Tour d'Ecosse Day 15 Tarbert to Ardrossan via Isle of Bute Saturday 16th July 2016 THE END!

Tour d'Ecosse Day 15 Tarbert to Ardrossan via Bute 97 km 940m ascent THE END!
Cumulative: 1 207 km 15 327m ascent Ferries 15 Islands 16 Bridges 1

The End...shall we get the boat to Arran and do it all again?

Our final day. It was supposed to be a day of two halves, contrasting the Secret Argyll Coast with the industrial Ayrshire coast, which could not be avoided if we were keeping the route a complete loop, by finishing in Ardrossan where hopefully the car is still parked!

In fact it ended up being a day of three thirds as we decided to go a bit off piste and disobey our carefully planned route properly for the first time! As we had had plenty of time yesterday we thought squeezing in another island could be fun, and were puzzled as to why the original (and as it turns out absolutely excellent and spot on about most of it's advice) guidebook we based our tour on did not do this (Cycling the Hebrides Richard Barrett Cicerone Press) I even messaged our good friends back home who had been cheering us on remotely throughout, to ask permission, and was given the green light.

We had checked the ferry times. This was the original plan for the first half of the day.

The new plan was to:

a) follow the original route from Tarbert/Portavidie to Auchenbreck;

b) then divert south to Colintraive and catch the ferry to Rhubodach on Bute. Complete an ad hoc circle of Bute and catch our last ferry from Rothesay to Wemyss Bay back to the mainland;

c) our very last stint, back en route, down the industrial Ayrshire coast to Ardrossan.

Waiting for Ferry #13 at Tarbert (the Loch Fyne one)

We left at 7.45 to snag the 8.00 CalMac Tarbert to Portavidie, aka Ferry#13 We purchased CalMac Hopscotch 4  Bute, Cowal & Kintyre tickets for our three ferries today:  Tarbert (Loch Fyne) - Portavadie (Argyll); Colintraive (Argyll) - Rhubodach (Bute);  Rothesay (Bute) - Wemyss Bay (Ayrshire). Three ferries for £6.75 per person, as ever bikes are free.

Secret Argyll Coast

The little hop on the ferry transported us to a secret world, cut off from everywhere, it felt like an island but was the mainland. it really was lovely, even with dank and grey weather. Hey it's not really raining! A stiff climb was dispatched in a solid fashion and we followed the coast until we came to this great bike. Unfortunately there was no time to stop and actually eat King Scallops. We had only had all in one porridge (blah) pots for breakkie at 7am

Colintraive, Argyll

The quick pop ferry to Bute was every half hour so we hailed the 11am one. No coffee or tea available at the ferry terminal aka portakabin! Here she comes...

CalMac Ferry #14 Colintraive - Rhubodach (Bute)

I presume this is Rhubodach?

Steve had had enough and wanted to take the shortest way to Rothesay. He was very happy to wait whilst I looped round the island. So we had an argument, I stamped my feet and said after all this adventure why spoil it by not doing the last day justice, and doing it on my own would really spoil it for me, a true diva moment. I got my way and he trudged along. It was, embarrassingly, at this point we came across a father/ teenage daughter pairing out for a bimble round Bute. We sort of rode with them, sharing some mixed nuts and a bit of chat.

Ruined chapel on Bute

OK, we made a mistake. Bute is boring. Not boring in most people's terms, but not a jot on the scenery and landscapes and wild places we had travelled. Empty but not wild, all rather tame. The top half is very flat, and the bottom half fairly flat. Brilliant for short loops and family rides. Lovely bimbling on a sunnier day.

Off piste

We even ended up on our only totally off piste path, basically a track across a meadow. I fell off on a tussock. The only fall of the holiday, I plopped sideways about a foot. Nobody saw so it didn't happen really.

Pretty flowers

Back on track and Steve put his foot down, refusing to continue to Kingarth, he was right we were running out of time if we wanted to get back to my parent's house in Penrith in sensible time tonight. We still had 30km down the coast to do, back on the mainland after a half hour ferry.

So we looped back north alongside Loch Fad towards Rothesay. To be honest honour was done, we hadn't abandoned the day and that cut up north was decidedly lumpy. We were also pretty darned hungry by now and were dreaming of fish and chips.

Satisfying whizz down towards rothesay

At least it was downhill and suddenly we were in suburbia. Not a pleasant quaint Scottish seaside town but a brash, trash down at heel tacky seaside town. There was a ferry at 1pm, we could see it pulling out of the harbour. So we had an hour until the 2pm. Fish and Chips!

East Bute

So there was a fish and chip shop with an Italian name. It didn't look very nice and a local outside told us it was pretty manky, or words to that description. Vague hand waving as to where there may be other fish and chip shops. Surely one every 50 metres? Very much a "past its glory" town since it's heyday in the 19th and first half of the 20th century, before Glaswegians could get cheap flights to proper sun in Spain! Strava was off, but we cycled up and down the prom, to no avail. Gave up and returned tho the Italian Chip shop in centre of town. not recommended. We bought a large fish and large chips and rode down to the ferry to share romantically. It wasn't that bad as we were so hungry we could have eaten almost anything, but oh my the grease.

We did have an amusing exchange with a ferryman directing the cars. He wondered if we'd had a nice little ride round Bute. I told him about the rest of the tour. He looked us up and down, and grinned, and said in a very broad accent that I cannot capture on paper, "what the heck did you do so wrong to get community service like that?!" I took it as a compliment, I do not like being predictable and boring. He had us down as stark raving bonkers. Especially as he had realised the awful weather/gales the previous week that had disrupted ferries and when he found out we had done the outer Hebrides on those days he shook his head in disbelief.

Glamorous breakfast/lunch in very last ferry queue, #15 Tour d'Ecosse Day 15 Secret Argyll Coast and Bute, Rothesay (Bute) to Weymess Bay.

Our very last Ferry #15 back to the mainland, 2pm Rothesay - Wemyss Bay. We wish we had waited and had CalMac fish n chips on the boat!

We had only cut out 10km of the tedious but necessary coast route down the A78. 30km to go.

Just to test our metal there was a very stiff southerly wind and drizzle trying to blow us back north. In the best peloton mode we can muster, we took turns grinding it out back down south. Through Largs, getting lost in lots of cul de sac car parks surrounding blocks of flats, tying to stay on the bike path rather than the main road. We admired the yacht club, and Hunterson A Power station and went back on the road.

Largs Yacht Club

Industrial Argyll Coast it certainly is

The last 20km was the longest 20km ever. we made it, into Ardrossan, riding along the road we had driven exactly two weeks earlier. It was pretty emotional. We had made it. It seemed like months and minutes since we caught that first ferry. We had not suffered any injuries, our hearts and knees had made it.

Round the corner, and along the last few metres to the end of the line at Ardrossan ferry terminal for Brodicck.  The ferry was in, jaws wide open, loading for the trip to Arran. Yes I would have boarded and done it all over again. We detoured to the loo, bought a takeaway cup of tea in the terminal and took the cheesy end of trip selfie.

Cheesy selfie again.

Tour d'Ecosse finished at 4.20pm.  The car was still in the dodgy car park alongside. Frozen we shovelled panniers into the car, took quick release wheels off with frozen hands, upended the bikes into the back and pounced on clean dry warm clothes left in the car, shamelessly changing in the car as a run to the terminal would have meant the dry clothes would get wet.

We still did a 100km and 1000m today, and after 1200km and 15000m can mention we had no punctures whatsoever and the only ongoing mechanical was Steve's bearings grinding that got worse and worse. Two days later his back wheel gave up the ghost on his 2km commute to work. How lucky were we?!

We drove south, caught up in the tail end of the Troon British Open traffic, back in the hurly burly world. Crossing back into England the sun was out and the temperatures were over 20 degrees. What a shock. Back to mum and dad's in Penrith, contemplating not getting on our bikes tomorrow. It was strange. I just wanted to keep on going. 

Mum's garden in Penrith

 Touring Tips in Scotland, or anywhere else for that matter!

1 You can do it.

2 Be ambitious, take advice, but be your own ultimate guide as to how much you can achieve.

3 Ride sensibly, accidents scupper everything.

Postscript

We did it. Even more amazingly I have finally finished writing it all up on the blog.

1200km and 15000m Steve finally had his heart expert exercise physiology appointment at Bristol Heart Institute in September, the one we had been hoping for before the trip. The doc just said "listen to your body, be able to talk whilst exercising" and he wished more of his patients had our approach. Turns out he was "an ageing slow triathlete" in his words, so he "got it". Steve had a Type A aortic dissection in Jan 2015, the reason this trip didn't happen last summer.

This year we are trying to decide between (all two weeks): 
The Upper Danube (flat and dry and warm) Steve's vote!
The Wild Atlantic Way up the west coast of Ireland (wet, lumpy, windy and wild!)
LEJOG Land's End to John O'Groats. I Got the Cicerone guide out of the library and a route I had had no interest in at all is now appealing. To explore over two weeks and not sprint.


Never mind New Zealand dreams!!

Tour d'Ecosse quick links:

Planning
Day 1 Isle of Arran and a little Mull of Kintyre
Day 2 Inner Hebrides: Isles of Islay and Jura
Day 3 Inner Hebrides: Isle of Jura-Tayvallich to Oban
Day 4 Oban to Outer Hebrides: Barra and Vatersay
Day 5 Outer Hebrides: Isles of Barra Eriskay South Uist Benbecula Grimsay North Uist Beneray and Harris
Day 6 Outer Hebrides: Isles of Harris and Lewis to Callanish Stones
Day 7 Outer Hebrides: Butt of Ness to Stornoway and Ullapool
Day 8 Ullapool to Gairloch
Day 9 Gairloch to Shieldaig - Applecross Peninsula
Day 10 Bealach na Bà from Applecross to Plockton
Day 11 Plockton to Inner Hebrides: Isle of Skye Armadale
Day 12 Inner Hebrides: Isle of Skye Armadale to Ardnamurchan
Day 13 Ardnamurchan to Inner Hebrides: Isle of Mull to Oban to Loch Melfort
Day 14 Loch Melfort to Tarbert, Loch Fyne
Day 15 Tarbert Loch Fyne to Ardrossan THE END!

Tour d'Ecosse Day 10 Bealach na Bà from Applecross to Plockton Monday 11th July 2016

Tour d'Ecosse Day 10 Bealach na Bà from Applecross to Plockton 77km 1726m ascent

Cumulative: 839km 10088m ascent Ferries 9 Islands 13

Bealach na Bà or Pass of the Cattle - Highest road pass at 650m in UK 

Today is the day. The highest road pass in the UK, and we start from sea level, from Applecross, the easy way up....ha ha ha ha. Well it would have been harder the other way so it was easier. The "Ride with GPS" route below shows the topography, it makes the vicious lumps after Strathcarron look like pimples! Our 6th big day in a row.


We sadly said goodbye to our fabulous yurt. Just everything about our yurt, it's situation and the perfect location to divide up the Applecross peninsula into manageable chunks characterised what this tour is all about. The Applecross Inn is booked solid months in advance, so we were disappointed not to be able to stay there but it did mean we had a 15km warm up before hitting "The Bealach."

Well we had a 15km cool down, it was wet and cold and claggy. After a light breakfast at the yurt we had decided a coffee and cake stop was allowed so early on as we doubted there would be any more cafes for a long time. We polished off the "commute" and were mightily relieved that the Applecross Inn was open in the morning for coffee, and the heating was on. The Garmin showed an average temperature of 10 degrees today. The date is 11th July!

Applecross is as deserted as you can get on UK mainland. You can come in on the Shieldaig road we had followed from Torridon, or up n over Bealach na Ba...the Pass of the cattle. Not surprisingly the latter route is shut for a lot of the winter. Today it's high summer.

Bealach Na Ba on a foul day it was ...winter clothes, hi viz, lights, the works.

10km of uphill ahead

Plenty going on in Applecross, not sure why the Wester Ross Trail is out to sea!

The Applecross Inn's sunny beer garden

Poor Doris, she looks exhausted and we haven't started yet!

We have read that this is the toughest and wildest climb in Britain. The hype is true. The majority of roads in Scotland's follow the valleys as there's no need to climb the mountains but the road links the village of Applecross with the rest of the world by taking the route over the top of Bealach na Ba, 2000ft or 650m.

Yes, we met a car and a caravan whilst descending the other side.

One final glance back at a glimpse of the Isle of Raasay with Skye hidden behind

Going on up...

Is there anybody out there?

Well, the good bit about the weather meant it was relatively quiet traffic wise, we had read that the pass was a lot more popular with the recent North Coast 500 marketing.  Cars were considerate, and patient. Motorbikes waved. We settled into a plod, granny gear all the way We stopped as we needed too, we were not going for heroics. The aim was to get up and down without injury. Especially given the weather. This is adventure cycling. Nothing to fall back on but our bodies and our bikes.

Not a motorway

At one point a descending black immaculate Mercedes with tinted glass waited for us to pass. The driver's window was down and we nodded and said our thanks and he smiled broadly and asked very kindly if we were OK. The chap in the passenger seat was also concerned, as were their smiling wives in the back, in immaculate saris and jewellery, all so incongruous in such wet horrible and muddy conditions. They could have been going to a wedding, but were on a weekend break from Glasgow and asked if they could get tea anywhere. We had a lovely chat for a few minutes, they really were so concerned about our welfare (and/or state of mind I expect!) We gave them directions for tea and said our goodbyes and thank yous for their concern and offers of a lift.

and up and up and up

The weather deteriorated even further, we paused on one particularly steep bit and unable to see what was coming we did walk 100-200m when the gradiant was circa 15%. Looking back now I reckon I could have ridden it if I'd known it didn't go on for any longer, I may have psyched myself to stay on the pedals. However, this was really a pretty daft idea for Steve to be attempting so I didn't push it. It was a team effort to get us both to the top in one piece. In fact the double car park/halt at the top came as a surprise to me. The disorientation of the thick cloud meant we never had any idea how much further other than knowing it was about 9km on the Garmin and I deliberately didn't look at that.

Trig point summit Bealach na Ba, no we couldn't see the view.

Our bikes huddling up to keep warm at the summit

The viewpoint...really!  ...and down we go. this was not a respite, nor was it fast.

Bealach na Ba down toward Tornapress and Strathcarron

...gravelly wet road surface and hairpin bends, at points it is 20% with crash barriers.

Loch Kishorn finally comes into view

We literally inched our way down, hands freezing and locked from hanging on the brakes. my brakes were very worn by the bottom. I get carpel tunnel syndrome at the best of times so I could not feel anything by the time the road started to level. It was pretty extreme conditions and we were envious of anyone with the luxury of time who could afford to wait a day or two for better conditions.

We halted just before Tornapress, which is not much more than a bend in the road. Looking back were the warning signs about how steep, bleak and narrow the road to Applecross was. A massive sense of relief that we had come to no harm and a (still ongoing whilst writing this 3 months later) sense of achievement that we did it, aged 50 with panniers and health conditions, with very little walking, in horrendous weather. Steve decides he would rather have just popped across the road from Shieldaig, he gives me a look when I suggest we need to come back another time, on a nicer day and do it from this side. I think that's a solo trip then!

Fish Farming Loch Kishorn

Slight problem in that the lovely looking Bealach Café in Tornapress was firmly shut. Yes it was July, it shuts one day a week. On a Monday. Our luck was in though, the next establishment of any kind we came across was the Kishorn Seafood Bar On a normal day a plate full of seafood would have done me, but today we needed hot carbs. Seafood filled baked potatoes and pints of tea hit the spot. We literally sat on the radiator. We realised later we had been very lucky, this place is, quite rightly, loaded with food awards, and probably large queues on nice school holiday days. We took our time but the inevitable could not be put off any longer. Back out we went, but it was a little drier than this morning.

Through Strathcarron, a huge place with a bank and a zebra crossing, and the road follows the famous railway line heading to Kyle of Lochalsh. Our addled brains think "this is great" Railway lines are flat aren't they? A nice saunter down the shores of Loch Kishorn to our BnB for the night in Plockton.

Towards Plockton

When booking our B&B the owner said at the time that if we were tired we could hop on the train at Strathcarron, and off at Plockton. "It's only 25km" I thought at the time, easy if we have done Bealach I remember thinking. The road does not follow the railway line all the way, at intervals it turns left, bolts straight up a 15% hill then comes down again. Mean railway for not sharing their tunnels with us!

It was knackering, not nice rolling ups and downs where your momentum powers you up half the ascent. I managed every single one without walking. That train idea wasn't so daft after all. Eventually we roll along a minor road into Plockton, noting the steep ascent we are going to have in the morning!

I had wanted to come back to Plockton, I remembered coming here for a day visit aged about 9 on a camping holiday, we were probably staying in Glencoe. It certainly is still a picture postcard fishing village with a perfect row of quaint cottages, more palm trees and lots of artists in residence. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Plockton

Plockton towards the village

Tide's out!

Messing about on a loch in a yacht would be fun

Each cottage has a garden over the road running down to the sea

Competitive Plockton Strip Gardens

Thistles?

We cycled past the cottages, and I thought I had booked a B&B down here, as it was advertised with a sea view. It turned out we were up the hill, in a very good B&B but it lacked character, a modern semi on an estate but the owners couldn't have been nicer. We could see the sea, and the lovely landlady let us use her washing machine for our smelly kit (we did pay her extra for that kindness), and it was good value for £60 for the night. Just a little bit suburban though after our lovely yurt last night and the wild adventurous day we had had. Our land lady also sweet talked a table for us at The Plockton Inn, in retrospect it would have been good to stay there too. We wandered down to the harbour and look who met us at the door.

Stained glass at The Plockton Inn

We had another fabulous meal. I had the starter seafood platter and then a delicious aubergine and tomato curry cooked to perfection. After dinner we wandered along the front and called in at the Plockton Hotel for a nightcap. Well I am blonde, we had been up Bealach Na Ba in a Whiteout so we qualified!

The ales sum up our day in the Plockton Hotel

A wander back to our B&B and we crashed. We were exhilerated and exhausted and secretly quite looking forward to a flat 50km rest day tomorrow, over the sea to Skye.

Touring Tips in Scotland

1 Do not doubt your abilities.

2 The big stand out ascent of the day is not necessarily the hardest.

3 Build in "escape points" to your route for peace of mind in case of accident, illness or most likely severe mechanical problems, especially if limited by time. We could get back to Ardrossan via train if need be from Oban (passing through twice), Strathcarron, Kyle of Lochalsh or Mallaig. We didn't have to test out the escape plan fortunately. There is also a bike bus from Ullapool to Inverness that we didn't know about but could also be very useful.

Tour d'Ecosse quick links:

Planning
Day 1 Isle of Arran and a little Mull of Kintyre
Day 2 Inner Hebrides: Isles of Islay and Jura
Day 3 Inner Hebrides: Isle of Jura-Tayvallich to Oban
Day 4 Oban to Outer Hebrides: Barra and Vatersay
Day 5 Outer Hebrides: Isles of Barra Eriskay South Uist Benbecula Grimsay North Uist Beneray and Harris
Day 6 Outer Hebrides: Isles of Harris and Lewis to Callanish Stones
Day 7 Outer Hebrides: Butt of Ness to Stornoway and Ullapool
Day 8 Ullapool to Gairloch
Day 9 Gairloch to Shieldaig - Applecross Peninsula
Day 10 Bealach na Bà from Applecross to Plockton
Day 11 Plockton to Inner Hebrides: Isle of Skye Armadale
Day 12 Inner Hebrides: Isle of Skye Armadale to Ardnamurchan
Day 13 Ardnamurchan to Inner Hebrides: Isle of Mull to Oban to Loch Melfort
Day 14 Loch Melfort to Tarbert, Loch Fyne
Day 15 Tarbert Loch Fyne to Ardrossan THE END!