DAY 14 - New Cumnock to Lochranza

Simon Sez

By this time Humph is much fitter than an alley rat. He is still in open toed sandals but the hush puppies have dried out. We charge to Kilmarnock, fast main road. We refuel. I buy an enormous map of Scotland, bigger than a double bed.

We missed the 12:30 ferry  to Ardrossan to go Arran by some 20 minutes which gives us time for a decent lunch with Humph before we part company. We appear to have gate crashed a Ladies-Who-Lunch club – there are about 40 women in various groups eating, gossiping and guzzling white wine and 3 wild and ragged male cyclists in shorts.

Humph catches the train from Ardossan to Hull via Glasgow with a minute to spare and we take the ferry to Arran armed with the remains of the Bruichladdich.

I thought I knew something about hills until I got to Arran! But what a beautiful island. Huge  mountains rise straight out of the sea. We cycle alongside the seashore towards Lochranza in the sun.  We see a pair of red-breasted mergansers in the sea and hear a cuckoo loud and clear. Amazing that a cuckoo flies each year from Africa to Arran. Then the hill – “The Boguillie”. My former partner Nina Wilson whose parents have a house on Arran had mentioned the hill to me. She is not one to given to exaggeration. She said there was “quite a hill” before Lochranza. Quite a hill! The understatement of the last 10 years!  What a bugger! It went on and on and up and up into the mountains and got steeper and steeper. I couldn’t believe it. John just pressed a little harder on the pedals. I collapsed.

The ride down to Lochranza was fantastic. We stay at the 5 star Youth Hostel. Spotless. We share a room with 4 strange men – double bunks. I only ever saw one of them. We eat at the wonderful Lochranza Hotel overlooking a loch and drank several pints of Deuchars. What a beautiful place is Lochranza. As wild and as romantic as its name. An enormous rainbow seats itself on the hill on the far side of the loch from the hotel.

We get back to the hostel late. Our room is in darkness and the 4 strange men are asleep in their bunks. John crashes around and I put the light on. We go to bed no doubt roundly cursed by the 4 strange men who had inevitably woken. John said I snored. I didn’t but I heard him snore.

In the morning we were up early and left the 4 strange men in bed.

I could murder a cigar

Footnote.  We have now travelled over 700 miles in two weeks. But Scotland is a big place with monstrous hills and monstrous rain.