The day in numbers

• 86 miles
• 5hr 18min in saddle
• 12.6 mph average speed
• 32.1 mph maximum speed
• 2,333 feet of climbing
• 5,159 calories burned
• 1 spoke broken

What an eventful day!!  I had been looking forward to this leg of the journey with a mixture of trepidation and excitement.  Trepidation because it is the longest leg of the journey, and more miles than I have ever cycled before.  Excitement because I would be traveling up the side of Loch Lomond, so expected some spectacular scenery.

The day started on a fantastic note when Moira, the lady who served us breakfast at the hotel slipped me ten pounds for our sponsorship fund.  She then came back a few minutes later with another two pounds from the kitchen staff.  So a big “THANK YOU” to the Lochside Hotel in New Cumnock.  Not only was it a great hotel, but the staff are special too.

The day was a good 10C colder than the day before, so cold weather clothing was the order of the day.  The first 15 miles were mainly downhill on fast roads, so I made good time before heading across country on slower (but quieter) roads to join the A77 and on towards Glasgow.  When I got to this road I found a veritable dual carriageway of a bike lane running alongside it, so I hopped on that and continued my journey without having to worry about the cars and lorries any more.

A couple of miles down the bike lane disaster struck.  I heard a loud POP, and realized one of my back spokes had snapped.  It must have been due to the rubbish roads I’d been travelling on earlier in the day.  Now if I’d been traveling solo this could have been a near terminal event.  Fortunately, a quick call to Joan had her alongside me in 15 minutes and I was able to swap my back wheel for a spare we were carrying.  Joan then headed off to the nearest bike shop to do a repair, while I continued on towards Glasgow.

Navigating Glasgow wasn’t much fun, particularly when I realized my chosen route would take me through the Clyde Tunnel.  Not a good idea for a bike rider, so I bailed out near the entrance to the tunnel and meandered along the riverside to find an alternative crossing point.  This added a couple of miles to my journey, but was definitely a safer option.

My route out of Glasgow had me heading up the A82 towards Loch Lomond.  What a scary road that is!  Dual carriageway, with everyone bombing along at 90 miles an hour.  This is a route I’d do once, but no more.  As I approached the Loch I was thinking I’d have to live with the A82 all the way to my destination, but was delighted to see the West Loch Lomond Cycle Path running alongside the main road.  Now this is a gem of a path, which takes you along the banks of the Loch and skirts around the Loch Lomond Golf Club.  I have to say this is the closest I’ll ever get to playing at that this famous golf club!  This part of the journey was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me – magnificent scenery at every turn, and a path which no one else was using.

Arriving at Tarbet, 6 miles from my eventual destination, I met up with Joan, her sister Bridget and two of her nieces (Laura and Eleanor).  They were joining us for the night to give us some moral support (and some good company!).  Pictures taken, it was then off for the final push to Ardlui and the end of a long, action packed day.

Joan’s bit

I was pleased to see that there was a ‘cycle route’ alongside the A77 to Glasgow, as this would keep Stephen safe.  Then came the call re the broken spoke !!  I popped back to swap the wheels and set off to a cycle shop in Glasgow for the repair. Ah, but it wasn’t quite as easy as they’d led us to believe as Stephen has flat spokes, not round spokes. Over an hour later I set off from the shop to catch Stephen with a temporary repair in place, (or botch job according to Stephen).

We met up at a Little Chef in Dumbarton for a quick snack, I was quite fed up as the traffic was awful and it was getting late.  As we approached Loch Lomond it all changed, the scenery was beautiful and I got a call from Bridget to say they were not far away.  Shortly after, they called from Luss to say they may be a while as they were following a very slow car. (That was me !!!).

We all tracked Stephen from Tarbet to our hotel in Ardlui and enjoyed a lovely evening, with fine wine and good food, (courtesy of Bridget).  We also belatedly celebrated her recent birthday. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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