While we did manage a 250-mile five-day escape from the Middle East summer in 2017 to cycle a loop from Fort William around the Isle of Skye and back to Fort William, the short break felt more like a bike and gear test than the expedition we had planned. The ride did demonstrate to us that we had a lot to learn about expedition cycling, from packing to cycle maintenance, as well as remind us why we usually avoid the West Coast of Scotland during the summer months… the sodding midges!
Lessons Learned
While the MSR Stormking is an amazing tent, it’s too heavy, has too big a footprint and being a bright orange dome, doesn’t lend itself well to stealth camping…. lightweight green replacement needed!
Pack the tools required to maintain your bike, no more and no less. There is little chance that you will come across a broken down 1963 Austin-Healey and a 1970s milkfloat on the same ride, with even less of a chance that the drivers of each will expect you to have the tools to fix them, so don’t carry the entire contents of the garage.
Cycle expeditions are no different to hiking expeditions when it comes to what clothes to pack. With limited access to a shower you smell and look rough. Carrying clothes for all social occassions is pointless when 99 time out of 100 you will be spending you off-bike time sitting on the ground with individuals that are as smelly and rough looking as you are…. including cyclists, hikers, local drunk and the farmer that has found you camping on their land due to having such a large dome shaped orange tent.
Cyclists are a great bunch, consitently demonstrating unparalled comradery and friendship, although they do seem to fall into two distinct genus… those that wear lycra and those that don’t. When it’s looking probable that a verbal exchange will happen, prepare your facts according to attire. If your fellow cyclist is wearing lycra, regardless of how well it fits, know how far you have cycled, your average daily mileage, your average speed and your fastest speed that day. If your fellow cyclist looks like they have been dragged through a hedge backwards, know the location of the last two hedges you have camped behind/ been dragged through, the nearest pub to those hedges, where you can fill up your water bottles for free, where the next supermarket is with a fully stocked “best before date” shelf, plus an over optomistic estimate of when this bloody road is going to start going down hill again!
