Day 7 - Largs To Loch Linnhe

The beautiful evening of Thursday gave way to a blustery, wet day in Largs this morning. We set off at 0810 in rain, with a stiff Southerly wind helping us along. We'd been well fed with a superb breakfast cooked by our hostess Holly - the daughter of the house (Broome House B&B in Largs) who was holding the fort with her brother while their parents were away. Their hospitality and helpfulness were brilliant - especially the pile of still-warm dry washing which was deposited in the breakfast room! Now would you leave your teenage (apologies to Holly and brother if you're older!) son and daughter to run your B&B?

We knew it was a short ride up to the ferry which would take us over to Dunoon. After we'd gone about 3 miles, Matt commented that we'd missed the next ferry, as we could see it heading out. James thought (and commented) that it looked like the Rothesay ferry and thought nothing more of it. We duly arrived at the ferry terminal, and went into the classic Victorian station-cum-ferry terminal to get tickets. As James arrived at the kiosk, he heard the lady behind the glass saying to Matt "But Rothesay is on Bute, which is an island, you can't just have a single."

James interjected "Very sorry about this, I've been trying to explain this to him already, I'll take him away quietly now." and we headed off to Gourock to find the right ferry. Matt professing that on his maps, there was only one ferry!

Having managed to catch the right (and a lot smaller) ferry, we headed out of Dunoon and into some proper Scottish countryside. This was not before James found that, as he started off up the ramp from the ferry, his left knee was agony whenever he pushed off on it. Cue a serious amount of ibuprofen - taken while Joe was re-stowing his glasses which had fallen out of his pocket and had been retrieved from the middle of the road by James.

We progressed North, alongside Loch Eck, over the hills (thankfully not very big) and alongside Loch Fyne. We then had to go all the way up to the head of the loch, and back down to Inverary - rather galling as we could see Inverary (our lunch destination) for about two and a half hours before we finally reached it! All the time the scenery and light were improving (it had stopped raining by this point).

In Inverary we had a rather large lunch in a great coffee shop, served by attractive Bulgarian waitresses. Joe had soup of the day (smoked ham and lentil) followed by Caesar salad. James and Matt had a delicious pasta dish (parmesan and pear parcels, with a walnut sauce). However, after finishing this, James caught Matt's eye and said "I need more". Our waitress was concerned when we asked for two helpings of soup of the day, asking "Was not enough?" "Not for me, I'm afraid. I've got 110 kilometres to ride after lunch!" replied James. "Ah, I see." she replied, backing away slowly.

A large lunch did not set us in good stead for the very long climb we then faced out of the town. A good 3 miles of it, but with the reward of an eye-watering descent to the shores of Loch Awe. From the top of the hill, we were presented with a view of the North-East end of the loch, with the mountains behind illuminated by patchy sunshine. Just enough time to utter "Yee-ha!" before approaching terminal velocity.

We again had to round the head of the loch, with the initial temptation of seeing our prospective exit from the loch from the opposite shore, but with 6 miles still to go! We headed off up the Northern arm of the loch, and stopped at the Cruachan hydro-electric power station visitor centre for James to get rid of some coffee. The girl behind the reception desk asked if we would like a free tour (normally charged for), as it was policy that anyone who arrived by bike or public transport got a free tour. James pointed out that unfortunately we didn't have time, as we were off to Loch Linnhe. At which point, she said "My God, you're mad - you'd better get going!".

Onward we pedalled, crossing the bridge at the Falls Of Lora - and watching the massive eddies and overfalls below as the tide rushed through the narrow gap below. Finally, we arrived at Loch Linnhe, with only 22 miles to go. These final tens of miles are the hardest, as we just want to get to the end - so it was a case of "heads down", and we put on some pace to get it over and done with. The final torture was being able to see the B&B, but knowing that we had a 7 mile ride round the bay and out onto the headland where it was situated!

So, another long day - around 117 miles ridden over relatively flat roads.

Off to Tain tomorrow - around the same distance as today, and probably in the rain. Joy.

It's now 2330, and I need to get some sleep, so any other reports will have to wait.