Bealach Na Ba - 30th May 2021

On 30th May 2021 I cycled up the famous cycling climb of Bealach Na Ba (otherwise known as the Applecross Pass - it joins Tornapress to Applecross, Scotland). It is the longest climb in the United Kingdom and, according to Simon Warren's book "The 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs", it is also the hardest, beating Hardknotts Pass in England into second place.

I started the ride from Dornie, where we had rented holiday accommation, and rode over Auch Hill to Strome Ferry on the banks of Loch Carron. From there I rode the length of Loch Carron to Strath Carron and then round the head of the Loch to the settlement of Loch Carron. Going out of Loch Carron was itself a major climb as the road rises from sea level to around 140 metres before dropping down to sea level again as it reaches Loch Kishorn. The first photograph shows Bealach Na Ba from the far side of the Loch.

Turning left at Tornapress, there is a bridge over the River Kishorn at the very foot of the Bealach Na Ba climb.

At first the climb is at a fairly moderate gradient and I did wonder for a time what all the fuss was about. However, what makes the Bealach Na Ba so tough is not only the steep gradients that are met further up the mountain, but the sheer length of the climb. I watched on my cycle computer as I crossed the various contour lines and when I passed the 250 metre contour it was rather soul destroying to realise that I'd come so far and yet there was still approaching 400 metres of climbing to be done!

The road continues to snake its way round the side of the moutain and simply gets steeper and steeper. The wind also started picking up as I got higher and higher, making things doubly difficult and althouth I'd put in lots of hill climbing at home in the few months prior to this ride, I still felt I'd not done enough and should have trained harder. The steepest section is just before meeting a set of hairpin bends as the summit is approached. The hairpins themselves are not too bad as once rounded, every bend is met by a more gentle incline which gives you chance to get your breath back before tackling the next hairpin.

Eventually the summit is reached! It took me 1 hour 13 minutes to do the whole 6 mile climb from Tornapress to the summit of Bealach Na Ba. I did it non-stop (took the photographs on the way down!).

I then rode back to Dornie. The whole ride was 68.34 miles with a total of 1,844 metres of ascent and took me 6 hours 15 minutes.