Day 1: Tayport to Killin

The first day of our tour began sunny and bright, though a little cool at first. We left Tayport at about 8.30 am. Because this was the first day riding with full panniers, we decided to detour via St Michael’s crossroads, for a bit of bike practice, which turned out to be a good idea. Unfortunately the roads were quite busy at times as rush hour approached. Rather than traverse Dundee’s new traffic system, after crossing the Tay Bridge, we headed out along Riverside, and out through Invergowrie, Kingoodie and Longforgan, where we crossed the main A90 at the Longforgan underpass.

In 2006, we decided to have as change from touring, and rented a cottage in Lochcarron (View Map) on the west coast of Scotland, taking the tandem and one of my solo bikes. A chief attraction (for me, at least) was that the famous climb over to Applecross (Bealach-na-Ba) was a short ride away. This worked out more social, as our friends Will and Cath were staying within reasonable range for a walking trip. Additionally, the weather turned out on some days to be completely disgraceful!

Stage 1: Tuesday 27th May Ullapool to Lochinver

Stage 2: Wednesday 28th May Lochinver to Durness

Stage 3: Thursday 29th May Durness to Altnaharra

Stage 4: Friday 30th May Altnaharra to Ullapool

Stage 5: Saturday 31st May Drumbeg coastal circuit

Stage 6: Sunday 1st June Ullapool to Poolewe

Stage 7: Monday 2nd June Poolewe to Shieldaig

Stage 8: Tuesday 3rd June Applecross

Stage 9: Wednesday 4th June Shieldaig to Ullapool