Once Round The Block…..

Another early rise on the shore of Loch Linnhe - about 5ish (again!) but had a crackin sleep after sampling the local ales the night before

Managed to ‘escape’ out of the Bed and TOAST early to have a wobble down by the loch side before starting to pack up the bikes.  Frank stated hasling us at about 7.30 asking if he could turn the beds down as the cleaner was coming in at 9.30!!!! Whats that all about - 7.30 in the morning!!!!!

Finally got away from Fawlty Towers at 8 after one of the best plates of TOAST ever (oh and there was coffee!!!!).  So if you want a bit of a giggle look out for this Bed and TOAST on the main drag into Ft. William

Not saying the weather was good, but by 8 it was already 68 in the sunshine Another warm one on the cards.  Rode out of Ft. William on the A82 towards Invergarry, stopping off at the Commando monument just after Spean Bridge.  Now north of Ft. William the roads start to take on their next phase of sexxy goodness - less traffic and more hills, turns and vistas to stare at.

The Commando monument always makes me just stop and think for a few minutes about life.  Not only is the monument impressive, but the location is perfect.

Click here or look in Mawse’s trip photos for a panorama of the Commando monument and the view.

Dont think it would move me so much if I was here at say 1 in the afternoon with about 500 other people, but being here at 8.30 in the morning makes it for me as there were only us and a couple more people there.

What can I say about the A82 to Invergarry - its a cracking ride along the side of Loch Lochy and then crossing the Caledonian Canal.  To say we were stopping for loads of photo ops we made good time to where we left the A82 and picked up the A87.  We would be on this for the rest of the day as we were heading out over the water to Skye.

Im starting to struggle for words to describe the A87, but god its a bloody cracking road.  There were just loads of bikes here, at one point we ended up in the middle of a load of Italian bikes.

Shiel Bridge is basically a filling station a campsite and a couple of houses.  Here I decided to take Rob on a little de-tour up Mam Ratagan for a couple of reasons…. The road is mainly single track at about 40/45 degrees and the view at the top is amazing.

Back down to the A87 now passing though a few small villages as it winds its way along the loch side towards Kyle of Lochalsh.  Had a quick stop at Eilean Donan Castle - well you have to really.  Car park was as full as a full thing with large mobile homes and tour busses full of Americans on the ‘Sporan and Thistle’ tours

The road continues to meander along the side of the loch to Kyle where its time for a bit of a leg stretch, drink and a few photos before heading off over the water to Skye.

Rob had found this BB on the tinterweb that was for bikers so we were kinda heading for that once over the Skye Bridge.

The bridge to Skye used to be a toll bridge costing about 6 quid to travel about half a mile which is a tad steep if you ask me, but now its freeeeeee so bring it on Something special about going over impressive bridges I think.  It should have a pull in halfway over so you can stop and look at the view.

Now we were on the Isle of Skye Turned right at the roundabout and continued up the A87 from Kyleakin towards Broadford.

Every blog/journey/documentry etc always has to have a little bit of drama to keep the reader/viewer interested and wanting more, well what happened on the A87 on the way to Broadford was our bit of drama………

After about a mile or so riding up the road with the sea to the right, little hamlets of houses to the left and stunning views all around we came upon some roadworks.  They were giving the road a nice new shiny coat of tarmac, so a convoy system was being used - now Ive only ever seen this technique used in Scotland.

My thoughts on the convoy system….
basically they queue loads of cars up, so you can be sat waiting in a queue for about 15/20mins! and then drive them through the roadwoarks really slow - and i mean stupidly slow! but all you see as this happens is the workmen stood around or reading magazines!!! Once at the other end the cars who have been waiting to go the other way for 15/20 mins are then escorted through to see workmen stood around

Right then - back to the drama………

We queued…….. and then we queued some more……… and then we were off, well clicked into 1st gear and slowly crept forward with a bit of clutch slipping going off…. The surface we were riding on was ‘orrible.  The left was slippy smooth and new, the middle was just full of stones and crap, so after trying all the parts of the road I went for the right side.  Then it happened…………

wait for it…………..stop biting your nails……………sit back in the chair…………

Rob came off his bike! - Right in the middle of the roadworks!!!

As luck would have it we were going that bloody slow he managed to almost just lower the bike on the floor and roll away from it.

Im sure Rob will be able to give a better account of it all then I can as all I remember of it all was hearing his bike revvvvvvving like crazy, looking in the mirror and seeing his legs disappear out of view!

As you can imagine a few choice words were said once the bike was on its wheels and we were taking stock of what had happened stood in a little pull in.

We never did find the B&B we were looking for, but stumbled on another in Harrapool which was spot on with friendly cheerful owners and even better - secure off road parking.

Riding round Skye in the afternoon was good.  Nice to have a blast without being all loaded up.  As you would expect Rob was a bit on edge for the rest of the day - but I think he still enjoyed the riding.  Had a ride out to Carbost and the distillery there, and down to Glen Brittle with cracking views of the Cuillin.

Had a wobble into Broadford to get some snap for tea and then after sampling the local brew (several times!) decided to call it a day.

daily - 167 miles
total - 586 miles

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