Borghasdal to An t-Òb, Outer Hebrides

Borghasdal to An t-Òb

We spent a week on the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland recently and I managed to get out cycling on two days.  The weather was not great - whilst the rest of the UK was basking in blue skies and the mid-twenties, Harris was grey and cloudy and just 13c. But at least it was dry with very little wind.

This first video of five covers a loop from Borghasdal (Borrisdale) where we were staying back to An t-Òb (Leverburgh).  I've used the Gaelic place names in these videos as actually, that's all that is listed on 99% of the road signs. Most of the roads in Harris are single track roads with passing places and it's very cycling friendly with the majority of drivers giving you plenty of space.  The ride starts from just outside our cottage in Borghasdal beside the Isle of Harris Brewery and continues Westward with the Sound of Harris sea on your left until we reach the village of An t-Òb. This part of the ride is all on the level. Until 1920 the village of An t-Òb was called Obbe (the Norse word for bay) and there is still evidence of this a plenty. Locally the village is known as Leverburgh.

From there we take the Peat Road up over the hills to Loch Langabhat and then down to the village of Fionnsbhagh (Finsbay). Whilst there are some inclines on this part none are too taxing.  The landscape on the East of the Island is completely different from that on the West. It's very rocky and indeed the rocky, barren landscapes stood in for the planet Jupiter in Stanley Kubrick's 2001 Space Oddesy film.

From Fionnsbhagh we start the return journey to An t-Òb with the sea on the left for the majority of the ride.  There are quite a few steep inclines with hairpin bends on this part of the ride but you are rewarded with a long straight fast downhill section at the end.  Enjoy.