Well, I don't think I'll be doing any exercise tomorrow morning. This was awful. Actually, perhaps I should quantify that statement. Firstly it was only a trial run for next week's cycle with Natasha. In all honesty, I just wanted to see that I was up to the challenge and before I go any further I have to say this - I cycled the whole way without having to stop (apart from scheduled breaks) and there was no rain and thankfully no wind - bbc weather wrong again!
Which brings be onto my next point - I arrived at 1040 and I was planning to get the 1640 back to Ardrossan. For some reason I had it in my head that that's what we'd done on the previous Arran cycles. So I made my usual stop at the Distillery to pick up a mini of that cold filtered whiskey which always marks the victory of crossing the Lochranza hill (incidently, it's now 10 years old - the whiskey not the hill - so is in a different bottle which provided a great deal of confusion with the girl at the desk but got me a free taste).
After that I headed to Blackwaterfoot which has to be the nicest section of the ride. It's almost completely flat and the scenery was incredible as there was no wind and the water on the west coast was completely still. With snowcapped Goat Fell in the background it was quite serene.
I really wasn't going all that fast as I had planned a more leisurely inspection of the course than next weeks ride. So you can imagine my confusion as I sat outside the pub in Blackwaterfoot drinking a pint of coke and eating a packet of salt and vinegar crisps, looked at the clock and realised I only had 2 hours to catch the 1640 ferry. I couldn't quite work it out - last time we'd stopped there for a full meal - not to mention we had some really slow cyclists with us who were miles behind.
Then it sunk in... Last time we had taken the 1920 back and if I didn't get a move on then I was going to have to wait about 3 hours for the next ferry. With that I powered on and suddenly started having flash backs to the time that Serban and I had to walk a great deal of the next 20 miles.
Thankfully, I didn't miss the ferry and I managed the whole section without stops but it was terrible. Not because I couldn't do it but because time was against me and this part of the Island is particularly hilly. At points I was only doing about 4.5mph and I cursed and swore and screamed at the seemingly endless gradient.
Finally with about 10 minutes to spare, I freewheeled into the ferry terminal and boarded the boat. It was a relief to say the least but I'm glad I did it. Now I have to try and decide if next weeks cycle is going to be a race for the ferry or a meandering sightseeing tour for the first-timers. I'll be voting for the second motion.
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