UKC

Ok, last year when I planned a trip to Ireland, I posted on here, and got some great advice, and even met up with Goatee, for a bit of climbing .

This year, the plan is to ditch the car, and go for a bike tour starting at Barra, and heading up through Uist to Lewis. I will take my time, about 6-8 days so I can explore a bit, or stay put the odd day. Starting End July/ start August. I have been doing some biking to get fitter, lots of 12 miles, some 30 and 40 mile practice runs with and without a load on.

I bought a reasonable bike, it has a rack , and I have kitted it out with borrowed panniers, and topped up with some small smaller bags for odds and sods, toolkit, first aid etc.

I intend to camp, when there are no hostels, or reasonably priced comfortable B&B's
( I want to avoid guest houses, and Hotels money is not the issue, I just prefer hostels or camping,( I can do that stuff with my wife) I have all the gear I think , just too much of it ! I just want to select the essentials.

Thing is, you can take loads of stuff that will not be much use in particular places. For example I will take some sun cream ( but a small bottle, not expecting a lot of sun
For washing , if stuck , I will use wet wipes, and such like. I have lightweight Cooking pots , a mini burner, I will take dried milk , tea bags/ coffee and a little hydrated and dehydrated food,, I will try and buy as I go. ( I hope)

I was told I would need a solar charger for my iPhone ( for when there is a signal, or just for music, I'm told there is a reasonably priced good quality, Pico solar model, any others?

Looking , ideally,for advice , or even just reminiscences , from anyone who has been on the same route on a bike, but what things to take , things not to take, places not to miss, things to avoid etc. ideally I will take min clothing, and maybe wash / dry the odd thing overnight.

I have previously been on Harris and Lewis (by car ) before, but the weather was poor, so never saw any of the beaches. I stuck to indoor stuff, so looking to fix that ( weather permitting.)

Wind on Barra and Uist I was warned, might be my biggest problem, , more so than the Sun or rain., if so , any ideas how to combat the wind and still keep moving.

Harris and Lewis is hillier than Uist so I'm starting At Barra. ( hoping to get blown up North,,but I know that is unlikely!

In reply to Jim C:

We've been cycling in the Western Isles twice in the last two years. It's a great place. As there are lots of route choices, and you can generally re-plan as you go, it's a pretty good place to try things out for the first time and learn from your mistakes. If you're going South-North, you're more likely to be assisted by the wind, but obviously there are no guarantees.

For food, I'd recommend having an 'emergency meal' or two, but on the whole you should be able to shop as you go. It would be a good idea to do some Internet research so you know where the shops are, though.

Also be aware that on Lewis and parts of Harris, everything shuts on a Sunday. Oh, and if you're going in August, don't forget the Deet!

In reply to Jim C:

My main tip for this sort of thing is to get some decent dry bags to line your panniers with.

Not much you can do about wind other than plan your route according to the prevailing direction if possible.

In reply to Jim C:

I would forget the solar charger. Even if you get masses of sun the available panels don't really provide enough output. However, I would definitely take a big rechargeable battery. Something like: http://www.amazon.co.uk/13000mAh-Portable-External-smartphones-lightning-Bl...

You can probably recharge it, or at least partly so somewhere on your trip.

In reply to Doug Hughes:

Cheers

Deet. check
Research shops(and campsites). Check
Sunday closing, bummer, forgot about that .Noted

Plan is to have no real plan, as usual and whatever happens happens. (but it is nice to have locations of useful places to hand)

In reply to wilkesley:

Great idea, I have ordered it, I will find a load of uses for that, cheers

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Thanks , I have some dry bags, so will do that, but I also have a large rucksack cover that actually covers both panniers. Tried it out last night on one of a few planned trial runs. I did nearly 30 miles last night, found a few snags with my loading stategy, will refine before I go.

In reply to Jim C:

Tarp strung off the bike instead of a tent is an idea. Doesn't keep midges away though...

In reply to Jim C:

We've been out to the Western Isles a couple of times biking: once we had the prevailing south westerlies, once a northerly.

The roads are generally pretty flat until you get to Harris (the Gold Road on the east coast is nicer and far more interesting than the main road that goes directly between Leversburgh and Tarbert though that road passes the best beaches)

Generally lots of brilliant beaches, mainly on the west side of the islands.

The only area that I don't find particularly nice is around the old RAF base at Benbecula so you might want to avoid that.

In reply to Bob:



I went there with a girlfriend about 14 years ago. Expected a rocky wasteland with constant force 9 gales. It was beautiful and apparently was the hottest summer for many years. Got really bad sunburn. Cannot fault the beaches.

In reply to Oo:


I have a couple of midge nets , the loose type and the wire loops type that is less claustrophobic, keeping it off my face , so a bivi bag, tarp and net should do it.

In reply to Bob:


Thanks bob, my mate was stationed here in the 70's when he was a weatherman.
( how you go from. Meteorology to Nuclear Engineering I' m not sure)

Anyway when we were up in Orkney recently, he mentioned Benbecula, and I think you are right, I don't think he enjoyed it.

In reply to Jim C:

I did the very same trip about a year ago, lovely riding. I left my car in Oban at the leisure centre, and bought 7 ferry tickets for £35 which allow you to link all the outer hebridean isles and back via skye or over to Ullapool to come back along the coast. I came back via Skye. Accommodation was a mixture of hostels, wild camping on beaches, campsites and pub gardens, just use a bit of nous here..and theres a co op on the main road on south uist, about an hour or so off of the ferry too. I hope that helps. Have a goodun

In reply to SOUTHERN GRAY:

Thanks for that.

I am used to getting around on my own hitchhiking Camping / Hostelling/Bothying/Bodding etc. so as long if I can get enough provisions on-route that will save me taking too much weight, then I should be ok.

It is the bike that I have not used much as as my main transport before.
I need to be back at work within a day of when I say I will be back, so the return route is a bit hit or miss in my mind at the moment.

Coming off Harris/Lewis to Uig and on to to Kyle of Lochalsh is one option. Alternatively, Uig to Armadale to Mallaig might be another option to get a train back, but a longer journey.

Ideally if I am short of time, I would hope that I could get a Citylink Coach on Skye to get me ( and the bike) to Kyle of Lochalsh or Armadale for the ferry to Mallaig quickly, if need be.