Separation Anxiety (June 24th Update)

For the second time in as many mornings, I looked out the window to be greeted by a sunny Scotland sky. Apparently, much like Philadelphia, it’s always sunny in Scotland, too. Who knew?

Despite the sunny skies, it was a dark day to be in Scotland. The morning began watching David Cameron’s press conference regarding yesterday’s “Brexit” results – including his resignation announcement. It was a bit surreal. It almost felt like I was watching a movie. Sadly, it wasn’t. It was very much real.

As would be expected, the conversation of the morning was dominated by “Brexit” talk and the implications of those results. It’s really hard to fathom. And I was given a bit of a lesson as to who might replace David Cameron. I’ll admit, prior to this I didn’t know much about Boris Johnson – now I wish I didn’t. Donald Trump has nothing on him – although, I’m sure Trump would dispute that. (Update: Johnson has since announced he will not be in the race to be the next Prime Minister)

With all that said, this isn’t a political blog and I’m no expert on European politics (although, I’ve been known to have political opinions more than once) so, vote results notwithstanding, the open road was still calling and I needed to answer that call. Side note: I spend one day in the UK and it all falls apart. It’s not my fault. Seriously.

Okay, so today’s plan included two short rides and one ferry. I officially hit the road at 11:10 AM and, as if on cue, the sun that had been shining for most of the morning had been blocked by clouds and the rain started moments before my departure. Welcome to Scotland.

The first short ride of the day was from Gary and Fiona’s place to Ardrossan on the west coast. A 38 km ride. The rain continued for about 30 minutes after which the rain stopped but cloudy skies remained. Briefly. Then the sun actually came out. And stayed. It was beautiful. As was the ride. Seriously, the ride was stunningly beautiful. Not a bad way to start a tour.

I arrived at the Ardrossan ferry terminal in plenty of time (but not TOO much time) to catch the 1:30 crossing to the Isle of Arran. The ferry crossing was only about 45 minutes and dropped me (and everyone else) off at Brodick. From there it was only 23 km to Lochranza where I planned to camp for the night.

During yesterday’s map review with Gary, he pointed out two possible routes to Lochranza. One was a slightly longer route that was both scenic and relatively flat. The direct route was also relatively flat until it became entirely un-flat. Not surprisingly, I opted for the direct route. I don’t know why. Actually, I do. Gary had warned me about the big climb (aka. The Boguillie) and, well … I was curious. I’m not going to lie, for a first day climb it was pretty significant as it included 10% grades at few points. That was made even more challenging when my bike decided to not allow me to drop down into the granny gear. It was definitely a workout. That said, I’m glad I did it.

The biggest downside to the direct route was that it meant I wouldn’t go through Machrie which meant I wouldn’t see the Machrie Moor stone circles – apparently the best known archaeological site on Arran. I guess my archaeological ode to Indiana Jones will have to wait (no, I don’t really have a planned ode to Dr. Jones).

Even though I can legally camp anywhere in Scotland (well, essentially anywhere), I opted to spend my first night in a real campground. I needed to charge some devices and I thought a real campground might have WiFi. They did. That said, I didn’t use the WiFi much.

About 1 km up the road from the campground is Lochranza castle. I considered staying at the campsite, making some dinner, updating my blog, etc … but considering it was such a beautiful sunny day I thought I’d best take advantage of it. I don’t know how many sunny days there will be. If I were a betting man, I’d guess not many.

With my bike locked up (likely unnecessarily), I opted to take a leisurely walk to the castle. Side note: Castles are great. Ruined castles in particular. That’s my preference anyway.

Lochranza castle would definitely qualify as a ruin … not to the point where it’s just a pile of rocks that used to be a castle. But rather a very old structure that still very much looks like a castle but one that isn’t going to be lived in any time soon (still impressive considering it dates back to the 13th century).

After exploring the castle for a bit, I was tempted to wander further up the road for some fish and chips. Instead I walked back to my campsite and fired up my Trangia alcohol stove (with my newly purchased purple methylated spirits) and heated up some rice. I won’t mention how long I’ve been carrying that rice (Hint: It may have been given to me in San Francisco during last year’s ride). Despite it being slightly past its expiry date (those are just guidelines, right?), it wasn’t the worst rice I’ve ever had. Actually, it was very good – probably not “fish and chips” level good, but still good … although it probably wasn’t nearly enough calories for the day. Good thing I had a big breakfast. Did I mention the breakfast I had at Gary and Fiona’s? It was a feast. A great, big, delicious feast! Thanks again Gary and Fiona.

My first day back on the road concluded with my first encounter with midges. Midges are adorable little creatures. Of course, by “adorable” I mean tiny little monsters. They’re smaller than a blackfly but bigger than a noseeum (although, not much). They resided all around and on my tent for most of the early evening but at this moment it’s starting to get dark and cool (one might even say very cool … or even cold) and most of them seem to have called it a night.

Midges update: Yeah, I retract that statement about the midges calling it a night. I just wandered over to the washrooms and the midges were everywhere. Including the washrooms. And I’m not talking a few. Seriously. They were everywhere. Upon returning to my tent I pondered how best to get into my tent without it filling up with midges. In the interest of self-preservation, my pondering was short lived and I opted to dive into my tent and hope for the best. “The best” translated into me spending the next 10 minutes killing dozens and dozens of the tiny monsters that invaded my tent during the four seconds the door was open.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 62.07 km
Ride time: 3:17:30
Average speed: 18.75 km/h
Maximum speed: 49.81 km/h
Ferries: 1
Castles: 1