RE: North Coast 500 in 24 hours

[cheekyron]

Been planning on doing this (or at least part of it) before then end of the year and the weather turns too bad. Don't fancy it on a push bike mind...

[Djdan]

sad61t said:

Just created this route in Strava, and it came up with 33:24:33 to complete 501.4 miles (though I think there's some extra wiggles from the route mapping that I've missed at large scale) and 35,475 ft elevation gain. The climb out of Applecross looks interesting.
Clearly need to improve my fitness...

http://www.strava.com/routes/3040562

Possible in 24 hours on a bicycle?

Marc Beamount is trying it tomorrow starting at 6am

[birdcage]

just back from a similar adventure this evening. Spot the car

[Corranga]

The last time I did Applecross there were a number of bicycleists there, luckily I passed them on a straight ish part of the road. Gairloch is as far north as I've ever made it I think, really need to stretch my (car's) legs and get further up!

Looks like a great route anyway, maybe next year if my baby girl wants to spend a week with granny!

[Kawasicki]

mx5 looks great in the photos, very "at home".

[sad61t]

Djdan said:

Marc Beamount is trying it tomorrow starting at 6am

Thanks, I'll keep an eye on his progress:
https://www.facebook.com/northcoast500

Looks like he's going clockwise, so heading towards the west coast first:
http://markbeaumontonline.com/journal/tracker/

[TroubledSoul]

This is fantastic and now on my list. I might take the Subaru up there in the autumn though. It will be cold as hell but it will be really deserted.

[Walter Sobchak]

Are most of the roads smooth enough to enjoy it on a superbike?, got to say the scenery looks breathtaking.

[Djdan]

From what av seen on google maps alot of the roads are rough. My tuscans set pretty hard so will let u knwo what its like next week!

[Amirhussain]

Is it just me, or does the rear of the MX5 look quite sad

[Dan Trent]

Walter Sobchak said:

Are most of the roads smooth enough to enjoy it on a superbike?, got to say the scenery looks breathtaking.

I'll have to write as someone who's not a biker but I'd have said the two-lane A-roads are generally pretty good with much of it better than typical English A-roads but the singletrack stuff is pretty chaotic and bumpy and - I can imagine - would be pretty hard work on a sports bike. The North Coast 500 map marks which roads are singletrack so you could customise the route accordingly.

I can see why it's popular with the GS boys though!

Thanks,

Dan

[SFO]

MX-5 in white looks good in the scenery

isn't it supposed to have silver wheels instead of gun metal with Sport Nav trim?

[Fury1630]

24 hours - lightweight.

In May the Southern Kit Car Club went up the west coast & down the east (ish), I was driving this http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Day 4 took me from Sligachan (isle of Skye) round Applecross, through Ullapool, north to Durness & back to Ullapool (Report here - http://blatterbeast.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/rogue-r... That was over 400 miles starting around 8:00 & finishing about 18:30, and don't give me any tosh about photographers, a view of the afore mentioned blog will reveal some of the many many photos I stopped for.

To reply to out Scots correspondents, there was actually very little speeding involved, they are mostly NSL roads & I didn't feel the need to go at warp speed, the constant left / right / up / down made holding a constant 60(ish) entertaining enough what with the scenery & all. I did have a nice sunny day for it though - eventually.

[lostkiwi]

Been up that way a number of times over the years (I have family in Gairloch) and the scenery and the roads are simply fantastic.
Looking at this article makes me think its time to plan another trip....

[thatguy11]

Did pretty much this exact route last year, absolutely loved it. The Northwest section (from Ullapool right round to John O' Groats) is especially stunning.

[shibby!]

I have done these roads very recenlty.... not all at the same time, but on 500 mile routes which took in some of these roads just for the stts and giggles.

Edinburgh to Skye to jump in the waterfalls and back in the same day stop for lunch, motorcyle crash, take some photos etc think it was 550 miles and 13 hours, it was pretty brutal on my knee.

Did another trip from Edinburgh round apple cross from Inverness which again was a good trip, no real reason again for stts and giggles.

I think the roads are actually in quite good condition, many of the roads appear to be fairly new.

I really love driving in Scotland and 30 seconds from where i live i think are some of the most fun and amazing driving roads there are.

I do like this North Coast run, i may have to get a hotel to leave from Inverness, i dont think i could handle the extra 200 miles coming from Edinburgh area would add onto the journey to do it in a day.

[Fury1630]

Dan Trent said:

Walter Sobchak said:

Are most of the roads smooth enough to enjoy it on a superbike?, got to say the scenery looks breathtaking.

I'll have to write as someone who's not a biker but I'd have said the two-lane A-roads are generally pretty good with much of it better than typical English A-roads but the singletrack stuff is pretty chaotic and bumpy and - I can imagine - would be pretty hard work on a sports bike.

I'll go along with that. There's also regular cattlegrids to look out for.

[Walter Sobchak]

Dan Trent said:

I'll have to write as someone who's not a biker but I'd have said the two-lane A-roads are generally pretty good with much of it better than typical English A-roads but the singletrack stuff is pretty chaotic and bumpy and - I can imagine - would be pretty hard work on a sports bike. The North Coast 500 map marks which roads are singletrack so you could customise the route accordingly.

I can see why it's popular with the GS boys though!

Thanks,

Dan

Thanks, it's definitely a trip I'd like to do on a bike but if the roads are really rough it does tend to make sports bikes shake their heads a bit, if most of it is like normal English roads surface wise with the odd bit rough, I could deal with that.
For the guy doing it in the Tuscan, I'd be really interested to hear how you get on with it on those roads as I know from personal experience Tuscans can be quite flighty themselves!!.

Another trip I'd love to do one day is The Pacific Highway in California.

Edited by Walter Sobchak on Monday 10th August 12:57

[Riley Blue]

I can't think why anyone would want to rush through such beautiful scenery. I'd far rather take my time and make lots of stops to soak it all in, experience some local 'flavour' and enjoy everything Scotland has to offer in addition to its roads - but then I don't have a choice in a Riley...

[BigBen]

sad61t said:

Just created this route in Strava, and it came up with 33:24:33 to complete 501.4 miles (though I think there's some extra wiggles from the route mapping that I've missed at large scale) and 35,475 ft elevation gain. The climb out of Applecross looks interesting.
Clearly need to improve my fitness...

http://www.strava.com/routes/3040562

Possible in 24 hours on a bicycle?

I am cycling up that way next month as part of a LeJog trip. Will report back on the terrain.