Homeward bound

We boarded the ferry for Ardrossan. We both got a good meal on board and felt great.

It hadn't been the trip we planned but it had been a great adventure none the less.

During our Steak Pie we agreed we would come back next year and cycle the whole island, perhaps even climb Goatfell while were at it - some people never learn.

Tom would like to thank Liz, Lee and Nicole for such a great present.

As an after thought, when I arrived home in Gourock that night I was treated to a wonderful sunset.

Thanks for reading.......please leave comments.......

The final section

You guessed it, cycling out of Lamlash we went straight into another steep climb for about a mile. But by now we were numb and exhausted so who cares about another hill. When it levelled off we cycled slowly about 1mile then we saw a wonderful site, Goatfell, the hill that towers over Brodick came into sight and we knew that the end was close.

The last mile into Brodick was superb, as you can see from the picture it was downhill all the way. We relaxed and let gravity take us the final enjoyable leg of the journey.

We arrived in Brodick 90mins before the next ferry so we found somewhere to chill.

Lamlash

The 8miles on the Ross Road took about 2hrs, the last 2miles, downhill into Lamlash took about 15mins. It was great, Alan clocked 35mph coming into town and from this point onward was called Concorde by Tom - (nothing to do with a big nose thank you very much).

We pulled into the Pierhead tavern in Lamlash and collapsed on the bar demanding beer.

We relaxed here for a while then set off on the last section, 3miles into Brodick.

Disaster struck

It really could have been predicted I suppose - we were on a cycle trip and everything that could gone wrong had, except this.
Yepp we got a flat tyre. Alan got a puncture in his rear tyre - suggestions that it has anything to do with his fat ass are grossly exaggerated !!!
The good news is of course that with a spare inner tube, puncture repair kit we would get the bike back on the road in 10mins. Tom got on his surgeons rubber gloves and got to work.
Then to our horror we realised the tyre had a rip big enough to get a 20p coin through it (I tried to get a good picture but the focus is out).

From this point on we didn't know if the tyre would be ok or if the rip would spread meaning the bike could no longer be used.
We put in a new inner tube and got back on the road.
Alan took it easy for a bit regularly stopping to make sure the rip wasnt spreading.

Ooooooh the pain

We cycled the shore road about 5miles to the junction where we turned onto 'The Ross Road' - moral was high, we had a new challenge, it was a sunny day and we had the open road in front of us. Arran is great, lovely scenery, quiet roads and friendly locals at every town.

The picture is from 'The Ross Road', it was like this most of the way and we were enjoying ourselves.

Then the hills started.

We soldiered on but they kept coming and we found ourselves weary from the previous day. After a few miles of hills we were off the bikes and pushing them up hill. It was a tough slog. We saw 3 cars on that road, it had a feeling of punishing wilderness about it. It was becoming a hot day and we ran out of water. Filling up from the local streams was impossible as the water out there is saturated in peat, so you end up with a smelly light brown coloured drink - we decided to dehydrate instead.

4miles to Lamlash, the hills were getting really tough then disaster struck.

Day Two

Tom and I decided on day two that we would continue around Arran cycling back to Brodick.
Both of us had had a really tough day previously but we were having a great time and vowed to go on.

Mrs Henderson the B&B owner showed us a map of Arran, we were in Shiskine, Brodick was a mere 9miles cycle across 'The String Road'. Mrs Henderson advised us that the String was a lot of hills and would be really tough.

We agreed to take the Ross Road which was a few miles south of Shiskine, the route was a country road to Lamlash then back onto the main road to Brodick.

It meant about twice the mileage but an easier road.

After a fantastic full breakfast we hit the road at about 10.30am.

PLAN B

Alan called Brodick tourist information, where we talked to Michelle, who was brilliant. Michelle phoned around loads of places to stay in Arran and booked us into CroftLea in Shiskine.

The B&B was lovely and they looked after us well - I recommend them.

http://guide.visitscotland.com/vs/guide/5,en,SCH1/objectId,ACC2346Svs,curr,GBP,season,at1,selectedEntry,home/home.html

However to get there Tom and Alan still had a 17mile cycle from Lochranza to Shiskine. There were a few more hills to get over but it was the weather that got us on this part of our journey. Despite being mostly a flat shore road the 17mile cycle took us over 3hrs, the rain and wind was hitting us face on - it was really tough going, we were starting to think that Arran didn't want us.

Below attached is one of the few downhill sections during a better few minutes of weather. I cant really tell you how tough the 17miles were.

We arrived in Blackwaterfoot at about 7pm, had dinner and called home.

After a great Haddock and chips (and a few beers) we cycled 15mins in the dark and found our B&B at Croftlea where we slept like babys, safe in the knowledge that tomorrow could only be better - unfortunately it was full of problems aswell.

So Toms 2008 world tour of Islay has become the world tour of Arran........

Ferry Cancelled

We waited in the town of Lochranza for 2hrs hoping the ferry would be allowed to sail but at 4pm we learned that it would not sail all day.
Oh crap, whats plan B?
Attached below is a picture of the Lochanza ferry getting flung around in the awful weather, waves smashing into its sides, wind battering the hull and rain lashing the deck......

As you can see from this picture the town of Lochranza really was getting battered by bad weather........




NOT !!!!

The heading to Lochranza

Tom and Alan cycled hard but Arran proved to be very hilly, we were never going to get to our Lochranza ferry on time !!!

Alan stopped at the top of a hill (look at the picture, the wee blue dot is Tom) and called traveline to figure out when the next ferry would be as it looked like we were going to miss the 11am crossing to Kintyre.

It was at the top of this hill that we learned of the next problem.

Ferry Trip

The ferry from Ardrossan ran 10 minutes late, probably because of the weather but what really cost us time was someones mobile home on the back of a truck.
See picture - Tom watching the truck driver trying to get the vehicle out of the ferry door.




This lumbering pain in the arse took a full 20mins to squeeze off the boat. This meant our planned 90mins to get to Lochranza was now just 60mins - a bad start to the cycling........

The trip starts

Hi folks, sorry I never got posting done last night, our wee trip has been struck by a series of problems, but we have battle through and we are still here to tell the story.

First of all Tom and Alan met in good time at Ardrossan ferry terminal, 9am Sept 11th. We dont know if the sun rose that day, the clouds were thick and the wind was strong. The wind turbines in Ardrossan were spinning like cartwheels, not a good sign but I suppose lights will be burning brightly in Ardrossan cheaply for a few days.

Final posting before we go

Tomorrow - 10/09 - I will be letting the world know that this blog exsists. Hopefully some of you will be reading this and will offer some words of support and some fun commentary.

This site will be updated each night (11th, 12th & 13th Sept) before 10pm letting you know how we got on travelling around, sampling whisky and trying to keep out of too much trouble.

This of course assumes we -

• find an internet ready PC on Islay that were allowed to use


• dont get drunk and forget to keep everyone up to date


• get lots of cool replys from you guys that encourage us to stay online

So final check here ;-

• Toothbrush - a
• Bike - a
• 1 spare pair of pants - a
• Money for whiskey - a

Yeah were good to go now !!!!!

Itinerary

Our planned route for Thursday 11th September - hope we make it......

09:45 - 10:40 ferry from Ardrossan to Brodick, Arran
15mile Cycle from Brodick to Lochranza

12:00 - 12:30 ferry from Lochranza to Claonaig, Kintyre
5mile Cycle from Claonaig to Kennacraig

13:00 - 15:05 ferry from Kennacraig to Port Askaig, Islay
20mile Cycle to Port Charlotte to Lochindaal Hotel

Training

Tom and Alan have been on a few training cycles now.
5/9/08 we clocked our fastest speed so far, we covered 20miles in 1hour and 30mins. This left us feeling comfortable that we could cover the distances in time to catch our ferry's (see Itinerary).
We used cycle route 75, which runs from my house to his, I recommend it as a good path if you get a chance to get out and about - http://www.sustrans.org.uk/default.asp?sID=1099664999015
During the training we also discovered Tom would be best not using his daughters Town and Trail bike for the Islay trip as the saddle left him with a rather delicate derriere.
Happily his fall back bike is his very own super fancy racer, a far better bike anyway, which has left Alan moderately worried that he might get left behind.

Tom (on the right) as a Lad cycling around Scotland

Tom has also been working hard on the turbo at home, which is a sort of small rig that allows the user to cycle like crazy without leaving the comfort of his own home. http://www.bionicsports.com/acatalog/Cycle_trainer_-_turbo_trainers.html
Ive stopped asking about how he is getting on using this as I was last informed he had worked so hard he filled his pants with sweat - yukkk......

Not travelling alone

It was decided early in the planning stages of Toms World Tour of Islay that despite being all of 65yrs old he would not be allowed to travel without a Shepherd.
Liz, Lee and Toms wife Mamie decided someone of a certain high moral fibre and good common sense would go with him to make sure he didn't drink Islay dry of its fine whiskey or get lost on one of Islays two roads, never to be heard from again.

Toms wife Mamie....


Incredibly they picked me (Alan) for this prestigious task, I judge them a bit for this but enthusiastically agreed to the task.

I reckon we have a 50-50 chance of getting through this in one piece.

The Retirement Gift

Everyone that has ever met Tom knows he has two big hobbies :-
1 - Cycling
2 - Whiskey

The gift combines them both. The girls have clubbed together and paid for him to get a hopscotch ticket on the CalMac ferrys http://www.calmac.co.uk/hopscotch_route16
This means that on the 11th of September 2008 he will get on his bike and begin his World Tour of Islay. http://www.islayinfo.com/
They have also paid for him to stay at Lochindaal Hotel in Port Charlotte. http://www.lochindaalhotel.co.uk/

But he will not be traveling alone.....

Retirement Party

At the Glynhill Hotel Paisley, July 2008, Tom was treated to a retirement celebration party that was attended by loads of his friends and family.

One of the many great gifts given to him for his retirement was a gift given by his girls Lee, Liz and Nicole.

Pictured above is Tom and his daughter Lee.