When my best mate (and best man at my wedding) Rob suggested revisiting a tour that we’d last ridden in the previous millennium, I jumped at the chance – the only complication was that it would be in two years’ time. Rob has lived in the US now for quite a few years, so our ability to just jump on a bike and have a mad adventure like we used to has been somewhat reduced. This year, Rob was flying over for a graduation ceremony and family visits, and proposed adding on another week to the trip for this tour.
We wanted to revisit the places on our 1990s tour, which started in Glasgow, took us across to the Isle of Arran, and then across to the Isle of Islay. Another ferry to Oban, then across to Crianlarich, and finally down Loch Lomond before arriving back in Glasgow a week later.
Some days would be travelling with all of our stuff to get to the next destination, then we budgeted in a couple of days for exploring with a lighter, unladen bike. On the original trip we had had an enormous soaking from the weather on one day, and two days later got sunburn! So packing was going to need to encompass a wide variety of conditions.
The UK was in the grip of yet another heatwave as I put my kit together, so it was important not to be swayed by the weather. Layers and sensible clothing combinations were going to be important to cover different weather conditions, as well as keeping weight down. I wanted some ‘normal’ clothes to wear when travelling and for the evening too, but I could ride in them if I needed to.
Preparations
In April, road.cc had an Adventure Week with a series of articles to inspire cycling adventures. I wrote about having a one day adventure from your front door, and many of those principles hold for this longer trip too. In fact my wife commented that she thought that, in the weeks leading up to the trip, I was enjoying the preparation of my kit more than the trip itself. Hmmm. I did enjoy it, truth be told…
I made three changes to my bike, I fitted some Vittoria Randoneur 28c tyres, as I wanted more durability, I fitted a 11-34t cassette for more range than I usually ride with, and I bolted on my Tubus Fly rack. Otherwise the bike was in its usual Four Seasons set-up. I used my old faithful Karrimor 15-litre panniers on the rear, with a Pinnacle 2-litre bar bag for tools and spares. Finally an Alpkit Glider 50 frame bag for kit and food needed on the go. I was able to keep the additional weight to 10kg above the bike’s normal weight. It helped that we had decided to use hostels rather than camp or wild camp for this trip.
Booking ahead
The days of just turning up and buying a ticket or getting a room seem to be long gone now. So I worked out a plan for the trip and booked rooms for our week away. We mostly used Scottish Youth Hostels (SYHA) and found them to be excellent as places to stay. The wardens were friendly and helpful, the rooms were great, and we could cook there easily when we needed to, and they were well priced. I also booked my train ahead with a bike reservation. I had hoped to get the night train from Euston to Glasgow, but they don’t take bikes apparently, so I had to go up in the day. At least it was only four and a half hours from Euston to Glasgow, and it passed by easily as I got chatting to Lawrence, who was also into bikes as well as music! Thanks buddy, you made the journey fly by!
The first ferry across to Arran
I finally met up with Rob at Ardrossan Harbour, ready for the ferry across to Arran. We had a lot to catch up on, but no rush as we had a whole week ahead of us. When we docked at Brodick we ‘only’ had 23 km to ride. This is where the memories, or lack of, from the previous trip came in. I had no recollection of the mountain that is the A841 to Lochranza! At times it was 15%. Blimey. I had remembered the mountain road across the middle of the island that we’d be riding the next day, but not this one. Still we made it across just fine and the descent to Lochranza was excellent.
The next day we were going to ride, without panniers, on the western shore road, and cross the mountain back to Brodick, and then repeat the A841 route back to Lochranza. At least I knew what I was in for this time! We had a strong headwind on the coastal road, but after the ascent of the mountain road we had a sustained 70kmh freewheel down into Brodick. Fantastic. A chance conversation with a lovely cycling couple in a café led to the discovery that his granddaughter and my daughter were due to be starting at the same college in September. What a small world it is! With no agenda or timings to meet, it was lovely to watch the world go by on the Brodick seafront, at least until I remembered the mountain that we still had ahead of us. Come on, let’s go…
Off to Islay
The next day we were headed to Islay. A short ferry hop to Claonaig led to a fantastic country road ride to the port at Kennacraig. It’s about a 30-minute ride with 75 minutes between ferries. Let’s hope there are no punctures or mechanicals! The next ferry dropped us in Port Askaig, rather than in Port Ellen like last time. This meant a two-hour ride against another strong headwind down to Port Charlotte. It was also pretty rainy, but after weeks of heatwave in the South I didn’t mind much. We also saw our first Highland cattle too. The lovely Wardens at Port Charlotte Hostel, Karl and Lorna, were kind enough to let us in early so that we could drop our kit off, freeing us up to sit on the jetty wall, to chat, eat Tunnock’s wafers, and watch the people jumping off the jetty into the sea! Idyllic.
A chance conversation with Lorna about us visiting the hostel just after it had opened led to a meeting with the warden from that time. Suzanne still lived locally, and we had a great chat about the ‘olden’ days, before the internet and phones etc etc, and how you’d just turn up at a hostel, or occasionally ring ahead from a payphone. We also learnt that the hostel had been a Bonded Warehouse to store whisky before becoming a Hostel. It was lovely to meet Suzanne again, particularly as we’d remembered her from our trip all those years before.
You can’t have a day exploring Islay without a distillery visit, and we managed two! Kincholan distillery was a new one to me, and we had quiet roads on the western side of Islay too. We had a spot of lunch at Bridgend, then headed off to Bowmore distillery. We had visited this one last time and, as before, I bought a small 5cl 12-year-old whisky to take home and savour. Although tempting, a big bottle would just be too heavy and bulky. That night we had an excellent meal at the Port Charlotte Hotel. They even have a whisky menu with 120 or so options. Rob wasn’t falling for buying me a measure of the Port Ellen though, and at £145 a shot who can blame him! We stuck to trying a dram from an Islay distillery at a more affordable price…
Back to the mainland
Luckily on the ride back to Port Askaig we had the wind behind us. We doubled our speed for the same effort! It was just like flying. On this leg we had a longer ferry ride across to Oban. As we disembarked in Oban it was properly raining, so in time-honoured fashion, we sheltered in a bus stop. We saw two people struggling to fold a Brompton bike and to fit it back into its rental locker. We offered to help and realised why they were struggling – the left pedal had got stuck in the front wheel spokes and jammed. Both Rob and I have worked on Bromptons over the years, plus we had a few tools on us. A front wheel removal finally did the trick, and the poor bike was put back in its cubby. The pair thanked us, and we were pleased to help out. It rained heavily that evening in Oban, but luckily the storm had blown over by the morning.
The ride across to Crianlarich was a curate’s egg. The quiet roads were an absolute delight, but the A85 sections – whilst well paved, fast and direct – felt a bit hairy, especially when a double-load timber lorry passed by. Unfortunately there didn’t seem to be many options route-wise, so we got on with it.
Having a rear radar definitely helped when trying to anticipate approaching traffic. Although Rob said that the big roads in the States were busier, he had many more off-road and quieter sections available where he lived, and so he tended to stick to those. I’m more used to the UK A-road situation, so it bothered me a little less. Even so, for our final day back to Glasgow we opted to take the train a couple of stops to avoid the A82. We then rode on the old Loch Lomond road as much as we could. It took some finding, but it’s worth seeking out as the views across the lake are great. However by the time we got to Dumbarton we’d had enough of being buzzed by traffic, and jumped on another train to get us into Glasgow. Our final Scottish Hostel (Glasgow SYHA) is a Victorian Townhouse in a fabulous situation overlooking a park. It’s a magnificent building with lots of stairs!
Back in Glasgow
Due to Rob’s itinerary he’d opted to hire a bike, and as we’d got into Glasgow a little earlier than planned we decided to return it that afternoon. Gearbikes on Gibson Street was really close to the hostel too. I feel a mention of them is justified as the hire bike didn’t miss a beat all week, was well priced (£121 per week) and they even stored Rob’s big suitcase at the shop for the week. Also they were really nice and friendly at the shop too.
On the final day I rode back to Glasgow Central to catch my train home. I wasn’t wholly sure where I was riding, even though I had mapping set. Glasgow is a busy place! At some traffic lights I asked a couple on bikes which way to go for the station: “Follow us, we’re going there now!”, they said. So I did. They were off to Mull for a weekend’s riding – thank you for guiding me. Then I was back home to my family and back into the heatwave. Scotland had been lovely and cool compared to the south of England. Sometimes it was really windy, sometimes rainy, but never unpleasant.
Costs and kit
We spent around £800 each on the week, including train fare or bike hire, ferries, accommodation, and food. Tools and spares included: pump, 2x inner tubes, patches, tyre levers, multitool, chain breaker, 10-speed quick link, one gear cable and one brake cable, a few M5 bolts, and some zipties. I rode with a bike computer, rear light/radar and a front light, and ran both lights in day flash mode. As nearly everything that I took is USB-C, and has decent battery life, I took a single charger and one lead. Most things only needed a charge every two or three days. I did take a backup battery too, just in case, but it wasn’t needed. I took earbuds for podcasts, a paperback book that lasted the week, and some photocopies of relevant map sections, so that we could get a good overview of the next day’s riding. Then they were recycled when finished with. I could easily programme the route for the next day on my phone and send it to the bike computer. A few routes I had already prepared before the trip, however. My washkit had travel-sized shampoo, gel, deodorant and suncream etc and didn’t take up too much space, but covered the essentials.
Clothing-wise, I took one pair of SPD shoes so that I could still walk reasonably well, a helmet, a light rain jacket, a gilet, an undershirt top, short-sleeve jersey and a light long-sleeve jersey. I also had two pairs of shorts and socks. All of this was cycling-specific clothing. I also had some lightweight walking trousers that can zip-off to shorts, a merino t-shirt, cotton t-shirt, light fleece jacket, a gilet, and underwear/socks. This was more ‘normal’ looking for travelling or sitting in a pub/café/restaurant, but I could layer it and ride in most of it if needed too. It worked well, and didn’t find myself wishing I’d brought such-and-such bit of kit.
Final thoughts
I feel that there were lots more stories from the week, but if I’m to sum it up in a few final thoughts it’d be this: everyone we met was lovely, chatty, interested and helpful. The ferries were fun to take, from 20 minutes to four or five hours. The riding was hard at times, but always (for us) rideable. The views were terrific. The ability to stop where you want (safely of course) is one of the joys of cycle touring. You go fast enough to cover the ground, and slowly enough to take it all in. Add in that we were in no great rush to get anywhere, and we had the freedom to alter a plan on the fly.
Also factor in the reconnection of a very longstanding friendship, that hasn’t changed despite a great distance between us, and you have the makings of a great trip. We still hadn’t run out of things to chat about by the end of the week either! Thanks Rob for a great tour. I now need to plan for an Isle of Wight cycling trip with my wife, and a weekend tour with friends before it gets too cold and dark. I think I’ve got the cycle touring bug again…
Now go and plan your next adventure!
