June 10, 2005
To Shiel Bridge
This was a ride we tried in several ways to avoid, fearing a day of strong headwinds and rain on the way back to Broadford. We explored finding a boat east to Gaerloch or Applecross (and changing our next 3 days' planned route) without success; were pried to ask a bus driver if we could stash our bikes in the hold; but in the end, faced unexpectedly with dry skies and a tailwind, we biked it. It turned out to be a very easy ride, and much less busy or dangerous than it had felt on the way up; and in retrospect we felt a bit silly about our concerns.
After lunch at a nice Broadford teahouse, we continued on to the southeast, toward the Glenelg ferry. This stretch of road was a quiet singletrack, with a gradual four mile climb followed by a precipitous drop to the ferry landing. The ferry was an engineering marvel - the deck pivots free from the hull, so that cars can drive on from the pier with the boat docked parallel to it. It's amazing the variety of ferries we have ridden on in this journey.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Glenelg is a remarkably serene lochfront community. We went west and offroute for about four miles and back again, to visit a pair of well preserved 30 foot high iron age brochs; and then climbed up and through a pass over a 1000 foot ridge to the east before dropping very steeply to Loch Duich. From the top of the pass we appreciated a terrific clear sky view of the Five Sisters of Kintail. From there we dropped to the sea again and spent the next two nights at the Glomach Inn.
Today's ride: 56 miles (90 km)
Total: 759 miles (1,221 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 1 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |