Cycling north & south Uist on the Outer Hebrides – bikepacking Scotland diary day 16

Day 16 – North & South Uist
I awoke to the ongoing storm & spent the morning in the bothy assuring fellow cyclists and walkers that if they held on till 11 it would break and good weather would come. Which happened so I set off for plan B which was to leave most of my gear at the campsite & cycle as far south as I wanted.

The roads were incredibly quiet, probably in part because it was Sunday but I can see why the outer Hebrides are seen as a cyclists & walkers paradise. There was a head wind and while my speed south average 19kmh when I eventually turned around I averaged 22.5kmh on the way back (and my estimated battery range increased). I’d end up doing about 85km so it’s worth noting that I left Skye with a fully charged battery thanks to the ferry waiting room and got 103km out of it with a remaining estimated range of 30km. I did put it on to charge at the point but thats the best range in use I’ve seen to date.

Cycling on Uist involves a lot of causeways and the landscape is similar to Connemara’s inlets, lakes & bog but on a milder form. Still the case that when you are on a high point it’s hard to be sure what of the water on the landscape below is sea and what lane.

The west coast is almost a continuous beach with that same Connemara looks like the Caribbean when the suns out until you get into the cold water vibe. It’s also fascinating because it’s a Presbyterian Gaeltacht so there are no pubs and almost nothing at all open on Sunday except one co-op where to my joy I was able to get a bottle of wine on the return leg. Likewise on Skye in Staffard there were no pubs but at least 3 churches. It’s an uncanny valley version of Donegal or Connemara.

The day ended drinking most of that bottle of wine & planning the next couple of days. Brutal weather is again due Tuesday morning when I’ll be in the mountains of Harris although I’m hoping the worst of it will miss Harris. Fingers crossed!

Insta photos from day 16 – https://www.instagram.com/p/Ct8hYPMs2IT/?img_index=1