Agree totally with the comments here.. this is an excellent run and will have you using the gear box and back end yo full advantage.....we usually run North to South..I.E..Oban to Lochgilphead.. if your a fast rider the best time to ride the first 10 miles of the road are early to late spring, due to the foliage not being fully formed in the hedgerows, you can see ´through´ the hedges for oncoming traffic...all clear you can really use the road and open your bike up...but dont get too bolshie, theres ample side roads, occasional dwellings and activity to keep your concentration really focussed. Ridden well its totally satisfying when you pull into the petrol station at Lochgilphead....then it gets better you can go play down the peninsula or head to Inverary...but those are another story... how lucky we are in ScotlandEnjoy...
I agree with all comments above but prefer it South to North. It gets teh boring straight bits over with early then there are many challenging corners - some quite hairy with adverse camber hairpin going downhill - very interesting - it challenges the rider and the bike. Some bad sections after the hard winter so watch out for repairs and gravel closer to Oban. As a day out from Stirling - past Loch Lomond to Inveraray then on to Lochgilphead to Oban then to Fort William and back to Stirling via Glen Coe is the primary reason I ride a bike. Love it.
I ride this route a few times in the summer, when the weather permits and agree with all the above comments. The only thing i would add is that you should be aware that some corners tighten up toward the exit and would ride this road with that in mind, unless you like ending up in the ditch. During the week is the best time to go as the road is quiet with very few police if any.
Excellent ride - simply brilliant. I personally always go north - but thats only because my tour route goes up the west coast. The road is a real roller coaster ride - there are dips, rises, hairpins....pretty much everthing you need to have some real fun. If only the weather in Scoltand was relaible....well its pretty reliable, but reliably bad. My favourite blast up this route was racing a stormfront - the rain in it was so heavy I was going pretty quickly to stay in front of it. Its a prety route too, but the road is easily challenging enough to keep you occupied.
This is a fantastic run and I will agree with everything said above, but more so..... I had a real interesting excursion into a ditch at one point. I was on a round trip day out from Fort Bill and as I left Oban I stopped for a pee and four bikes came past. They looked to be up for it, so I ploughed after them and knowing how the road only went to one place, worked really hard to catch them. Got by the first three no problem and the leader snuck off quickly. A thoroughly enjoyable 15/20 miles then followed, he throwing it into the bends, me following and it all got a bit hectic. Making a big effort I still couldn't pass him. He looked like he was a local, as he was doing really well and seemed to know the road - until one bend.... he went round the left hander, which tightened rapidly and he ran well wide. I ran ever wider and visited the scenery. Having been hauled out of the ditch we dicussed the progress we had been making - turns out He thought I was the local..... Talk about laugh, after we had calmed down, we progressed on to Lochgilphead. Absolutely stunning road to ride, the continuation round to Inverary and across the Loch Lomond was sublime. However, don't follow what looks like a local - there probably aren't that many round here who ride anyway - and plot your own course. But enjoy it nevertheless!
This route has everything, Be very carefull leaving Oban as the main street has some seriously sunken manholes and bodged road repairs, once in the national speed limit the road is largely superb. Within 20 minutes you will have negotiated some spectacular hairpins as you climb up the hilly coastal road. Pegs and panniers can be scraped on some of the corners. The road changes from tight and twisty to wide open stretches where you can see four bends ahead, then quickly back to reality with a series of sharp bends. Some hard down hill braking required on some bits but it's a fantastic road and in places will challenge your road reading skills. As you approach Lochgilphead there are some very long straights with good visibility for one last stretch of the bikes legs. Personally, it's best done north to south.
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