There is heavy rain and really strong winds this morning, which means today is a rest day. Which also means I can put up some more pictures. So far, I think that I have not been taking near enough pictures. Also, I am only able to put up iPhone pictures at the moment.
Day 3 (May 6):
Kendal, England to Saltcoats, Scotland
19 Miles and 2 Trains
The ride to the Kendal train station was 3 miles through pouring rain. With proper gear, it's actually not too uncomfortable.
I am much happier than I look.
The train took me to Glasgow, where I transferred to a second train to Kilmarnock. It is always nice to get on a train and relax for a while.
Getting off the train, I was now in Scotland, and the weather was much better!
I rode 16 miles to Saltcoats, a small town on the coast. Here, I had my first stay with a Warm Showers host, which was... interesting.
In those pictures, you can see the mountains of Arran, the island I will be riding the next day.
Day 4 (May 7):
Saltcoats to Port Ellen, Islay
33 miles and 3 ferries
I caught the ferry to Arran, and started the ride straight across the island, which also felt like it was straight up those mountains I had looked at the day before.
So far, I have been able to get up some pretty steep hills, but nothing has been this long yet. All of this extra weight really makes moving this bike so much more difficult. I eventually gave in and pushed the heavy bike up the last 1/4 mile or so. Which, I am ok with.
I am pretty confident that I will quickly become fit enough to climb much more comfortably.
As always, the views are worth every bit of effort:
Luckily, when riding from one ferry to another, you have to end at the same elevation you started at: 0'
A good long descent is so satisfying after climbing for so long!
I arrived at the ferry town of Lochranza with just enough time to see the castle and the local distillery:
I then had a quick 6 mile ride across Kintyre to catch the ferry to Islay, my final destination for the day. Here's the view looking back at Arran:
Islay is an amazing island. It doesn't have the mountains or the rocks of the other islands, but it does have many beautiful towns all painted white, and 8 distilleries.
I wild camped for the first time that night. The spot I found was amazing, but getting the heavy bike there was really difficult.
I camped near this light house under the watchful eye of several dozen mountain goats.
Day 5 (May 8):
Port Ellen to Port Charlotte
28 miles
I spent this day on Islay, sampling whisky and riding to Port Charlotte to camp.
I did the tour at Laphroaig, a whiskey, chocolate pairing at Lagavulin, and sampled some Bowmore.
I also saw Stef's plot of land: which is now properly marked with some signs that should last a while.
And then camped here:
Day 6 (May 9):
Port Charlotte, Islay to Benderloch
32 miles and 1 ferry
I stopped at one more distillery before catching the ferry to Oban.
Caol Ila
The ferry was a 4 hour ride and took me far north to Oban, which is a really cool looking town that I just rode on through for some reason.
I rode 12 miles to a camp site in what would probably be the last good bit of weather for a while.
Day 7 (May 10):
Benderloch
Rest Day
A full day with not much to do and decent internet has allowed me to give you a really detailed post. Hope you like it, because I might not get this opportunity again for a while.
All the Best.
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