I'm off on a week-long solo trip of the NC500 this weekend...wish me luck....and give me a wave if you see me ! I'm on a red Highlander DCT reg AV70KKR. I did it 3 years ago on a hired bike, but by the time you've paid the hire charge plus, in my case, return air fare (chosen because it's much quicker than driving up) the best part of a grand has slipped through your fingers. So this time I thought I'd put that grand towards buying my own bike, hence the Crosstourer. Last time I did the route clockwise; which meant the best bits, in my opinion, i.e. the rugged west coast got done first. This time I'm doing it anticlockwise, so saving the best till last. Because I'm doing it on my own bike I'm starting from home (Staffordshire) which means I have the dreaded M6 to negotiate. Still, I'm riding up and back on Sundays so hopefully the traffic may be a bit less busy. I won't be following the "official route exactly. Having also done it by car and knowing Scotland reasonably well thanks to numerous family holidays, I shall be varying the route slightly to take in some nice areas along the way.
In summary the route, the Scottish bits of which I can highly recommend, will be:
Home in Staffordshire > Edinburgh > Perth > Braemar > Tomintoul > Grantown on Spey > Inverness > Dornoch > Helmsdale > Kinbrace > Forsinard > Thurso > John O'Groats > then back west "along the top" through Bettyhill > Durness > Scourie > Kylescu Bridge > Lochinver > Ullapool > Gairloch > Torridon > Applecross > over the Bealach na Ba (pass of the cattle) > Plockton > Dornie > Fort William > Stirling > Home.
Please pray to the weather gods for me! Last time I did it was also in May....and it snowed heavily enough to settle and the temperature dropped to zero degrees C!