Sreath Bhean-ntan
TOBAR MHOIRE - CALGARY BAIGH- ARDNACROSS DIST: 42 miles
Second day cycling and another morning bathed in sun. I really couldn't believe my luck. There was a lot of whistling going on as I rolled out of the hostel to pick up breakfast from the deli on the front. I popped in to check ferry times and had a good blether with the harbour master who it turned out was a keen road racer. I should have known from the wirey figure and scorched nose. He told me some welcome tales of the fabled Bealach na Ba hill climb of which the guy from the garage won last year. He also filled me in on my days cycle ahead which was useful.
I crunched up the hill toward Dervaig and looked back for a final glimpse of the colourful bay. The road to Dervaig wasn't without its climbs but the lochs and undulating scenery of northern Mull kept a smile on my face and soon I was speeding down to Calgary Bay. The place was better than I had expected but then, had it been grey or raining I might not have stayed for an hour and a half to sunbathe, listening to the birds around me, the breeze flow over my back and the tide wash back and forth. I ate the rolls the deli made up for me and started south.
The climb out of the bay was for a few miles and constant with a few calf-busting moments. I'm glad I had been conservative in my packing. I passed the usual heard of cows, looking on without expression - just chewing, as I grinded up the climb. At the top I had no idea I would be met by these views. South Mull opened up miles ahead of me which rivals the grandeur of Skye. These were decent sized mountains and the road signs soon started mentioning percentages well above 12%. There was very little traffic - on the bike you do feel as if the place belongs to you. I met a surveyor and we discussed the roads and his job for a while. A few miles on up Loch na Keal I came upon some wildlife buffs - the bearded seal I was looking at through the telescope, basking in the sun, was apparently from the arctic and hadn't been seen in Scotland for fifty years (having read the article I think they were all beginning to exaggerate). I left the heavily weathered but very happy group of spotters to go about their business and sauntered the last 10 miles to my next bed in Ardnacross.
