Blethering Blonde

Summer solstice, summer drowning. I'm sure Noah is hiding round here somewhere with this glorious weather we're having!!! Good job I made the most of our one day of summer last Tuesday. So here's the story. Arran is right on the doorstep and it's been way too long since I last was there. To be honest, the only times I've been there have been to get into the hills so the rest of the island is still pretty much a mystery to me. No hills this visit, I was going to be on my bike. Many cyclists aim on a visit to Arran is to go all the way round the island but at nearly 60 miles and with some significant climbs that are way beyond what I'd be capable of doing. My aim was to get to Lochranza, Stage 1 of a future plan. The ferry over was fairly busy which was nice to see. I took advantage of the onboard cafe. Yah for a square sliced in a roll. Soon enough we were at Brodick and we were off. Goat Fell from Brodick This north east stretch of Arran's coast is fa...

The weather forecast was just too good to ignore. Arran here I come..........................

Been helping out Jennifer get her stuff together for her Gold Duke of Edinburgh expedition. It's been entertaining as well as frustrating. They've got a great route through the Cairngorms starting with the Larig Ghru. It's even got a camp spot at 670m.   The frustrating bit wasn't so much about kit choice, she's borrowing our stuff, it was the food. I suppose feeding teenagers even in normal living conditions can be challenging but this takes it to another level. At least she's not  heading into the wilds with Pot Noodles but she's got a combination of pasta packets, cereal bars a selection of sweeties. I did manage to persuade her that pitta bread and Primula is actually quite good for hill food. Ah well so long as they enjoy themselves

I decided to make the most of yet another weather window of opportunity. This time I was going to be a wee bit adventurous and do a section of the National Cycle Network that I haven't done so far. It's still part of Route 7. I swithered about which direction I should tackle this but in the end decided that for logistical reasons it would be Lochwinnoch to Kilwinning due to the fact that the trains are only one an hour and I really didn't fancy hanging about to wait for a train at the end of this ride as I had no idea how I would do on it. The reason for the slight apprehension, this section has undulations!!!!! The rehab up until now has not involved any real hills of any description on foot or bike so this was going to be a real eye opener. I knew I could do the distance but was unsure how the knee would take going up hill. Only one way to find out and I do have to get those quads back to full functioning to load bear. It all started swimmingly. The section out of Lochwi...