Bealach Na Ba/ Applecross this weekend

[kiwifraser]

Back today from a fantastic weekend at the Applecross Inn.

Typical Scottish weather for the Bealach Beag route: first 5 miles around the coast from Applecross towards Shieldaig were very wet, next 15 miles were dry with amazing scenery, next 5 wet, next 10 miles mixed drizzle/rain/sun with a serious headwind, we rode 1500 feet up the 2000ft Bealach and had to abandon the climb with a less than a mile left to ride up due to huge crosswinds and heavy snowfall 2 inches deep at the top. 2 of our guys were literally blown off the ground with wind gusts in front of us while riding! We packed into 2 cars, and made our way over the mountain in treacherous conditions. 30 minutes later back in Applecross at sea level and the sun came out. Only in Scotland!

Great memories, I'd recommend it, and I'll be back to do it again!









What it would have looked like if the weather was fine...

Edited by kiwifraser on Tuesday 23 April 06:17

[ali4390]

Sounds like typical Applecross climate!

I can honestly say Applecross is my favourite place on Earth.

[Johnny]

Yep, it's a fantastic place!

Not taken the bike there (yet!) but looks & sounds like fun. Including the weather

[anonymous-user]

We spent a week there, didnt have the bikes but had a great time.

pablo (pointing at the sea): is that a dolphin?
mrspablo: no, i think its a submarine
pablo: oh yeah, so it is....

[kiwifraser]

The Applecross Inn is well worth a visit too, as we had brilliant service, and fantastic food. It was the nice touches which made it that bit extra special - like when we headed off for the ride, the owner gave us a big pile of towels to put in the car to dry off on the way around.

[TwistingMyMelon]

Looks great, what ratios do you chaps run to get up there?

I'm a strong climber, is it easily doable with a 39-25 as the lowest?

[kiwifraser]

Most were running 36 or 39 front, and 27 max on cassette. Even our best climber who rode a total of 90 hard miles in the rubbish weather on his Felt F1, including the Bealach climb twice during the day said he could have done with a 29 or possibly even a 32 in places.