Just returned from a fantastic weekend riding in and around Fort William. Based on my post last week and after bumping into Chris Johnstone at Wheelcraft on Saturday the route was changed slightly to become a 70km classic loop of Ben Nevis. Alison, Superlight Euan and myself left the Braveheart car park in Glen Nevis on Sunday morning. We then rode the Westie to above Kinlochleven where we then kept the height gained and picked up the trail past Mamore Lodge to Luibeilt passing Loch Eilde Mor and Beag. When reaching Luibelt we decided to cross the river after Superlight Euan proudly informed us he made 58 glacier river crossings during a day ski mountaineering in NZ, so surely we would manage one in July. After plenty of hikey bikey and some fantastic scenery we reached the bothy at the start of the Lairig Leacach, a welcome stop after being in the wilderness for so long. After refuelling, we then descended the landrover track to Leanachan Forest where we traced some of the Witch’s Trails towards Torlundy, and then back along the cycle lane to Glen Nevis. A fantastic trip and one that should become a club classic.
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Is this essentially the loop No Fuss use in the Tour de Ben race? Is it fairly easy to navigate if you haven’t done it before? How long does it take? I quite fancy doing it ahead of the no fuss race in September. cheers D
Dene, not sure if that is the same as the No Fuss Event. I did wonder that earlier but could not find anything conclusive. It took us a long time (10 hrs – will blame Alison for that). I reckon myself and Euan would have done it in closer to 7 hours, perhaps less. Certainly well worth thinking about. Cheers Gerry