As usual I’m faffing, checking this, checking that, but the van is packed and a fresh brew made…I can’t put it off any longer, its time to ride the Westie. I, unlike some others, have opted for the lazy option to make the short drive to Milngavie to ‘save the legs’ for what would be an epic day ahead. I’m immediately struck at how warm and humid it is at 4.30am as I head out the front door, its going to be a sweaty one!
After the quick drive from Strathblane to Milngavie, I meet the rest of the crew at the start of the West Highland Way on Milngavie high street. There are 13 riders in total, a fine turnout, with a sense of excitement and nervous energy in the air, but all eager to start the ride. We have two (dafties?!), Mike Debernardo and Charlie, doing the WHW double, one of which is on a single speed (!!)…more on that later.
After a short note of thanks for supporting our first ‘event’, we're off at 5am sharp. As usual, a number of us go off far too hard despite us all knowing we will pay for these efforts later in the day! It’s wet under tyre, but it’s warm, so day to ensure plenty of fluid intake. Thankfully water is in abundance along the route, so you're never far from a refill from a courtesy tap or stream. The first proper obstacle, Conic Hill, spreads the field out. James takes a dive on the descent damaging both bike and body (a few days later he would discover he had in fact cracked some ribs but still rode the rest of the route despite this happening so early on - respect!).
Michael Burke, who had just returned from completing an Ironman in Austria, calls it quits just before the hike a bike section at Inversnaid. It was always a brave call taking on the Westie so soon after such a monster achievement, but the Wesite ain’t going anywhere and I know he will be back again to fight another day. Michael, we salute you.
Onto the infamous shoreline hike a bike section north of Inversnaid. Although it can be tackled in around 2 hours at a decent pace, it drags on, and on, and on…and on. It’s raining hard, adding a little ‘grease’ to the rocks to spice things up. Ross finds himself in a ‘lock stock moment’ balancing amongst the rocks and is relieved to see Mike Debernardo appear behind him to help him down. An awkward tumble shortly after would knock Ross’ bike out of action resulting in him taking a scenic train ride from Crianlarich to Fort William, where we would later find him sampling Black Isle’s finest beers and pizza at the finish! Not a bad day out.
Through the hike a bike and onto the long slow drag up to Crianlarich. The trail is beginning to waken up with walkers from all over the globe enjoying their own WHW adventure, giving us words of encouragement as they look on with a bewildered smile when they learn what we are up to. Being a proud Scot, this is what I love most about the WHW, the people, their camaraderie, and their enthusiasm for our beautiful country and this fantastic route. It reminds you just how lucky we are to have such incredible scenery and adventure on our doorstep.
Things speed up now between Tyndrum and Glencoe, with majority of this section being on fast gravel or legendary military roads, bumpy (the full suss was a good choice!) but fast rolling. Stevie and I have chosen to carry all of our own nutrition to avoid faff and Stevie reconnects with me at the Bridge of Orchy hotel as I’m refilling a water bottle from the tap outside. On we plod, over Rannoch Moor, and as we descend towards Glencoe ski centre we catch our first glimpse of the Devil’s staircase - a cheeky hike a bike slog up to a col before arguably the best single track descent of the route down into Kinlochleven. Chris MacDermott would go over the bars on this section, finishing, but later realising he was concussed and sensibly making a visit to doctors to get checked out! Thankfully he was ok and just needed plenty of rest, both physically and mentally.
Out of Kinlochleven and it felt like a furnace as we picked our way up the last real climb and into the Mamores. The sun had now burnt off the clouds and my arms felt like they were sizzling (I had forgotten to pack sunblock to reapply - ouch!). It was zapping at this late stage in the day, and a few gels are needed recharge me at the top, but we weren’t far from the finishing post and a well earned pint!
On the last rise before the final descent into Fort William we caught up with Charlie. Charlie had chosen to set off a couple of hours before us to optimise his day for the double attempt. Given he was almost half way before we reached him he had set a blistering pace so far despite having still in excess of 100 tough miles to go!
We dropped down the final descent with ear to ear grins on our faces, managing to stay upright on the freshly laid loose gravel. Onto the tarmac and the short spin to the finish where we were greeted by Ross as he tucked into his third beer. We had finished in just under 13 hours, self supported, and were ready for a pizza after copious amounts of gels and Beta fuel!
We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the beer garden at the Black Isle bar welcoming in the riders as they finished, exchanging stories of our own personal adventures on the Westie. Mike Debernardo and Charlie came and went as they set out to conquer the double - both successfully achieving this feat! Mike unfortunately would have an upset stomach just south of Kinlochleven on the return leg, forcing him to rest, but not deterring him from finishing the ride the next day (apparently because the train timetable wasn’t convenient enough to bail out - he’s a tough one!). Well done lads, I’ll save that for another day if I can pluck up the courage…
Our oldest competitor, Chris Johnstone (also the oldest ever finisher of the HT550!), came in a little after midnight, and was still able to grab a cheeky pint at the local Weatherspoons to celebrate a PR - well deserved.
After an obligatory MacDonalds, some sleep and a leisurely breakfast the following day, we made our way home on the train and reflected on the truly epic and memorable ride that was the Westie.
A massive thanks to everyone that took part, and to our better halves for looking after the kids. The fruit was squeezed, and it most certainly delivered. We are making plans for more adventures in 2024 so watch out for announcements, but in the meantime check out our Bivi a Month (BAM) challenge to give you some inspiration to get out and pack in some micro adventures.
Sign up for a regular email curating the best
cycling deals out there
