Saturday 5 October 2013

Day 6 - Arran and ended up in the middle of nowhere

woke up decision tour of arran or push on weather is really bad

decided half tour only did 32 miles of arran
leaving the yha someone was trying to catch me on the hill
annoyed no phone signal
breakfast of porridge, eggs and coffee
decided to have a later start, and have a long shower, as they are so powerfull and warm
found 3 ticks on me in the shower damn
 big mistake went to bike shed guess what flat back tyre had to fix took 40 minutes with my hand
Left Lochranza  followed the A841 till just before brodick and joined the b880 "the string" brought me out on the other side of the island
rejoined the A841
got close to machrie wood but running to late to go to the stones was dissapointed.
rejoined A841 headed anticlockwise saw holy island went past lamlash golf club back to brodick
saw goatfel in the distance but all mountains in cloud very poor visibility driving wind and rain to cycle against
travelled round half the island in pouring rain
saw some stags/deer in lochranza and anothe red squirrel crossed the road,
amazed at how many waterfalls, hilly but not unbearable
family emergency meant on the phone trying to sort for an hour
rode to cheese factory tried all the samples lol no need to buy the cheese now
 then to brodick castle, wanted loads for castle no way seen enough castles
passed a fire station, it's so bloody wet here wondered if they had ever had a fire
bought some food at the co op
someone pointed out seals in the bay but the were so far out i could barely make them out in the rain and my glasses were soaked
went back caught ferry
met young couple touring arran she was a doctor he was a renewable energy engineer, they came up to me and asked if i was the guy they had tried to catch on the hill lmao, he was really annoyed when he found out how heavy my bike was.
sat with them on the ferry, shared my rhubarb pie and sausauge rolls they bought me a coffee
crossing took 55 min
left adrossan, took photo by beach and the cross
met mica the akita
took photo welcome to south ayrshire on A73
raining heavy soaked
dark
gonna push on for an hour find camp place
cyclist on island saw me doubled back, retired nurse asked me to stay the night with he and his wife jim and gale
3.5 miles away, followed him, mega pace for me as tired just about kept up nearly lost him, down country lane dark nearly came off.
all my kit is wet, omg ive taken over their table, radiators garage and a bedroom as well as a bunch of plug sockets and internet (what do you say to such kindness)
stayed with Jim and Gale, jim and children musicians, jim played for me have video
treated to rolls and carrot and corriander soup,
dyring kit chargin up
great music and chat.








tick

squashed tick

in focus squashed tick
die tick die

yet another punture :-)




all the mountains in cloud








outside the cheese shop filling up
on cheese samples mmmm


smack in the middle of a school yard


ferry back to the mainland and sunshine (yeah right)


sharing some conversation and rhubarb pie on the boat

leaving ardrossan


cross on the beach at ardrossan

cross at ardrossan

sign on the A73 very very busy


yet another puncture it's called a rest stop now
help from a fellow cyclist

not my pic but saw these outside lochranza

4 comments:

  1. Hi Ren.

    Sounds like you've been through the wars a bit. Ever much the optimist through adversity as always. Bet you're loving it despite all the problems. Some really nice photos. Hope things start going your way a bit more. Weather looks to be quite changeable as well so more challenges to come but i'm sure you'll cope.

    Vic

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  2. Love the shots of Scotland Ren keep going

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  3. Keep smiling Ren! Rise above these unexpected challenges and look towards your goal - enjoying your blogs! Lorna :-))

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  4. Wish I was there with you! Brilliant.

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