FLAT OUT AND THE BOUGILLIE

YORKHILL - LOCHRANZA
50 miles

It had been a hectic end to the week which sprawled into Saturday and it's afternoon. The relaxed and satisfying meticulous checks were swapped with a frantic and sweaty dash to the bike shop to rake through old metal jars full of components that had been put into a coma. I resurrected a few and the bike was operational, if not quite finely tuned. Packing is always easy for these trips - the panniers only allow a certain amount and weight or lack of weight is the guiding rule. In retrospect I didn't use my gilet, arm warmers and lock but they aren't heavy and could have been invaluable - infact it's unusual not to need a gilet in Scotland no matter what the season.

Ross and Chris arrived within minutes of each other on Sunday morning - the coffee machine was primed and I was all packed. I'd even found a saddle for the bike and remembered water bottles (note to self - one bottle is really enough). We rolled through quiet streets, over the Clyde, down Paisley road west and jumped onto the bike path at Paisley canal before many had risen from their scratchers. We made pretty good progress to Dalry and then climbed our first hills (of many) toward Ardrossan Harbour. Arran had sadly been hidden but we were happy with the lack of mechanicals and our progress which had us in 40 minutes before departure. £18 each got our hopscotch ferry tickets all the way up the west coast which begs the question why one would want to take a car.

There are numerous reasons why a ferry is the best way to travel although I'm sure they're overlooked as a major pollutant. The Arran ferry had quite a few cyclists coming off as well as going on - those having cycled the previous day enjoying the better weather. We sat up in the lounge munching extremely tasty energy bars courtesy of Davidson and Third Enterprises before docking in Brodick to some traditional drizzle. We scooted a mile up the road to Hotel Ormidale for food - a hangout from back in the Glen Rosa camping days - it wasn't the best meal I'd ever eaten but it was homemade, pleasant and the service was excellent. Between talking about the new hit TV series 'Friends' which has apparently made it to the islands, the old bar-fly's proceeded to told us stories of the Bougillie - the hill we would finish the day's cycling on - which would take us from east to north Arran and our destination of Lochranza.

The cycle up to Sannox is a gentle affair that loses traffic the more miles you travel from Brodick. Birch, Pine and fern glow green on your left and the sea, relatively translucent, a more subdued bluey-green on your right. Soon you climb though. And it's easier when there's a shower and a bed at the other end. It's not such a bad hill but with panniers you still have to dig deep on a few sections. The downhill - with it's curves - was also a lesson in remembering how far to lean with a number of bags of sugar strapped to your back wheel.

The lovely road that brings you in to Lochranza, urban but wild, heralded an end to the first day in the saddle and time to clean up and eat again. A ceremony that would become routine on our short week of touring. Lochranza Youth hostel is great - newly refurbished with a fantastic kitchen, drying room, pleasant rooms and welcoming staff (and deer, bizarrely). We ate at the Hotel which was overpriced but midge-free, the staff having been trained by someone with a lobotomy. Great start - early bed.