Cycling on eBothy Blog

Cycling the wilds

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A week off and the weather took a break from torrential rain, rushing through a day of warm sunshine before the next attempt by autumn to steal the show early. Already, at the end of June, the bracken is on the turn but on this quiet Tuesday morning as I drove up the road to Attadale, the Longitude in the back, the clouds were preparing to settle down in a calm blue sky and take a welcome rest from the endless storms that seem to be a feature of the weather now.

Sandstone Way MTB

Mon, 29 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Near the end of April I betook myself and my bike for an expedition along the Sandstone Way. Back to my cycle touring roots, to find it’s now called bikepacking. Unless you use panniers!

Seeing past the noise

Sat, 18 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Another day of lockdown. Another day of traffic free roads, blazing sunshine and birdsong echoing in the trees. The allotted time spent on the bike, spinning on the quiet roads, looking longingly at the familiar mountains but loving every mile of the ride.

A deeper landscape

Sun, 12 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Another day, another lockdown. Sunny and windy with a brewing gale from the north, it was a good time for a spin on the bike. Just before Broadford it was a bit of a shock to see a snake of brightly coloured people crammed onto the quad bike track to the loch. It was the greatest concentration of humanity I’d seen in, let me see now, three weeks! Quite a shock indeed.

Lockdown cycle repair

Sun, 05 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Being confined to the local area, working from home and avoiding social contact (hoorah on that one!), I had plenty time, like all day, to work on the bike.

Sewing a frame pump bag

Sat, 27 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Getting ready for the next hundred mile ride I wanted to lighten the load and not use the Arkel Randonneur rack and bag. They’re great for commuting but I wanted to just use a seatpack for the ride but there’s nowhere to stow the pump. The Topeak Mini Dual DXG is a superb little pump and it comes with a bottle mount bracket. However, the weather up here is usually crap and I didn’t want it exposed to the elements all day. The solution? Make a wee bag for it.

Travels with Fatty

Fri, 26 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Not a signal, not a sound, not a person save the unceasing roar of the sea.

in praise of the cycle commute

Fri, 11 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve managed to get a GoPro the other month and been playing around with it. It’s on a vented helmet strap and to make sure it’s angled properly I connect over wifi and preview it on the phone as it has no viewfinder. I’ve also got a headstrap and a great wee doofer that slots onto your rucsack strap. Looking forward to making mountain films next.

I like this first attempt as it, for me, captures the freedom of the open road. The spirr of the chain, the wind in your face, the utter freedom to go where you want, stop where you want and go whatever speed you can manage in the conditions. Everything you need in a bag on the back. I’ve been mountaineering for 30 years but cycle touring for almost 40 and I absolutely love it. The bike really is, part of my psyche, who I am and who I always will be, I hope.

south skye cycle

Fri, 11 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000

With the continuing sweltering weather I thought I’d jump on the bike and go for a spin round south Skye. A nice 50 miler from Broadford down to Armadale via the western loop road. What a day! First stop was at Ord with its unbelievable view of Blaven and the Cuillin.

strathcarron 100km audax

Sun, 29 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Decreptitude comes to us all! But I thought, surely these buns of steel are still steel-ish and to pop out on an Audax wouldn’t be asking too much of them. You see, Audax UK (AUK) have a groovy new ‘permanents’ system. But first let me explain what an ‘audax’ is. It’s a non competitive long distance cycling event, from anywhere between 50km to, well, over a thousand km. The longest I’ve done was the National 400, which you can read about here.