The banks of Loch Lomond are still bonnie when one has a cold, but that's not much comfort. This was a tough one.
| Distance | 112km |
|---|---|
| Avg. Speed | 14.9km/h |
| Ascent | 546m |
| Descent | 632m |
| Bike time | 07:42:17 |
We had been in Paris during the week for Jack's work. There was lots of talk of train strikes for the day we were scheduled to fly out.
Thankfully, the trains ran and the flight was on time and we were back in Durham before we knew it.
But it was a whirlwind day of travel and un-packing and re-packing and more travel. We arrived in Balloch after dark and rode a short ways to the B&B.
Loch Lomond
Bike Day 1
| Distance | 76.8km |
|---|---|
| Avg. Speed | 15.1km/h |
| Ascent | 468m |
| Descent | 490m |
| Bike time | 5:15:40 |
It was the weekend of Daylight Savings and our B&B was on a farm. The owner told us they'd been milking the cows slightly earlier each day throughout the week to prepare for the jump. Apparently, cows don't like it if you just show up an hour earlier for milking one day, Daylight Savings or not.
We were ready to go early, excited for a bike along Loch Lomond, but still tired from yesterday's travel. I was also recovering from getting sick earlier in the week.
The excitement carried us through the first half of the day. We couldn't have dreamed up a better ride. The weather was overcast but not rainy. The clouds were works of art. There was a proper cycle path along the loch (no worries about cars). And it's mostly flat!
We stopped for tea and coffee at an adorable little blue coffee truck in a location that also had a unicorn sculpture and a map of a fairie trail (Sassanach).
Lunch was at a tourist centre with a cafe (Bonnie & Ben Takeaway). We thought about taking a ferry cruise to the other side of the loch, but the timetable wasn't in our favour.
If we had decided to head home at this point, I might have better memories of the day. But we originally planned to continue on to see a dam that looked like something out of Andor (Sloy Dam).
So, we continued on.
There was an immediate and dramatic uptick in elevation. Then it started raining and didn't stop. The dam was impressive but by the time we reached it I couldn't have cared less. I was trying to avoid throwing up.
On the way back I was miserable. Sick and cold and tired. Jack started flagging too. We grabbed a Co-op dinner and collapsed back at the B&B.
Glasgow
Bike Day 2
| Distance | 35.9km |
|---|---|
| Avg. Speed | 14.7km/h |
| Ascent | 78m |
| Descent | 142m |
| Bike time | 2:26:37 |
A good night's sleep made a world of difference. We both wished we could stay longer and have more time to explore.
Given that our history with catching trains is spotty (see Hexham, Bike Day 3 and Lindisfarne, Bike Day 2), we gave ourselves a ridiculously large time buffer to catch a train from Glasgow to Edinburgh.
Again, a delightful amount of dedicated cycle path and hardly any elevation. We enjoyed a leisurely ride. This stretch of National Cycle Route 7 highly recommended.
