Day Thirteen: Glasgow to Tyndrum

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The first part of this day takes you along mostly traffic-free paths to Balloch and then on up the West side of Loch Lomond to Tarbet. While parts of the path along Loch Lomond are not as well kept as they might be, this is still a fabulous and beautiful ride. 

It is worth pointing out that the Sustrans route leaves Balloch in the opposite direction to the route that I planned, travelling to the East of the Loch. Undoubtedly quiet and pretty, it adds distance and climbing that simply didn't fit in with our schedule. Next time, maybe.

The main draw back of our route is that from Tarbet one joins the main road and this is the principal route for road traffic from Glasgow to Fort William. I had been worried about this before our trip and we wore ear pieces for two-way radios so that we could communicate effectively as we rode along. Nevertheless riding defensively and pausing to let traffic pass from time to time we had no problems at all. Once clear of the North point of the Loch at Ardlui the road broadens and there is plenty of space.

Worth noting is that, once this far North, places to stay become few and far between. At the time of our ride the King's House Hotel in Glencoe was being redeveloped (re-opening planned for Feb 2019), and all hostelries around Bridge of Orchy were booked up several months ahead of time. That is why our planned route took us only as far as Tyndrum (which was the next plausible place to stay unless camping). This left our planned day fourteen perilously long.

Fortunately we were able to secure a cancellation at Bridge of Orchy hotel while on the road. That was expensive and added ten miles on to our day, but made the following day manageable. It was also a wonderful place to stay.