hi
planning to do whw at end of next month.looking for advice on where to stay and how to break it up ect.going to give ourselves three days.was thinking.milngavie-inverarnan(day 1)onto kingshouse day 2,fort william day3.
any thoughts appreciated.

I have heard the paths by Loch Lomond are not worth riding. We did that bit on the road and stayed in Tyndrum for a 2 day ride.

hi did you bike to inversnaid and get ferry across?

That looks like a good way to split it, means you'll be fresh for the best bits (start of day 3 in particular!) 50km days might also give some scope for diversions depending on your fitness (for instance there are alternative descents into Kinlochleven that are much more fun than the WHW landrover track).

Cynic-al is right though, there is little riding to be had for the two or three kilometres north of Inversnaid on Loch Lomondside. However, the riding right up to that point is great (getting more and more technical as it goes along) and once you're out of the unrideable stuff, the riding immediately gets better, including a really nice wee descent down to Inverarnan.

I would be tempted to suck up the unrideable bit, its near the end of your day and at least then you'll have wrung maximum good riding out of the day.

i'm thinking of doing it as well this year.

Cynic-al is right though, there is little riding to be had for the two or three kilometres north of Inversnaid on Loch Lomondside

Is it only 2 or 3k that are unrideable or is it a miserable XC hike a bike or a good part of it?

Also what's more fun riding North or riding South?

I think south to north is the best way to do it, finishes on more of a high and means you can warm up on the easy stuff out of Milngavie.

I don't know the exact distance of the 'unrideable' part, but you would be wise to assume at least an hour of fairly physical hike-a-bike. Its very thin, very rocky and there are lots of steps up and down, including a number where you need to manhandle the bike before or after you.

In truth, the frustration of the hike-a-bike may outweigh the quality of the riding you'd miss by taking the ferry and road, but I like doing it anyway, keeps you honest 😀

Which bits are we talking here? The stuff from balmaha to rowardennan is fairly simple stuff, but I've never gone north of there on the bike.

Having walked the WHW a few years back, I second the idea that the banks of Loch Lomond are pretty much unridable – hard enough going on foot…

A mate and I have done the way north of crianlarich on a couple of occasions and its one of my fav weekend trips. We got train to Crianlarich and cycled to Kinlochleven day 1 and then Kinlochleven on to FW day 2 and then train back to Glasgow. First time we stayed at bunkhouse in Kinlochleven, and the second time, instead of going over the devils staircase we went down to Glencoe with a bit of road work from Kingshouse to The top of the glen and then a great path which runs to the left of the road and is excellent. We then stayed in the Clachaig and got a taxi which took bikes back to Kingshouse in the morning.

Havent cycled any of the loch lomond side, but agree having walked it that all is doable apart from some small bike carrying sections on the bit between Inversnaid and Inverarnan. The bit between Inverarnan and crianlarich is good too, defo going to do it again this spring/summer

"The banks" are largely rideable, its only the 4km or so (I looked it up) from Inversnaid north that is difficult.

I think Scottyjohn is being a wee bit optimistic with "some small bike carrying sections" though; "some small rideable sections" would be more accurate 🙂

DON'T DO the section after Rowardennan. Don't know about the ferry as it wasn't running when we did it. My bike came very close to being hurled into Loch Lomond….oh and the rain, midges and vile smell of goats! I also have to disagree with the "small bits of hike a bike" – I remember it going on for ages and involving a lot of boulder scrambling; great fun with a bike NOT! Best bit of the route is from Bridge of Orchy to Fort William.

>DON'T DO the section after Rowardennan<

Whit?

In the best Scottish mtb tradition surely it's knocking in 'the bad bit' that makes it all the more memorable / part of the challenge? Telling the grandchildren about the mountainous seas you faced crossing the loch doesn't have the same currency 😉

Plus, it's a bit of a non issue if you spread it over 3 days…

Don't confuse Rowardennan with Inversnaid. The best riding along Loch Lomondside is AFTER Rowardennan but before Inversnaid.

Would agree with Heather Bash, if you're going to do it, do it properly!

4 of us tried to do it one weekend last year. We were aiming for either one very very long day or a long day, brief stop in a bothy? to allow a short final part to get the train back to glasgow and the plane down to Bristol and the car down to Cornwall.

and guess what we failed miserably!! but had a laugh.

We just got back onto some good riding when I flatted my rear rim on a drainage ditch, actually shearing the metal!

we got on the ferry and spent the afternon in the oddest pub ever

The hike a bike takes ages.

The train to Glasgow

We booked the bikes on the train back to Glasgow incase there was limit. The good thing was that they then refunded the money when we did not actually use the tickets.

One other thing as for a great deal of Scotland do not hope to find any decent food along Loch Lomond. Expect to see loads of pissed up scots drinking by their tents at 8 oclock in the morning!!

It is still on our to do list.

http://www.lochlomond4bs.co.uk/

Hopefully there will less pissed up scots drinking in tents with the proposed new Camping byelaw.

Yeah, the amount of rubbish we saw along the lochside was truly depressing, lazy dirty feckers…

I tried it in a day and the abscence of ANY bacon rolls on loch lomondside was one of the contributing factors to me not completing it I reckon…

Start of the one day attempt…

End of the one day attempt (bottom of Glen Coe)

Take a map and compass next time Iain – the WHW doesn't go along Glen Coe

It does when you're knackered and looking out of the Kingshouse at horizontal rain… 😕

we got on the ferry and spent the afternon in the oddest pub ever

That'll be the drovers – pub marmite, either love it or hate it. I love it.

Hope the snow's melted by then for ye

Last week

thanks for all the advice.looks like a bit of an epic.
has anyone actually completed it end to end 😯

The Dbf – wtf is that in the stand of trees in front of the Buchaille?

(that snow's all gone now btw)

>has anyone actually completed it end to end <

Sure, but your original plan is sound – what more do you want to know?

Heather Bash – Member
The Dbf – wtf is that in the stand of trees in front of the Buchaille?

A reflection on the camera lens?

Id still recommend takin the train from Glasgow Queen St to Crianlarich and see how you enjoy the top part, then come back and do it all another time.
I havent actually cycled the section from Rowardennan to Inverarnan, and its years since I walked it.

Hello, just my type of thread, done it the past two years in a row on the bike, both times from Fort William to home though(Glasgow, Cumbernauld)this meant we were meeting walkers head on so they could see us coming and made navagating around each other a bit easier.

In 08 went as a group of 4, stayed in a hostel at Fort William and cycled to Crainlarich, stayed in a hostel there,then the second day cycled to Tabet and got the ferry to Rowandennon,missing the walking section, then cycled to Milngavie and got the trian home. Only 2 of us finished it as one of the guys was riding up a step and lunged into his handle bars, leaving him to call the wife to pick him up and his brother went with him to make sure he was ok. I also dislocated my finger in the first 3 miles and snapped my front brake lever clean off coming down the devils staircase, so finished the other 65 miles with one brake, so aye be prepared for the worst i guess.

In 2009 I rode it myself in one day, was the end of July so had lots of daylight. Left Fort William at 5 or 6am made it to the kings house for brekkie at 9, then got to Tyndrum just before lunch time. This time though i decided to ride sorry walk Loch Lomond side. it consists of a walk from Inverarnon to the Inversnaid hotel, well ffs what a hassle that was, completely drained me of all the enery i had pretty much, was walking for about 2 and a half hours i think and that was at a reasonable pace, if walking you will need some way to comfortably carry your bike on your shoulder, having a hardtail it wasnt so bad but i did have to wrap the top tube in a jacket to stop my shoulder going numb. Got my dinner at Balmaha, then made it to Milgavie just before it got dark. Think it was about 14-15 hours on the bike the rest eating and stopping for a rest now and again.

On reccolection, yeah doing the whole Way and Walking the Loch Lomond bit was worth while, but at the time it is really difficult and time consuming and may even ruin your ride as it is brutal, so missing it out may be a good option if you dont like hiking your bike.

email me if you need any more info dmoffitt90AThotmail.co.uk as my post is getting a bit big.

Finished

Halfway

Weather is changable i had 8 hours of rain and the rest was sunny and hot so had to get a change of clothes, couldnt have manaaged it without meeting my brother and his wife for luch and dinner as a friendly face makes a huge difference for motivation

Good skills dmoffit! Not sure about that second photo though…

well done dmoffitt90!! but are you scratching up a semi in halfway pic 😀

some good advice here.thanks keep it coming!

I really regret not doing all of the WHW (in one ride) when it was on my doorstep….
One day….

2 attempts to ride in one day from Milngalvie to FW. 1st attempt failed at Kings House due to piss-poor weather. Second go was a great success, left ay midnight, 4 hours earlier than previous attempt. Arrived around 18 hours later in FW having done the entire route. No denying that the Loch Lomondside section is tough going with a good amount of bike carrying particularly near Rob Roys cave. It's an epic day out and one to remember.

The Dbf – wtf is that in the stand of trees in front of the Buchaille?

I'm guessing it's the reflection off the window where I took the pic, inside the Kings House Lounge