Push Bikes

The Tourist Map gave no real clue as to the actual terrain of the West Highland Way between Rowardennan and Inversnaid on the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, Scotland, UK.

Perhaps, in retrospect the outlay of a few pounds sterling for a proper Landranger Ordnance Survey Map may have been wiser but the said leaflet, one of those picked up free from a visitor centre, motorway services or library, was after all free, gratis and for nothing.

My further reasoning behind not buying a Trossachs Region Map was that so far in my lifetime I had visited the area every forty years and such a purchase would therefore appear extravagant. Nothing much seemed to have changed on the east side of the Loch since my last family holiday in 1975 and this could well be the case looking ahead to my next scheduled visit in 2055, discounting of course any effects of a rise in sea level as a consequence of global warming or alternatively the return of an Ice Age.

Anything with Highland in the title should really suggest a mostly uphill terrain but as with most people on holiday any common sense and rationality just goes out of the window. It is hard enough being sensible for the 51 other weeks of the year so, what the hell, just relax and do not worry about anything.

I set off on my mountain bike from the log cabin just next to the Rowardennan Hotel, accompanied by my son who was just a few days out of his teenage decade.

The roadway was flat and hard surfaced but covered with a fine film of pine needles and mud from Forestry Commission, National Trust and Youth Hostel traffic the only real users of what was a dead end. After passing the gateway of the private driveway leading up to the purple granite built Hostel we were onto a rough, potholed track.

It was at this point, a mere few minutes into our planned trail ride,  that I realised that I had completely underestimated the geography that lay ahead. As well as the unstable ground beneath our chunky tyres it started to rise up immediately and quite steeply.

The winding nature of the track meant that there was a limited sight line ahead and with the turn of every corner it was clear that the ascent would be relentless.

My son waltzed away easily and I knew that unless I upped my pedal rate I might not see him for the rest of the day. I struggled along for a couple of uphill miles. Fortunately for me we eventually reached a flat section, a short plateau which allowed me to catch him up followed by a good downhill stretch where my body mass momentum gave me an advantage. I edged in front for the first and what turned out to be the only time that day.

The track then narrowed to little more than a footpath width and we encountered the first of many intrepid hikers and travellers. Most had obviously spent the night at the Youth Hostel and were continuing their journey on one of Scotland's long distance paths. You would think that the noise of a bike, albeit well serviced and maintained, bouncing about on a loose surface plus my groans, moans and painful breathless grimaces would alert those on foot to a need to take evasive action. I do slow down on approach as in my experience walkers can be a bit vague and unpredictable but even so it is usually necessary to ask politely to pass.

There were a few surprised expressions upon sight of two bikes so far in the wilds and a few cloaked comments that we should not really be there anyway. This type of comment was comprehensible in any language and the contingent out that day were from many countries showing the attraction of Scotland as a tourist destination on a worldwide basis.

From high up in the tree line there were fantastic views over Loch Lomond.

Disappointingly there was a rumble of constant traffic from the main Glasgow to Fort William road which runs close to the opposite west shore of Loch Lomond and we could see convoys of tour coaches, heavy goods vehicles and obviously german motorcyclists to-ing and fro-ing on this well worn route.

With each painful push on the pedals to climb we could count on a bit of a rest on the downhill sections which took us right down to the loch side. A treat was to spy a cluster of wild goats nestled on a shingle bank on the edge of a mountain stream as it cascaded from the moorland of Ben Lomond above. Their appearance was biblical with prominent curled horns and shaggy coats.

Low down the ground was boggy and marshy under that inevitable shimmering haze of swarms of bloodthirsty midges. Those chunky tyres keep us afloat over the swampy parts although progress slowed down again to almost walking pace. I fell off with poor style just after passing a couple of French ramblers. My bike had stalled on a turn at the top of a bank and my desperate attempt to put a foot down was thwarted with the consequence that I parted company from the machine and slid face down through wet grass for what seemed like a mile but was actually only a few metres. I was just soaked and embarassed rather than injured or worse.

The French were giggling a bit at my misfortune as I remounted and rode off.

The following two miles were not passable on two wheels and we had to alternately push and carry to negotiate rocky outcrops, stone dressed drainage gullies and gradients that must have been 25% or more severe.

I managed a short ride on a straight and stone-clear section only to find rapid deflation of my front tyre.

Riding was impossible and so I resorted to more pushing until we reached the Inversnaid Hotel where conditions and terrain were more friendly to investigate the puncture. Two sharp thorns had penetrated the tyre casing. I reached for one of my two spare inner tubes only to find that I had packed the wrong ones with a car type valve and not one compatible with the bike pump we carried.

This was a fundamental schoolboy type error which jeopardised the whole adventure. The only option was to try to repair the damaged inner tube.

Most of the walkers and hikers that we had passed in the previous couple of hours had now caught us up and were taking their packed lunches out to enjoy on the picnic tables dotted about on the Hotel lawn.

I would have an audience for my emergency repairs for the duration.........

(Part 2 to follow tomorrow)