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Anyone been over to Harris/Lewis and done any good MTB ?
On the 5pm ferry tomorrow night with the postbus and our bicycles
Planning to do a loop of uist as day passengers from leverburgh on the tourers
But wondering if there is anywhere worth heading on Harris/Lewis with the MTBs. - 6inch full sussers if it makes any odds -#overbiked im sure how ever -- laggan on way home 🙂
The classic rhenigadale loop is worth it for 'that view' and the madness of the descent into the wee fjord, good tour of the visual too, starting at old whaling station at ard arsaig, bit of road miles up to bogha glas then the good stuff up to the west, great trails over to the Glen that takes you down past loch scourst then to meavaig and a wee road bit back to start.
Stunning scenery on both rides, I loved it. Enjoy Terry.
The guys at the Scaladale Centre are bikers and local, I spent last summer there. Postmans path was the best of the riding, no doubt there are others. Some good trails in Lews Castle grounds but nothing too radical
yep Lews castle grounds are ok, good views out over the harbour (be aware that theres a lot of shared use tracks, and even the bike only tracks are frequented by dog walkers). Theres some bloody good eateries in stornoway, just remember that most of the village except the petrol station are closed on sunday.
In Harris most of the good bits aren't loops so you have an out and back, eg I don't fancy going back up the Scriop with a bike. BTW if you do the Rhenigdale track, there's a wee diversion to Molinginish. That's one of my favourite spots. Alternative is to arrange a pickup at the other end.
Next time I head over I'm taking a gravel bike. Gravel bike would allow you to do a loop by completing it on road. Surfaces can be pretty soft on some of the trails at this time of year though, so that would then mean a few hike-a-bikes to avoid damaging the trail.
But I don't mind doing a hike a bike in Harris because the views are great. 🙂
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(Just about to meet up with the Rhenigdale track after climbing up from Carragreich from water suppy track and crossing peak.)
Traditionally communities in Lewis/Harris were accessed by boat so the road and trail network is dendritic. Shetland is the same. Makes for a lot of out and back rides.
There's another loop on Harris that goes around Clisham. The main off-road bit is old stalking tracks but they are falling into disrepair. It heads east from here http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=118570&Y=911528&A=Y&Z=120 on a decent track but after the col the tracks in and out of Langadail are hard work. From Loch Bhoisimid it's a landrover track back to the road. It's probably worth getting dropped off and picked up at either end or just going to the Loch and back. It's not as good a ride, other than the views, as the Rhenigdale loop.
There's also the coffin road on South Harris, I've not done this. Have a look at heritage paths - there's a few on Harris/Lewis including the Postman's Path and another part of the MTB loop which used to be the old road. Interestingly the Heritage Path info page on the Postman's Path has a link to a BBC Scotland programme where the last postman to use the path was interviewed. Sadly it's no longer available on iPlayer.
Cheers folks plenty to go on there ..... Now to drive from Aviemore to ullapool.
the Rhenigdale loop. - deffo fantastic
also I enjoyed "There’s another loop on Harris that goes around Clisham. The main off-road bit is old stalking tracks but they are falling into disrepair. It heads east from here http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=118570&Y=911528&A=Y&Z=120 " I did some walking and wading tho and was a lot younger and fitter then *take a bungee as I got the bus from Tarbert and the driver let me strap my bike in the luggage area - possibly not nowdays
the old road (double lined track at the top was fine - ex tarmac road *years ago) but the singleline track below it did not exist in reality (or was unfindable)and I was nearly swimming as I navigated bog, lochans and rock outcrops......
The only place I have ridden where I didn't mind riding on the roads ..the main rides have been mentioned ..just to confirm it will be some of the nicest riding you can do on a bike ( Harris ) ..
If you go to Ness you can ride down to Dun Filliscleitir through the shielings. The cliff scenery is fantastic here with double sea arches and stacks. The path through to Tolsta is peat bog which is a shame as Ghearadha (Garry) beach is a stunner, as is the main Tolsta one. You can out and back ride in to Sron Uladail starting near Abhainn Suidhe; the country's largest overhanging cliff is here and is quite impressive.
It's unfortunate that the much-hyped Hebridean Way didn't provide a good end-to-end off-road route. Putting some parker posts in the middle of a peat moor isn't quite what I was expecting. As a result there are only short sections that are worthwhile on a bike.
I took my fatty across the bog between Ghearadha beach and Ness. Nice cliff top sheep paths to follow at the start then some quad bike path. Then back to to the aforementioned marker posts and I learned a hard lesson on what is a Scottish peat bog. Much swearing and carrying of bike and a few hours later got to the sheilings. Stunning place. I reckon I rode 70% of the traverse. The fatty rolled over the bog better than I expected. I put a strava segment down in the middle somewhere as I figured I may be the only one stupid enough to try. My advice - ride either end in-out rather than trying the full traverse.
I would recommend avoiding it when it’s getting lashed with the tail end of an American hurricane...
maybe it’s just me.... 🤣
im sure you’ll enjoy it though.
I've done the loop around Clisham, with a bunch of mates. I enjoyed it for the out there isolation, and the very loose track descent down to the road (to climb again, there are lots of climbs). The other guys weren't so impressed IIRC.
Didn't do the postie's path, if ad when I return with a bike and some riding buddies it'll be on the list.
kcal
I’ve done the loop around Clisham...
I was caught out in a thunderstorm there.
There was no discernible interval between the flash and the bang.
Never felt so vulnerable before or since.