The Secret continues

I seem to remember early in September, posting about a ride I did on Arran and promising to post about the second ride. Sorry for the delay but here it is.

A couple of days after the first ride I met up with a neighbour of the friends we were staying with. Ian is his name. He is a forestry worker and a Highland Games competitor so a tad on the healthy side.

We decided to do the Northern loop out of Brodick. The route takes you North (as if you hadn't guesed) along the coast towards Sannox with lovely views back towards Brodick



and occasional sightings of local wildlife



The above image is of a wooden sculpture. Good isn't it? There were a dozen or so other tourists trying to photograph the seal!

As we rode, we met a couple of youg guys who it turned out, were doing a self supported End to End, doing the Lands End to John O'Groats version. They had arrived the previous day and were taking in the island before going back to the mainland the next day and heading for their next stop- Loch Ness



Ian is on the right in red and black. I didn't catch the names of the two lads unfortunatley. We rode together until we reached the Youth Hostel at Lochranza where they were staying. They were on holiday from school and having a bit of an adventure. Well done them. I hope they finished ok and had the experience they anticipated.

The route was all coast road until we left Sannox, where the road cut inland a little and started the long climb up The Boguillie. Though only to 200 meters, it was over quite a long distance, so sustained but no too steep. Once again, the countryside and views were beautiful





Sorry about the crappy photos' but my point and shoot was letting me down a bit.

Once we had topped out, there was a nice smooth descent towards Lochranza and, in true Secret Cyclist style, it was Yahoo Banshee Warrior time as I tucked in over the top tube and gave it loads of wellie. We then rode into Lochranza where our end to enders peeled off, leaving Ian and I to continue our ride. Lochranza is a pretty little place tucked away in a little bay to the west of the Northern tip of the island, known as The Cock of Arran. I think its location must have been quite significant once upon a time-



By now, the geography of the island was demonstrating its effect on the weather. It was dry and bright on the East side of the island but, the West side was the opposite. The mountainous spine of the island was keeping the weather on the west side and wew were riding in a fine drizzle. Not to worry though becuase the riding was very pleasant and the views kept the spirits up



This was the last picture I took on this ride as the camera didn't like the wet.

We rode south along the coast again, through the little vilages of Pimmill, Dougana and Tormore, a nice flat road where, if you were minded, a bit of a chain gang could get going but, Ian and I were just out for a pleasant ride. As we approached Blackwaterfoot, we turned off the main drag and cut inland towards Shiskine and The String, which wold give me the opportunity of doing this road in the opposite direction. The drizzle had kept it up so the roads were wet, though not too bad. The String in this direction presents a longer, shallower ascent up to its 235 meter summit and the effort needed to make the climb had the added benefit of keeping the body temperature up, shrugging off the cooling effects of being wet.

Once at the summit, we were then confronted with the steeper, shorter descent in to Brodick. It was still drizzling and the road on the East side of the mountains was now wet as well. I still tucked in and gave it wellie, though maintained a slight air of decorum, keeping the speed under control. Because of the wet I only managed a 49.1 mph descent. I'd love to do this in the dry!

After getting to the bottom of The String, it was a short run in to Brodick and a nice cup of tea. A loop just shy of 38 miles with gorgeous views, quiet roads, great climbing and cracking descents.

I love Arran. Don't tell too many folk though otherwise the place will get swamped!

About my Secret

Sorry about the delay. Stuff going on and so little time yadda yadda yadda.....

Anyway, last post I wrote about a secret location which I would share with you if you promised not to tell. Well, I'm going to hold you all to that promise. The secret location is the Isle of Arran, of the west coast of Scotland, tucked in between Ardrossan and the Kintyre peninsula-



This is a beautiful island. For me as a road cyclist, there are a handful of routes to explore, with the bonus of it being impossible to get lost. I say this because there are a very small number of roads that lead anywhere other than into small residential closes or to remote farms. There is the main island circuit road of around 57 miles and two other roads that bisect the island. These roads provide a number of options-

Each of these routes starts at the main town (big village) of Brodick.

The Island Loop- the full 57 mile loop.

The Northern Loop- Via Lochranza and then cutting across the island on The String Road from Blackwaterfoot on the west side of the Island.

The Southern Loop- Via Lamlash and Sliddery, again cutting across the island on The String Road.

The Northern Loop can be extended by cutting across the island from Sliddery to Lamlash via The Ross Road.

The Southern Loop can be shortened by using The Ross Road as opposed to The String.

Any one of these options can be interchanged to make longer r shorter routes (a figure 8 ride doing north and south and cutting across The String or The Ross?)

Each route can be ridden clockwise or anti clockwise, providing different challenges such as climbing steeper sides of the ascents.

I did two rides whilst I was there. The first was thew shortened Southern Loop, starting at Brodick, over The String to Blackwaterfoot and then back over The Ross to Lamlash-

To start with, The Ross goes up


and up


and up


but ends up providing stunning views back down towards Brodick


and onwards towards Blackwaterfoot


a pretty little village looking towards the Kintyre Peninsula and, on a clear day, the coast of Northern Ireland




I then headed south towards Sliddery along the coast road

(looking back toward Blackwaterfoot) before cutting back across the island via The Ross and through Glen Scorrodale

which eventually started going up


and then dropped down towards Lamlash


which is just a short boat ride from Holy Isle


It was then about half an hour back to Brodick where, after dinner, this was my view whilst doing the washing up


A 31 mile loop and lovely all the way.

Some of the road surfaces are a bit iffy, particularly on The Ross. The descent into Lamalsh is steep and fast but I wasn't confident about it's quality so took it a bit easy. A few laps and a bit of familiarity would soon see Yahoo Banshee Warrior descending though. One 'moment' was on this descent. I had walked across a couple of cattle grids because they were the large gap type but, as I reached the bottom of the last descent I saw another approaching- fast!. I grabbed big handfuls of brake and stopped with a couple of feet to spare. I bloke was just getting out of a van as I did this. He commented that it could have got interesting to which I agreed. He reassured me though that all would have been well. He was leading a Scout camp and there were several young folk dying to practice their first aid!

I will post about the second ride when I come back from my holiday.

See you all in a couple of weeks.

I have a secret

I have just returned from a break at a secret location. This location has some tremendous cycling routes and stunning views.

Once I get my photo collection sorted and if you promise not to tell anyone (don't want just anyone finding out) I may share some of it with you.

As a taster, on the second of the two rides I did, the second half of the ride was in rain and drizzle. Therfore the descent I rode was taken a little on the 'cautious' side, mostly freewheeling. I still topped out at a smidge over 49mph!

Butterfly and Clarion got married

On Saturday 31st July 2010 I rode from my home to Didcot Parkway railway station.

What possesed me to do this I hear you ask?

I rode to Didcot Parkway railway station to meet up with fellow cyclists with whom I am aquainted at yacf. Included in the cyclists I was to meet were Butterfly and Clarion. They ahd got married earlier that day in London and had then ridden their tandem (in complete wedding regalia) to Paddington where they boarded a train to Didcot. We then had a wedding convoy to a camp site in Watlington where the happy couple hosted a wedding reception BBQ/ campover. A really good idea and a tremendous day.



Thanks to Charlotte (aka Bicycleslut) who took the photo.

Many more can be found here along with a flavour of the day.

Congratulations again to Butterfly and Clarion.

The Tour is over

Well, that's it for another year. The dust has settled (hopefully) on the latest installment of Le Grand Boucle and I sit here waiting for next year.

I thoroughly enjoyed this years instalment ad will write more when time allows.

I survived.

On Monday I posted about Yin and Yang and Karma and stuff just before setting off for home.

Just to put your minds at rest- I survived but, no thanks to the lawmakers known as Murphy and his evil henchman Sod.

Murphy saw fit to make sure EVERY traffic light was at red and a lot of junctions were occupied whilst Sod just wound up his lungs and spent the whole journey providing me with my very own private 15mph headwind.

To cap it all however, a mad Scientist somewhere must have failed an experiment which caused a warp or a tear in the Space Time Contiueinueinueinum. That is the only explanation I have. What happened was I was negotiating a roundabout and as I did so, a car that should have given way failed to. Why the theory about the warp or a tear in the Space Time Contiueinueinueinum? Well, as the driver failed to give way to me, he also failed to even look at me. The only explanation I can come up with for this is, he didn't look at me because I wasn't there. The only possible explanation for me not being there must be because I was viewing our universe from a parallel one on the other side of the warp or a tear in the Space Time Contiueinueinueinum.

Simples.

P.S.

The Tour de France!
Wow, what a great first few days. The stage across the cobbles used during Paris- Roubaix is probably one of the most exiting stages I have ever watched.

Bring it on!

Should I be scared?

I am about to leave the desk and get ready to ride home.

The problem is that, what with Karma or Ying and Yang, this could be payback time.

The ride to work this morning was flawless. Each junction I came to had no approaching traffic on the major route so I didn't need to give way/ stop. Each roundabout I came to was clear to the right so I didn't need to give way. Each set of traffic lights I encountered was either green or changed to green on my approach so I didn't need to stop. Each vehicle that overtook me this morning did so giving me loads of room.

If you don't hear from me for a while- Murphy must have caught up with me.