2004 - Biking in Scotland

Peter and Jacques’ bike trip

Scotland, June 02-10, 2004

Betsy goes every year to Scotland to play music with her friend Vickie, and we decided I should go with her to Scotland, but not to the musical event! Peter, Vickie’s husband, with whom I had already enjoyed a trip in Languedoc a few years back, was free and we decided a bike trip in those northern latitudes would be interesting. We decided to tour the islands of Mull and Bute in addition to the western coast of Scotland. Our hopes were that the weather would cooperate! Peter accepted to be in charge of itinerary and all logistics, a great relief to me to let a native organize all the details!

The protagonists

• Peter, an adopted Scot, with a deep knowledge of the local dialect, a pronounced taste for local brew (and I do not mean “iron brew” please!), and a passion for palm pilot specially if it can be used as a chart;

• Jacques, the French counterweight to this heavy Scot influence, another avid fan of the local liquid, often cursed by Peter for the choice of previous itineraries and writer of these notes;

• The single malts, unavoidable local “refreshments” to dry your insides after a rainy day.

Start of the trip (notice sunshine!)

Wednesday June 02

BPL and I arrived in Edinburgh to be met by Peter. While Betsy played music with Vickie, we went to check out and rent a bike for me, we took one of those hybrid, a bit narrow-tired for my choice, but it will do fine (cost: 65 pounds a week). Finished packing and checked last itinerary details which depended on train seat reservations and availability.

We took Peter and Vickie to dinner at “Le petit boudin”, a fancy French joint where we had quite a good dinner. By the time we went to bed at 22:30 it was still quite light outside, we will have to get used to short nights in these northern latitudes.

Thursday June 03

02:00 and it is already light, that is what we call a short night!!!!!, since bikes are not allowed on commuter trains during rush hours, we had to get up by 05:15 to catch a train going to Glasgow. There, we made a connection and arrived in Oban at 11:15. It was raining all the time during the train ride on which we met 2 super-equipped (she super-shaped!) German cyclists also touring Scotland. The train ride took us through very typical landscapes with green grass, castles, fjords, rain, the works!, no doubting that we are in Scotland. We met some difficulties in finding accommodations in Salen but finally managed it before taking the ferry to Craignure, on isle of Mull.

Rode to the hotel, where we met the pretentious owner who found justifications for all his hotel shortcomings: mirrors too low, showers too high-tech, and so on, supposedly to accommodate handicapped people. Not to be recommended, even if the surroundings are fine landscape-wise. Before dinner we took a spin to investigate the land, great place with narrow roads, no traffic and those huge rolling hills with sheep everywhere.

First ride near Salen

We returned to the hotel and noted that our bikes are not quite adequate for dirt trails, it will have to be mostly asphalt roads for this trip. Had diner at Glenfosa, an old air strip in a hotel-restaurant run by a nice fellow fanatic of old airplanes who organizes planes rallies, in his hotel-restaurant of course, joining “l’utile à l’agréable” as we say in France; too bad the hotel was absolutely full. We had many beers and delicious fish for dinner, followed by a single malt to digest!

Friday June 04

We had our first rich-in-proteins English breakfast, quite good, but one will have to exercise afterwards to eliminate all those Kcal. Cloudy and rainy morning, in spite of Peter who insists it is not rain but only a light mist, like going through a cloud!!! B.S. this is rain for everyone in the world except Scots!

Off on single track roads with passing spots so cars can cross each other every few hundred yards, no traffic to speak off; we noticed the mail van that we crossed repeatedly was transporting tourists, in fact it was the daughter of mail man with her two kids and we will see them often to-day. Rode to Killiechronan (on B-8035 and B-8073) to reach Loch Na Keal, the village consists in 5 houses not one more, no need to specify that no bed-and-breakfast and no restaurants either could be found there.

Local residents!

Kept riding through “clouds” (Peter’s definition) and reached Lagganulva where we refused to pay the 4.50 Pounds required for a 3 minutes crossing to Ulva island. Kept riding with carefully closed rain gear to Achleck, where we took the road that leaves the coast and enters green undulating valleys with sheep and lonely houses in the direction of Dervaig. The road got narrower and barely wide enough for a car, not a problem since there were no cars. Dervaig is another of those tiny villages, but there was a bar which served us cider to go with our picnic, a pleasant addition to our food indeed.

Road to Dervaig

We continued trying to find accommodations for Saturday night but still no luck, the island was simply full and the tourist offices were turning back tourists and recommending NOT going to Mull. Finally Peter could telephone a friend who could loan us a house. Great work Peter! Thus reassured we went back on even smaller roads through the moors to reach Salen. We had dinner at Glenfosa, same place as last night, but why change when we found a decent place? Skies look brighter tonight, may-be sunshine for to-morrow, inch’ Allah! The fact there is still daylight at 23:00 takes some getting used to, but when one is tired one could sleep in full daylight.

Saturday June 05

Scottish weather (i.e. cloudy and misty) again this morning, the promises of last evening did not materialize and rain gear will see some use again to-day. Another of those heavy breakfasts, but it felt quite natural by now. Started on same road (B-8035) as yesterday but took the direction of Knock, going along the other side of Loch Na Keal with grandiose cliffs and landscapes, then through Balnahard and Balevulin. We took a small detour to investigate tonight sleeping accommodations in Tirosan. It was a small house in the middle of the forest, nice and a bit like a fairy tale house, but dry and with two rooms, a luxury to have on this crowded island!

Our Scottish residence

While going towards Pennyghael, we were passed by two girls in a cabriolet top down in the pouring rain, (“ils sont fous ces anglais/écossais” dirait asterix!), and had lunch in the Kilnoch hotel. It was nice to find shelter from the rain, we enjoyed a good hearty lunch with the two German we had first seen on the train the first day, and kept going towards Iona. Rain was getting heavier and heavier, even Peter admitted it was raining! We waited it out under the porch of a closed-down restaurant, the Pennyghael hotel, and not seeing any improvement, decided wisely to go to Carsaig instead of Fionnphort and Iona island as originally planned.

Carsaig!

On the way we saw the Innemore Lodge (with vacancies!) and admired the sea front. We rode a stiff uphill on the way to the house and went back to Kilnoch hotel for a good dinner, again topped by a (more precisely: a few) single malt!

Typical Scottish views

Peter’s pocket PC is fantastic, he downloaded the map of North-West Scotland and could zoom in and out to view either a full quarter of Scotland or the smallest roads we were on at a scale of about 1/10,000; too bad it is not available in France or Italy (French IGN wants to earn money and thus obliges you to buy many maps or CD-Rom). He could also download waypoints and visualize the profile of the road we planned to follow, or the one we had just taken. A great gadget!

Sunday June 06 (D-Day 61 years ago!)

Rain and clouds for a change! Clothing is more or less dry after a night with the heater on. To-day we decided to take a rest and go hiking instead of biking. Our destination is Dun Bhuirgh along the coast, the site of a fossilized tree plus many impressive volcanic rock formations. We hiked 10 miles on a track along the coast; sometimes treacherous footing but stunning views, sheep, sea birds and very few people.

Along the coast towards Dun Bhuirgh

We saw a sea otter, wild goats, pentagonal basalt rock formations, waterfalls, and a fossilized tree (in fact what we see to-day is only the outline of the tree 30-40 million years old). What happened is that the tree, 4-5 feet diameter, was surrounded by lava, the tree (being cold) cooled down the lava and what is left is the imprint of the tree. Supposedly, according to guide books, there is still charcoal at the base of the tree.

Fossil tree and rocks at Dun Bhuirgh

Great rock formations at Dun Bhuirgh

Numerous great looking rock shapes and rock formations on the coast. Sun came out to accompany us back to the house. We had dinner at Diana, a friend who looks after the house that we occupied; she is an independent spirit and an expert gardener. Her son Richard was there too, he runs a computer business on the island. The excellent dinner was made even more enjoyable by the hot shower we had before hand.

Monday June 07

Amazing! Sunshine this morning. What a difference it makes, everything looks sparkling and pretty, great! let us hope it lasts! To-day we are going back to the mainland on A-849 along Glen More. We were told by Richard last night we would have to climb to 1200 feet, but in fact it was an easy ride with a maximum altitude of 800 feet. Road was superb in the moors, very little traffic, great views, another postcard picture of Scotland, even the clouds reappeared to complete the picture; in fact it even rained a little! We passed Loch Spelve and rode down to Craignure where we had to wait for the ferry to Oban, getting a bar to serve a cup of tea was a challenge, in spite of Peter’s knowledge of the language! Nothing was open and it was nearly 10:00.

In Oban, we had fish and chips in a place recommended by Rick Stein (a famous food critic I never heard of!) and they were exactly as fish and chips should be: salty and greasy! We finished them off on the train ride to Dalmally. There we followed an old military track (quite pleasant on our bikes) to join road A-819 along Loch Awe; heavy traffic until Cladish, where we took a small road (B-840), flat and enjoyable along the loch. Peaceful ride on gentle hills, sunshine, very different landscape from Mull, more British, more trees, more farms more houses, etc… We stopped for a few minutes to oil our chains and were immediately attacked by midges, darned biting insects sting hard and reach everywhere, pain in the a…

We reached Ford and took a single track road through Kilmichael forest. Nice landscapes and fantastic estates by the lake. Great place.

We arrived in Lochgilphead at 19:00 after having covered 106 km, a daily record for both of us, it is also true that with those hybrid bikes on asphalt roads one goes faster and further than with mountain bikes. We stayed in the Stag hotel, where the owner was surprised I wanted to see the rooms before taking them, weird Scots! Dinner at an Indian restaurant followed by, what else but a single malt to celebrate our good day.

Tuesday June 08

Sun is shining this morning, let see how long it lasts!!!! We left at 08:00 to catch the 09:15 ferry from Tarbert to Portavadie. Heavy traffic, longer than planned ride (25 instead of 15km) and the wrong timetable information from the lady in the Stag hotel made us miss the ferry. Fortunately they were frequent and we only waited a short while before embarking.

Tarbert and its ferry

When we arrived in Portavadie, there were lots of old motorbikes waiting to take the ferry, they had left plenty of oil marks on the road after their departure, some gaskets need fixing!!! We followed a scenic road to Millhouse, and then A-8003 to Port Driseach and Clachan of Glendaruel with views of the Island of Bute, our destination for to-day. Took A-886 to Colintraive to take the ferry to Rhubodach on Bute. It was a pleasant road (still A-886) along Loch Striven until Rothesay (the main city on the isle of Bute), with sailboats, sea birds, no rain, a nice ride!

Rhododendrons

Rothesay was a typical Victorian sea resort, a bit dead and run down, but “encore de beaux restes” as the French would say, and some potential, but it would need major efforts and repairs.  See article (and our comments) at http://living.scotsman.com/features/The-Rothesay-renaissance.2540524.jp .

Views of Bute Island

We found a pleasant B and B on the sea front, had separate rooms, good showers and large comfortable beds, great!. We walked around town for beer and dinner on the seawall restaurant, nice food and good service for our last dinner on that trip.

Wednesday June 09

We rode around the south end of Bute to Ascog and Kingarth, and took the ferry to Weymiss bay. The Weymiss terminal is a nicely preserved steel and glass structure, in fact it is classified (as it should be) as a historical landmark. We rode the train to Edinburgh after changing train stations in Glasgow, riding in a big city with wild traffic (this is all relative for someone used to Italian driving!) was a bit of a shock and a return to civilization !

Dinner and rest at Peter and Vickie’s place, plus of course celebratory single malt. In fact Peter offered me a bottle of Scappa single malt, known for its distinct taste of honey, I liked it (in fact I tend to like all malts, at least the ones we tasted during the trip!).

Final words

The perfect biking trip in Scotland: beautiful landscapes, not too hard, plenty of single malts to try, and of course this typical Scottish weather which provided a perfect testing ground for wet weather gear! The fact we rode mostly on asphalt roads was compensated by the low traffic and the courtesy of the local drivers, a welcome change from Italy. Peter as always was an excellent companion, in spite of his insistence on calling pouring rain a light drizzle! His palm pilot navigation was a great discovery.