LEJOG Day 25

After a rest day in Ullapool I headed off the Lairg.

The weather was amasingly hot.  The country side was picturesque, but very consistent.  There are very few towns in his part of Scotland.  The ‘A’ Road is actually “The One and Only’ road.

There was virtually no one in the Lairg Caravan Park.  I had brief chat with a German couple that were riding to the Orkney’s on the same route as me.

A very ordinary meal in the Hotel was downed with some the horrible McEwan cold fizzy Ale.

Flickr Link

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjGZFnjh

Garmin Link

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/346111010

 

LEJOG Day 24

This was a really simple day.

It was a very short ride into Stornoway to catch the ferry to Ullapool.  Before catching the ferry, I stopped for breakfast in café run by some Thai women.  It was the most disorganised  place I have been to for years.  However, the food was good and they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

One of the other patrons was a bloke on a recumbent bike.  He was also waiting for the ferry.  We headed off the ferry together.  Waiting for the ferry we met a bloke on huge Suzuki Motorbike.  Check the Flickr Link –   an  amasing thing.

On the ferry the bloke told me about his bike and how he had built it.  As well as powering it with his feet, he was also able to power it with his arms – clever stuff.  He also told me about the grips and a process he had invented to manufacture them.  He has patents out on the design and manufacturing process for the grips.

The bloke also told me able a girl he had met in the Hebrides.  She was “dolphin watching”.  Apparently she had “great Hampshre accent”.  It seemed that she had lots of other desirable attributes.

Went I arrived in Ullapool I decided this would be a good spot to stay for a day.  The camping ground is close to the town and the place has a few nice pubs.  The weather was fantastic.

I had a good Indian Curry in the company of the bloke with the recumbent bike.

Ullapool is a real tourist spot.  It is very popular with old fart my age on Adventure Bikes – BMW GSs and Triumph Tiger.  You often see them travelling in pairs.  The general consensus seemed to be the both bikes are great. It just comes down to whether you a BMW or Triumph person.

The Rest Day was great.

Flickr Link

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjGZ6xai

 

LEJOG Day 23

There is only one option head north of the Isle of Lewis.  The first part of the ride involved a long ‘up’.  According to the Garmin it was a 200 metre rise – it seemed more.  There was some reasonable scenery along the way.  However by this stage I have become spoiled for spectacular scenery.  I rode steadily to Stornoway.

I arrived in the late afternoon.  The place was buzzing.  Clearly heaps of people were in town for the Celtic and Hebrides Folk Festival.  I headed to the camping ground.  They had opened their ‘overflow’ area to cope with the crowds.  I found a good spot and started to pitch my tent.  My neighbours offered to help.  They were from Chichester and, not surprisingly, were in town for the festival.  They told me that they both worked for a Buddhist Monastery.  He was the Business Manager and she was the Office Manager.  They told me that the “ monks were not allowed to deal with money”.   The monastery was however, a fairly big business”.

I headed into town to buy a ticket for the Folk Festival.  The booking office was a circus.  There were three people selling both tickets and merchandise.  At one point all three were dealing with people trying on T shirts and taking forever. A Scottish, bloke in the queue got very irate and made his displeasure of have to wait known to all –“ just sell fu&king tickets” .

I had yet another Salmon meal

It was a short walk to the Festival grounds , situated below the Castle. As I entered the grounds, I heard the unmistakable voice of  Van Morrison.    He was playing traditional folk music.  The audience was an eclectic lot- all ages, some obviously locals and heaps of tourists.  There were food and drink booths and with a good select fare.

Morrison finished the concert with his ‘greatest hits’ including Brown Eyed Girl and Gloria.  When I got back to my tent at about 11.00 pm, it was still not dark.

A top night.

Flickr Link

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjGXrSK6

 

LEJOG Day 22

When I woke up the rain was quite heavy.  I dismantled the tent as quickly as possible and headed to the Church View Hotel for breakfast.

I chatted to a couple in the hotel that lived in Newcastle.  They were both doctors working for the NHS.  They had a lost to say about the reforms of the system that the Coalition Government is implementing.  Needless to say, they were not impressed.  I told them that my family came from Sunderland and who that city was fairing.  They confirmed my view that the city is still in decline.

By the time I finished breakfast the rain had stopped, but it was still very windy and misty.  I headed north to the ferry that goes to Harris.  It is short trip, but slow, as the ferry has to snake around submerged rocks and small islands.

I took that ‘scenic’ coastal route north on an unclassified road.  There was virtually no traffic.  The scenery was quite surreal, with exposed rock and small lakes.  The swirling mist added to the scene.

I arrived into Tarbert and checked into the Harris Hotel.  It is a very  ‘olde world’ place -elderly gentlemen  wearing sports jackets and ties, and ladies wearing pearls for dinner.

After dinner I dropped into the bar opposite.  It sold Loch Ness real ale.  The barman told me that they only sell real ale to tourists.  The local prefer fizzy crap.

I was good to sleep in a bed for the first in a while.

Flickr Link

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjGXs51Z

Garmin Link

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/344060597

 

LEJOG Day 21

I woke up in Barra with the wind blowing a gale.  I ventured out of the tent to the amenities block.  Not too many amenities to be had.  I ran into a bloke who I had had it brief chat to the night before.  He had said that he had lived in Canberra. He asked me if I would like couple of tea.  I had arranged to have breakfast at the Hotel down the road, but it was not open for non-residents for an hour.  I took up the offer of a cup of tea in a campervan not affected by the wind.

It turned out the bloke was an ex-diplomat who had a posting in Canberra.  He had a lot to say, mainly about his area of expertise.  This was the impact of corporate behaviour on Foreign Policy.  He also had some interesting comments on urban planning.  He and his wife lived in a small village in Kent and he was active in stopping developers expanding the village.  I thought about a past relationship I had with the daughter of a bloke who made a ‘shit load’ building a few houses on the outskirts of a village in Kent.

I was finally able to extricate myself from the chat with the ex-Diplomat.  I headed up the Hotel for breakfast.  Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs was a good choice.

I then head north to the ferry terminal.  For whatever reason there was a problem with timing of the ferry.  I was not the only confusion potential traveller.  The Hotel near the terminal had a bumper crowd for lunch as we waited for the next ferry.

A short ferry ride saw me in North Uist.  The wind was now howling.  I head north as great speed (in the context of a fully laden bike and big lunch) not sure where I would end up.  There were lots of houses sprinkled around, but actual towns.

I finally saw a sign saying “Camping Ground 2 klms”  – sometimes miles are dispensed with.   The place turned out to be a farm.  The couple that ran the place were very enterprising and had set-up and basic but great facility.  They pick that I was from Australia and told me more than I wanted to know about their trip to see the wife’s sister in Curumbin Queensland.

I had no need to eat dinner on account of the big lunch.  The wind was stronger the ever.  I took shelter in the ‘cook house’.  It was crowded (8 of us).  There was group of 20 something Glaswegians that were on their way to a Folk Music Festival in Stornaway on the Isle of Lewis.  The headline act of Thursday Night was Val Morrison.  They asked me if: “ I had heard of Val Morrison”.  I was not sure if they were taking the piss.

I headed back to the Vaude.  I was pleased to see it still up right –great German design that tent.

Flickr Link

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjGX9KV2

Garmin Link

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/344060637

LEJOG Day 20

I woke up in Oban under a slightly wet tent. The walk to the amenities block was very wet. My luck with weather seemed to have vanished.

I returned to dismantle my tent. As I performed this well-practiced task I engaged in conversation with bloke next to me. He had a very interesting Renault van with a reversible passenger seat that enable him to convert the back seat area to sort of office. The ‘luggage area was large enough to hold a mountain bike and a road bike. He told me that he simply drove to a place, say Oban, with the bikes and hiking boots and then did whichever of the three pursuits wherever he felt like it. Good one.

I went into town and found a bike shop for the obligatory tyre pressure check. I asked the bike shop owner how business was going? He told me that it was terrible: “I am being killed by the Internet”. We chatted about the demise of small ‘High Street’ shops. I observed that Oban seemed to be doing Ok. He told me that Fort William, a town to the north, was doing really badly. I can recall Fort William being a prosperous town over 30 years ago. Again, it is interesting how some towns thrive and some do not.

Waiting for the ferry I ran into a couple of German blokes. One has a ‘Silk Road’ touring bike. I have looked serious at these bikes. It had a Rohloff, hydraulic disc brakes, Brooks and so on. I guess I have all the bits. I may look at buying frame.

The trip to Barra is long. It takes you past the Isle of Mull. I recalled the Paul McCartney and Wings song ‘Mull of Kintyre. It was released iin late 1977 and was number for seemingly months. I was wiring in London at the time. The radio was often on. BBC counted down the top 5 selling singles leading up to 12 .00. It seemed that that blood song was the theme for the 12 oclock news.

I had a chat with the staff I the ferry. They were a very happy lot. They work two weeks on and two weeks off. They all seemed to like that.

Arriving Barra there was short ride the camping ground near the Barra Beach Hotel. It was very windy.
After setting up the tent I walked up to the Hotel for a beer. The only Ale was a John Smiths. I chatted with a bloke from Liverpool works servicing diesel and gas generators. He told me that business was booming. This was due to private householders and small land holders, including farmers as well as institutions such as banks and hospitals, installing generators. He claimed that this is due to concerns about the capacity of the National Network to meet demand in the future. Also there are many households and farms generating their own electricity using solar and wind that need to be supplemented with diesel or gas back-up generators.

A very windy walk back to the camping ground in fading twilight at 11.00 pm. The Vaude was tested that night.

Flickr Link

 

LEJOG Day 19

I had a very restful night in the tent. 

I ventured into town looking for a place to eat.  It seemed everything was closed.  I made that observation to the first person I saw.  “Och eye”, was the response: “It’s Sunday”.  Presbyterian values remain strong in this part of Scotland.

I was able to buy yoghurt and blueberries from the Co-Op.  I added Colon Care (phslyium), thus a cut down Dr Smith’s breakfast.  Doubtless this was far better than the ‘full English/Scottish breakfasts’ I have been eating in B&B’s.

My route took me along NCR 78.  The first part of the route took me along the Cinan Canal.  It is used by yachts.  It is very strange to see yachts with large masts in the canal.  There was a very strange blue boat in the canal.  I took a photo.  It must be an old working boat.  

The route turned north.    After some miles I took a turn west.   Some silly bugger has obviously moved the sign.  This resulted a in detour through a forest area before I realized that I must be heading the wrong way.  I had to back track to get on the right path.

The route then followed a Loch .  The B road was single path – with ‘passing places’ placed every 200 metres or so.  The scenery was nice spectacular, but consistent.  The riding was hard with lots of steep ‘up’ and ‘downs’.  As I rode towards the end of the Loch and turned west to Oban I came across a couple on their first day of a cycling  5 day tour.  Judging by the mood of the wife I suspect it was going to be a one day ride.

After a very long time I was finally in Oban.  I followed the signs to the camping ground that turned to be in an isolated area high above the town.  It was very basic – just an amenities block.  A family next to my pitch offered to take me into town to find food.  They were planning to go to a supermarket.  As it turned out, as it was Sunday, all the shops were closed.  I managed to buy a meat pie at a fast food joint.  It tasted Ok. It is amasing what hunger does to the taste of food.

It rained at night.  I didn’t notice at all.  Put that down to the hills.

Flickr Link

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjGRYSZA

Garmin Link

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/342895009

LEJOG Day 18

The owner of the Guest House had told me that “breakfast was served between 8.30 and 9.30.”  Given the fact the sun rises before 5, I was well awake by 7 and went for a walk.

I returned to the Guest House exactly at 8.30 and entered the breakfast room.  The staff member responsible for the breakfast told me that I “was early”.  I was not in good mood.  My response that: “I was told that breakfast would be served at 8.30.  I assumed that the ‘8.30’ in question was 8.30 a.m”.  The staff member seemed perplexed.  It also appeared that the menu was an ambit claim in reverse.  The establishment made offers it was not expect would be requested.  A long list of items was reduced to: ” bacon and eggs and toast”.  To be fair it was well cooked – the toast that this.

The route took me north up the Isle of Arran.  There was one serious ‘up’ as I approach the end of the island.  This of course meant a serious and glorious ‘down’ into the village of Lochranza.

I rode to the ferry terminal to check out the next ferry.  A fellow cyclist was at the terminal.  As usual a conversation ensued.  It turned out that he was a commercial artist that “drew pretty little pictures for a fee”.  This included advertising agencies, magazines and anyone else who was prepared to pay him.  He had worked out that with the aid of technology, he could work from anywhere.  Given that, he was working from anywhere.  He has spent 3 months in the Greek Islands and now decided to ride through Scotland, working a few hours very couple of days.  I said that the work sounded interesting.  His response was that “it was mind numbingly boring”.  I refrained from telling him I was a qualified accountant.

I had to wait about 2 hours for the ferry crossing to the mainland.  There was a small sandwich place serving roast pig rolls near the ferry terminal.  The said pig was on display (check out the Flickr Link).  The pig tasted great.  I was a bit disconcerting to see the actual source of the meat.

The shop owner had Radio 5 playing – Test Match Special.  Australia was “none for 50 odd ” and looking good.

The patrons of the shop ate the pig outside.  One was an extremely attractive 40’s something woman with a couple of young kids and another family.  The group engaged me in the usual conversation: “where are riding to, where are you from, and so on”?   I was tempted to take a picture of her.   I suspect she may be an actress.  I may have to go to more movies, the theatre or watch TV.

The ferry finally arrived.  Three motor bikes arrived to take the ferry: Triumph Speed Triple,   Ducati Monster and a Harley.  This time I avoided chatting to the owners.

The ride further north was long – picturesque, but long.

It was late when I finally made it to G    Loch.  I found the camping ground, again without the need for the Garmin, which incidentally did not know of its existence.  The Warden seemed to charge me less than the listed price – maybe be because I was on bike.  He also gave me a detailed itinerary for a ‘pub crawl’, including meal – three places in all.  Saturday is big in G    N.  The food was good and the last pub was a classic – two small rooms full of locals that insisted on buying me local ale or a whiskey.  I had one that latter. That was one too much.

I slept well in the tent.

Flickr Link

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjGRY5LC

LEJOG Day 17

I awoke to a beautiful day in Troon.

My first task was to find a place for breakfast. This proved to be a challenge. I the end I found a café that claimed to “serve breakfast all day”. The menu appeared very limited. I ask if they “ had muesli and fruit and yoghurt?” The repose was “No – we only serve breakfast”. As it happens, this comprised of dishes such as “scrambled eee and eggs with chips and fried eggs and chips”. I settled for coffee and toast.

I decided that I was in the need on a haircut. Found a hairdresser ‘unisex’ in the main street. A rather attractive woman of an appropriate cutt my hair. She was very chatty. I learnt a lot about her, including that she had lived in Troon all her life and had been to London once. She also went to Spain at least twice a year because she “liked the sun”. The haircut took a very long time.

Leaving Troon I checked out Royal Troon Golf Course. It is a venue for the British Open Championships and is a ‘links’ course. These are flat and close to the sea. Toon is close to the sea and very flat. It looks better on TV than in real life.

I followed NRC Route 17 north. My first stop was the Riverbank Shopping Centre to discuss my inability to re-charge my ‘3’ mobile WiFi using their call centre, which I was to find out is based in Mumbai, India. Having spoken to the said call centre, I had assumed I was speaking to a machine speaking an unknown language. I found the 3 shop in the shopping centre which is a Westfield type place. These shopping centres have had a less than positive impact on towns across the UK.

The route took me along a path next to main arterial road to Ardorossan. I found the ferry terminal the booking office. The staff were very helpfully and provided advice on my route north and tickets for my ‘island hopping to and through the Outer Hebrides.

An hours’ ferry ride saw me in Brodick on the Isle of Arran. I decided to stay in Guest House. It was comfortable, but surprisingly expensive. I made use of all of the facilities.
Flickr Link
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjGN5b6z
Garmin Link
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/341432926

LEJOG Day 16

Muirkirk ws probably not the best place to stay.  My next destination was Troon –  famous  as being  place where the British Open Golf Championships are played on a regular basis.

The route was essentially west.  I thought I would be on NCRs for most of the way. I should have researched the route better rather than letting the Garmin do the work..  It turned out that I took a lot of B roads through ordinary farm lands.  Nearing the coast I came across a major British Aerospace installation.  Not long after that I was in Troon. I looked for the town centre.  It appears that there isn’t one.  There is a beach and a sort of a harbour.   A plane flew around and around over the harbour.  It was a strange looking thing.  I assume it was from the BEA site.

I had expected the place would be replete with hotels and B&B’s on account of its golf status.  There seemed to be very little on offer. I conferred Garmin.  It suggested a Camping Ground 400 metres from the beach.  That is where I ended up.

The bloke at the camp-site suggested a place to eat and a pub to avoid.  I went to both.   The place to eat was good- ocean trout with salad, potatoes and veg.  Wow no chips.

The pub offered: “ Real Ale, Topless Waitresses and False Advertising”.  The third offer was correct.  A had a couple of the falsely described first offer – Smith’s mass produces stuff.  It was time for another early night of the tent.

Flickr Link

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjGMsLsj

Garmin Link

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/340943914