Shenanigans and Switchbacks: 05/30/26

I did wait up until sunset last night though it was clouded
over by bed time. The worst was yet to come.

Friday May 29, 2026

Lochcarron, Scotland

Distance traveled: 212 km Cumulative distance: 3160 km

Weather:

What's coming.

Where we're going. Or so we thought.

Temperature started out at 17 and it wasn't raining so we figured it was not a bad start to the day, given the forecast. It climbed to 19 before our first turn. And that was all she wrote. We bottomed out at 11 in the wind and rain. We had our best temperature of the trip yesterday and the worst temperature (weather) of our trip today.

I wouldn't call it my worst day on a motorcycle but I would call it the scariest, most intimidating day on a motorcycle. I'm pretty sure I left fingerprints on the handlebars after squeezing them so hard. At one point I said to Nan that I might not be able to feed myself tonight, let alone lift my own glass of whatever I was going to drink as soon as we got off the bike.

The fact that it wasn't raining and that there was little bits of blue in the sky when we were setting out, I considered a victory. The forecast was dour with rain and wind on the docket but with it so "pleasant" at the onset, I decided that I would start without rain gear. The reality is that on our first day of riding when it rained so hard on us, the rain gear really didn't do much to keep either Nan or me dry so I figured it wouldn't make a whole lot of difference.

AT one point, descending down a hill coming over a pass, we encountered some road work and a Dept. of Highways truck on the side of the road that was high-centred on the dirt shoulder and was stuck. Traffic was stopped to allow for cars coming up the hill and when that was done, the driver of the truck was trying mightily to get his truck unstuck. There was a couple of guys trying to push him down the hill, a number of on-lookers offering "helpful" suggestions and then the workers waived us by as it is always easy for the motorcybike to slip through a tangle. However, Nan said we should get out and help push and as we passed the driver's side, she called out to him and in short order, we had the bike parked and we were putting our backs into it. As it turned out, we need to push him up the hill because he high centred going downhill. Once we figured that out, it was all over in seconds.

That is the guy and his truck we helped push out!

Meanwhile, it is windy and by the time we were in to the ride for an hour, it was really windy. Still, not unmanageable. Rain sprinkled lightly off and on and eventually, decided it was time to add some rain gear but we had to find a place out of the wind as otherwise, the minute we opened the top box on the bike, the contents would have gone the same was as my Aerostitch waterproof glove cover the other day.

We found a little stone hut on the side of the road that was sheltered from the wind, which, at this moment, was blowing across us from the left. I have NO idea if it was from the north, the east, the west or the south. I just know that it was coming from the left. We get some gear on us, I elected to wear my yellow jacket over top of my motorcycle jacket - it at least makes me visibe and Nan elected to put on her supplied rain jacket, which we knew had limited value. But for the next little while, it was helping.

We are taking the coastal route. If you haven't looked at the Spotwalla route tracking yet, now would be a good time to start because it shows were we are riding, how fast we are going and the direction. You can also fill it in by clicking on the menu bars in the black box, upper left hand corner called "Spotwalla", then on a little circle that is HALF filled in vertically, third from the bottom of the list of icons, then under Density/Fill Percentage, click on "all" at the bottom of the list, then "Done" and after, the last step, click Update Map at the bottom of the page. There are also other option, like tapography, satellite view, streets etc. Here is what it looks like:

Our ride today. The tracker "pings" at fve minute intervals, though gaps occur when we are under trees, in canyons, indoors or there is no satellite overhead. Pings closer together indicate we are going slowly.

Along the way on the coast route, we see signage indicating that road work is being done and that there are delays, sometimes lengthy. However, we rode tight, twisty, up and down one lane roadway until we reached the road work, where we waited for about 20 or more minutes. It was the first time on the trip that I was really starting to get chilled. We were parked on the top of a hill and the wind was whistling by our spot. Any more layers and I would have found it difficult to manage the bike. I did have my heatable jacket liner on but I didn't want to have to get off the bike and get the controller from Nan, who was carrying it at the time. The bike does have heated grips however, so I had those running full blast.

By the time we were allowed to proceed, quite a bit of traffic had built up at our location. As a result, there was probably 15 vehicles moving as a pack along the one lane road, which I didn't mind at all because, as a vehicle in the middle of the pack, we were unikely to encounter a vehicle coming the opposite direction as they would already be pulled over allowing the throng to pass. Being first of a line of traffic is basically "cannon fodder"

In fact, at one place where the group came to a spot in the road where there was oncoming traffic, the approaching car was meeting the group head on. The first in our group should have stopped earlier because we were at a widening of the road called a "passing spot". We were the fourth or fifth vehicle in the column at this stage. The first vehicle in our group was going to have to back up to allow the oncoming vehicle to get by, so he backed up... into the vehcile behind him. There didn't appear (to us) to be any damage to either vehicle but it was leading to some anxious moments. Being on a motorcycle and already in the "passing spot", we inched forward. The aggrieved person who's vehicle had been hit was wanting to know if we had dash cam footage (no) or if we witnessed "the accident". None of the above. I didn't see any point in hanging around because I didn't have anything to offer and it was starting to get a little heated so we squeezed through the opening and proceeded. None of that group ever caught up to us.

We continued on what looked like it might have been stunning coastal scenery but we really couldn't see any of it. There was rain, wind continually blowing us across the road and so I didn't dare look around and there was too much rain for the camera to take pictures.

We eventually came to Applecross, which is on the opposite side of the Bealach na Ba Pass from our destination for the night.. Most non-Scottish people just call it Applecross Pass . Bealach na Ba Pass has been described as "the United Kingdom's most dangerous road", the "steepest ascent in the United Kingdom" and sheer terror by yours truly. It is nine miles of ascent and descent 2000 vertical feet on the tightest, gnarliest switchbacks sometimes with grades as much as 20%. But that is not HALF of it: it was raining on the Applecross side of the pass, the wind is blowing so hard that I can barely keep control of which side of the road we were riding, the road has serioud dropoffs and one side or both sides as once and the top third of the pass is a complete white out with pea soup fog. Fortunately, we could see oncoming cars' headlights so we were n't generally surprised. We passed on group of motorcycle riders coming down the pass as we were going up and a couple of the guys were riding feet down (not on the pegs) which is a pretty good indication they were bracking for a fall. You can see by clicking on the pings on the Spotwalla tracking app how fast we were going: 9 mph. When we had to pull over for oncoming traffic, I could barely keep the bike upright because the wind was so stong. Even starting out from a stop was scary because I didn't know if I could get enough momentum before the wind blew us over. This was my most harrowing ride ever.

Once we were over the pass and on the descent, after several minutes, we emerged from the cloud bank. It didn't exactly open up, but it was better being able to see the road. We could see the clouds whistling by us overhead, a testimony to the how fast the wind was blowing. At one point, we came across a vehicle sitting on the right hand side of the road at a passing spot, facing downhill, with both left tires blown out. As we passed him, I thought I had better stop and see if he needed our help. As I came to a stop below him, a gust of wind grabbed us and blew us over like we were feathers. I ended up breaking the brake handle of the bike. The person we thought we might be rescuing rushed down to help us pick the bike up, Meanwhile, I saw there were cars up the hill making their descent, so I was a little panicked getting the bike upright. I had the wherewithal to put the kickstand out so that once we had it upright, we wouldn't be standing there holding it and trying to figure out how we would get the stand down without the bike blowing over again. We did manage though and I got on the bike and Nan walked down the hill a ways so that we would have a safer place for her to get on and hopefully, a spot where we had the wind at our backs. That did work, though Nan ended up walking two passing spots before she could get back on. And still it was hair raising. I've never gripped the handlebars so hard. When we got to our destination, my hands ached.

If you have six minutes, you can watch one person's excellent video of his drive down from the top of the pass HERE. We saw NONE of what was on this video. Inclluding the road.

This is our track over the pass. Steep, scary steep edges, 180 degree turns gale-force winds and enshrouded in clouds. That's what we call a vacation.

We got to our B&B around 4:30, only a couple of hours later than I had anticipated. We wouldn't have been able to check in anyways. The parking lot is washed crushed gravel, so no sand to help it pack down. I realized I had made a mistake right away but I tried to make the best of it, until Nan suggested I park on the pavement that ended just before the B&B parking area, which made sense, though she had to push the bike backwards while I kept it upright.

We hadn't eaten since breakfast so we were both hungry but this B&B is out in the sticks somewhat. The nearest eatery is 1.2 km away - generally not a big deal but after our day and the rain, it was unlucky timing. But there was no way we were getting back on the bike again today.