Lochs and Glens South

[mcshroom]

I finally managed to get out and do my first tour on my own this week. I started in Carlisle on Wednesday and followwed NCN route 7 (Lochs and Glens South) for the 225 miles up to Glasgow finishing yesterday.

I'll try and write a full report tomorrow (I've been feeling a little washed out today) but some of the things I really remember include: -

• Meeting the Llamas near Annan in the fog
  
• Riding up to the Bruce monument at the top of Glen Trool. The views of the Glen and the loch from there are absolutely amazing
• Realising that I'd got my distances wrong on day two, so i had 72 miles to do not 50
  
• It was so sunny I got sunburn, in Scotland, in March!
• Listening to the history of all the different tiny little farmhouses around Glentrool village in the pub in Bargrennan
• Riding up to and decending the Nick of the Balloch in Galloway Forest
• Chatting to an 88 year old lady on Troon Promenade who told me about how she had been cycle touring with her husband around northern Scotland in the 1940s, and after her brakes failed she had to be taken to hospital with a bone sticking out of her arm.
• Riding up to the door of the Station at the end and the feeling of accomplishment.

I've put my pictures up on Flickr if anyone fancies having a look at the route.

Solo touring seems to offer a different experience to cycling in a group. Although there is no-one to talk to when you feel like it sometimes, I found that instead of basically staying with my friends for the whole time, I was far more immersed in the countryside I was passing through, and more involved with the people i encountered along the route. If you haven't tried it i would definitely recommend having a go

Oh and now i want to do the other section of the route from Glasgow to inverness

 

[Telemark]

Hi Mcshroom,

glad to see you had a good time. Lots of sunshine in your photos (apart from the foggy llamas ), thought of you a few times while sitting in the office and looking out at the brilliant weather...

Looking forward to the proper write-up!

Sleep well,

T

 

[snorri]

I finally managed to get out and do my first tour on my own this week.

Good to read such an upbeat first time tourer report.
Enjoyed the photos too.
I share your views regarding speaking to the locals, touring is not all about the cycling, it's also about the people you meet.

 

[Ticktockmy]

I glad you enjoyed your first solo tour, It can seem quite daunting planing and preparing for the first time, I hope for you tihis is the first of many solo tours. I enjoyed your pic's nice to see places I have past thought on my tours also.

I am also looking forward to your full report, maybe it will inspire others to start out solo touring

 

[Coco]

• It was so sunny I got sunburn, in Scotland, in March!

Sssshhhh! You're meant to keep that a secret

Really good photos. I did part of that route on Friday. First time I've done the Irvine to Kilbirnie part. Its a nice wee route.

 

[aberal]

Well done. There's nothing quite like solo touring - you get to know yourself. My first tour was across Australia by myself, which was one hell of an introduction. Sounds like you will be spreading your wings a bit more next time round! Where did you stay as a matter of interest?

 

[ufkacbln]

I stayed in the pub at Bargrennan - very friendly and the biggest dinner I have ever seen!

 

[shirokazan]

Excellent to hear about your journey, mcshroom, and wonderful photos. Last year I cycled from Carlisle to Fort William via Galloway and was quite taken with the area. I used NCN7 in places but also ventured over to the Rhins of Galloway. Here's the route I took: http://ow.ly/4o6BN.

Looks like you had better weather than me judging by your picture of the Bruce Stone: this is what it looked like when I was there. And now I know what the glen leading north from Glentrool village looks like! I only had visibility of about 100m at times. Pity I missed out the Nick of the Balloch that looked breathtaking. Instead, I took the right hand branch at the fork in the road by the David Bell Memorial.

I must get back there again but I'm too busy touring elsewhere in the UK!

 

[Telemark]

Looks like you had better weather than me judging by your picture of the Bruce Stone: this is what it looked like when I was there.

Nice photo, very atmospheric (and what a lot of visitors expect Scottish weather to be like all the time, shrouded in mist, damp & dead romantic )

At least you wouldn't have got sunburn that day ...

 

[shirokazan]

Nice photo, very atmospheric (and what a lot of visitors expect Scottish weather to be like all the time, shrouded in mist, damp & dead romantic )

At least you wouldn't have got sunburn that day ...

Dead right there, Telemark. That said, whilst it was misty with low-lying cloud around Glen Trool, it didn't rain until much later in the day, at Dailly as I was heading to Girvan for my overnight stop. I sheltered at a bus stop for ten minutes but I still became fairly wet, though I had dried out a bit by the time I reached Girvan. Stayed cloudy and a bit chilly for most of the tour, alas.

 

[rualexander]

Nice photos, the 'Nick o' the Balloch' road is a great ride.
By the way, I think that Grouse is a Pheasant.

 

[Nebulous]

Nice photos. I don't fancy cranking that big cement bike!

I'm intending doing a solo trip this weekend, but it's coming up very quickly and I'm not sure I'll be ready.

James

 

[ufkacbln]

You are Nick Crane AICMFP

 

[Paladin - York]

Well done mcshroom - I know that satisfied feeling.

Solo travelling excellent but came about for me accidentally because chaps my age just seemed to drop off the "edge". I've just completed the "Way of the Roses", next "The Salmon Run" on 19th April & then "Cape Wrath to York" beginning 3rd May - all solo. I remember Nick of the Balloch - did it in May a few years ago and it snowed, I have the pictures to prove it. Then I experienced a "sandstorm" from off the beach riding up into Ayr. Maybole! - Does anyone live there? I'll be looking at your photos.

Congratulations. Now to start planning the next trip!

I finally managed to get out and do my first tour on my own this week. I started in Carlisle on Wednesday and followwed NCN route 7 (Lochs and Glens South) for the 225 miles up to Glasgow finishing yesterday.

I'll try and write a full report tomorrow (I've been feeling a little washed out today) but some of the things I really remember include: -

• Meeting the Llamas near Annan in the fog
  
• Riding up to the Bruce monument at the top of Glen Trool. The views of the Glen and the loch from there are absolutely amazing
• Realising that I'd got my distances wrong on day two, so i had 72 miles to do not 50
  
• It was so sunny I got sunburn, in Scotland, in March!
• Listening to the history of all the different tiny little farmhouses around Glentrool village in the pub in Bargrennan
• Riding up to and decending the Nick of the Balloch in Galloway Forest
• Chatting to an 88 year old lady on Troon Promenade who told me about how she had been cycle touring with her husband around northern Scotland in the 1940s, and after her brakes failed she had to be taken to hospital with a bone sticking out of her arm.
• Riding up to the door of the Station at the end and the feeling of accomplishment.

I've put my pictures up on Flickr if anyone fancies having a look at the route.

Solo touring seems to offer a different experience to cycling in a group. Although there is no-one to talk to when you feel like it sometimes, I found that instead of basically staying with my friends for the whole time, I was far more immersed in the countryside I was passing through, and more involved with the people i encountered along the route. If you haven't tried it i would definitely recommend having a go

Oh and now i want to do the other section of the route from Glasgow to inverness

 

[Ticktockmy]

Well done mcshroom - I know that satisfied feeling.

Solo travelling excellent but came about for me accidentally because chaps my age just seemed to drop off the "edge". I've just completed the "Way of the Roses", next "The Salmon Run" on 19th April & then "Cape Wrath to York" beginning 3rd May - all solo. I remember Nick of the Balloch - did it in May a few years ago and it snowed, I have the pictures to prove it. Then I experienced a "sandstorm" from off the beach riding up into Ayr. Maybole! - Does anyone live there? I'll be looking at your photos.

Congratulations. Now to start planning the next trip!

Have you checked with MOD cape Wrath, if you will be able to cross the range during your trip, as last year I had planned to cycle to Cape Wrath, but the road to cape wrath was closed because of a major exercise.