12 Island Bike Tour, August 2006

(Click on thumbnail to enlarge) Copyright Ó Malcolm Sharp 2006.  All rights reserved. (Home)

Having cycled through the Outer Hebrides on two previous occasions I was keen to see more of the islands, but there is a limited amount you can see on a bicycle unless you have lots of time, especially as on both previous visits I seemed to be battling a headwind.  This time I wanted the benefit of a bike with an engine so I could enjoy the island scenery but have a few more horsepower available to get my own back on the wind.  I managed to find 5 free days at the end of August where the weather was looking half reasonable, so I packed my tent and fishing rod on my elderly but trustworthy motorcycle and headed to Oban to catch a ferry to Barra.  My trip covered the islands of Vatersay, Barra, Eriskay, South Uist, Benbecula, Grimsay, Baleshare, North Uist, Berneray, North and South Harris, Scalpay and then back to the mainland via Skye.  I missed out Lewis on this trip due to time constraints.  Many of the islands are now connected by causeway so the trip can be completed with only five ferry crossings, the longest being the 5 hour crossing from Oban to Barra.   I was lucky in that all my crossings were smooth and on the trip from Oban to Barra we were rewarded with sightings of two schools of dolphins and a rather impressive basking shark.  The island roads are wonderful for biking, not fast at all and often demanding with sand and gravel to catch out the unaware, but there are spectacular views round every corner, particularly if the sun shines and turns the beaches white and the sea a turquoise blue.  Some of the sights are shown below with a few more views of the islands from my previous cycling trips here.