Tackling The West Highland Way Solo

Neil takes on an epic two-day e-MTB adventure through the Scottish Highlands, a route made famous by the late, great Rab Wardell. With breathtaking scenery, brutal climbs, and a journey through some of the UK’s most challenging and beautiful terrain. Join him as he battles the elements, navigates remote glens, and shares his personal reflections on this epic mountain bike experience.

⏱ Timestamps ⏱
00:00 – Intro
01:44 – Day 1: Milngavie & Loch Lomond
03:06 – Loch Lomond Views
06:15 – Canyon Neuron ON Bike Check
09:01 – Rab’s Tip: The Loch Lomond Boat Trip
10:40 – Into the Highlands
12:11 – Day 2: Craneloch & Glencoe
14:40 – Rannoch Moor & Tailwinds
16:36 – Devil’s Staircase
19:43 – Scottish Six Day Trial Pipeline
21:07 – Finish Line in Fort William

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I’m in Scotland to ride an epic route. Something that I’ve been wanting to do for years. It’s going to be wild. It’s going to be remote. It’s going to have some breathtaking scenery. And it’s also going to be quite the challenge. [Music] It’s also a ride that I’d planned to do about four years ago with Rab Wardell, a Scottish mountain bike racer who had just beaten the FKT for this route, the fastest known time. Unfortunately, that ride never happened. Rab actually passed away in 2022, but I’m here now inspired by Rab and thinking of him as I go. [Music] This is the West Highland Way. It’s a renowned Scottish 155 kmter route stretching from Glasgow in the south to Fort William in the north. I’ll begin my journey in the city suburbs, venturing into the countryside towards Lach Lmond. There I’ll navigate its eastern side, taking in breathtaking views and enjoying superb riding. From Lach Lmond, I’ll continue through the Gleno Nature Reserve before making the final push to Kinlot Leven and ultimately Fort William. [Music] It’s a well-marked route, but it can get pretty remote at times. So, I have my Garmin computer on the bars, plus an inReach mini satellite communicator in case I need it. And I’m prepared with plenty of spares and tire plugs as I’ll be riding solo. Well, got a beautiful day for it. Up fairly early to get out of here. Excited to get up and into the hills. I know some pretty big ones to begin with. It’s about time I uh got on the trail, I suppose. [Music] Left town, Milgaby, just through kind of paths. Mellow starts the ride. Busy start to ride though. We, you know, maybe we set off a little bit earlier. I could have sort of uh avoided some of the crowds. A lot of walkers on this path, but it’s all good. It’s shared path. And my uh bell feature on the Garmin is coming in very handy indeed. [Music] [Music] Right, I got my first glimpse of Lachl Lomen over there. So I’m heading must be northwest ar north at the moment and I know there’s a place called Dryman. It’s my first big hill. I can see sort of on the horizon over there. And then it looks like it’s a really nice descent down to the shores of Lmond. And then uh I’ve heard uh different things about Landmond uh from lots of people actually when I said that I was doing this route that the the top of it is uh really hard going like it’s 10 km of hiker bike basically. But I have a plan or I have a recommendation from somebody else actually. So uh hopefully I’m going to swerve some of that. But before I get there there’s one big hill. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] I originally started making plans in 2021 to ride the West Highland Way after watching the film about Rab setting a new FKT. I got in touch with him because we were sort of modern-day pen pals. We’d spoken many times on social media and we were going to ride together to make a GMBBN film, but sadly he passed away just a few months later at the age of 37. He was a great mountain bike racer and promoted positive health through staying active and getting outdoors. [Music] So, we’ve made it to Llman. 32 km in about um I’m doing it at a leisurely pace definitely like I’ve planned to ride it over two days which is what I plan with Rab actually is do it at a leisurely pace enjoy it kind of breathe in scenery and it’s amazing being here in lock lman so good so it’s taking me 3 hours 20 minutes to get here but that’s fine I’m now cruising up the east side of the lock uh and then I’m getting the boat over to the other [Music] The bike I’m riding this two-day adventure on is my Canyon Neuron onfly carbon fiber bike. It’s a great trail epic bike. It’s lightweight which is great. 140 mil of travel, full 29iner for eating out the miles. That’s really good. It’s got that Bosch SX motor, so it’s not got the punch and the torque of the full power bike, but that really doesn’t matter. There’s there’s a bit of hiker bike. There’s some tough climbing, but you can go up and get still 600 W of peak power out of this thing, which is actually plenty for what I’m doing today. I’ve put the range extender on there, so it’s got a 400 W hour internal battery and then a 250 range extender because particularly day one, it’s 85 km and decent chunk of climbing as well over these mountains. Uh, and it is a a good bike for this style of riding. Um, I’ve got industry 9 grade 300 wheels, aluminium rims, which are nice and tough. I think that’s going to suit it. pretty rough out here and Schwab wicked wheels. So, still like it’s a trail tire. It’s definitely on the faster side of things. You know, I’ve seen the videos from Rich and from Rab doing this route, so I kind of know what to expect. And up on the bars, I’ve got my Garmin Edge 1050 cuz I need that sort of turn by turn navigation on there. And it’s nice to see what climbs are coming up as well. This is kind of my long distance bike as well. I I tend to do these epic rides on. So, I’m looking for comfort as well. So, I’ve got the Urggon SME mountain saddle. So, actually, it’s super comfortable. There’s so much padding in there, and that shape really suits me. And I’ve got the Urggon GDH grip. So, you think actually you it’s a downhill grip, but there’s loads of rubber on there. So, I’ve got a bit of a dodgy wrist. And comfort is key. [Music] After musing over my mellow start to the ride and not being in a rush, I realized that I still have quite a long way to go up the side of Lachlund to make it to Invisnade. And it’s proving to be pretty challenging terrain. And I’ve got just over an hour to get there before the ferry leaves. My god, that’s hard. Come on. [Music] So when I was organizing this ride to do with Rab and I said I don’t want to go I’m not setting fastest known times here. I want to go and enjoy it. His piece of advice was to get a boat from the east side of Lom into the west because then from about twothirds of the way up I think it’s a place called Invisnade and he said the next 10 km is is a lot of hiking like barely ridable and uh when I’ve uh put my uh post on Instagram saying I was doing this ride I must have had a dozen people telling me how bad that bit is. So yeah, top tip from Rab was to get the boat over. So, here I am waiting for it. So glad I made it. That was touch and go because the next boat is at half past 4. It’s quart 2 now. So, uh, yes. Now, for a confession. My original plan with Rab was to charter a boat around this tough section of Lach Lmond, landing back at the north of the lock to rejoin the route. But I didn’t plan that in time. So, I relied on the public ferry to get me over the lock. That left me with a long ride up the A82 in poor weather and light conditions. I decided against that. Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend riding up this stretch of road. It’s busy and narrow. Either plan better than I did or give yourself plenty of time to hike that torturous 10 km. [Music] [Music] So, I’ve rejoined the trail sort of north of Lach Lmond and now it feels like you’re in the highlands. Like there’s a bit of rain coming in, but you can see the layers of mountains inside there. And I can hear thunderous waterfall down there. This is an awesome place. [Music] Super tall deer gates tell you that you’re in the highlands as well. Loads of deer around here. Pat, I might be giving you a call in a bit. But now I am going to crane life. [Music] [Music] Right. Day two, we’re in Crane Lar and uh we’re up early cuz the weather’s supposed to get worse as day goes on. So yeah, it’s going to be raining. It’s pretty windy. So I’ve got a proper day ahead of me. See you. [Music] Day one was cut slightly shorter than I had planned because we found a hotel in Crane Lar, not at my original finished target of Tindram. The relief of finishing early yesterday has now turned to anxiety as that makes today now over 80 km with around 2,000 m of climbing and I was pretty low on battery yesterday. I found a lot of climbs attempt to turn the power up, but I need to resist the urge if I’m going to make it to Fort William. [Music] Right, 15 kilometers in day two. I’ve just gone up through Tindum and now into this massive valley or Glenn, should I call it. And it, yeah, it’s somewhere I’ve driven through dozens of times. Used to drive up to Port William at least twice a year to race downhill. And uh it feels so much different riding through like you’re in the landscape rather than driving through it. Um and it’s an amazing experience. It feels a bit ominous. You can see the top of the peaks. I mean they’re all like thousand me plus I think most of these should I say these mountains and they’re in the cloud and uh yeah slightly ominous warnings about the weather this afternoon. But at the moment absolutely cooking along cuz believe it or not I’ve got a tailwind which never happens. So, um, try and cover the distance and then I’m into the unknown. There’s a bit of, you know, I don’t know at all. And then I get back to Glen Co., but what’s between me here and Glen Car? I don’t know. [Music] What’s up? I just knocked up on you. [Music] Right. So, I’ve just crossed the main road uh the bridge of Walkie. And now for me, this is the bit I don’t know at all. I think this is the Ranic Moore section where in Rab’s video, he like really suffered his time with um really bad headwind. And I can’t believe how good the tailwind’s been so far. It’s one of those things I’m going in the same direction all day. So, in theory, I should keep the tailwind the whole way, but as anyone who’s ever ridden a bike knows, that doesn’t work out like that. But hopefully, cuz the moment I’m covering ground so much faster than yesterday, um is breathtaking, which is what I’m here for. The scenery is unreal. [Music] Oh, it’s beautiful through here. It’s real nice going around. Just come down a really good scent to this Glenn. I don’t know what it’s called actually, but feel like I’m on the sort of back side of Gleno as I know it. I think now I’m heading towards Ranic more. Trying to get my bearings a little bit, but it’s a beautiful spot and it’s become really still. It’s crazy. There’s no wind anymore down here. It’s almost brightening up, dare I say it. [Music] Right, I’ve made it to Ranakmore. It’s quite high up actually. I forget you’re up like up on a plateau and it is massive as far as you can see. There is bog and there is rain coming from the sky. So, uh you see why it’s so boggy really. [Music] into Glen Co. then it’s an awesome spot and it just the the views here are stunning. It’s it’s been wild that bit the last sections was well it’s all obviously really exposed. There’s no trees but it’s bit wet then as well and uh now I ride down Glen Cove for a bit and then I’m off up which is um I think it’s called Devil Staircase which is one of the tougher climbs. I think that’s going to be the highest point of the ride up there. After that, it’s not too bad. It’s down to Kin Leven, up again, and then down to Fort William, but still 40 kilometers left. There’s a long way to go and uh I’m feeling it. It’s definitely uh not an easy route. Even over two days, even on ebike, it’s pretty tough. [Music] [Music] Look at me. Look at me. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] [Music] Well, there we go. Heading north out of Gleno up the cheerily named Devil Staircase. [Music] Oh jeez. That’s tough. That was scary and staircase done. Flipping a lot of push in there. Now it’s downhill to kill lotion, which is a massive relief. Uh although I’m sure it’s going to be pretty rough, pretty challenge. Anyway, I’m uh I’m definitely feeling it. Like I don’t I said already, but it’s it’s a tough two days. It really puts it into perspective. Uh what Rav did in one single day in one st is pretty crazy really. [Music] [Music] [Music] Any [Music] trials motorbike fans out there might know where I am now. See over there trying to point at it. That is the or was the iconic pipeline section of the Scottish 6day motor trial which is like is it the oldest or you know one of the biggest motor bike trials in the world. Uh yeah, super famous. I’m not sure it’s there anymore. I think they’ve plowed the section, but um it’s cool to be somewhere I know, somewhere I recognize. I’ve actually ridden up in these hills before as well. So, uh getting there. I am in need of sugar. I need a can of Coke, something I’m flagging a little bit. So, let’s get down to Kot Leven. Hope I can track one down. [Applause] [Music] 60 km into the ride and I’m not only slightly worried about my battery, but also my legs. My route tells me it’s almost all downhill from here. But it looks to me like I’m riding into a dead end valley and it got me thinking there was going to be another climb at the end. Thank goodness the trail disappeared to the right, hugging the side of the valley and not tipping up. [Music] [Music] Well, that is a site for a saw bum. Over there is Ben Nevice, which is the highest mountain in Scotland in Great Britain, actually, isn’t it? Uh, and the good thing about that is I know that the Ben Nevis in is at the bottom of at it, the pub. But the better news is that I know Fort Williams at the bottom of it as well in the finish line and I am uh yeah pretty beat. I’m tired. I’m just about to drop by the looks of it into Glenn Nevice the valley and that is the home straight. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. All [Music] right, made it. That was a big day. Cutting yesterday a little bit short, made today really hard. It was 82 km, 2,95 m. I’m on my last legs getting here. My bike’s got still 11% so it’s not too bad. Um, but that took me seven hours and 44 minutes to get here today. Rab’s time when he did it, his FKT was 9 hours 14 minutes and 32 seconds, which gives me an idea of just how much of a like a physical feat that was, but also just how fast he was going. And obviously did it in one. I did it in two days. Um, so my time is a lot higher than that. But it was great. And actually, Rab finished his FKT video in this exact same spot, saying that he hoped he it might encourage and inspire someone else to do it or do something fun. And it did. He did. [Music]