WHW on an ebike?

Badger Divide a lot more fun than WHW for my money.

What eBike have you got?

As in, the Badger could be done on a gravel eBike.

I'll resist the urge to comment on your actual question, but provide some hopefully useful info instead.

When we did it in July it was very different from last time ( about 8 years ago)

Much more blown out, rocky and techier.  I kept telling the group how easy the next bit was, only to round the corner and come across baby head rock gardens all over the shop.

Much more engaging riding that it was before

Much more blown out, rocky and techier. I kept telling the group how easy the next bit was, only to round the corner and come across baby head rock gardens all over the shop.

Uh-oh, any bits in particular?

I've got a few long distance gravel aspirations for next year which dip on and off the WHW...

Uh-oh, any bits in particular?

The descent between Crianlarich and Tyndrum

Descent to Inveroran

By The Mighty One ski centre

Bits of the D Staircase

All of the bit between Chiachnish River and the start of Glen Nevis

Oh, and Conic hill ascent

And bits just north of Mugdock

I’ve got a few long distance gravel aspirations for next year which dip on and off the WHW

Someone asked me about doing it on gravel about 8 years ago and I was fifty fifty.  At the moment I think it would be hellish. ( But cards on table, my MTB focus is 100% on riding as much as possible, however slow. So I don't really see the point of travelling the WHW even when it is in a good state of repair)

Gravelling, not travelling.

any other long distance rides that might benefit from an ebike

We found the eeb makes the tougher western half of the Southern Upland Way much more enjoyable. Once you get to the Tweed Valley it's a lot easier.

We also did the St Cuthberts Way on our eebs and enjoyed that.

Having another think with my cuppa if you are wild camping Badger Divide may be harder to charge the bike than WHW. The Cairngorms Loop is also in my opinion a much better route to do than WHW as much nicer to ride and likely to see a lot less people getting in the way.

Thanks thegeneralist

By The Mighty One ski centre

Assuming this is Glencoe? I've survived that descent on the gravel bike before, but only by the skin of my teeth! It certainly invites you to go fast then suddenly you're a foot in the air, at speed, with a chaos of loose rocks below you... Thankfully it's short and I'm forewarned now.

All of the bit between Chiachnish River and the start of Glen Nevis

Rats, the one bit I haven't ridden before! Thankfully there would be a big chunk of tarmac after it to recover on.

Edit: had been salivating over some of the pictures on Strava of the section above, they're all dated 2023/2024, so hopefully they're not just isolated good bits in between awful bits haha

Eek. I've ridden various bits of the WHW on other rides since I did the whole thing, but not for a couple of years. Sounds like it might not be the best idea as it sounds "less fun" than before, and there were only some bits that were proper fun. I've equally done pretty much all of the Cairngorm loop apart from the Braemar / Tomintoul bit. I've got the Southern Uplands Way on my list, mainly for the Gypsy Glen bit. Still balancing my Heckler SL ebike use with my "normal" bike. Also, still waiting for the ride60 range extender battery, which would help in my long distance ride aspirations.

I wouldn’t fancy lifting any ebike along the Loch Lomond section. I would say that bit is impossible.

Would you be carrying your charger / where would you be staying ?

I wouldn’t fancy lifting any ebike along the Loch Lomond section. I would say that bit is impossible.

Is that the section after Rowardennan?

God no!!! The bit from Beinglas Farm to Inversnaid would be hell! It was bad enough with my super light YT Izzo when I did it last year. It’d be great to the top of Loch Lomond but grim after that. Do it south and get the train from Ardlui, or start at Ardlui and go north?

Did the first two days of it a couple of months ago before having to admit defeat with the storm cut it short and head for home from Kingshouse.

Some thoughts from the (now) wise.

Conic Hill descent is now a stony staircase. All of it. It wasn't much fun to ride down in the pissing rain - bumpy, slippery and peppered with pretty Dutch tourists stopping for selfies all over the shop. The bulk of the climb might be rideable on an eeb; we pushed up the vast majority of it with our Amish bikes.

I grossly underestimated the vileness of the Loch Lomond section. I thought the hike-a-bike bit started from Inversnaid (and booked, - and *subsequently missed - a ferry from there to Tarbet to avoid it) but in reality, vast chunks of the section between Rowardennan and Inversnaid were an exasperating stop/start/on/off mush of unrideable.

There's no way in hell I would want to take an ebike along that bit. We were limited with ferry options with it being so late in the year so if there's an option from Rowardennan in the summer, that puts you either up at the top of the loch or even to Tarbet, that's what I'd be doing.

We caught the train from Tarbet/Arrochar up to Ardlui and rode the last two miles of A82 (in the heaviest rain I've ever seen) along to Beinglas Farm for the night.

-- -- -- -- --

* An obligatory shout out to Cruise Loch Lomond at this point. After busting a gut to make the 4pm ferry (the last one of the day) we missed it by 10 minutes. Faced with the prospect of another 4+ hours of misery in the pissing rain, I called them to see if there was any other options. At all?

"Have you got tickets?"

Yes - two people + bikes.

"Hold on"

Muffled sound of a loud tannoy message booming out across the loch...

"Yep, someone's on their way for you now"

5 minutes later we were being helped aboard a private chartered cruise full of confused but very friendly Indian tourists, wondering who the two drowned-rats in bike helmets were on their boat. We were interviewed and put onto various video-calls to folks back home. It was a pretty bizarre half an hour or so but a definitely highlight of the trip.

> hopefully they’re not just isolated good bits in between awful bits haha

What I realised after several years of being caught out by photos of  good looking trails on Geograph is that people rarely stop to take photos when they're sobbing in despair...

Is that the section after Rowardennan?

No. The bit north of Rowardennan is only bad if you take the optional low road at the junction. The unbypassable bad bit is between Inversnaid and Beinnglas farm

What I realised after several years of being caught out by photos of  good looking trails on Geograph is that people rarely stop to take photos when they’re sobbing in despair…

Haha! Yeah, guilty, I've posted a few ride photos on Strava which look like spectacular remote singletrack but don't show e.g. the boggy march through mating toads to get there, or the semi-overgrown lochan you have to squelch through afterwards

Conic Hill descent is now a stony staircase. All of it. It wasn’t much fun to ride down in the pissing rain – bumpy, slippery and peppered with pretty Dutch tourists stopping for selfies all over the shop

Nah, not if you go the right way....

https://flic.kr/p/2q3LzWh

😉

https://flic.kr/p/2q3MUvm

Although, in the interests of fairness I must say that that beautiful grassy ridge does end with a short but vile gorse infested bushwack.

Indeed having walked that section this year, lugging an eeb with charger and luggage over it would be pretty grim.
Just as grim would be cycling the A82 on any bike. I value my life.
My other thought on WHW is that anytime I am near it now there is a veritable line of walkers, slowing any riding down I would have thought.

Does it have to be the WHW? IMO, there are nicer rides to challenge yourself these days.

My other thought on WHW is that anytime I am near it now there is a veritable line of walkers, slowing any riding down I would have thought

My wife and pals walked the WHW this Autumn. I met them at the Glen Nevis end and I was stunned at the number of walkers. She said it was much, much busier than when she walked it 10 years ago. Basically, one constant stream of folk. I'm sure there will be peaks and troughs through the day as most folk will be leaving their accommodation around the same time, walking roughly the same speed etc but it thoroughly dissuaded me from the notion of ever riding it.

I rode from Ft Bill to inversnaid last year in a day (one of our group had a bad knee and loch section finished him off), early September. It wasn’t too bad for walkers.  Going south is better for walkers as you meet most of them coming the other way, so they see you coming, and they come in waves - I guess most people set off about the same time, so they’re in loose groups that you get past reasonably quickly and then it’s more peaceful. Most people I met were cheery and encouraging (and bemused), especially on the Kinlochleven and devils staircase descents.

Hmm... is there a 'season'? Wonder if better e.g. late April.

Also I guess that final section over to Glen Nevis would 'typically' be near the end of the week for most people, but also the very start of the week for those going North-South?

I reckon 95% were Northbound that day I was there. Most folk would likely be starting at KLL after breakfast of course, so there's a certain inevitability. Maybe if I'd hung on for an hour or so it would have been a lot quieter.

I'd certainly never consider riding the WHW Southbound. Quite apart from the logistics being worse for me, who would want to ride to Glasgow?

Dutch tourists stopping for selfies

And Spanish ones. Just lots and lots of 'em. Did it a couple of years ago there and back (a day each way but only to the end of Lomond) , and that's my main memory. Don't remember any tech issues at all riding an Occam other than waterbars on Devil's Staircase where I mangled a tyre on a failed jump and then punctured twice. So I guess there's that.

Advantage of going south is the walkers can see you, but you see more of them. And it's downhill, obv.

Lots of things saying that the WHW is way worse than it was 10 years ago. I was going to avoid the horrible bit from Rowardennan to Inversnaid by going via the fire road and, as mentioned originally, get the ferry to Tarbet and either ride or train up to Ardlui.

Not thinking of it all given the large(r) number of walkers and the trails sounding way rougher. It is funny how Conic Hill was a proper rock step challenge when we did it, then it got "upgraded" and now it is back where it was.

Yeah, different long distance trails agogo. On the subject of charging, I will be "supported" on the ride. The idea would be to get one of those off grid chargers that can be used, but have my wall plug charger there at the end of every day. I'm not going to bike pack, that's for sure.

I think I'll resurrect my long coast to coast idea from a few years ago. Mebbes also do the Badger Divide.

Also revisit the old Affric Kintail way (West to East though).

Lots of things saying that the WHW is way worse than it was 10 years ago.

Hmm. Are you sure? Not sure if that has been said.

I've said that it has got much harder, rockier and techier, and thus would be far worse on a gravel bike. But on the flip side it has got much harder, rockier and techier, and thus is far better on a mountain bike

https://chargeplacescotland.org/

I’ve got the Southern Uplands Way on my list, mainly for the Gypsy Glen bit. 

Gypsy Glen isn't on the SUW...

If you just want to do GG just do it was a loop out of Peebles via Cardrona - ebike-wise you'll be done in an hour & a bit.

3 of us walked last year, it was busier than I thought it would be, but a great route and I have often thought of riding it and then on to the Great Glen Way...

I keep misreading the thread title and think it says WHY on an ebike...I keep seeing and thinking, that is a good question!

I thought it was a great route except the loch section. I’d do it at least annually if that bit was rideable. It’s fun technical in a few spots but all rideable, and I’m no enduro ninja, and mostly just nice riding. I was on an xc (down country?) FS, but very doable on a hardtail. Gravel bike definitely a bad idea

As for why do it north to south, well clearly it’s downhill that way. Just look at the map! Also, I live near Glasgow so riding home feels right. Also also, suits me better to book a train out then ride back so I don’t have to worry about missing it.

thought it was a great route except the loch section

Agreed. And you've prompted me to post my view. Hadn't summoned up the energy previously but....

The WHW is generally excellent riding. The LL bit sucks, but even that's part of the challenge. I took a mixed group along it in summer, the youngest of who was 52 and they all loved it. One guy was packed off in the van to bypass Rowardennan to Beinnglass, but the others all did the HaB, with one even joining me for the Low Road section between Rowardennan and Inversnaid. Now that was proper hard work...

Almost all the rest of the ride is really damn good.  It's become the trendy thing to diss it, but the fact is it's an amazing route passing some insane scenery in the best parts of the UK.

It is (obvs) busy, but I didn't find that a problem. It's the same as ' bleau at May Bank Holiday...  there's loads of people having loads of fun and sharing an experience.

Clearly it's not going to appeal to the demographic that votes 4 trail centres the best destinations in the UK, but as a long distance point to point it's pretty good.

As regards the Cairngorm loop, I've only done the inner loop so perhaps shouldn't comment. OTOH I've done a fair bit of other stuff around it.  I don't think they're comparable. The Cairngorm inner loop ( and AFAIK the outer) is mainly endless fire roads amongst big rolling bleak mountains.  I loved being out at Fords of A'an etc and all these famous names but in reality the views aren't a patch on WHW.

In the interests of fairness I should admit I am biased. I grew up near the WHW and have been mountain biking on it for almost forty years. We did our school parties on the loch, camped in the hills, kayaked the many insanely good rivers that cross it, done the best days skiing of my life next to it, and scared myself shirtless ice climbing just by it.  The area is just amazing

Anyway. I'm waffling.