Loch Ness unlocked

The road is just so smooth, the gradient so welcoming and the curves so enticing that I can’t help but slip into the drops

Scotland is around two-thirds the size of England, yet has just a tenth of the population. This glorious emptiness, combined with the country’s rugged landscape, should make it a haven for cyclists, but there’s a problem – there simply aren’t enough roads.

While England is a tangled web of motorways, A-roads, side roads, back roads, through roads and winding country lanes, Scotland (at least, once you get north of Glasgow and Edinburgh) is a great mass of hills, valleys and moors, dotted with towns and villages that are usually connected by a single road. And that road is rarely very cycling-friendly.

Take the magnificent valley of Glencoe, for example. It must be one of the most breathtaking areas in the whole of Great Britain, yet the only way to view it by bicycle is to ride along the A82, which means fighting for position on a road with no verge, no overtaking space, and where lorries routinely do 60mph. It’s a mildly terrifying experience.

The same