Wild and Windy West

Lochranza

Well, I've got to the west coast of Scotland & how!

I left my B&B in Edinburgh on Saturday morning and cycled into the city to catch a train to Glasgow. It was a nice downhill trafficless ride and I almost wished that I had decided to stay. I took the chance to buy myself a new book at the station bookshop, found my train, loaded my bike into the purpose built bike compartment and settled down to enjoy the trip. Arriving in Glasgow I changed trains for a local service to Ardrossan harbour and the ferry to Brodick on the isle of Arran.

The weather had been slowly deteriorating as I travelled west and by the time the ferry arrived in Brodick it was pouring with rain and quite windy. I had about 14 miles to cycle to the Youth Hostel in Lochranza where I had booked two nights stay. I stopped off at the Coop to buy food for two days in the hostel because there is no shop in Lochranza. I set off along the coast thinking that although it was raining it wasn't too bad, the road was flat and sheltered and I was doing a reasonable speed. That was until I turned away from the coast and up the hill, straight into the teeth of the wind, I could not actually pedal into it it was so strong, it was going to be a long walk! The trudge up the hill seemed interminable, the rain was getting heavier, as was the bike and I'm sure the wind was getting stronger too. The hillsides were awash with torrents of white water, it would have been very pretty on a sunny day but it was somewhat lost on me plodding uphill pushing my bike. As I suppose always happens I eventually reached the top.

The ride down was almost as much fun as the ascent; the hill was quite steep, it was mostly covered by running water which concealed all the gravel and potholes. If you ride a bike you will know that these are both things you would normally try to avoid, the wetness of the conditions and the weight of the bike made the brakes a bit less effective than usual, all contributing to a ride that lots of people would pay good money for in an amusement park. I got it for free. I managed to stay with the bike and we arrived safely at the Youth Hostel. I parked my bike and went into the reception area, the lady on duty looked at me standing there dripping onto her tiled floor and said, "I hope you don't want a bed, I don't have any left." I could have cried, but I had booked. I pointed this out to her, she hurriedly consulted her computer, apologised, and said she did have space, whew, that was a relief.

I found my bed, had a shower, got some food, dried my clothes and my view of life improved. Tomorrow had to be better.

Tomorrow was indeed better. It was a bright and blustery day and I took advantage of the sun to walk around the Loch. I took lots of photos which are uploaded to picasa if you would like to see them https://picasaweb.google.com/josephine.parkes/Lochranza?feat=directlink.

My original plan was to take the ferry north from Lochranza and cycle on towards Tarbert. The weather forecast was bad and the distances quite long so I took a decision to return to Brodick, catch the train to Glasgow and from there take the train to Mallaig. I hope that this will mean I get to see the rain from the train. It means that I can see the Isle of Skye and perhaps do some shorter local rides. The train ride is supposed to be an experience in itself.

I am now writing this, still in Brodick. The weather was too bad for the ferry to sail. I booked myself into a very nice hotel and have enjoyed a day of comfort and warmth with a good Internet signal. I have also eaten too much and spent too much money, but I've really enjoyed it. Let's hope the weather allows the ferry to sail tomorrow.