Oban to Fort William : ferries, beer and deer

I woke early at 5:15, with one of the other hostel guests snoring gently in the room. I dozed for a while then got up at 6:45, sorted my panniers out and left the room, accidentally setting off the room door alarm by not shutting it properly! I collected my bike from the cycle store and set off on the short ride to the ferry terminal to catch the first ferry over to Craignure at 7:55. It was an absolutely glorious day, not a cloud in the sky and with little wind. 

Two other cyclists were already at the muster point waiting for the ferry, and we swapped stories of our plans. One of the cyclists mentioned that the Corran ferry, which I was due to take on Sunday, was free for Over 60s, which I made a mental note of. We boarded the ferry, secured our bikes and then I went up onto the deck for the rest of the journey. Disembarking I made a quick toilet stop and bought some water at the shop, then headed off west towards Salen.

I had planned to photograph the Salen boats, which I hadn’t done on my last trip in September, but with five miles to go to Salen I realised I wasn’t going to make it there and back to Fishnish to catch the ferry for Lochaline, so turned around and headed back. At the ferry terminal I saw a heron on the slipway, seemingly waiting for the ferry to arrive, which it did within ten minutes. The heron flew off, and I boarded for the short trip over to Lochaline, where I headed straight for the Morvern Community Cafe to get some breakfast. After a breakfast bap and coffee I went to Lochaline Stores to get some supplies and then headed off for Ardgour along the same rolling roads I’d ridden last year. This time though, I turned off on the B8043 which was a new road for me, and which proved to be a treat with some stunning views of Loch Uisge and Loch a Choire. It was a rollercoaster of a road, with some fast downhills and some short, steep ramps. I stopped to take a photo at one point, and a passing motorist checked to see if I was ok which was very nice and appreciated. The weather was getting a little grey by now, and on reaching Kingairloch Church it began to drizzle a little, providing me with a view of a rainbow. It didn’t last though, and by the time I reached the shores of Loch Linnhe it had stopped and blue skies were again the norm. Turning north I was treated to the sight of snow capped mountains in the distance.

In due course I joined the A861 at Inversanda, which was a much busier road with traffic, and so I switched my lights on. Traffic hurried past, heading for the Corran ferry I assumed, and indeed when I arrived at the ferry terminal there were a number of vehicles that had passed me in the queue waiting for the ferry to arrive from Corran. I headed on to Ardgour where I stopped for a sandwich, with an amazing view looking along Loch Linnhe towards Fort William in the far distance. Setting off again I had only gone a short distance when I came across Ardgour Ales brewery which was open, and so I stopped for a pint (very nice) with another amazing viewpoint. After finishing my beer I set off again on the road hugging the shoreline, with superb views over the deep blue loch to the snow capped peaks.

 

At one point I came across a stag helping himself to some hay from a sheep’s feeder. I stopped to take a photo, and the stag ran off to the other of the field, from where he watched me, presumably waiting for me to go so he could return to his feed. Further along the road I came across a large herd of deer in a field between the road and the loch. Stopping to take another photo the deer also ran away from me en masse – I was beginning to get a complex! I was getting closer to Fort William with every pedal stroke, and the snowy mountains loomed larger. 

I rolled up to the Camusnagaul Ferry landing point and waited for the boat to arrive from across the loch. A local bus turned up and waited at the bus stop, then minutes before the ferry arrived it left again. The ferry docked and an old man got off and started walking up the slipway, but when he saw there was no bus he turned around and got back on the boat. My bike was loaded onto the ferry roof for the short journey over to Fort William, where I disembarked. Ahead of me across the road I could see the Black Isle Bar which was very tempting – I’d had a sensational pizza there previously and the beer is good too! Sadly though I had to find my way to the campsite in Glen Nevis, so with a rueful backwards glance I set off. It didn’t take long to find the campsite, and I quickly set my tent up and got showered. Being situated underneath Ben Nevis, it was a very scenic campsite, but very cold. I didn’t wait too long before getting into my sleeping bag to try to get some sleep. For some reason there were several helicopters flying around in the evening, and the mountains echoed the noise from their blades making it very noisy indeed. I hoped I’d get a decent night’s sleep ready for tomorrow’s efforts.

To Scotland again, by train!

I got up at 6am to ride to Crewe railway station for my first time taking the bike on trains. Opening the porch blind to a misty window, I decided it would be a good idea to change my dress code to two base layers and thermal gloves. After a bowl of porridge I loaded the bike and set off, the sun just rising on a chilly misty morning. I was a little nervous about getting to the station on time, but the traffic was light and I made good progress until Crewe Green roundabout where I was held up for a minute by the busy rush hour traffic, but once through it was plain sailing to the station.

At the ticket gate I checked to see if the tickets I had collected at Sandbach the previous day included my cycle reservation, but they hadn’t been printed for some reason. A quick visit to the ticket office ensued, where a very helpful chap printed off the necessary reservations for both today’s trip and the return on Monday. All set, I headed back to the ticket gate and found the lift down to the required platform, where I waited for the train to arrive. Shortly before it did I found a member of staff to come and open the door to the bike storage compartment, and I loaded the bike on board and sat down at my seat. Despite a few hiccups it was a fairly smooth process for my first time with a bike.

A nice relaxed journey ensued, the sun shining on gorgeous scenery as we sped through the Lake District, although after entering Scotland it began to cloud over and the on board screens told of light rain at Glasgow Central. Fortunately it had stopped when we arrived, and I headed out of the station and tried to load my route to Queen Street on my Garmin. This was taking some time as it was struggling to find the satellites, possibly due to the amount of tall buildings around, so I cancelled it and rode off, relying on my map memory to get me there. This worked fine, and it only took a couple of minutes to reach the station.

Queen Street was very busy, and my train wasn’t due for another 45 minutes. When it arrived, I saw it was composed of seven coaches, five of which were going to Fort William and two to Oban, these latter were at the front of the train. Unfortunately I took the front of the train to be the end that came into the station first, and only realised after waiting for a minute to load my bike. A quick dash along the platform to the front ensued, and I finally got the bike loaded and sat down for the three hour journey along the scenic West Highland Line.

We passed the Edrington Distillery and once past the urban surroundings of Glasgow the line travelled alongside the River Clyde, and I saw a few ferries at the shipyards on the far shore. We then passed lochs aplenty including Gare Loch with the Faslane Navy Base, Loch Long and Loch Lomond. The rain had resumed at this point, and it looked very driech outside, however the scenery was absolutely stunning in spite of this, with many tumbling waterfalls rushing down off the hills. We passed Loch Awe and the ruins of Kilchurn Castle, and at Dalmally station I spotted a pair of giant wooden bellows and other wooden objects on the platform. I also noticed a cockerel strutting around! After some glorious views of Loch Etive the train pulled into Oban station where I alighted and rode the short distance to Oban Youth Hostel, my bed for the night.

It had been a very good first experience of taking my bike on the train, even if it was a lot colder in Oban than at home!

64 going on 14.......

Riding off road in the mud is fun, or rather, it can be fun. It can also be a pain in the backside but when the conditions are right you just can't beat a bit of dirty playing.

Being rather mild, and with the sun out, I ventured out on my Camino for a winter spin, starting off with a stretch long the canal near us. A good towpath surface, and with no dog walkers or anglers it was a fun blast riding alongside the canal. At the bridge I doubled back on the road on the opposite side and headed for the Wheelock Rail Trail, a short blast punctuated into two parts by the bypass. A few more dog walkers here, but people free after crossing the bypass, where I soon turned onto the canalside again. No smooth gravel path here, just some tracks in the grass with mud and fallen leaf debris. A couple of locks to ride up before exiting at Malkins Bank and following Betchton Road into Hassall, turning down Roughwood Lane and passing the Pottery Barn, before turning right to drop down and pick up the Salt Line at its midpoint break.

From here I headed into Alsager on the Salt Line, a smooth track as you would expect from a former rail line. I passed a few people as I cycled on, some cheerily acknowledging me, others being more miserable. At the end I crossed over into Cherry Lane, climbing up on the tarmac to head back on Sandbach Road before turning off onto Betchton Lane to head back to the Salt Line mid point. Here I rejoined the Salt Line in the other direction, back towards Hassall Green, seeing nobody and looking around me at all the glorious winter colours. At Hassall Green I turned right to pick up the canal again, and rode back on the firm(ish) muddy tracks alongside the water, over tree roots, avoiding the muddier lines, flying down the grassy slopes of locks and going cautiously down the cobbled sections.

All too soon I came off the canal to rejoin the Rail Trail and head back past Wheelock station, past the football club to exit the trail at Abbey Road. I rode along Salt Line Way, turning left into Moston Road and down the side of Bargain Booze / Select Convenience along Sandy Lane, into Elton Road and home. Just over an hour, it was a fun ride, occasionally bit of an effort up the odd hill but one of those days where it just feels good to be alive, and fortunate to be able to ride a bike along such great countryside. I'm 64, I feel 14 again.