Wow, this all sounds great! Being in Scotland, I don't mind wet weather (although the gale force winds up here are a bit of a pain, especially in time trials...), nor do I mind biggish hills. My husband does triathlon and he has some sort of crazed obsession with riding up huge hills in silly gears, so I'm hoping a proper mountain or two will teach him a valuable lesson about how the rest of us feel.
I don't commute on my bike up here (partly because it's 25 miles to work) but also because while the drivers in Scotland are better than I've experienced in the south of England, it's still pretty rough. I've been run off the road, had bottles thrown at me, even got hit with a 2 by 4 from a passing car. All in only three years as a cyclist. It's a big difference from cycling in places like France or Holland where bikes rule the road! Mind you, on a trip to the States not long ago I bought my husband a jersey with the US flag on it...in the States it kept the pickups off his tail because they like to see the flag, but over here, well, it's a different story. Best to keep it in a drawer!

I'll check out the web sites, because I do like my racing and my long distance stuff, and I could do with some new scenery!

We haven't actually been to the area - it's my parents who are moving out and they're making it worth our while to come too so they can have the grandkids close, but we plan to get over to check it all out in january or february...it would be great to meet some of you folks and maybe have a 'trail ride' of the area!