Mountain Biking in the Outer Hebrides – Uncovered

The first thing that strikes you considering mountain biking in the Outer Hebrides is the near absolute absence of paths. Huge swathes of the islands, and Lewis in particular, are seemingly empty, formed of either sandy coastal machair, rolling moorland or steep rocky outcrops with little or no vegetation.

The Mointeach Barabhais (Barvas Moor) is some 27km across at its widest point, and to the casual observer, feeling seasick and insignificant whilst driving on the main road across to the Westside, appears absolutely empty and uninhabitable, devoid of life.

However, upon closer examination of the map, you can see not paths, but literally hundreds of small black squares, marking airighean or shielings. These basic stone and sod buildings were used when the young folk of the village would take the cattle out to the summer pasture, an aspect of transhumance agriculture, which was in use right into the early twentieth century on Lewis.

The cows were milked out on the moor, and the women and children would walk back to the croft near the coast carrying milk, butter and cream in pails and creels (baskets) in order to do the daily work at home before returning to watch the cattle overnight.

Spot the riders amongst the Shielings. Reinigeadal, Harris.

With an understanding of just this one aspect of relatively recent land use, our perception of the moor and the way we access it changes. Up until the advent of recreation in the Hebrides, there was no reason to expect paths out on the moor or on the hill – one account of spending summers at the Airigh from the early twentieth century details how “You always went barefooted as footwear was of not much use on the moor”, which shows the challenging nature of the terrain and the pragmatism of its inhabitants.

We also need to appreciate that our perception of the land is completely different from our forebears – we visualise maps, see the big picture, travel widely and position ourselves using GPS, whereas they knew their family’s small bit of land intimately, and had a whole language perfectly suited and evolved to the landscape which is rapidly being lost. A quote from Finlay MacLeod’s foreword to Gus Wylie’s book of photographs, The Hebrideans, reflects this in a conversation that he had with his great grandfather:

“‘Do you know which part of the moor is favoured by our family’s sheep?’ he asks me as we stand in the fank.
‘Of course I do.’
‘So you would be able to find them in a snowstorm? You know that the place is called Filiscleitir. You would soon be lost on the moor if we didn’t have a name for each hillock and stream’, he ponders. I’m sure that I name only a small fraction of the huge matrix of names that he has for the pattern of the moor.“

Many of these names are lost already, and those which we see on the map are much corrupted, but if we, as visitors, or cyclists, or writers, or artists, seek out the people who still know the names of the places, perhaps we can pass on some of the old knowledge of the land just a little bit further

A diary entry of my own remembers another equally humbling conversation with a local from the other end of the spectrum, which still has value:

Iain-Murdo the postie said, “What would you want a track for when you’ve got the whole of the moor to run about in?”, although I don’t think Iain-Murdo has much time for runners, or artists…”

Arriving at the ancient Callanish Stones, Isle of Lewis.

So, what does this mean to us as mountain bikers looking to visit the Outer Hebrides? Below are some key points to consider which might help you to get the most out of a trip to the Western Isles, as well as a couple of great rides for you to find out about.

Open your Mind to what Travel by Bike is About

You’re not going to find graded trail centres in the Outer Hebrides (although there are now some man-made skills trails around Lewis Castle Grounds in Stornoway), so if you prepare yourself to ride on roads, on land rover tracks, on deer tracks and on beaches, then you will be ready to enjoy the place that the trail takes you as much as the trail itself. This includes pushing (affectionately known as hike-a-bike), which is a great mental and physical exercise in itself!

Soaking up the tranquil beauty of Luskentyre beach, Harris.

Get Creative with your Planning

Look at linking up short bits of great singletrack with nice stretches of quiet road (see Pentland Road and Golden Road below), or go even further and plan a packraft or canoe trip linking up lochs across North Uist or through North Harris. Also, the sandy beaches of the Uists at low-tide and the boggy moors of Lewis make for perfect fat-biking territory if you can get hold of one.

Here at Wilderness Scotland, on our Hebridean Trail trip, we use a Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) to transfer you and your bikes up the west coast of North Harris to Lewis, allowing you to see some of the most remote and breath-taking scenery in the Outer Hebrides, which isn’t accessible by land, whilst also avoiding a long road climb!

Travel by RIB on our Hebridean Mountain Bike adventure

Try to Keep the Wind Behind you

Prevailing winds are from the Southwest, so most people cycling the length of the Western Isles start in Barra or Uist and finish up on Lewis. This is also worth bearing in mind for shorter rides, but there is nearly always some wind, so check the forecast and plan accordingly.

Speak to the Locals

The people around here are some of the friendliest that you’ll meet in Scotland – any initial reticence is quickly forgotten once you get chatting, and there’s often a lot of local knowledge to tap into, from paths that aren’t marked on the map to ceilidhs happening in the village hall. Within five minutes of walking into a tiny post office on our first visit, the post-mistress was on the phone arranging for us to view a house in which we would live for 10 months!