Someone has asked me what the exact route was ?

might be an answer here;

http://roblee7ds.blogspot.com/

if not email him and he'll probably send you the gps routes.

errr – pretty sure it's the whole of the WHW up to fort bill, then turn around and go back to Glasgow.

there is only one whw route – thats the one RL took

To be fair looking at his spot its a reasonable request …. He rode up the middle of loch lomond by the looks of it ….

Good luck to them hope he has better luck than rob.

Buddy of mine did glasgow to fort bill along WHW, solo, unsupported in 17.5 hours. Said it was pretty tough and the bit along lomond side was rubbish (annoying).

We're planning on trying it on the 7th August, but since I can barely be bothered riding the bike at the moment, and its been raining for about a month now, I'm not too optimistic. 😕

13thfloor – you'll be surprised. Myself and a friend were very unfit, with another fit friend and he managed to drag us along the WHW. We did it in 2 days, and carried all the water/food we needed etc. Was a huge pain, but nice to finish at the end of the second day. I did however have a few tantrums and 2 hrs sleep between the 2 days.

I think the stretch here is doing it in a day, although this is also on my list of things to do.

I did Victoria Bridge to Kinlochleven last weekend and in rubbish weather it was still excellent. I'd forgotten how much fun the descent into Glencoe Ski Centre is, and the bit from the top of the Devil's Staircase is just sublime.

13thfloormonk – yhm if im still around the uk then i may tag along if thats cool – never ridden the WHW

rob set aside 32 hours for his attempt iirc although was WELLL ahead of schedule !

Trail_Rat, you'd be welcome, we're leaving glasgow at 02:00 Saturday morning, booked into the Glen Nevis Hostel Saturday night.

My mate has some mad plan to ride to Mallaig on Sunday then go kayaking on Loch Morar, I had planned to skulk around in the pub, we shall see…

Simon, apologies for the hijack! If you're going to do the West Highland Way then you should follow the exact route, as soon as you start chopping and changing you might as well just go somewhere else, as others will be quick to tell you, there's better 150km routes out there, but the West Highland Way is the West Highland Way 8)

Steven MacInnis Tobermory ..Isle of Mull Cycle Club
9 hours 30 odd mins same day as Rob Lee tried.
He did it unaided and will be trying the double next year.

jim

Steven MacInnis Tobermory ..Isle of Mull Cycle Club
9 hours 30 odd mins same day as Rob Lee tried.
He did it unaided and will be trying the double next year.

Time now confirmed 11 hours 29 mins 36 seconds hands and back sore as posted by Konajim when steven finished

i knew i hadnt read it as 9 hours 30 when he finished. still not shabby mind

Bored at work so had a gander at why there is confusion.

http://www.multimap.com/s/tlwKwVwA

shows WHW going both ways at ptarmigan. – doesnt do that any where else on the route as far as i can see on multimap. When ever ive spoken to folk they have said to use the upper path not the lower one. so the WHW is the WHW is the WHW doesnt really cut it

what have these boys been doing ?

From recollection it's signposted the upper trail on the ground.

>so the WHW is the WHW is the WHW doesnt really cut it<

LOL – arguing over circa 2m of parallel track in the context of a 96m route is surely dancing on the head of a pin? 😉

hey – if the guy wants to set a record he best do it right – you lot will be the first to shoot him down if he goes the wrong way for 2 miles….

does the lower path still exist in it's entirety? chunks had been washed away in a winter storm a few years back.

where's Norris McWhirter when you need him?

"where's Norris McWhirter when you need him? "

turning in his grave at the thought of "ach itll do" 😉

>hey – if the guy wants to set a record he best do it right – you lot will be the first to shoot him down if he goes the wrong way for 2 miles…. <

As I said, the official waymarking will surely suffice?

I'd shoot him down in flames for taking the ferry mind 😉

I've always ridden the upper section as its signposted, and when we rode it first time (split over two days) we couldn't actually find the lower section, although we didn't look very hard.

the lower section is there. it is good riding, prolly slower… but it is so short its prolly academic…

i met steven macinnis and rob lee's support crew that day, though i was doing a different route, went over east ways after heading up the first section.

steven was ripping, despite patching a tyre with an old insole….11 and a half hours for that ride is really very quick indeed.

the climbs up either side of conic hill and the top section of loch lomond are the major obstacle to doing the whw..especially twice…

ello Trail Rat Yes it was 11 hours 29 …must have been dreaming of the time i would like to do it in ;-)))

jim

SFB – I haven't seen you post any pictures on here for a while? Or have I just missed them?

i abandoned my plans to do a c2c at weekend to ride whw on friday – conic hill descent is pretty fun 😀 – looked even more fun heading to milngavie !

top half of loch lomond is a slog

my advice to anyone trying the double is – light weight full sus or a 29er ! although the track gets better after loch lomond its still rocky and rough as owt – punctuated by gates and drain bars. not much flow

i do have an urge to go back for a wee run though 😉

Funnily enough we met a guy on a lightweight 29er doing it north-south (the easy way 😉 ) on Sunday. He was raving about how good the bike was for the task in hand.

Trail_rat, I'm confused, did you do the whole thing on Friday? Did you check out that low route at Ptarmigan? DrJon has me intrigued, if its good singletrack and not a big landrover track climb I could be interested!

It sounds like a trip most folk didnt enjoy.would it be worth detouring a bit or doing something else in the area thats going to be better..

something that you wouldnt moan about.. like what 13th did last month up north! there must be something.

i got to rannoch moor before my arse being black and blue(still is – sat on a hoop balloon) forced me to stop.

the ptarmigan lower route according the young chap i met strimming the grass is not really there – but you can pass it if you are patient . he thought some of it would make for good riding but it would be aukward by bike.

as stated above the route on the ground is marked by the upper path – do be aware that although marked – sometimes you really do need to look about for the markers as hidden by long grass/bushes

my view on the WHW is – route to be walked or run – im not averse to pushing but in the case of the WHW there was nothing to push for – the downs werent "that" exciting … much better to be ridden – corrieyarrick is the best bit of new to me natural riding ive done this year …. but nothing so far as beat the descent of mount keen or the walkers path at bachnagairn for me. If i had a guide then glenfeshie – andy toop showed us some excellent flowing stuff in there – and in my minds eye i have a good C2C route lined up which was for this weekend but curiousity got the better of me on the WHW

in the case of the WHW there was nothing to push for – the downs werent "that" exciting

You didnt get far enough

Trail_rat, you're an enduro type guy, whats all this 'nothing worth pushing for' chat? You saying Fort William isn't worth pushing for? Just think of all the fights you can get into with the locals 😉

Martinxyz, WHW without the moans would basically be one or two days north from Crianlarich, all the best riding, comfortable mileages, and more potential for good detours in Kinlochleven (and maybe the climber's path down from the Buachaille). Oh, and there was plenty moaning up north! 😀

Mellow descent of the Devil's Staircase

Oh aye mcmoonter devils is good but i was to be decending in the dark and alone – knowing what its like i decided my better judgement and mountain craft said be sensible – its not clever to have a canary rescue you ….

Tangent: schoolfriend of mine's family did the WHW one half term, walking in the morning, fishing in the afternoon. He came back with a great suntan…on the right hand side of his face…