Trip to Scotland - Sept 2009 Day 2 – Strathyre to Isle of Skye; 149 miles planned – 264 miles rode !

I started this morning with a “full Scottish” breakfast and I rather wish I hadn’t; it was too much meat of various kinds (!) and I actually left some. The hospitality at my B&B was fabulous and Bill and Lesley treated me more like a friend as opposed to a passing guest. By 8:20am I was heading north out of Strathyre. I had hoped that my early departure would have allowed me to explore Glen Coe in relative solitude; no chance! However, I still had around 40 miles to go until then ; and what a 40 miles. The roads are really very wide with virtually no turn offs / crossings. So when I say I was taking it easy at 70mph, please recognise that this is both safe and well within limits.
I arrived at what I believed must be the start of Glen Coe and took photos.
I continued and there were multiple parking bays; all full, but I continued with the immense mountains towering each side of the valley. The traffic was quite heavy and so I was somewhat relieved to exit and arrive in Glencoe village. I then headed off to Fort William and found an ATM because I was right out of cash! The ATM delivered notes that look total foreign to us English. I noted that they were issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland plc; haven’t they gone under and now nationalised by the UK government ?!
The road from Fort William rises up to overlook Glen Garry and from there continues on towards the Isle of Skye, passing the little Eileen Donan Castle.
The roads had been pretty good from Fort William but I noticed that the road surface was very variable so extra care was required.
I crossed over the bridge to the Isle of Skye and then embarked upon a grand tour of Skye. The weather was blissful, clear blue skies and 16C+ as I road northwards up the east code of Skye.





I continued past the Old Man of Storr and then the road narrowed into a single track with passing places.




What was amusing was that the police had provided some useful advice on overtaking.
Taken literally it could result in some interesting manoeuvres! The scenery at the north of Skye reveals a beautiful seascape of aquamarine sea dotted with little islands; quite lovely.
Continuing on the A855 the road turn south and then becomes the A87. This road is glorious; long straights with beautiful sweepers with the odd tight bend just to keep you alert. The infamous Cullins once again came into view looking powerful and almost aggressive with the jagged peaks. The road rejoined the A87 coastal road at Portree and some 35 minutes later I arrived at my B&B; just outside Kyleakin. Well the B&B’s OK; but a bit pricey considering no en suite. The worst aspect though is the total lack of decent pub grub. I walked into the village which really sits along side the water front overlooking mainland Scotland.

The first place I tried was a hotel / restaurant. However, when I walked in, it was very very warm, suggesting the overall heating had been set to a figures similar to the average age of its clients; all on a package coach holiday. I walked out. The only other place a could find was Saucy Mary’s which was one of the worst places I have ever been to. I paid £7.50 for a rubbish almost burnt pizza; the place was a dive and the clientele were noisy. I won’t be going back.

Fabulous riding today though; although an additional 115 miles was perhaps a bit OTT !