Day 7: Brodick, Arran to Oban
Mileage: 77
Cycling time: 6hr
Total mileage: 688
Total cycling time: 47hr 14m
Another action packed day which began with a brief pre-breakfast Wilmslow Running club morning team jog (me, Janine and Kate) alongside the beach at Blackwaterfoot next to our hotel, before we jumped back on the bus to rejoin our route at Brodick. We then took a beautiful route up the east coast of Arran following the shoreline, before a rather stiff climb under the shadow of the great bulk of Goat Fell brought us to Lochranza and our ferry over to Kintrye.
The day was memorable for stunning scenery throughout as we passed beside beautiful lochs, glorious countryside and the odd red deer. Thankfully the weather held up virtually all day with only a sprinkling of rain on the moor tops, although yet again we had to face a bracing wind although not as bad as yesterday.
Waiting for the ferry at Lochranza we met the first of quite a few cyclists today in the shape of iron-man Alex from Munich who was spending three weeks on the road, also on his way to John O'Groats, complete with his 25kg bike load.
On the road to Tarbert we also bumped in to Emma and Zoe from Cambridge University who were in training for a 1,000 mile race around Britain called the Varsity Triple Crown Challenge (www.varsitytriplecrownchallenge.com). Emma actually lived nearby and was simply on her way to Tarbert for a can of cat food!
After lunch in Lochgilphead with Alex and girls, it was heads down for the afternoon on the way to Oban where Richard demonstrated an astonishing change of pace thanks to a bottle of strawberry milk and even left Captain Lance trailing in his wake!
Finally we descended into Oban where seeing cars and shops again came as quite a shock, and checked into the harbour-front Caledonian. The end now feels in sight although we are all now feeling decidedly weary, but I'm sure our curry tonight will perk us up.