Just back from a few days touring in the Clyde and Inner Hebrides. The trip was triggered by my younger son doing a marine biology course on the Clyde - I then needed to find something to do in the meantime. My older son, just back from university was keen to join me on a tour. We took the Caledonian Sleeper up from London to Glasgow, it's well equipped for bikes with spaces for 10 on hanging racks.
Took the ferry from Ardrossan to Arran (Brodick) in pouring rain, which fortunately abated when we arrived. As we started the climb across Arran the sun came out.
It turned into a beautiful afternoon riding the flat west coast of Arran northwards to Lochranza, where we had the treat of seeing 20-30 dolphins all jumping and splashing, along with seals on the shore.
We stopped in the youth hostel in Lochranza.
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The following morning it started raining heavily the moment we left the hostel for the ferry ride from Lochranza to Colintrave on Kintyre, with a great view as the squall passed back to the mountains of Arran.
Then it was a short but steep climb across Kintyre and a lovely descent to Kennacraig for the ferry to Islay. While the Calmac ferry ended up early, this was due to a reschedule of the whole timetable due to a ferry breakdown.
We had dramatic skies for the trip to Port Askaig on Islay and great views of Jura.
So a day with about 10 miles riding but two ferries got us to Port Askaig and our hotel, where we met a nice Danish guy called Soren, who was exploring Islay on a beautiful retro Carrera (the Italian one) which he had picked up at a Cash Converters in Glasgow. We fettled his Campag brakes and tweaked the Ergos for him, along of course with introducing him to Retrobike!
The following day was rainy, and we headed off to Port Ellen to check out Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg distilleries, passing through Bowmore on the way. This is just by Ardbeg:
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All in all a 50 mile round trip, largely in horizontal rain. However a 12 year old Lagavulin helps keep the spirits up.
The following morning we left at 0650 to ride to catch the Port Ellen ferry - it should have been from Port Askaig and a lie-in but the timetable change scotched that plan. About 3 miles before Port Ellen it was back to horizontal rain and the shoes I had managed to dry overnight were full of water again. Dripping in the waiting room we enjoyed chatting to some Americans touring on e-Bikes. It was a rainy and windy voyage back to Kennacraig, then a 45 minute ride to a windy but sunny Tarbert for the next ferry to Portavadie.
A totally brutal climb from Portavadie across the Cowal Peninsula killed our enthusiasm to ride the longer route and we then dropped to Tighnabruaich to consume vast quantities of cake before coming to our B&B, run by a lovely Hungarian family.
The final day it was a big climb out and then along the side of the Kyles of Bute and Loch Ruel, dodging squalls and doing the familiar quick change in and out of waterproofs.
Arriving in Rothesay there was another Calmac ferry breakdown, but the helpful and friendly staff got us on board with a couple of seconds to spare, arriving in Port Wemyss for a short ride to Largs to meet my other son, then to Glasgow for the train home.
All in all a great trip. We were just before the midge season, but full waterproofs were definitely needed. Next time I'd bring overshoes too! Some of the climbs are brutal and the granny ring got a lot of use. You could easily do the trip on road bikes, although the roads are a bit patched and rough (but not really potholed) in places. The bikes have all featured upthread and I won't bother talking about them. There is a 5-ferries route of around 85 miles which leaves out Islay - it's a popular one for a day ride and we chatted with people on the ferries who were doing it on road bikes. It must be a long day, although a fun one. A final aside - drivers were really courteous and gave plenty of space. Obviously as it uses a lot of single track roads with passing places, you do have to stop to allow passing.
I couldn't resist a lovely (but unsold and silly cheap) Dawes Edge from @Gaddmeister It required a canti stud repair. Repair kits are available (typically the Problem Solvers kit) but were going to struggle with the problem on my frame. A canti bolt had seized in the frame, and subsequent...
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