Day 5 - Ardmair, near Ullapool to Balmacara, near The Isle of Skye

 

After filling up we heading out from Ullapool for the Isle of Skye. The back roads following as close as you can to the coast where for me the best I've ever been on no only for riding but the views and colours where stunning. But you have to ride a light bike here or without panniers or much luggage, else you will find it hard work as the Paul's have, however it’s still very rewarding

 

Filing up at Kinlochewe petrol station on the A832 half way through these wonderfull roads we befriended a lovely German lady called Petra riding a blue Suzuki Bandit who ended up staying with us most of the day as we found ourselves travelling the same route. A fascinating lady who has ridden all over Europe and Canada, it was an honour to have her along for part of our journey, I've swapped emails so hopefully there will be some rides in Europe with an experienced guide.

Applecross. Bikers with loaded up heavy bikes beware. Paul almost had a fit on the first hairpin on the way down. Applecross pass is fantastic; it reminded me of photos I've seen of the Himalayas. Fantastic views, steep hill climbs with technical cambers and long steep drops. I had loads of fun. For Paul though it was an uphill learning curve, forgive the puns lol. Paul mentioned that as we passed other bikers coming the other way they were giving him funny looks, he was soon to find out why. Even some American we bumped into mentioned we will have fun, though they were not specific, so we were happy in out ignorance. Getting up the steep slopes where ok but the decent was a trial. The first corner Paul didn’t realise how tight it was and had to do his best to break just before the steel barrier to the drop off, then holding this heavy bike he managed to get off pull the bike backwards uphill then steer it around a few feet. Get back on and finish the turn, after that the rest where OK, but he did have hardly any back brakes by the bottom of the decent.

We briefly rode on the Isle of Skye, the Northern peninsula, in a circuit. Stopping briefly at a beautiful waterfall looking back across the sea to where we started the morning ride.

We ended up the day free camping near the road on the mainland just a few miles south, but still in view, of the Skye Bridge and finally have an open fire to melt the marsh mellowed on.

The objective tonight was to get to Fort William, 77 miles South East. But after 12 hours riding even though we stopped for 10 minutes here and there, silly mistakes are starting to creep in so for our safety we've decided to stop and get some sleep. Some people have said this trip will not be challenging, I beg to differ, profusely if I had the energy lol.

Anyways, night all x x x