Day 1
Close up of Argyll “bit” day 1
So, occasionally I get the chance to take a little bit of a road trip on my yellow peril… for this particular episode, I was accompanied by my biking buddy TT, a Moto Guzzi aficionado riding a V85tt. The plan was an early set off on Sunday morning, overnight in a bunkhouse up in Argyll and spot some beaver…
A slight detractor was my son dropping an “Oh… The Aberystwyth University is having a open day on Saturday, can we go look round?” Thus on Friday night, after work and finding a home for the Dog and our youngest child… a rapid Welsh road trip went under way… Late on Saturday night and 400 miles worse off, I disgorge the car of rounded up children, dog, wife and gear… with my packing and bike fettling to do.
As 1 am on Sunday morning appears, I see the clock jump alarmingly to 2 am instead. I finally finish the rest of the checks and prep… 6 hours later, I am sat outside TT’s house ready to rumble.
We haul ass on a deceptively cold ride to the Gretna from the South Lakes… at Shap Fell, I feel just on the edge of too cold… my hand warmers on full chat, but my chest and core definitely uncomfortable from a fast ride, but sedentary riding position. I stick with it until Starbucks at Dumfries, where we stop for a brew and breakfast. Once sugar and caffeine levels are returned to excessive, I pop into the lavs to tool up with an extra shirt and jumper and some silk under-gloves. The deliberate over-sizing of my touring wardrobe paid for itself fully here, and the chill winds on the bike ceased to be an issue. And this is where I consider the tour to actually begin, topping up with Starbucks and petrol then heading north west, avoiding the motorway and Glasgow.
The A76 is one of 3 “back-slash” routes through Ayrshire, generally well surfaced and with portions of genuine glee… especially the section through Blackwood, where the River Nith is a close companion. It can be a bit “traffic’d”, but the Sunday hoards were not about too badly and the trucks proved easy enough to over-take. Getting past Cumnock though, you can almost taste the approaching A-road roundabout drudgery of the Kilmarnock roads to the coast. But as you drop down the last portion of the A78… before it turns north to become a coastal road… you are reminded of why it’s worth riding to this part of the world, with a fantastic view of the snowy peaks on the Isle of Arran.
We cruise up the coast, through Largs (tipping our helmets to the local bike meet on the Prom carpark) and arrive at Gourock, to be waved onto the ferry without turning our engine off! The short crossing is a welcome leg stretch and time to joke about hitting the latest Astute that got sent to Faslane recently from Barrow shipyard. The hills over Lomand and the Trossachs look cool enough, I’m glad of my layering.
Back down to Goat Fell on Arran
We disembark at Hunter’s Quay and take the opportunity to fill the bikes up at the little Jet services on the corners at Ardbeg. This leads us to the fun of Puck’s Glen and Lock Eck (I think it were named by a Yorkshireman? 
) The A815 leads you over to Strachur Bay on Loch Fyne… and follows the coast in a north-easterly direction, throwing in some big curves and impressive mountain views and a decision maker at the A83 Junction of Glen Kinglas… is it worth nipping up to see if they’ve finished the work on the pass over to Lomand? Naaaah, it looks slape up there, and they won’t have finished yet… that’s about 15 years by our reckoning… not a time to Rest and be Thankful yet then! boom boom!
So the A83 takes us to the seat o’ the Campbells, Inveraray… where the Castle is irritatingly placed for photos, the wee buggers! So we parked on the Quay under the watchful eye of Vital Spark’s skull and crossbones and popped into Brambles for a mug of tea and a fantastic bowl of Smoked Haddock chowder.
We set off past the jail, with the A83 providing physical entertainment, whilst the Loch Fyne backdrop manages to change and stay the same in a weird but satisfactory way. We stop at Lochgilphead to take in the war memorial, always a sobering but worthwhile consideration… for us anyway!
And then a short step, over the swing bridge at Ardrishaig over the south eastern end of the Crinan Canal… and down to Inverneil to check into the Argyll backpacker’s hostel… clean, tidy, well run by a friendly Pam… very helpful, full of entertaining stories and useful advice.
The important gear dropped off, we get back onto the bikes for the last couple of hours of good daylight and head over to Loch Barnluasgan, part of the Knapdale Beaver trail. Like a pair of Navaho trackers, we sneak down to the hide at the northern end… slightly spoiled by the creaks of TT’s boots and the swish-swish gait of two rain-suited bikers. We sat a good while watching cormorants, mallard and what I believe to be a little Dabchick, before we decided it might still be a little early for the beavers (dawn and dusk Rodentia, I am led to believe) So we walk around the trail a bit and look at the lodge a little closer up. The evidence of their industry was fresh and around us, which was encouraging… we ended up doing a couple of kilometres in the hills and woodland around there… and it was stunning in the low evening sun, definitely worth sweating in all the bike gear. So, no beaver… but a worthy diversion.
spot the beaver
As we were close, we dropped over the little hill to Crinan, the start of one of the most picturesque short cuts for boats… the Crinan canal… which saves a long sail around the Mull of Kintyre… a lovely, if tiny little boating village. From here, we backtrack to Lochgilphead to pick-up a curry and a couple of tinnies; before stuffing our faces and crashing out despite each other’s snoring!
Day 2
Close up of Argyll “bit” day 2
Sunrise over Loch Fyne, heavy hoar frost…
A couple of strong coffee’s, ablutions done… we set off again, continuing the A83 South… we had some debate whether to cross over to Arran and then back to Ayrshire via ferries, but we decided to cut across the penis shaft to the western shoreline. What??? Don’t tell me you haven’t suffered pareidolia at the cock of the Argyll Peninsula and the balls of Arran…
And what a spectacular little road this is… the B8024… apart from the 3 or 4 frozen patches 
that were a touch nadgery! Single track through stunted trees, gnarled and twisted through difficult wind-blown winters, leaden heavily with lichen like a grey wig… then it opens up to huge sea views. Little points of interest, like the walled cemetery at Kilnaish or the standing stones at Loch Stornoway. This was the highlight of the trip for me… views to live for… the wildlife… everything!
Finishing the loop, we tool back down Inverneil and the great biker’s road to Tarbet. We catch the ferry across to Portavadie and enjoy another stunning run back to Dunoon… with the obligatory stop at Tighnabruaich Viewpoint… anyone who isn’t touched by this view is a heartless knuckle-dragger without an ounce of humanity.
At the ferry back from Hunter’s Quay, we find that you get a significant discount if you pop into ticket office rather than pay on board, summat like 50%… keep it in mind if you come up here? After laughing about it on the way over, we actually see an Astute heading out from Faslane on the return journey. My fuel is pretty low by now, so a gentle tick-over trundle is taken from Gourock to Largs… we also fill ourselves up at the Bagel Basket, before the drudgery of Kilmarnock and then the fun of the A76 back to Starbucks at Dumfries. Another shot of keep me going juice here allows a razz back to Gretna and the M6 through Cumbria and finally the A590 home… 600 Miles of biking bliss! but no beaver… so I’ll have to go again!
