19th April
We set off fairly early, given the 8:30 breakfast and bought some rolls and dried fruit slice for lunch. The weather really let us down with wave after wave of fine west coast drizzle drifting across us.
Our road followed the coastline initially, there was little climbing and we were sheltered from the wind so we made pretty good progress. At one point, on a rare occasion when Chris was cycling behind Janet and me, a red squirrel ran across the road. Chris saw it, we did not.
Then the climbing began. The first climb was not too bad and we reached the top without getting off, but on the descent, the wind was so strong that we had to pedal all the way down.
Arran is a really beautiful island, and it was a pity that we were just rushing through, having to catch the midday ferry.
The main climb was quite a brute, reminiscent of Sunday's ascent in Bowland. It took us a little over half an hour to cycle/push the bike up the hills, but we discovered that on a hill like that, we walk up faster than we cycle.
The descent would have been exhilarating, had it not been for the head wind, which kept our speed below 30mph for the most part. When we were quite close to Loch Ranza, another cyclist was coming the other way. He had a heavily laden bike, but was climbing the hill as though it wasn't there. He looked to be well into his seventies - very impressive!
The ferry left on time and in half an hour or so, we were back on the mainland but as for Claonaig, there is not much there. We now had another stiff climb over the Mull of Kintyre during which, we broke off for lunch. I took the opportunity to lubricate the chain, which I had not done since Dunnockshaw. We heard a cuckoo.
The weather improved dramatically during the afternoon and we headed north in almost unbroken sunshine. We reached Tarbert - a very pretty place. It occurred to me: why do people make so much fuss about the coast to coast ride? We did three today.
We had a good cup of coffee at a rather pseudy art-gallery-cum-coffee-shop in Tarbert. I quite liked some of the pictures on display, but was not so keen on the prices. Then, after a visit to the Co-op to stock up on calories, we headed north to Loch Gilphead with Loch Fyne on our right.
It was a lovely ride with the sun shining on the sea and the mountains beyond. The road was not too hilly and we made quite good progress.
After Loch Gilphead, we turned inland with the Crinan Canal on our left and made for Kilmartin. There was a little climbing left to do, but we arrived at Rosebank soon after 7pm, bathed and enjoyed a splendid meal at the Kilmartin Hotel. I had duck, Chris, roast beef and Janet, venison sausages.
Chris and I had a couple of pints of Highland Ale, a local brew and it was superb. All in all, another excellent day to add to our growing list.
[ Entry posted at: Sat 21 Apr 2007 22:22:35 UTC | 0 comment(s)... | Cat: Cycling ]