Route preview Part three – the Northern Loop

I’ve given the Northern Loop the capital letters that a proper noun deserves as it is often the bit that gives riders the greatest cause for concern. It is remote, wild and with no supply until Kylesku.

Riding up Glen Cassley is wonderful. The river is by your side, Scots Pine line the road and there are big hills on each side. Sadly it comes to an end at Duchally Lodge where the track heads up. Thankfully it is tarred from the power station up and over the side of Maovally (even though it is marked as a track on the map) as the gradient is steep. After the descent, there is not much time for contemplation before having to commit to the first, real exposed section with proper hike-a-bike.

Heading north to Gobernuisgach Lodge is easy(ish) as the track takes riders through the barren Assynt landscape where there is barely any soil covering the bedrock and it feels like an alien world. After turning east riders follow Glen Golly and have to pay attention to spot where the track turns off the big doubletrack if they wish to avoid a downhill detour.

The crux of this section is the Bealach Horn but to get there riders have to navigate a steep descent through peat hags with no discernible path. This place feels miles from anywhere and not the natural habitat of a mountain bike. Having hauled, rolled, dropped and lugged your bike down you have to force it up the steep track on the other side to reach to Bealach. At this point it will all feel worth it as you are now heading south and will be treated to a nice technical descent. Riders will have to pay attention here as it is not the place to have an accident.

Having dropped down into Achfary the route climbs up again before treating riders to a fun, fast descent to Loch Glendhu. This is the first sea loch of the route and it is feels special to have reached the west coast of Scotland. The other great thing about it is that it is only a short way to Kylesku and the Kylesku Hotel. You can expect to see riders going off route here and their dots to stop while they get some food. The breakfast here is expensive but worth it! Riders should be suitably full of food and ready to tackle the short, steep climbs of the Drumbeg road. The unwary ones might expect a bit of easy riding after having completed the crux of the Northern Loop but they will quickly find this is not the case as the road has no flat tarmac on it. The Drumbeg store owners are avid dotwatchers and keep an eye on race progress. They even offer extended 'opening hours' to ensure riders are able to get supplies to keep on their way.

The next landmark is Lochinver. If you are lucky, you will catch the pie shop during its opening hours. If you see any dots stopped here then you can be sure they are tucking into delicious pie with mash and gravy.

The final bit of this section is the Ledmore traverse. This is an extended section of hike-a-bike. The Strava KOM is 2 hours and 30 mins but times in the three – to – four hour region are much more likely so don’t worry if the dots don’t appear to move. Riders should remember to look up as they pick their way through the rocks and stones that make this unrideable as they will see the magnificent Suilven and Canisp on either side.

Once they pop out on the road it is not far back to the Oykel Bridge hotel. When watching the dots at this point in the race it is easy to mix those of the lead riders having completed the Northern Loop with those about to embark on it such will be the spread of times by this point.