COMMUNITY
Take control of your travels – Cycling
Travelling on two wheels has to
be one of the most exhilarating
ways to explore the West
Highlands. You’re in some
of the world’s most beautiful
countryside, getting a good
work-out – and you can still
get from A to B a lot quicker
than on foot.
Though cycling on our busy
highways and bumpy countryside
roads could once be a
risky business, an ever-improving
network of cycle routes
and increased driver awareness
make it a much more appealing
prospect today.
There are many short paths
and routes around Argyll and
the Islands, and you can fi nd
out about the options by looking
for the National Cycle Network
on the SUSTRANS website
(www.sustrans.org.uk) or
enquiring locally.
If you are looking for a longdistance
54 | MAY 2018
cycling trek, then The
Hebridean Way, and the Caledonian
Way offer the perfect
challenge.
The Hebridean Way
The Hebridean Way passes
through some of Scotland’s
most spectacular landscape.
There is a walking route, and
separate 185-mile national cycle
network route (NCN 780).
The route stretches the length
of the Outer Hebrides from
Vatersay in the south to the
Butt of Lewis lighthouse in the
north, passing through 10 islands
linked by a combination
of causeways and ferries, over
rugged hills and along dazzling
Atlantic coastline.
Highlights include the beaches
of Barra, the Calanais Standing
Stones on Lewis, and encounters
with rare and remarkable
wildlife all the way through.
The route is most often covered
over a four- or six-day
schedule depending on how
you want to pace yourself.
The Caledonian Way
Running from Campbeltown
to Inverness, following Kintyre
and the Great Glen, this route
(route 78 of the NCN) takes in
many of Scotland’s most iconic
features.
It offers a variety of cycling,
from onroad hills to lengthy
sections of traffi c-free path
through spectacular scenery.
The 237-mile challenge has
been made more accessible
thanks to recent improvements
such as re-surfacing,
and it includes a growing number
of traffi c-free sections.
As well as the larger towns of
Oban and Fort William, which
make excellent destinations for
a stop, the route takes in Kin-