Week 4
Monday 25 June to Sunday 1 July 2007 (Barrow-in-Furness to Uig)
Day 23 - Monday 25/6/07 - Rest day
Although I will end each evening spending welcome time with the support team (ie. the family), the next stint differs from that before in a number of respects. Firstly I will be covering more miles each day than when I was in the South West. Also, our accommodation will be B&B or hotel rather than the caravan (it seemed too much hassle to up sticks every day). Not insignificant though is the fact that, because I will have a support team at the end of each day, I won’t need both my rear panniers. After yesterday’s marathon, I begin with a much needed rest day.
Day 24 - Tuesday 26/6/07 - Barrow-in-Furness to Carlisle - Estimated miles: 90
The day starts with the A590/A595 (although I may turn onto a white road at Duddon Bridge and miss the corner down to Whicham). It’s still the A595, stopping off at the Whitehaven branch, all the way up to Carlisle.
Day 25 - Wednesday 27/6/07 - Carlisle to Kilmarnock - Estimated miles: 95
To start the day, a little bit up the A74 (or neighbouring minor road alternatives) to the Scottish border at Gretna. Depending on my mood at this stage, I’ll either be taking the slightly more direct A75 or the quieter B721/B724 route across to Dumfries. It’s then the A76 all the way up to Kilmarnock.
Day 26 - Thursday 28/6/07 - Kilmarnock to Glasgow - Estimated miles: 60
From Kilmarnock, it’s up the A735 past Stewarton to Lugton. Then it looks like a series of B roads (777/775/776/786/788) all the way to Greenock (home of the Inverclyde branch). Then I want to keep as close to the A8 (but wherever possible avoiding the road itself) into Glasgow where hopefully we shall have a slap up meal with one of my sisters and my nephew who live there.
Day 27 - Friday 29/6/07 - Glasgow to Glencoe - Estimated miles: 90
The support team changes for the next part of the journey as my mum and dad head back home by plane to the East Midlands. In the meantime, Sarah’s mum and dad will have caught a train in the opposite direction and it is they that will escort Sarah, Shem and Sylvia from now until I reach the northernmost point of the mainland on Wednesday. This is the start of a four day assault on the Stornoway branch with no friendly Sams branches to chivvy me on along the way. I begin the day by somehow navigating my way out of Glasgow, on or near the A814 or A82 past Dumbarton and then alongside Loch Lomond. Indeed, navigation appears to be dead easy (which I suspect is the only thing that will be easy on this stage) as it’s the A82 all the way up to Glencoe, the stopping off point for the night.
Day 28 - Saturday 30/6//07 - Glencoe to Harrapool (via Mallaig) - Estimated miles: 80
The plan is that the support team will leave in the car all the way up the A82 to Invergarry and then take the A87 to the Kyle of Lochalsh and over the Skye Bridge, meeting me on the island at Harrapool. I on the other hand will leave Glencoe on the same A82 but will turn left at Fort William along the A830 all the way to Mallaig. Then it’s a ferry to Armadale on the island of Skye and up the A851 to Harrapool.
Day 29 - Sunday 1/7/07 - Harrapool to Uig - Estimated miles: 40
Largely today is a rest day. I shall probably not set off until the afternoon on what I hope will be between two and three hours of cycling up to Uig where I stay overnight (waiting for the ferries to the Western Isles to start running again – they don’t operate on a Sunday).