4 - Glencoe to Largs

Stats for the day:
Distance: 140.2 km (87 miles)
Elevation: 1552m
Saddle time: 6:20 hrs
Total time: 10.02

Punctures: 1/3

Average 
Speed: 22.1 km/hr
Heart rate: 111 bpm
Cadence: 75rpm

Maximum
Speed: 59.8 km/hr
Heart rate: 155 bpm

Elevation profile

We awoke on day 4 keen to see if the drying room at the hostel had done it's job overnight, fortunately it had.

A82 from Glencoe

Heading out of Glencoe on a steady climb it's difficult to put into words how stunning the scenery is. I make no apologies for the slightly repetitive nature of the blog entries extolling the beauty of landscape, it really does rival anywhere else I've been in the world. Of course, trundling along slowly on 2 wheels may also be the best way to take in the vista. The one blot on the landscape is the road itself. 

A82

 

 

After 10 miles it was time to stop for a second breakfast having missed out at the hostel. The best breakfast of the trip so far is at the cafe at the bottom of Glencoe ski lift - worth a visit if you come back in winter.



the road from Glencoe

The sun was shining as we made our way along the Loch Lomond, as evidenced at the end of the day by some interesting tan lines. Nick was enjoying the view so much he contrived a puncture to spend a bit more time by the loch.

The sun was shining as we made our way along the Loch Lomond, as evidenced at the end of the day by some interesting tan lines. Nick was enjoying the view so much he contrived a puncture to spend a bit more time by the loch

In an attempt to avoid the busier A roads we diverted from the original plan and took in a bonus loch - Loch Long. The B roads tend to have another side effect of more hills & sure enough, to Stephan's dismay we found a couple more big climbs into Kilcraggen, from where we caught the short ferry to Gourock. 

I guess at this point we should address whether taking a ferry is cheating; our reasoning/excuse is that we could have done a much shorter route by road so it's acceptable. 



View of Greenock

The Old Largs road

Whilst on this slightly controversial ferry however Nick convicted another cunning plan. Rather than take the coastal A road, why not cut across on the Old Largs Road. A fine plan indeed, from the start we were climbing again, up to a point where we could see Glasgow in the distance. A few more downs & ups brought us to Largs in the sunshine, a place of childhood memories. Unfortunately there was to be no Nardinis  ice cream as they shut as we got there.