Scotland NC500 (Northern Coastal road 500 miles)

[Lord Vader]

First of all let me make a excuse because the ride report is in english.My german is now so bad i only can type it on my phone with predictive text

So a friend of mine from Inverness had the great idea to do the NC 500 over a weekend

Since i am on the other end of the country it did involve me doing some big miles. I ended up doing 1750 miles,leaving last Thursday and coming home monday. Not bad for a extended weekend ride

So Thursday arrived and my little panzer was ready to take me to Scotland



I stayed over at my friends just past Manchester on my way up.In the morning we met another one of my friends which was joining us too on his Africa Twin

Refueling in Carlisle



Just past Edinburgh another friend joined us at the Baxter Soup factory.This is a good food stop for anyone going up north. Just 500 m of the motorway junction 4



We took the A9 going up to Inverness which is now unfortunatly full of speed cameras



My friend John had enogh space for the 4 of us to stay and next morning (Saturday) we met the rest of the gang. To make it clear,we all been to scotland before or they live there. We didnt go to sightsee,just to ride the roads and i still ended up with 160 pics

Ready to go



Sunny Scotland it was not. It was 9'C



First stop where we watched wild Salmon jump





A few bits of color in the bleak weather





JOG (John O'Groats)







Dunnet Head
Most northernly point of mainland UK







The road to Durness where we camping for the night







What can be better than ride these roads with friends





The old girl doing well



Durness campsite



Bumped into Bernhard. You might want to look him up.Well travelled man with an amazing story



The view from the lookout point

Right beach

Left beach




end of part one

 

[Lord Vader]

So of course when in scotland one has a wee dram with fiends



Sleeping is not easy up there this time of the year.It only gets dark for a few hours



The morning was darker than the night



The weather forcast for sunday was for mainly dry weather with a few showers. But,who goes to scotland for the sunshine

The road from Durness to Lochinver



Quick stop at Kylesku bridge as my friend was involved in the building of it





We than turned onto the little road to Lochinver



Thats the road we came from,the really little one





Stunning views











Back on the main road,just before Ullapool. I went ahead to take a few shots of my friends coming through





While i was waiting



Paul on his Africa Twin. Paul is a former racer and at one time was in the development team for honda. I learn sooo much from this man by just following him.If he lets me
On these twisty roads he is faster on his twin than me on my panzer





Just out of Ullapool as we turned to the northern stretch of the NC500. See the weather is getting better. It was at least 12'C







On our way to Applecross





Looks more like Mordor



Just before Applecross



The view from the Applecross pub



On top of the pass.I was playing with the idea to wrestle my panzer up to the top but with more than 800 miles still to go i decided against it



Pretty view from the top of the pass







Heavy Metal



Left to right
Mine 09 69000 miles
Johns 06 52000 miles
Austins 11 5800 miles

Coming down the pass





Us going down the pass



That is pretty much it. After this we made our way back to Inverness where i stayed the night again and went home monday. I would like to write that the ride home was brilliant,warm,dry and exciting but it wasnt. It was proper Sh*t. Roads closed,flooded,traffic. So instead of 560 miles bac from Inverness i did 680 miles and it took me a touch over 11 hours

A couple of things which you guys might find of interest

This is the trip log of my friend which joined us from Elgin

Day 1



Day 2


my friend did not join us on the ride from the bridge to Lochinver,that why his route is slightly different to ours
We found this one which is pretty usefull.



Also most petrol stations up there are now operating 24 hours a day due to them taking cards. Credit and debit cards

I hope you guys enjoyed the pics.Scotland must be one of my favourite riding places.Doing it with great friends,what else can one wish for


Pete

 

[ehemaliges Mitglied]

Hi Pete.

Verry nice Picture,.
John o´Groats ist der Knalle.

Mfg Edda

 

[Wise_Guy]

Hi Pete

My trip to Scotland starts in 4 weeks from now.

Can not wait Anemone and your pics are really mouthwatering.

Do you have some hints how to improve the weather?

Smile

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[Lord Vader]

Hi Pete

My trip to Scotland starts in 4 weeks from now.

Can not wait Anemone and your pics are really mouthwatering.

Do you have some hints how to improve the weather?

Smile

Gesendet von meinem SM-G925F mit Tapatalk

Vieleicht

Das wetter nicht aber Avon Skin so soft fuer die Midges

 

[Lord Vader]

Hi Pete

My trip to Scotland starts in 4 weeks from now.

Can not wait Anemone and your pics are really mouthwatering.

Do you have some hints how to improve the weather?

Smile

Gesendet von meinem SM-G925F mit Tapatalk

Wie lange kommst du hoch und wie lange bleibst du denn?

 

[Wise_Guy]

Ich habe mir 3 Tage für die Anreise von Zürich nach Amsterdam genommen.
Komme am 17.7 mit der Fähre in Newcastle an.
Dann über Edinburgh, Laien, Ullapool, Portree nach Fort Williams und Girvan.
Am 24.7 verlassen wir mit der Fähre Schottland und werden in den nächsten 10 Tagen eine grosse Rundreise durch Nordirland und Irland anhängen.
Am 2.August geht es dann mit der Fähre von Rosslare nach Cherbourg zurück auf Mainland Europe.
Anschließend in 3 Tagen über die Normandie zurück in die Schweiz.



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[Seime]

Hello
I (we) was there last week, Switzerland - Scotland 3664 Km. im 10 days.
We had nice weather in Scotland up 26° in the Highlands.

Schottland Tour 03. – 12. Juni 2015
Fr. Tag 1 Schweiz – Amsterdam
Sa. Tag 2 Amsterdam Fähre King Seaways
Felison Terminal, Sluiplein 33, IJmuiden-NL 1975 AG
Check-in 15.00 – 16.45 Uhr Abfahrt 17.30 Uhr
So. Tag 3 Ankunft Newcastle 09.00 Uhr
Lets go!
Newcastle – Oban
Via Newcastle upon Tyne --> Hawick --> Peebles --> Dumbarton --> Oban
386 Km ca. 7 Std.
Mo. Tag 4 Isle of Skye
Oban – Mallaig / Fähre auf Skye (Armedale) £ 17.00 (Fr. 27.00)
139 Km ca. 2.15 Std.
Isle of Skye Tour
Armadale --> Drynoch --> Dunvegan --> Kilmaluag --> Harrapool --> Breakish
246 km ca. 4 Std.

Di. Tag 5 Singletrack West Coast Tour
Applecross --> Fearnmore --> Kerrysdale --> Mungasdale --> Ullapool
232 Km ca. 4.5 Std.?
Mi. Tag 6 Northwest at its best
Ullapool --> Inverkirkaig --> Unapool --> Laxford Bridge --> Durness --> Crask Inn --> Glenmorangie
346 Km ca. 6.5 Std.
Do. Tag 7 Loch Ness
Glenmorangie --> Inverness --> Fort Augustus --> Ayr
386 Km ca. 6 Std.
Fr. Tag 8 Ayr - Newcastle Newcastle Fähre Abfahrt 17.00 Uhr
Ayr --> Dumfries --> Brampton --> Hexam --> Newcastle upon Tyne
259 Km ca. 4 Std.
Newcastle Fähre Princess Seaways
Royal Quays, North Shields, Tyne & Wear-NE29 6EE
Check-in 14.30 – 16.15 Uhr Abfahrt 17.00 Uhr

Sa. Tag 9 Ankunft Amsterdam 09.30 Uhr
So. Tag 10 Zuhause

Leider ist Skye weggefallen, Fähre ist ausgebucht gewesen. Was eigentlich ein Glücksfall war, ein schwere Unfall hat die Strasse blockiert, wir hätten so oder so nicht weit fahren können. Das Wetter ist genial gewesen sehr wenig Regen (nicht wie hier, im Festland), viel Sonnenschein und mehrheitlich wärm.
Hier ein Paar impressionen:






Gruss Seime