Pink Way Region 9 - Fort William to Inverness

G.C.

What do you think about me coming up end of May let me know & i'll book time off work & give you the dates.

Do you know any good B&B's I can book into for a couple or 3 nights.

:cool:
 
Hi Cookson.
End of May sound good, if it’s a weekend then avoiding the bank holiday (27th 28th) would be best for me.
For B&B I would recommend Glenlochy Guest house. Hugh is a mate, phone in the evening. :thumb
I use O2 and its ok, not 100% coverage, none of then are. Vodaphone seems slightly better.
Cheers
G C
 
hey Cookson, the sheep & deer are not into texting and the like. You will find that mobile signal strength is the low side of f*ck-all as you are not on the populated South coast.
 
I can only vouch for Vodaphone but moby signals tend to be okay up the east coast from Inverness to Brora. A bit poor around the Caithness / Sutherland border and okay again in Wick / Thurso.

The area you are travelling north of Fort William - Ullapool - along the north coast is sparsley populated with many of the settlements dotted along the coast; a legacy of the Highland clearances. Terrain can mean television signals are sporadic in some areas never mind moby's. You may be lucky and get a good signal up the North West coast however I would not guarantee this.

If you think that the entire population of Caithness is only approx 30,000 and Sutherland possibly the same you can see why moby companies don't find much profit in coverage improvements.
 
I have done the proposed route about 1/2 a dozen times with slight variations. I have to agree with wicker that fuel will be a problem, although the main danger is the animals coming off the hills at night and down to the side of the road as this is being done at night.

There is a shell petrol sation at Ullapool which I think closes at 10pm. This will be around the 150 mile mark on the route. The next one which we use, mainly because it's the next you will come to, is at Tounge but this will definatley be closed during the night and that will be around 240 miles.

As you enter Thurso, 285 miles, there is a fuel station on the right I have'nt used this one for 2 years so I dont know if it is 24 hours or not and I could'nt say if there is any 24 hrs in Thurso.

By the time you get to Wick the fuel stations should be open and the two I have used are on the main road so you could'nt miss them (unless you're all knackered by then). I'll definately be in ullapool in june so I can check out times then if needed.

As it is just now I will be in france in september but if that changes i'll let you know and help if I can.

Good Luck
 
Just a small thought chaps but have we managed to get a female GS rider signed for this leg yet ?
 
Duchess said:
Just a small thought chaps but have we managed to get a female GS rider signed for this leg yet ?

Not that I know of Duchess, although there were a couple of lads said they may know of 1 or 2.

The reason I asked about mobile's was one of safety, just in case we get or run into any trouble, not so I can text the sheep you plonker :D

Just for your info G.C. I'm on Orange & I struggle to get reception in my kitchen.

It seems that this leg may well be one of the more trickier sections, because of terrain, darkness & lack of fuel stations, maybe we should think about setting up a fuel dump in advance.

Thanks for the info columbus.

G.C. I will aim to come up Thursday 18/5/06 & return home on Sunday 21/5/06 for a recce with you, (any of the other lads/support riders fancy a run ??) we need to have a good look at this route & fuel/rest stop's.

I will confirm dates soon, but pencil me in. :thumb
 
G.C. said:
Date: Friday 8th
Start pointThe Lochy, Caol, Fort William.
Start time: 00:30
Mileage: 445 miles/10 hours.… + 2 hrs for night time riding and comfort breaks
Handover point: A96 Inverness Business & Retail Park
ETA: 12:30 hrs

It may well be the case that we have daylight by the time we are at the most Northerly point, what time is sunrise in September.
Thanks for the input Keep it coming. :clap
G C

G C

Looks like sunrise is 05.49 on the table I posted earlier, so will be getting light half hour or so before hand.

So that would put us about half way round the leg ?

:cool:
 
18/5/06 or 19/5/06 is good for me for the recce

Stumpy
 
stumpy said:
18/5/06 or 19/5/06 is good for me for the recce

Stumpy

I will be riding up from Nottingham on the 18th so the 19th is good for me after a night's rest.

How about GC & that will make 4 of us, all were lacking is a female GSer.

:cool:
 
Start nightshift on the 18th so cant make the recce.

I was thinking about a fuel dump during my last post. Ullapool seems to me to be best placed both distance and time wise as whoever was manning it would just need to get there during the day and could purchase the supplies needed in town. There are plenty B & B and there is also the campsite which should be open at that time of year. This would allow full tanks to set off around the north coast in the knowledge that you have enough fuel to make thurso, 130 ish miles away and with steady riding you should be arriving between 06:30 and 07:00 by which point most of the petrol stations would be opening anyway.

You could always strap a fuel can on the back of each bike

The other consideration would be a support van following due to the remoteness of the route. If it was carrying spare fuel then the refuelling could be carried out when neccessary. Also this could provide emergency shelter/trasportation in the event of an off.

If no back up someone should carry a sleeping bag and tent/shelter just incase, now i'm starting to feel as if i'm talking to my kids, don't mean to preach, just that i've been there and dont like the repercussions if it does go wrong.

If I think of anything else i'll let you know
 
Willing to help

G.C.

Just caught up with this and would like to help out in anyway I can, any excuse to get out on the bike. :)

Should be about for the recce as well.

I've been up round that way once before and totally agree with the comments so far ref fuel etc. Using the charity angle, it might be worth speaking to the garage owner in Ullapool to see if he would be willing to open up for everyone to refuel, if you could give a rough time of arrival. Got to be worth a try.
 
Mart-P

Good idea on the fuel stop, worth a try.

Now then fella's just had wedding invite thru the door & it clashes with the weekend I was planning to come up for the recce, is it possible we can alter the dates.

11th to 14th of May
or
1st to 4th of June

Let me know if either suite's as I would appreciate it, if not I will have to come up some other time to have a run around the proposed route.

:)
 
An update

Our start time is now 11:29 AM 7th September 2006
Our completion time is 22:39 Hrs 7th September 2006

Can I draw your attention to this thread.
The organisers have taken all the information regarding safety, fuel, roads etc into consideration and altered the times accordingly. Many thanks.

Cookson, get them to change the date of the weeding man :)
Seriously though, you are coming a long way, so lets do what we can to accommodate you. I would prefer the 11th / 14th May with the recce on Saturday the 13th. How does that sit with everyone ?

The route is entirely up to us, provided it is within the allocated time frame. I agree with Wicker, we should take in Dunnet Head, the most Northerly point. We can finalise the route once we have completed the recce

Columbus / Wicker thanks for the input, its been very useful.

Duchess, still looking to sign up a female GS rider , Jez any contact with the Inverness lass ?

Mart P. Welcome aboard mate, feel free to call in for a coffee next time you are passing. I'm at our starting point (the pub) most days.

Sláinte

G C
 
G.C. said:
Cookson, get them to change the date of the weeding man :)
Seriously though, you are coming a long way, so lets do what we can to accommodate you. I would prefer the 11th / 14th May with the recce on Saturday the 13th. How does that sit with everyone ?

G C. Thanks mate, appreciate it, that weekend suite's me, as soon as I know everyone else is ok with it, I'll book 3 night's B&B with your mate, looks a nice place & good prices as well.

Start & finish times look a bit more promising, means fuel & rest stop won't be so much of a problem.

Agreed on Dunnet Head, good idea.

Info & input from all is appreciated, any lady GSer's fancy a ride :mmmm

:thumb
 
Gordon, I'm up for the recce, especially if it's a Saturday (assuming that's OK with everyone else)
 


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