Caledonia Way 2, Sustrans cycle route 78 Oban to Fort William bikepacking touring

[@goingwildagain]

I'm coming back to cycling after 30 yrs I'm now 60 and it's going to be a challenge. Some of those roads look amazing. I've done the NC500 on my motorcycle. Oban to Fort would be awesome but not on that main A road . Thanks for good vlog

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

I'm 64 and every year it's a struggle to get back into shape, probably a little less in shape than the previous year, but it's worth trying. The cycleway runs almost the whole way between Oban and Fort William... almost. There's just a short section leaving Oban (or use the 'back way' which is much quieter but hilly). Between Corran Ferry and Fort William is awful but you just cross to the west side of Loch Linnhe and ride to the second ferry at the 'bend' in the loch opposite FW. Just check the second ferry times and don't make it on a Sunday when it doesn't run. All the options are mapped here: www.komoot.com/collection/991093/-the-caledonia-way

[@johnlandale816]

There is a plan to extend the cycle track from Dunbeg to Connel which would avoid the present busy main road section.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

That would be great John. I’ve been impressed how the rideable sections have grown, and surprised how many road cyclists still don’t use it.

[@David-lp2fv]

Did this ride today following your suggested route out of Oban. Much easier than the ride in, on the 78. I crossed the loch on the Corran Ferry but couldn’t contact the Camusnagaul operator and decided to revert to the A82. It was busy but OK. Having arrived in FW I have learned the the ferry does typically run to schedule so would have been fine. Thank you for the guidance.

[@batandball617]

What a fantastic report, thank you for this amazing reportage!

[@silentrabbit247]

Thanks Simon great video and commentary. Always associated you with Sea Kayaking, have you been a cyclist a long time ? I do ultra lightweight Bikepaking in Scotland, and did the Oban to Port Appin section to get to Lismore then back to Oban to finish tour, started at Tarbert ( although got there via Arran ! ) Also started touring with a Trak Folding Kayak. All best.

[@alphalau3243]

absolutely amazing route. Thanks for sharing.

[@SteevDouglas]

Lovely video, I managed to ride the top of the route in May as I was staying in Incree. Took the ferry across and spent a pleasant day cycling up the west side of the loch and then back again. My friend doesn't like riding on busy roads so we didn't keep going to the viaduct or Fort William, we just about turned and enjoyed the ride back down for a ferry to Corran. I'm due back up in a couple of weeks with my family but will be sneaking in the odd ride when I can. The loop around Loch Leven is really good too and wasn't that busy back in May.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

If you have an offroad bike then you really should try one (or both) of the back door routes to FW from Inchree kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6esl2yni7hopc0 Great fun. If you go one way you can take the wee ferry and return much as you have already done.

[@SteevDouglas]

@@alwaysanotheradventure funny you should say that, literally just got my first gravel bike (Focus Atlas 6.7) and I was looking for something to test it out on so this sounds ideal!

[@malcolmwake5861]

Great route: a word of warning about the Camusnagaul ferry though. We phoned through that we had 10 passengers waiting at Camusnagaul. The person who took the call said that they'd contact the ferryman for us but to no avail resulting in over 3 hours waiting. There's not much to do. Looking at the timetable it looks like it follows the pattern of: before the working day, lunch break and end of working day. Be warned. Enjoyed the vid (and the rest of the route) though.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

That is absolutely not OK Malcolm, and you could easily have ridden around Loch Eil in that time. That ferry receives a hefty subsidy from Highland Council to provide the cycling link on Susteans 78. If you wouldn’t mind, could you report this experience to Highland Council and Sustrans Scotland please? Others could benefit from this mistake.

[@K777John]

Love watching your rides Simon-and I share your love of Ti for gravel bikes. I have been trying to plot a route using the old railway from Callander to Oban and I can’t find if you have done a route on that, or can give me any hints on the best way to go?

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

I just plugged this into Komoot and if you're prepared to ride offroad - ie use Komoot's MTB planner - there's a 88ml route with 5650ft of ascent. Perhaps take a look at that and go through the stages in detail. It's good because, while there is some road, there's very little busy trunk road.

[@DavidCulshawmer-r]

well ive done the great glen way twice , the outer hebrides once but ive never heard of the caledonian way , things are looking good for the summer then :) , thanks for this video and roll on summer ;)

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

That's great David. There are close parallels to the Great Glen after Fort William but on the East side of Loch Ness. Plus it's easy to toughen up the route and make it more challenging if you wish. So many great places to ride around here.

[@DavidCulshawmer-r]

@@alwaysanotheradventure ive done both sides of loch ness and the east side is very very hard work with a bike full of panniers haha . very doable on my normal road bike though

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

@@DavidCulshawmer-r Sean and I plan to do the Loch Ness 360 early this year - that'll be fun!

[@danjames4086]

Hi Simon, Thinking of giving this a go. It looks like you rode it on road tyres, is that right? I'm planning to incorporate this into some big mile days...so would prefer if it were well surfaced. If you can offer any advice that would be grand.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Hi Dan - there's really only one section that's unavoidable and unpaved, between Clunes and Laggan Locks. If you take a look at my Komoot Collection www.komoot.com/collection/991093/-the-caledonia-way then go into the individual sections, you can see exactly the % surface composition. I'd suggest tyres around 30-35mm if they'll fit your bike, but people have done it on 28mm road tyres. I used 35mm Gravel Kings which are only slightly draggy on the road but great off-road. However, that choice was because we're done an off-road ride (Kintyre Gravel Way) heading south as part of the same trip, turning around in Campbeltown to ride north. If I was doing the whole thing, I'd use wider road tyres as I mentioned and take it easy on the off-road.

[@alexmorgan3435]

Great info. How about riding Fort William to Mallaig for the ferry to Skye? Would it be better and safer to take the train?

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

I rode much of that road last week (to Lochailort) and while busy it’s ok. Gets quite hilly after that.

[@alexmorgan3435]

@@alwaysanotheradventure The train FW to Mallaig goes over the Glen Finnan viaduct made famous by Harry Potter.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

And it’s crazy busy just now (and every summer). Was great to ride up there during lockdown although no cafe.

[@edmccall390]

Buying a square foot of Scotland sounds intriguing.

[@hadorstapa]

Planning to do the first two sections next year. Wasn’t sure whether to do the whole of Kintyre or cut across Arran. First video persuaded me to go to Campbeltown. Then I wasn’t sure about that flatter route out of Oban, but it sounds doable! Many thanks, really helpful videos. (I did the Great Glen Way last year, and completely agree that there’s some sections where narrow road tyres won’t cut it)

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

I think part of the issue here David is getting to Campbeltown. The ferry from the mainland is not year-round and not every day. With all CalMac's problems, who knows whether and when it'll be running in 2022. Hopping across Arran would be my favoured alternative (the other option is the northern section of the well-known 5-Ferries route). Curiously, although the Caledonia Way runs from Campbeltown, I think NCN 78 starts where the Arran ferry comes in at Claonaig. That's where we started seeing the '78' signs.

[@scottalexander9098]

Don't no how many times myself and my partner have almost been hit by cars on that section between oban and Connel it's enough to just get on the bus out to North Connel and start from there

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

I wouldn’t ride the road from Oban but the bends are more open after the Wide Mouth Frog, but I agree it’s far from ideal. Another comment spoke of plans to add a cycleway to this section which would be great.