Day 15 – 19th April 2007
We set off fairly early, given the 8.30 breakfast, and bought some rolls and dried fruit for lunch. The weather really let us down with wave after wave of fine, west-coast drizzle drifting across.
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, a rare occasion in which Chris was cycling behind Jan and me, a red squirrel ran across the road. Chris saw it, we did not.
Then the climbing began. The first climb was not to bad, and we reached the top without getting off, but when we reached 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 of Bowland. It took a little over half an hour to cycle/push the bike up but on a hill like that we actually walk faster than we cycle.
The descent would have been exhilarating had it not been for the headwind, which kept our speed below 30mph for the most part. When we were quite close to Lochranza, 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 into his 70s – 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 Kintyre peninsula, during which we broke off for lunch. We heard the first cuckoo of spring.
The weather improved dramatically during the afternoon, and we headed north in almost unbroken sunshine. We reached Tarbert, a very pretty place, and 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-chop 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 Lochgilphead with Loch Fyne to our right.
It was a lovely ride with the sun shining on the sea and the mountains. It wasn’t too hilly and we made quite good progress.
After Lochgilphead we turned inland with the Crinan Canal to our left and made for Kilmartin There was little climbing left 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 a local brew, Highland Ale. All in all, another excellent day to add to our growing list.
