CyclistClassic UK climb: Bealach RataganLittle connects Scotland to Spain not the food, not the weather and definitely not the footballing prowess. However, if you head up to the northwest of Scotland, just inland from the Isle of Skye, youll find a 300-year-old connection between Caledonia and Iberia around Loch Duich.After the Jacobite uprising in 1715, international support was needed for the Scots to restore a Catholic monarchy. Spain became unlikely allies, and an armada of support sailed from southern Europe to the mouth of Loch Duich, where they waited to ignite the third coup.The call came in June 1719, and two Spanish frigates sailed down the loch, with Jacobite earls, 300 Spaniards and thousands of arms on board. The Highlanders and Spaniards took position at the pass of Glen Shiel, but opposing government forces soon arrived and drove the rebel coalition out. The troops dispersed, the Scottish generals retired to the Western Isles and the Spanish surrendered themselves as prisoners of war.Despite extinguishing the ill-fated uprising, the government of George I sought to improve the network of defensive roads through the West Highlands. Naturally Glen Shiel was quick to receive this treatment and a route was forged from Shiel Bridge to a brow on the lochs southern side. That climb would earn the name Bealach Ratagan, a pass that totals 4.5km at an average gradient of 8%. That might not sound like a leg-breaker to some, but it was certainly enough to send those troops running for the hills.Scotlands Spanish climbBealach Ratagan begins in Shiel Bridge, where the Old Military Road splits from the A87 carrying tourists up the coast to Skye. Beginning at sea level, the opening kilometre is tame at a shallow 2% gradient. It barely rises here, but the road is narrow and passage is rewarded by a broad glimpse to the right across Loch Duich. If the weather plays ball, youll spot the heights of the Munros towering on the lochs northern side. If misty, itll make for a wispy lookout across the water.Keep an eye on the surface too. The famed Nessie hunter Dr McRae claimed to have spotted a Loch Ness-like monster here in the 1930s, although the creature on the recording looks more like a floating hockey stick than a Cretaceous beast. Still, the climb makes a gentle turn inland once you pass a welcome sign to Ratagan, the village to which the climb owes its name. Immediately the slopes begin to bite after the gentle 1.2km introduction.Article continues belowJeremy Sutton HibbertJeremy Sutton HibbertJeremy Sutton HibbertJeremy Sutton HibbertJeremy Sutton HibbertJeremy Sutton HibbertStubborn gradientThe road remains stubborn for the next kilometre at gradients consistently between 6% and 8%. If needed, passing points offer space to weave across to ease the strain, but the gradient persists as the road gently curves around a waterfall nestled among a bush of bracken.As you turn inland, the hillside now appears to almost be sliced in two: bare below, densely forested with pine above. Beyond halfway the road enters a darker upper section, trading shortbread-tin loch views for damp, tree-lined surroundings.The gradient also ramps up, and after 2.4km double-digit pitches are the norm, with the metres ticking slowly upwards through the trees. Among the pines, the road eventually widens into an S-bend, where a road sign warns of a 15% gradient. Thats slightly deceiving though, given the slopes have levelled out to a more achievable 10% by this point, just as the road turns toward the loch once again, making for a momentary false flat.Enjoy it while it lasts, however, because this climb gets particularly nasty in its final kilometre, which arrives once you pass by the car park viewpoint on the roads water-facing side. In fact, the final thousand metres are at an average gradient of 13%, making this the toughest part of the climb by far. Worse, that average conceals a short pitch at over 22% just as the trees start to thin out.Thankfully the slopes relent ever so slightly in the final 300m, just as the road shimmies toward the crest. The summit arrives with nothing to mark it other than a chance to look over your shoulder at the view across the loch towards the Five Sisters of Kintail, a chain of peaks rising above 800m.The landscape feels barely altered since the Battle of Glen Shiel. Who knows, perhaps this was the last view of freedom the Spanish soldiers had before their surrender. For a 21st-century cyclist, at least, theres a much happier ending to be had here.The statsLocation Scottish HighlandsLength 4.5kmSummit height 347mAscent 335mAverage gradient 8%Maximum gradient 22.5%Current best Strava timeKoM Andrew Feather, UK, 12min 25secQoM Charlotte Beaton, UK, 17min 21secThe post Classic UK climb: Bealach Ratagan appeared first on Cyclist.