Scotland for Cycle Touring
Scotland is great for cycle touring. It's a small country, but still big when you are on a bike.
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Which bit of Scotland?
The best areas are the Central Highlands and West Coast (shown above, picture taken near Arisaig). For gentler gradients and less dramatic scenery Moray, Aberdeenshire, Banff and Angus are also good.
The main roads in the remoter and less populated bits of Scotland are very much less busy than they are round the big cities. Some of the A roads in the Highlands carry less traffic than minor roads near Glasgow. As long as you avoid the main trunk roads of the A9, A82 and A96, mainroad cycling in the Highlands can be quite peaceful.
In about 1900 a guide to all the roads in Scotland was published, giving their gradients so that you could see how big the hills were. This was a major bit of work in the days before computers. It's now available online here.
The whole of Scotland is on Google Streetview now, which makes route research easy.
In some places there are so few roads that there is no minor road alternative to get from place to place.
Sustrans have built or signposted various routes. Many of their routes along disused railway lines are wonderful, and worth planning your tour to include.
One slight problem with Sustrans is that they are funded by the kilometer of route, so some are less than direct. Also, they are working to a national standard which says their routes are to be on minor roads as far as possible, which makes sense in the crowded south of England, but means that their route from Inverness to Nairn is 26 miles, the lightly trafficked B road = 16 miles and the direct and dangerous A road = 15 miles.
The most popular areas of Scotland for touring seem to be the western islands and outer Hebrides. These are wild, remote and beautiful. They are also small and take a long time to cycle to from the central belt.
The roads on Scottish islands are well maintained and often amazingly steep. It might only be a short hill, but it will have a sharp turn at the bottom. Good brakes are essential.
Arran
Arran is the easiest island to get to from Glasgow, making it very popular. It's also very easy to find your way around, as there is one road round the coast and two from east to west.
