Day 1: Inverness to Applecross
Stats
Distance: 83miles
Elevation: 4554ft
We began the day with our staple and regimented breakfast of muesli and warm croissants before getting our kit and bike ready for the day. Samuel and I set off at 7am sharpish from the campsite, it was perfectly located within Inverness and near a leisure centre. We utilised the swimming pool facilities the previous day; it was brilliant to get into the water to loosen out legs for a week of cycling. We cycled to the obligatory photo point of the official North coast 500 start point at the castle, which was located on a hill providing panoramic views over the river and Inverness.
The route for the first 70miles was flat; it is similar to South Derbyshire territory; harder to ride than you expect as you ride in a harder gear and cadence for the day with a limited variety of position or riding style. Once we cycled a few miles out of Inverness, we felt the sense of adventure had begun as the views were lovely whilst we closely followed the river. It is easy to get carried away and just cycle with your head down and not see anything, but in touring tradition, we ensured to capture the moments via video or photos to look back on for future reference. This trip was the first time where it would also be captured through a 3rd axis as Samuel had invested in a drone; the footage looks brilliant and can provide a perspective of the hills you are cycling up and the vast vistas of the open Scottish scenery. It was also refreshing that Samuel got to experience documenting the trip as I had mainly capturing our adventures until this point (4 years of various trips together).
We were lucky that the trip was not a typical touring setup as we had a complete support vehicle from my Dad; he drove around in his campervan. It meant all our supplies, food, bicycle repair equipment and sleeping arrangement were carried; this meant we only needed to cycle with minimal equipment to get us to the next campsite. This was brilliant and gave a great piece of mind if we did come into any mechanicals; we had spare cycle equipment, including wheels or a shelter to get into if the rain hammered it down!
At 43 miles, we arranged to meet Dad for a quick lunch stop and hydration; firstly, we stopped at Midge bite café for Samuel to have an energy-boosting coffee. The café was appropriately named for the area because as soon as we were eating our sandwiches, the midges were out to eat us; or me specifically because my skins is just too tasty; I had over 10 bites in 10 minutes…the joy of Scotland. There was a multitude of cyclists who were also riding the NC500 but in a self-supported fashion; I don’t envy them cycling with a fully laden kit around the undulated route. Nonetheless, the lunch stop was brilliant because my Dad even heated up some delicious sausage rolls; it really was nice to get off the bike, take in the scenery around you and feel like you’re on holiday than a pure cycling challenge.
After we were refuelled, our energy remained topped up, and the scenery began to improve as the outlet from the sea was expanding, and the roads were reduced in size. The roads for most of the route were single track with regular passing places, the small villages were lovely, and the drivers were also incredibly considerate for the entire day. Most of them are all driving the route and were in large motorhomes enjoying the scenery and holiday, whereas cycling local to home has an increased number of road raging hooligan drivers.
The final kick of the day ended up the Holy Grail of the ‘UK’s top 100’ cycling climbs: Bealach Na Ba. It is cited as 11 out of 10 for difficulty, over 2000ft of elevation averaging 7% for 5.7miles.The switchbacks were impressive, and the towering mountains made the climb appear daunting; we received a few lovely acknowledgements from drivers of claps, cheers and waves as we were climbing up. The Bealach Na Ba was moist; visibility was 10 metres, and the road conditions were not terrible with potholes, but the general surface was rough, and vibration through the handlebars was the main issue. Once I reached the top, I was surprised by how easy it was. It wasn’t as deadly as the steep Lakeland Passes as I experienced the previous month during the Fred Whitton, but the weather was the most difficult aspect; up until this climb, the weather was beautiful, but it soon turned. Consequently, the descent off Bealach Na Ba, resulted in a very cold experience with numb fingers and shivering bodies gripping tightly onto our handlebars but fortunately we immediately got into the campsite which was located at the bottom of the climb. Samuel and I immediately got off the bike and headed straight to the showers and, to warm up after having sodden jersey and shorts for a few hours.
Day 2: Applecross to Gruinard Bay
Stats
Distance: 76miles
Elevation: 5348ft
Day 2 was a spectacular ride with lovely coastal scenery for a large proportion of the route along the West Coast. We started cycling at 7am with a wonderful sighting of a stag on the coastal inlet of Applecross (at the campsite the previous evening we got up to 1metre away from it; it was incredibly tame). It was a purely stunning morning where Samuel flew his drone close to the stag and the surrounding bay where the morning skylight had some beautiful orange and red colours reflecting on the sea. We then had an undulated ride with some lovely swishy descents and punchy climbs to keep the first few hours interesting without it being too demanding on the legs. Fortunately, my legs were still feeling fresh which meant we were riding with a correct conservative touring pace; this is important to make the whole trip enjoyable without it feeling tough and unenjoyable.
We had our first drafting experience behind some gigantic motorhomes where we were swiftly freewheeling at 30mph. The faster we went on the flats meant more faff time for the film and photo set up which takes a significant length of our trip. But as usual it is always lovely to look back upon the memories as you soon forget the scenery and it all merges into one; the route is that dramatic and spectacular, you can see how it is increasingly popular for motorhome and cycle tourers.
In typical touring and multi day fashion, Samuel lived up to his mechanical reputation and I had to listen to a very creaky bottom bracket for the rest of the ride; fingers crossed he can fix it!
At Kin Lockewe we met my Dad for lunch where we tucked into some warm sausage rolls and quiche which was lovely where we could stretch our legs out of the saddle whilst keep our energy topped up for the remaining 40 miles.
Once we reached the campsite, it was breath-taking, we were a few metres from the beach, it was a beautiful location. The weather for the whole day was brilliant for September, it resulted in some great photos and we could take in the cycle touring atmosphere and soak up the scenery we were riding through instead of head down and slogging. We regularly got off our bikes, looked around and had a snack; it is these moments I cherish and believe are key elements to a successful touring trip.
Day 3: Gruinard Bay to Clachtoll
Stats
Distance: 77miles
Elevation: 6119ft
This morning begun with a beautiful sunrise overlooking the bay which we were camping on. Setting off at 7am provides a lovely hour of blue skies and colourful sea water, it provides a great motivation to get up early and wake up the legs, albeit, today, I was quickly woken up by Samuels consistently loud creaky bottom bracket; unfortunately, he couldn’t fix it as it appears to be a gritty bearing.
The North Coast 500 route so far provided a wealth of variation of scenery between closely cycling to the shoreline to more mountainous inland tracks; it was living up to its expectation so far as a stunning cycling route.
At mile 17 we approached a 6-mile steady climb; however, we were rewarded by a stunning and fast descent which later led to Ullapool. Ullapool was the most habituated area of the ride so far with a multitude of shops and restaurants; there was a large ferry which was lovely to see while we were indulging into our lunch in the campervan.
There were 14 climbs for the route, some were deceptive and taking a toll on the legs, but my Garmin did pre-empt the hills and with regular snack stops and media recordings this broke up the hard route ahead.
The remainder of the route to the campsite was more undulated with lots of punchy climbs. Samuel had a coffee stop in Lochinver to revitalise his caffeine hit with a flat white (the cafe also sold over 50 types of pies!). Samuel must have foreseen what was to come as we had to battle through some very powerful headwinds before we reached the campsite, fortunately whilst he was caffeine fuelled, I drafted behind him to shelter from the wind, it was a technique we quickly adopted to keep rotating the front to share the hard shift of cycling in the wind.
The campsite was beautiful, it had a full laundry, showers, and even cooking facilities (not that we needed them due to having a full chef and supported on route; it was a luxury having dad continually shift the added load associated with touring, all Sam and I needed to do was cycle). You could also borrow kayaks and wetsuits for free too, it is definitely a site I would recommend!
The evening rained solidly so we relaxed, put our feet up and hoped that the following day remained dry. Considering we were cycling in September the weather was perfect, not too hot or cold and there was less traffic to contend with than summer.
Day 4: Clachtoll to Bettyhill
Stats
Distance: 97miles
Elevation: 8048ft
The first 20 miles consisted of 10 climbs along some beautiful single-track roads which were beautiful, albeit windy. It was a tough day physically with a total of 22 climbs, but I predominantly had a mental challenge to overcome. I had a smashed mirrorless camera and ripped Gore-Tex coat after my bumbag unclipped off my waist early into the day. It was an expensive disaster that I had to quickly divert my attention from or otherwise, low points can worsen and significantly grind you down. Fortunately, through experience of long-distance endurance challenges I have built up a level of mental robustness to respond to the multitude of low points experienced through challenges of this type.
We soon met my Dad at Tongue which had wide views of the beach and a stunning bridge. It was refreshing to get off the bike and reset the mindset whilst tucking into some food. Just 5 miles after the snack stop in the van, we had a further fuel stop at a Café for tea and cake; we were still having mental battles with the route with relentless climbs and distance. Fortunately, the café stop proved effective at resetting our mindset for the remainder of the day; it is amazing what sugar can do for a morale boost. You never can predict the high and lows of a long-distance trip and that is what makes the challenge so fun and unique due to the regular barriers you have to overcome!
However, it is unfortunate that we were counting down the miles throughout the day and not enjoying it to the same extent as the previous days, but the route quickly became an anticlimactic experience with a sudden change from towering mountains to more undulated scenery which we had to adjust to as well as the inevitable fatigue from the difficult multi day terrain.
Day 5: Bettyhill to Helmsdale
Stats
Distance: 107miles
Elevation: 5912ft
The morning started with the sound of rain pinging off the campervan roof before we had to run up to Betty Hill to the public toilets to get changed and ready for the day ahead of us; the campsite we were staying on had no facilities but electric hook up; it was a strange priority. I wanted to start cycling as soon as possible as it was wet, and my legs were being eaten alive once again while we were propping our bikes before setting off. I had dozens of midge bites; Fortunately, I took anti histamines a week prior to the trip and each day which reduced the itchy sensation, but they were still not a pleasant experience.
The first 50 miles to John o Groats along the North Coast was a slog; the heavy rain was persistently driving into our face and filling my gloves and soaking my shoes. I was beginning to question why I didn’t just tour the route in a Motorhome but once again this is what endurance challenges are about, overcoming the mental demons in your head and this day was one a day of mental demons; arguably the hardest ride I have mentally done.
Samuel and I were grinding at the pedals and appeared to have a headwind for majority of the day, we had to surrender into a bus shelter for 30 minutes to escape the rains and wait for my Dad to fuel us with hot tea and food; it was a huge morale boost when we saw him rolling up to us.
Once we had the obligatory photo at John o Groats, we powered to Helmsdale via a small road that ran parallel to the a9. We planned this with the intention of a more scenic route and to avoid the busy route, however it was dull, it was a straight 30mile road with many false summits, strong headwinds abs steady climbs which resulted in one of my worse ever 100 mile rides. The boredom was at another level, the speed was like treacle and the day had drastically changed since the West Coast during the first two days of the trip. I was struggling to get over the disappointment of the route as it purely became a slog of counting down the distance to Helmsdale. I couldn’t find anything of interest to take my mind off the distance (it was a long day of over 105miles) and I don’t think Sam did either; we had a few days of very tough cycling with more mental battles than we had experienced before; it wasn’t the physical challenge; our legs were feeling fine.
Day 6: Helmsdale to Inverness
Stats
Distance: 92miles
Elevation: 4843ft
The final day began with a beautiful sunrise over the east coastline. It was considerably colder than any other day at 7 degrees (almost half the temperature of the previous days). Consequently, our toes and fingers with beginning to lose a sense of feeling especially as we closely followed a loch which had added cold spots that was even cold on your chest when you breathed.
This day had much more variable scenery than the previous day/s with rolling hills, small twisty roads and views to keep our mind stimulated (hooray!)
At mile 25 we huddled in the van for a warm hot drink to defrost and continued to the Falls of Shin which we visited 4 years ago during our LEJOG (Lands End to John o Groats) trip. It wasn’t as impressive this time as previously we spotted salmon leaping metres in the air (they can leap up to 12 metres!).
Nevertheless, it was lovely to keep stopping off and breaking up the distance until Samuel and I began to put the power on the pedals as we knew there wasn’t much distance remaining before until we reached the busy city of Inverness and weaved our way through the main roads to the castle where we set off 6 days ago.
Conclusion
To conclude the North Coast 500 has been completed, 6 days was appropriately planned from a challenging perspective both physical and mental. If we were full laden up, extra days would be advisable as the West Coast is unforgiving with its undulations and the route consistently provided tricky road surfaces that regularly resembled gravel tracks; it was the constant vibration limiting the rolling speed as opposed to deep potholes. Nevertheless, the equipment choice of using my carbon cyclocross with 32mm tubeless tyres resulted in a successful choice to complete the route where I had comfort, low rolling resistance compared to a large gravel tyre and ultimately, I got zero mechanicals or punctures.
Upon reflection, I would recommend the route but with the advisory to ride the West Coast and then back down the middle of Scotland to improve the overall trip experience from a view and road perspective; the east coast is dramatically worse and is an anti climax if you ride in the same direction as I did.
Nevertheless, I am happy to have completed the route with Samuel in six days with minimal disruptions or low points (apart from day 5) within a short time period due to our busy lives of us both soon starting next career steps: Samuel as a retail assistant and myself as a PhD scholar.
It is incredibly important to note, this challenge would not have been possible without the commitment of my dad who supported us along the route through driving the route, cooking and being piece of mind that we would be left in Scotland in case we had any mechanicals as there was very few bike shops or provisions on route. As well as my dad also driving the whole Nc500 he drove 450miles in a day on the way back as I had to start university the day after. He totalled over 1500 miles in a week which is incredible; we are eternally grateful for his support and I’m sure he had many mental barriers to overcome similar to our cycling experience!
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