Ride all the OS mapsThe Isle of Jura is a large, mountainous and empty place, just across a narrow sound of water from Islay, to which it is linked by a regular car ferry. It only takes about 10 minutes to make the crossing from Port Askaig, a small but colourful cluster of buildings and boats on the Islay […]
Yesterday, as you might have gathered, was a special day. Today was up there with it. The weather again played its part, offering more of the same sunshine, bright skies and a stiff westerly breeze. And to do Islay justice we had given ourselves another night here, which allowed us to cycle all day today […]
Today was a day I had been looking forward to very much. I was going back to Islay. I have a very soft spot for this island, partly because it is a very lovely, peaceful, place; partly because it holds some fond memories for me; but maybe most of all because it is the source […]
Having reached the end of the previously published plan, I suppose I ought to add a bit about what happens next, to the extent that it is known. I have been joined by my wife, Jenni, for the next section and our collective movements are outlined below. At the end of this 9th coast to […]
I did my first ever podcast today! It was easier than I thought, since it involved little more than answering questions about this cycling challenge in a relaxed interview style. It all came about thanks to a chance meeting with 2 other cyclists on a delayed ferry as I was trying to get off North […]
The weather today did just about the exact opposite to yesterday. That is to say it rained when it had been dry yesterday, and was dry when it had rained. I had some clue this would be the case (it’s called the weather forecast), so I planned for as late a departure from Inverary as […]
Today I feel I did full justice to OS map 55. I pretty much spent all day in it and covered it from one side to the other. It was a long day. The trouble is that you can’t really cross it in anything other then a very zig-zaggy line, thanks to a plethora of […]
I should have been writing this ages ago; but I was instead having a long and interesting conversation with the owner of the house I am staying in on Seil Island, an hour’s cycle or so to the south of Oban. It turns out that we have much in common, and are both trying to […]
Things seem to be looking up for Scotrail. On a day when the rest of the country was beset by more train strikes, Scotrail ran a normal service. And by normal, I don’t mean their emergency timetable of late; but their full blown reinstated timetable of yesteryear. So it’s nice to be able to report […]
One of the many delights of this adventure, so far, has been that the vast majority of my cycling has been done on virtually empty, or at least very quiet roads, with respectful drivers when vehicles have appeared. There have been a few exceptions; but really there are not many of the roads so far […]