes a determinedly full-on assault up to its highest point, at 385m, above Abriachan. But first, just to maximise the experience, it had us descend even further, with a fast whizz down the path alongside the A82 before the fun began, with, inevitably, a walk.
This marked the start of a seriously gnarly bit of single track which twisted and looped. We are talking, rocks, roots, ruts, narrow, steep down and steep up. It was in fact mostly rideable, just, but it was a relief to push over the final outrageous rock insult and haul the bikes on to a more reasonable-looking track. Reasonable that is in terms of width and surface. For now we were on the serious ascent.
This first and most challenging section seemed interminably long. It consisted of a series of short but very steep ramps, interspersed with short flat sections. It looked touch and go as to whether it would be rideable, especially on gravel tyres, but it is fundamentally against my religion to walk with a bike unless I absolutely have to. So off I set. My smallest gear wasn’t low enough to twiddle up the ramps so I adopted a maximum-effort sprint followed by as much recovery as possible on the flats, which was about five seconds.
I don’t use a heart rate monitor but I was getting the distinct feeling that my beats per minute were only a few below what was medically advisable. And that was on the recovery sections. So, on a particularly savage 20 per cent gradient ramp I finally admitted defeat. Catherine was already walking, which, it turned out, was considerably less effort. This proved to be the longest walk by far, probably around 500m.
Eventually the gradient eased sufficiently to resume pedalling, and finally enough to start enjoying the surroundings again. The landscape was changing as we
emerged from the forest into open moorland with the big-expanse, eastcoast panoramas that contrast with the more enclosed big mountain west coast views. Reassuringly familiar views. Home views. We knew we would make it now!
From the 385m high point it’s a 20km downhill run to Inverness. A super-fast, forest track descent to Abriachan was followed by some magical single track through scattered trees. Then a short section on traffic-free tarmac led to a nice easy path back into forest, then – Hallelujah! – a view of Inverness way below, and a final long descent. I soon lost sight of Catherine nonchalantly cruising down, seated, as I gingerly picked the easiest path, standing on the pedals, wrists and arms taking a pounding. Praise be to the inventor of that modern marvel the hydraulic disc brake!
Reaching the outskirts of the city, we zipped down green-space paths, had a final encounter with the canal before the run-in along the River Ness cycle path, which ran across to the other bank and the city centre via the lovely Ness Islands.
Finally, just before 7pm, we were back to where we had been waiting for the bus, just over 24 hours previously. We’d done it. Ten hours, 22 minutes; 121.6km; 2,431m of ascent; moving average speed 14.6 kph; overall average 11.6 kph.
So how hard was it? Well, it was definitely a challenging ride but well within the reach of anyone who can manage a 200km Audax in reasonable time and still be standing at the end. A degree of off-road skills is useful, but not essential – without them you might end up walking a bit more.
There are various theories and formulae about how off-road equates to on-road, but from the time taken and how I felt at the finish, and the next day, I would say the GGW is the equivalent of a moderately hilly 200.
The surfaces were mostly good. I was glad I’d taken the gravel bike rather than the mountain bike. The latter would only have been an advantage for maybe five per cent of the route.
Overall, I would estimate the route breaks down into approximately 50 per cent forest track, 35 per cent single track, cycle path or other path, 10 per cent canal path, and five per cent tarmac. The overall proportion that we walked was tiny. Apart from that 500m trudge up the Drumnadrochit south face, other walked sections were very short.
The whole route is waymarked with signs and marker posts, so as long as you are paying attention you shouldn’t get lost. There is lots of information about the GGW online, including detailed maps, route descriptions, details of accommodation options, package options, and bag transport.
There is something to be said for spreading the GGW over two days, allowing more time to savour the views and appreciate all the points of interest along the way.
How much fun was it? An absolute blast! Catherine and I both agreed it was top ride of the year so far. The range of scenery, the quietness, the variety of tracks and paths, not to mention the element of the unexpected made for a truly memorable outing.
THE GREAT GLEN WAY
The Great Glen, a major geological fault line cutting diagonally across the Highlands of Scotland from Fort William to Inverness, is a defining geographical feature of the north of Scotland.
This huge rift valley was formed when the north-western and south-eastern sides of the fault slid in opposite directions, creating both a geological spectacle and a low-level, coast-to-coast route across otherwise forbiddingly mountainous terrain. Today it is a major communications route, hosting both the A82 trunk road and the Caledonian Canal, Thomas Telford’s early 1800s engineering marvel which connects the Atlantic to the North Sea.
The route is great for road vehicles and boats but not so good for the cyclist, for whom the A82 is an unpleasantly hostile environment. For those prepared to venture off-road, however, the Great Glen Way offers the enticing prospect of riding coast to coast entirely on tracks, trails and the odd traffic-free minor road. Established in 2002, the GGW is one of Scotland’s premier long-distance paths, covering some 120km from Fort William in the west, to Inverness in the east.
