Day Twelve

 

Day Twelve

Saturday September 22nd 2012

Oban to Lochboisdale, South Uist.

Mileage today - 34

Total mileage so far - 831

Well, what a stroke of luck! I've just come down to the local pub and they have let me log on to their Internet.

I shared a room last night in Oban Youth Hostel with two Swedes and a Canadian, although I didn't see very much of them. After a good seafood risotto at a local Italian restaurant I had an early night. I was up, breakfasted and gone before the others surfaced. The morning was perfect for late September, clear skies but very cold, just above freezing. The ferry slipped out of port at 8-30, leaving Oban behind and heading out towards the Sound of Mull. . With Mull on the left, or should that be 'starboard'? And the mainland to the right, the views were stunning. Mull is a big island but Tobermorey was soon in sight towards the western end of the island. From there the views got even better, with first Ardnurmurchan Point, the most westerly point on the British mainland, followed by Rhum and the magnificent Isle of Skye. Then it was out to sea proper with the Outer Hebrides in the far distance never seeming to get any closer. A pod of dolphins made a brief appearance on the port side, pity I was on the starboard side at the time! I was told they only popped up a couple of times but one man with a huge lens on his camera managed to get a good shot of them. I went inside for a while and treated myself to Caledonian Macbrane's 'malt of the month', Bunnahabhain. Never even heard of it, but at £3.95 for a double it went down very well indeed and one to remember, it was loverly! Well, it was getting cooler out on deck and I needed a warmer! After docking at 1.40pm it was just a ten minute ride to the Uist Bunkhouse. I've never seen a bunkhouse like it. Own ensuite room, clean and nicely furnished for £17 a night. A quick shopping trip to the Co-op to get provisions mainly for tomorrow. I've been warned that nothing opens on Sunday's here so can't risk not getting any food! Then, finally it was a short bike ride around the area, 34 miles in total today. I always intended this as a rest day, or at least a very easy one after three hard days in a row, and that's what it has been. Weather wise it's quite breezy and a fair nit of cloud has moved in, but the sun still keeps peeping through. Got myself a curry for tea then off to the pub up the road for a couple of hours. Back tomorrow!

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Day Eleven

Friday September 21st September 2012

Lochranza to Oban

Mileage today - 94

Total mileage so far - 797

First a P.S. to yesterday's blog. I thought things were bad getting to the ferry in Ardrossan, but things got worse on Arran! The rain was absolutely torrential and the roads flooded, a foot deep in places. It was more like sailing than cycling. It was fifteen miles from the ferry to the hostel, and I knew there was a bit of a hill to go over. In the last four miles there was a mountain in the way, another Kirkstone Pass! Was I glad when I had made it to the hostel and got myself a hot shower.

If yesterday was cycling hell, today was definitely cycling heaven! Wow, what a day! From the start it was wall to wall sunshine. The short sail over to Kintyre was fantastic, and I shared the ferry with an Italian couple, just the three of us! The first ten miles to Tarbert were very scenic, but also very cold - gloves on, and almost every other bit of clothing that I had with me. A welcome bacon bitty at Tarbert set me up for the rest of the day. I had originally intended following the main road to Oban, but it was such a beautiful day I chose to follow the National Cycling Network route 78, quite a bit longer that my plan but I was steaming along and, despite lots of hills, I was making good time. A good flat stretch was along the Crinan Canal, a lovely scenic route from Loch Fyne to the sea. From there on it was hilly country keeping quite a way inland, but with occasional stunning vistas of the sea and the islands. Getting closer to Oban, Ben Nevis came into view as I soared down the final hills toward the sea. The heavy traffic of Oban came as a bit of a shock after so many miles of almost deserted lanes, but I was soon checked in at the hostel, showered, and now off for some grub! A five hour ferry tomorrow to South Uist, so a bit of a rest day.

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Day Ten

 

Day Ten

 Thursday September 20th 2012

Sanqhar to Lochranza

Mileage today - 67

Total mileage so far - 703

I doubt if I will get any wifi reception on Arran tonight so I am doing this blog whilst waiting for the ferry in Ardrossan. They say you have to take the rough with the smooth don't they? Well, today has been the rough! Setting off at 7 o'clock this morning to avoid heavy traffic on the ten miles of A road that I to get along, the rain was very light and bearable. As the morning went on it got heavier and heavier. Leaving the main road I headed to the hills. Not massive hills but very much like the Pennines around Teesdale. Driving rain riding over hills like that is no pleasure at all, but they had to be done, and done they were! I eventually made it without a stop to Irvine and a nice warm cafe to warm up in. Back out into the rain and it was only another nine miles to Ardrossan, along a nice, traffic free cycle path. The forecast said it was going to be bad today so it came as no surprise. I'm hoping the forecast for better weather over the next few days is correct. The ferry leaves at 3-15, Just over an hour off. Then it's a fourteen mile ride to Lochranza and the nice, warm Youth Hostel for this oldest youth in town. 
The camera has not been out today due to the weather, but if it fines up on the ferry trip over, I will put some photos on tomorrow - or even tonight if I do get wifi over there.

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Please go to my Virgin Money Giving page to donate to the British Heart Foundation, and please Gift Aid if you can, it means an extra 25% from the taxman to the BHF at no extra cost to you! 

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Day Nine

 

Day Nine

Wednesday September 19th 2012

Carlisle to Sanquhar

Mileage today - 86

Total mileage so far - 636

Last night's b&b was the best yet, absolutely unbeatable! After a top breakfast, and a £10 donation from the owners, Joanna set off for home whilst I set off to do battle with the Carlisle traffic. I needn't have worried, it was an easy twenty minutes through the city and out the other side. Riding alongside the motorway for a few miles I was soon in Gretna, resisting the temptation to go to the tacky blacksmith shop. Once out of Gretna I was riding into a very strong headwind that was to stay with me for the rest of the day
all the way around the Solway coastline and up to Dumfries and beyond. I stopped for an hour in Dumfries to get a bite to eat. Whilst there I thought I should go and see Robbie Burns' grave, but after asking three locals and a scouser, I gave up - not one of them knew where it was! I had to make do with his statue instead. After a very brief spell on the A76, it was all beautiful, deserted country lanes for the thirty or so miles up to tonight's stop at Sanquhar. This part of Scotland is so quiet and scenic. It doesn't have the grandeur of the Highlands, but on a sunny day like today it is idyllic . I stumbled across the old smithy that was owned by Kirkpatrick McMillan, all cyclists will know who that is won't you?.... Of course you do....he invented the pedal cycle! A few miles further on at the village of Penpont, I stumbled on something even better, a cafe!  A good pot of tea and a generous slice of chocolate cake, for the princely sum of just £2-35! I like Scotland! Just been out in Sanquhar to see the sights - an ancient tollbooth and the oldest post office in the world. Trouble is the Post Office pulled out, it's no longer a post office! It' been a long day, more miles that planned but, apart from that headwind, it's been great! Time for some grub!

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Please go to my Virgin Money Giving page to donate to the British Heart Foundation, and please Gift Aid if you can, it means an extra 25% from the taxman to the BHF at no extra cost to you! 

My Virgin Money Giving page is at:

 http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MichaelColeran

 

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Day Eight

 

Day Eight

Tuesday September 18th 2012

Patterdale to Carlisle

Mileage today - 54

Total mileage so far - 550

Those who know this part of the world will know that going from Patterdale to Carlisle doesn't constitute much progress northwards. It was planned this way though so that Joanna could join me at my Carlisle b&b before I head off into the land of the brave. I still got 54 miles of superb cycling in though in one of my favourite cycling areas. Leaving the Youth Hostel at 8-30 I rode along the shore of Ullswater to Pooley Bridge. It was a gloriously sunny morning, giving stunning views across the lake and into the mountains. By heck, it was cold though! So cold I texted Joanna to bring me some gloves! I may need them north of the border! Shortly after passing Dalemain House I headed northwards, crossing the busy A66 and into the perfect cycling country to the east and north of Blencathra. This is big sky country, with long views and deserted roads rolling across the countryside - absolutely beautiful on a cool, crisp sunny day like this. At Caldbeck, John Peel country, I pointed the bike eastwards and, with a good tailwind, I was on the outskirts of Carlisle just before two. A quick look at Carlisle racecourse (yes, another racecource), and a recce of the local pub for later (I had to have a quick pint to put the fluids back!), and I arrived at the B&B just after Joanna had got there.

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Please go to my Virgin Money Giving page to donate to the British Heart Foundation, and please Gift Aid if you can, it means an extra 25% from the taxman to the BHF at no extra cost to you! 

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Day Seven

 

Day Seven

Monday September 17th 2012

Garstang to Patterdale

Mileage today - 58

Total mileage so far - 496

After a lovely night at home (best b&b so far on this trip), I had a great send off from the Square in Garstang. The Mayor, Mayoress, Town Crier, friends and family, and fellow members of Garstang Cycling Club all gathered to cheer me on my way, very touching! It was good to have four of my clubmates join me for the first few miles up to Lancaster and on to Morecambe. We had a coffee stop then rode along the prom, stopping for a photo call with Eric, Morecambe's best known son.(statue of!). The lads left me at Hest Bank to head back to Garstang into a strong headwind. That same wind was in my favour as I 'sped' along up the A6 to Kendal. The rain had held off so far, but showers were forecast and it looked like the heavens were about to open. A good time for a lunch stop and wait it out in the centre of Kendal. It did rain a little but I was not in a hurry today so waited for it to clear before continuing on my way. I called at the home of a couple from our cycling club who live in Bowston, in the hope of a coffee, but there was nobody there - unless they were hiding behind the curtains! After a quick visit to Britain's biggest bike shop (so they claim) at Staveley, all that remained for me to do today was ride over Kirkstone Pass to the Youth Hostel at Patterdale. Thank goodness for 'granny gears', it's a long climb up there on a heavy touring bike! The rain was holding off but everything around was grey and misty. After passing the summit, the long, twisting descent to Brothers Water was a pleasure until reaching the valley bottom when the heavens opened. I wasn't bothered by that time, hot showers and a drying room were only a couple of miles away. I had intended self catering tonight but there is nowhere to buy provisions here, so I'm at the pub again! I forgot to bring the cable to transfer photos from my camera, so it will have to be double photos tomorrow. Carlisle tomorrow night, not far as the crow flies, and another night with Joanna so hoping to get there mid afternoon.

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Please go to my Virgin Money Giving page to donate to the British Heart Foundation, and please Gift Aid if you can, it means an extra 25% from the taxman to the BHF at no extra cost to you! 

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Day Six

 

Day Six

 Sunday September 16th 2012

 Heswall to Garstang

Mileage today -78

Total mileage so far - 434

I got soaked with rain today, and guess what? It was back home in Lancashire! I left my sister's house near Heswall and rode back down to the Wirral Way, a cycle/walkers route along the Dee estuary avoiding roads all the way to Hoylake. it then follows quiet roads around the coast passing through New Brighton and to the ferry terminal at Seacombe. I arrived just as the 0930 ferry was leaving! The next one was not for another hour so I rode on to Birkenhead ferry terminal and had a coffee whilst waiting. I also had a quick peek at a couple of German U-Boats...in the museum next door. It's only ten minutes or so across the river to Liverpool Pierhead so I stayed up on deck taking in the views. Just as we were arriving at the other side a lady gave me £2 for the BHF, quickly followed by another old lady giving me £2, then another....same thing. So, another six quid in the bag! Being a Sunday, Liverpool was quiet so I had no problem navigating out of the city. I noticed in the streets behind the Liver Buildings there were a lot of men in yellow reflective jackets on street corners. Curiosity got the better of me and I asked one of them what was going on. It turns out they were closing all the streets around there for a film crew to come in. They were going to remove the street signs and put up Russian ones, it was a film set in Moscow!  My route took me along the Leeds to Liverpool canal for quite a few miles before joining the Trans Pennine Trail to Southport, a good 25 mile off road route. I didn't linger in Southport but stopped for a sandwich a few miles on, where the rain began. Gently at first, but it soon turned into steady, heavy rain which, despite my waterproofs, found its way in. A night at home though and a marvelous wife who had everything in the wash and a bath run for me in no time at all!  I had trouble uploading my blog last night in deepest Wirral, maybe I will have more trouble further up the country, but don't worry, you will here from me! Not many photos tonight I'm afraid - combination of familiar scenes and poor weather. I'm sure there will be many photos towards the end of my trip!

 

___________________________________________

Please go to my Virgin Money Giving page to donate to the British Heart Foundation, and please Gift Aid if you can, it means an extra 25% from the taxman to the BHF at no extra cost to you! 

My Virgin Money Giving page is at:

 http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MichaelColeran

 

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