A week in Scotland

Well my April holiday started straight after work on a Thursday night. When I say after work, I naturally mean during work! I left at 3:50pm in an attempt to catch a race in Preston that started at 7pm. All road route planners said I would make it. I missed it by 30 mins. Cheers M6. Anyway with that disappointment out the way I fancied a birthday treat. Did I mention April 10th is my birthday!?!

Alana and I stopped at Penrith for something to eat and parked up, both bikes on the roof. We had a quick look around and soon decided to move the car as there were some unsavoury types hanging around (read that as cider drinking chavs). I didn't want them have a tug at my beloved rebuilt race steed! After parking in a much better lit, secure area of Penarth (near enough the centre on the main shopping road) we went in search of food. We stumbled upon the great little family run Grants Bistro, and hoping not to offend the chef rolling in at 9:15 placed our order. And what a treat! The food in this little bistro was great. Alana had mussles for starter then pan fried chicken with stilton sauce and I had scallops with black pudding and ginger sauce for starter (it worked) and lamb cutlets fot main. Both meals were fab and to top it off they sold Magners (proper posh cider). We were expecting a £60 bill (I was drinking copiously, sorry coach!) and the final bill was £43. Fantastic! After that we made our way (bikes included) to the hotel. Another *shudder* Travel Lodge.

Now if you had read my previous article discussing my detest of Travel Lodge you may wonder why I'm going to another one. Well this was booked before the world track champs on a special internet offer of £28. My hopes were low! We turned up to the M6 Travel Lodge Carlisle well after 10 ad checked in. We had not planned to bring the dog originally so I had planned him a nice suite on the back seat of the car with blankets and cushions and all sorts. Don't call this RSPCA this isn't something I was proud of but needs must! Anyway after signing in I was able to not only bring the bikes into the room but give the dog his first hotel experience for just £10 to the hotel bill. £38 for the night for the three of us! What a bargain. I best of all, the room was clean and the TV worked. My expectations had been surpassed. While not the Ritz it was certainly comfortable and rekindled my belief that cheap hotels can be clean.

In the morning Gynx was keen to move:

So after getting the car loaded we shot up to Glasgow and across to Wemyss Bay to catch the last ferry before dinner. If we missed it we'd have to wait 90 minutes for the next. And guess what, we were pushing it! After some rapid driving we made it with absolutely no time to spare. We were told we wouldn't be able to get onto the ferry as we were to late but Alana pouted and we got on! Last car on the ferry. Back of the net!

Over the next few days after settling in we did a lot of exploring (see the pictures in the gallery). I love Bute, I really do. We had a great walk through Skeoch Wood, the dog seemed to enjoy himself and the Lichen growing on all the trees was great. It was very green and lush even for this time of year.

Coach, I've done some training. I promise. As the island roads are so sparsely populated with metal boxes I talked Alana through the basics of speed training with the use of a car. For those who don't know, this involves a cyclist following a car closely (around 2ft) while doing 30mph. She did well for her first try and I'm still alive to talk about it. It hurt, a lot. After that Alana jumped on her bike and we had a leisurely ride around the island.

Alana was brave enough to let me drive her car. She insured me on it, its her own fault really! I had a drive around the island without hitting any cars or killing any sheep. I even parked it in the garage... backwards.

I've been gagging to have an explore of the mainland north of the island and I had promised to take Alana with me. I planned the route (see here) and I honestly didn't know it was 60 miles, I thought about 42. We set out on a reasonably windy day and got the ferry across. It started lumpy and both our spirits were high. After taking a left turn towards Tighnabruaich we came to a steady climb. Alana looked dismayed but I promised her it would stop over the next ridge. Of course unbeknown to me (this was a coastal road) the road ramped up even steeper and she started to struggle. When we eventually made it to the top I had a bit of negativity to sort out. Alana was adamant she wouldn't be able to continue if there were more hills like that (it was a 500ft steep climb). I convinced her to carry on and enjoy the descent. We stopped for tea and cake just under half way at Kames. We then set off towards Otter Ferry. At this point it was quiet apparent the constant rolling hills were having its effect on Alana. It sounded like a women's tennis match on every climb. I was worried and hoped that we wouldn't come across to many steep climbs. I almost laughed when we turned back towards Colintraive. We had what seemed like a mountain in front of us. We had no other way of getting home and Alana was shattered. We set off climbing what ended up being a 1115ft climb. It was tough on Alana and I got quite upset listening to how much pain she was in. The smallest gear she had was a 39x25 which for a novice on her first 60 mile ride wasn't ideal for going uphill. We eventually made it to the top and had a great descent to look forward to albeit a bit hairy with some s-bends, chicanes, cliff faces and a lack of crash barriers. I loved it! We got home in a total of 6 hours 40 minutes including ferry crossings, cafe stop and shopping at Somerfield. My polar read 60.2 miles, 4223 calories burnt (lord knows what Alana burnt she was on 90% the majority of the time), 4280ft climbed, average speed of 11.5mph and max of 44.6mph. I could have got 50mph but it would have been around a blind single track road so thought it best I ease up :) Alana did every mile on the bike, to her credit she refused to get off and walk at any point. There really is some exciting cycling to be had in Scotland.

On our last day we went to visit Ascog Hall fernery. Built over 100 years ago then lovingly restored by two people over the last 20 years it is a little gem. There are lots of very rare ferns as well as some that most of us recognise. The whole garden was beautiful even though spring has come late this year. The glass house was lovely and warm and a unique environment. A small water feature and waterway - which could of course be deepened and then Koi would love it (another passion of mine). Even this water channel contained rare aquatic type ferns.

After the fernery, we crossed the road and looked in some of the rock pools at the beach. Hermit crabs and everything.

That concludes my relaxing holiday in Scotland and am about to set off on my journey home. All the best!

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