Day 5: Tyndrum to Fort William

This is quite a long day’s ride, through Glencoe and by Rannoch Moor, recently featured on TV as one of the remotest part of Britain.

We used to camp there when I was in the Scouts. The scenery is spectacular, but you can tend to go off scenery if it means you have to cycle up it. Also, the valley lies East to West and the prevailing East wind gets funnelled down the road, so that as a previous End-to-Ender put it, you can find yourself having to pedal downhill. Hard work anyway.

We arrive in Fort William early afternoon, where there’s a street party on. I’m surprised how attractive it all looks, till I realise I’m confusing it with Inverness (qv). We go up to the surprisingly nice Backpackers Hostel, and wait for the logistics team to arrive. Again, our B&B could have been better- I know it’s useful money in the area, but people could make a bit more effort. There are two cycling events, a Duathlon, and a downhill mountain biking challenge.