The last weekend in April / beginning of May saw me in Applecross with the Ochils Mountaineering Club (OMC).
I hired a car for the weekend so that I could visit my folks on the way there (aka Dinner, Bed and Breakfast) and it meant that I could bring my bike with me.
Weather permitting I was hoping to cycle the Bealach Beag route one day and follow the route of the Applecross Duathlon another – depending on weather and how the legs were faring would determine what I did on the last day, before heading home. The forecast leading up to the weekend was for snow and wasn’t looking too promising – not having driven at all this year I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t even make it to Applecross!
It snowed heavily over the tops on Thursday night but getting to Applecross posed no problems – I loved the drive and the views were stunning.
View from the top of the Bealach-na-Ba
I was first to arrive at the hostel and had pick of the rooms and time to get my stuff sorted before I headed out on the bike. I’ve done the Bealach Beag route twice now but I’ve never managed to cycle the last section of the Bealach-na-Ba – both times I’ve had to push the bike up the top third. This time I was doing it anti-clockwise and would descend the Bealach-na-Ba (if I got to the top in the first place) – the incline is meant to be a little bit easier this way round and the wind direction is more likely to be with you. I was already planting doubt in my own mind though – was I strong enough, did I have enough time, would the weather change, would my hands be warm enough, etc, etc – it’s not enough to have the legs, you need the right mindset as well to get up this beast and I didn’t have either. It started off grand and I was enjoying the ride, taking it slow and steady and I was making good progress. I had to stop for a couple of breathers though. I made it to about 3/4 of the way up and had to stop again – I had a couple of goes to get going again but unless you have really good bike control, on this kind of incline, it’s almost impossible to get going. I could have pushed the bike to the top but didn’t want to do this – not again! One day I will make it to the top with purely pedal power – maybe I need to move Applecross to train??? Anyway I still enjoyed what I did and the downhill was great!
Saturday morning the weather was more mixed. I’d come across the Applecross Duathlon completely by accident a few Septembers ago – cycling north from Applecross towards Kenmore I’d started seeing some of the cyclist with their race numbers, coming towards us – the wind was with us at this point but the duathlon riders had a fight on their hands going into the headwinds – ever since then I’ve wanted to take part but I’ve never been in the right place at the right time so I decided to give it a bash myself this weekend. I drove to Arinacrinachd (Arrina) and left the bike there, returned to the hostel where I had an extra breakfast and changed into something more waterproof (having driven back in a few showers). The run section starts pretty much outside the hostel and follows the Kenmore Path – it starts quite gently on a good track, before narrowing and gaining height quite quickly, passing a wee gorge – it plateaus out from here and isn’t the most exciting of views but a few miles later on you gain some more height and the views again – the descent to Kenmore is great, not too steep and views all the way – the final mile is on the road back to Arinacrinachd and this is toughest bit of the run. Thoroughly enjoyed the run and feeling quite chuffed that I have actually made it the right place and that my bike is there waiting for me. The bike ride back to the hostel is tough (but worth it for the views) – I flew down the first downhill and stupidly thought I would be back at the hostel in no time – I’d forgotten about the headwinds!! The road snakes out in front of you – the wind varying as you go along but mostly against you – at times pedalling furiously downhill to keep momentum – luckily not too many side winds though! All in all a good day out – one I would definitely do again and should hopefully stand me in good stead for the Nairnshire Challenge duathlon that I’m doing in a few weeks time.
Sunday started off mixed again. The previous day OMC friends had walked from Upper Toscaig to Uags Bothy – all had raved about the walk, the bothy and the views of and from the Bothy so this is what I did on Sunday. Instead though I left the car a little further away at the jetty at Toscaig – this was a navigational error on my part but so glad I did as I was lucky enough to see an otter from the jetty. If you are not already bored here is a link to a wee article I did for the OMC newsletter about my walk to the bothy.
A great weekend cycling, running and walking – oh and can’t miss out great food and company in the Applecross Inn.
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