The Sleat Road

The Knoydart Hills from above Isle Oronsay

Yesterday was a beautiful autumnal day so I headed over to Skye for a cycle from the Sleat road junction (more-or-less) to Isle Oronsay and back.  In fact I rode beyond Isle Oronsay up to the top of the drag to the parking place beside Loch na Dubhrachan, and then back to where I started.  Initially I followed the old road, which is much more pleasant than riding the modern main road, but on the way back just stuck to the main road (see below).

I was making really good progress up to the turning point, but I kind of realised that I probably had a bit of a tail wind.  I was not wrong, having topped the crest to head down the lovely long slope towards Isle Oronsay again I found I had to keep pedalling to make decent progress.  So the head wind was stronger than I had thought, as evidenced by the lower speed than expected on that section.  That made the return trip a bit more of a trainig ride than a pleasure, but it was certainly worth it, despite a sore backend from being seated in the saddle more than out of it.

So far my three rides have all been on my 1959 Flying Scot (see below).  This was my Dad's racing bike and is a classic steel framed lightweight bike, relatively speaking.  After using this bike with its original gears, brakes, etc. I decided a few years ago to modernise it with the introduction of indexed gears.  It was something of a surprise to me just how simple it would be to convert a 60 year old bike into what is to all intents and purposes a modern one.  The only real difference is the weight, although that is not as great a difference as you might think, unless comparing it to a lightweight carbon frame.  Anyway, this bike is comfortable to ride on rougher roads and pretty robust.  The additional weight does make a difference on the hills but nothing compared to my contribution to the overall weight of the bike and rider!. Thus, it should help me get fitter more quickly I guess.

1959 Flying Scot above Isle Oronsay