Day 9 – Kintyre
My B&B last night, The Corran was a surprise: a Victorian former doctor’s surgery on the main A83 full of interesting art, very much to my taste, including an original E H Shepherd Christopher Robin drawing. It would have been nice to have a tour of all the rooms, but what I saw appealed.
No food available in the evening and a quarter mile walk to the Indian restaurant probably did me some good, shaking out the aches from my legs and knees. The restaurant, recommended by Pauline, the larger-than-life manager of the Corran, was tiny and was almost full when I arrived. I had to sit and wait for 20 minutes but it was worth it: good onion Bhaji and poppadums. Generous and well cooked Lamb Biriyani and stuffed paratha. I’d noticed that booze was BYO and called in at the Co-op for a couple of bottles of pale ale to help it all go down. I felt very full.
The shower was a bit unreliable, but I got myself washed. There was no opportunity to dry anything and the clothes I washed were still damp this morning. I slept fitfully despite a comfortable double bed in a large room, partly because I am concerned about the gear change on the bike which has become very stiff. Because of this I had searched for bike shops and found what looked like the perfect candidate in Tarbert, through which I was due to pass today. I rang several times, but it was engaged. When I finally got through to Dave, he said that he was no longer doing bike repairs but suggested I might try Kintyre e-bikes in Campbeltown, my destination. I reckoned I’d probably be OK getting there but decided to cut my journey down, missing out the Mull of Kintyre, celebrated in song by Wings and written whilst Paul McCartney was resident in Kintyre. My legs and knees are aching and the thought of cycling 70 miles is not appealing so I cut it down to 49 miles and even that was exhausting.
After a well-cooked FSB with running commentary from the loquacious Pauline,, I started cycling at 0937 in the rain, on the main road that follows the Crinan Canal which disgorges into Loch Gilp at Ardrishaig. The forecast was for rain all day but mercifully it stopped before I reached Tarbert and stayed away for most of the day with odd showers. The wind was on my nose all day but not over strong. The west coast of Kintyre is fairly flat with the odd steepish pitch which I negotiated with the motor rather than changing gear. Because of the weather the phone stayed in my pocket most of the day and what pictures I took are poor. Just past Tarbert is West Loch Tarbet which almost cuts the Kintyre peninsula in two and several ferry services start from here to the outer Isles.
The road climbed past Kennacraig and there were rhododendrons in full bloom to brighten the otherwise dull afternoon
After Clachan the road closely follows the Atlantic coast with the low island of Gigha evident to the west
Only 35 miles into the journey I was finding it hard to keep going and stopped several times to recover.
Finally, the road dropped down into Campbeltown, a whisky destination for those in the know. At one point there were 30 distillers in the town but now there are only 3. The Dellwood hotel was on the road into town, so I had no problem finding it.
I immediately went in search of Kintyre e-bikes, but the unprepossessing single door exterior was firmly bolted. Tracey, the owner of Dellwood suggested another outlet but, again, it was closed. Finally, I went back to the hotel, had a good look at the derailleur and, after a conversation with Rob at home and a couple of twists of a screw I think I may have solved the problem. If so, I would have felt a proper muppet if I’d taken the bike to an “expert”. I’ve another 68 miler tomorrow to find out if I’ve solved the problem and there are a couple of ferries en route, which I’ve booked, to ease the pain of cycling all day.
