Over the Pass

Doing the whole NC500 isn’t compulsory – here’s one of the best bits

- Alex Carnegie

One of the best-known rides in the UK is Scotland's NC500 around the coast. Unfortunately, since it was promoted as a tourist route it has become incredibly busy, so I've always consoled myself with the fact that I've travelled these roads before, although that was in a VW bay window campervan in 1975!

When a Sunday evening weather forecast showed a sunny few days ahead, I quickly planned a day ride on the part of the circuit I had not driven in the campervan, the Bealach Na Ba, or Pass of the Cattle, to Applecross. I found a room available in Cannich, a village near Loch Ness, just a few miles off the NC500, and booked it for the next couple of days. I rode north on the Monday, up along the side of Loch Lomond, through Glencoe and on through Fort William and The Great Glen. All good fun, but not the real reason I was here.

The weather on Tuesday morning was sunny and warm, and one of the advantages of doing this as a day ride was that I had no luggage, no backpack, just me on the bike riding some great roads. It started perfectly, turning right out of Cannich on to the A831, a fantastic stretch of twisting single-track road wide enough for a bike and a car to pass without worrying about finding the nearest passing place. The road follows the River Glass north to Beauly where I joined the NC500 proper, following the A832 and A835 west.