Cycling the North Coast 500 was a real achievement
Ten years ago, the North Coast 500 was launched to great fanfare. John Davidson cycled the route the following year when it was beginning to attract worldwide attention. Here’s an account of his experience from that 2016 tour of the Highlands…
When I was offered the chance to join a well organised ride around the NC500, I jumped at the chance. I’d already cycled much of the route on various day and weekend trips but from the moment the NC500 concept was mooted, I wanted to have a go at the full 500-plus miles.
There are a few hills to contend with as well. In fact, our six-day itinerary meant the first day started in Inverness and ended up with the biggest climb of the lot – the infamous Bealach na Ba. We’d cycled more than 70 miles that day before we even started on that classic route.
The hills keep coming, as well – in fact, the total ascent on the whole route is more than sea level to the top of Everest. This was to be no easy outing.
For me, it was different to my previous touring experience, as this time we would have a support vehicle carrying our luggage and meeting us for stops during the day – which meant no heavy panniers to slow me down.
The down side of that was that I’d be cycling much further than I am used to, and on successive days but, in that, I wasn’t alone.
Our cycling team consisted of Mike Dunthorne and Calum Rogerson, both of Inverness-shire activity provider Boots n Paddles; Malky Cleghorn, a club cyclist from Marybank; Chris Ellison, Aviemore Treezone manager from Kincraig; and myself. On top of that, we had two fabulous support drivers, Kyle Beattie and Jon Ford.
The comararderie started on day one, as we headed west on a glorious sunny day in our new cycling shirts we had made up at The Sign Centre in Inverness. It didn’t seem to take long before we were beyond Garve and out on the road to Achnasheen and Lochcarron.
The west really is where the NC500 route is at its most picturesque, though as we ascended the Bealach we weren’t able to see a great deal thanks to the thick fog shrouding the mountains. It was somewhat eerie to watch the tail-lights of cars disappear into the cloud as soon as they’d overtaken you. Finally, though, we pedalled our way to the top and cautiously made our way down the other side until we finally came out of the fog and were able to enjoy a faster descent to our hostel in Applecross.
We were fortunate with the weather after that. The wind was on our backs from here to Durness and the sunshine broke through just about every day.
Our second day was a long one, 91 miles from Applecross to Dundonnell, through some fantastic scenery including passing under the wonderful mountains of Torridon. The ups and downs were taking their toll but our spirits remained high and it was great to have a good bunch of guys around helping each other through those tough moments that inevitably come during such a challenge.
A shorter ride followed, just 63 miles to Lochinver via Ullapool. In theory, this would give us fresher legs to tackle the remaining three long days in the saddle.
While the cycling was hard work, this trip was really enjoyable. The scenery was as stunning as ever, especially here passing through Assynt, and the roads were quiet. However, there were still plenty of motorhomes, car clubs and motorbikes clearly making their own way around the NC500, despite it being out of the main holiday season now.
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I knew the 25-mile stretch after Lochinver was one of the toughest on the whole route. The Drumbeg road to Kylesku is a testing one on a short ride; for us it was the start of a mammoth 89-mile cycle to Tongue.
The aim when touring is not to overt-exert yourself and burn your muscles out too early – not so easy when successive steep hills bar progress on this winding but wonderful single-track road. After crossing the photogenic Kylesku bridge there was still plenty more climbing to be done before we reached the north coast itself at Durness, where Chris and I had promised ourselves we would eat our Lochinver pies we’d bought the previous evening.
We needed the sustenance for the ride down Loch Eriboll. Suddenly we were riding into a strengthening wind and we had to tuck into a small group to make progress. By now, our riding group was down to four after Mike was forced to pull out with a painful knee from all those hills.
Around the corner, I was actually looking forward to the steep hills I knew were coming - because at least we would have the wind behind us again when we got there. The last climb of day four through Hope was a big one and it was followed by a long descent to the causeway at Tongue, our home for the night before the longest day of all.
Before this week I’d never cycled 100 miles in a single day before. That was to change, as our day five route would take us from Tongue, along the north coast to John O’Groats then south to Dunbeath.
As we headed east the gradient of the hills seemed to ease at last, and we enjoyed a great ride to John O’Groats, which was mobbed with people completing end-to-end adventures in the sunshine – a far cry from the conditions there when I finished my Land’s End to John O’Groats cycle last year!
I was feeling strong on this long day until we’d passed Wick, at around 80 miles, after which it was a battle to keep the strength up. I was content just to slowly keep the pedals spinning and make it in my own time. There was a momentary – and solitary – celebration as my GPS unit flicked over from 99.99 miles to 100.0 miles. A couple of miles later we had arrived at our B&B in Dunbeath, where the achievement really sank in.
Now we just had one day back to Inverness. The only route option from here is the A9, which is not great for cycling and means your concentration has to be totally on the road at all times, so it’s easy to miss some of the great scenery in Caithness and east Sutherland. The coast here can be quite beautiful, so it’s a real shame there is not a quieter cycle route where it can be appreciated a little more.
At Tain we took to the more pleasant back road to Dingwall, then deviated slightly from the official NC500 route by returning via Tore and the Kessock Bridge rather than doubling back on ourselves through Muir of Ord and Beauly.
There was a great sense of achievement as we headed up to Inverness Castle where Mike was waiting to greet us with a bottle of Champion ale. We’d all had an unforgettable experience on this excellent route, making new friends, seeing new places and being inspired by the beauty so close to home.
The North Coast 500 has given people a reason to get out there and see the north of Scotland for themselves. I’d encourage others to take a look – it’s a magnificent area and cycling more than 500 miles through this varying landscape was truly a pleasure, even if it did have its painful moments!
Route details
North Coast 500
Distance 520 miles / 837 km
Terrain Road route around the north of Scotland on a mix of quiet single-track roads, main routes and trunk roads
Start/finish Inverness Castle
Map North Coast 500 official map; OS Road 1, Northern Scotland
A six-day cycle around the North Coast 500 route
