Cycling Argyll

Long weekends by ferry and bike

In August 2023 my job sent me to live in Lochgilphead for 6 months. While the days were still long and the summer ferry timetables still running I decided to make the most of this with a couple of beautiful long weekend cycle tours. For those not based in such a remote area the routes do pass Oban and Ardrossan for easier access. If you've got more time they would combine into one, and would also link north into the Hebridean Way...

Argyll and Islay

3.5 Days, 220km/136miles, August 2023

Day 1
An evening start after work, I’ve packed my bags over lunch and am out the door and on the bike at 5pm on the dot. My route follows the Caladonia Way out along the Crinan Canal, then on quiet back roads across Moine Mhor where, the info board informs me, the Lords of the Isles once drank Mediterranean wine. There are an abundance of prehistoric stone circles and a beautifully preserved Neolithic chambered cairn (Nether Largie South), which you can climb down into. The Caladonia Way then leaves the roads behind for a slightly adventurous route (those on fast super skinny tyres may want to stay on the road) leading past Carnassarie Castle, where you can climb all the way to the parapet for a great view down the glen. By this point I’ve done a lot of sightseeing and not all that much cycling and it’s time to get a move on with the route following quiet, mostly single track roads along to the edge of Loch Awe. After only a short way I find a little trod leading down to a great flat grassy camp spot on the shore. There is not a breath of wind and the air is heavy with the drone of insects, though fortunately not very many of them appear to want to eat me. I enjoy a good dinner and an early bed.

Day 2
According to the sign I just passed it’s 30 miles to Oban today. I’m booked on the 16:45 ferry to Islay and need to squeeze in a food shop so I get an early-ish start for the long ride up the side of Loch Awe. The road is single-track beautifully smooth tarmac and almost entirely deserted, though the forestry plantation (which is probably to be thanked for the excellent access road) does block pretty much all of the view to the loch. I stop in Dalavich for second breakfast at a lovely little café and the following descent into Inverinan has a great view of the water ahead, though it still stretches a long way out in front of me. I don’t have to go all that way though as the route turns inland at Kilchrenan, gently undulating past woodland and farmland and remaining quiet and peaceful all the way into Oban. I arrive in plenty of time to go on a long and somewhat laborious hunt for a new gas can (the Anglers Corner is my eventual and unlikely saviour), stock up on lots of food, and generally lounge around the ferry terminal. My ferry finally departs at 16:45 for the four hour crossing, via Colonsay, to Islay. With an extra day you could stop off on Colonsay but the link across to Islay only runs twice a week so you need to pick your days carefully. The crossing is bright and sunny with great views of Mull and Jura, and the chance for a very filling cooked dinner. I arrive on Islay in a golden late sunlight and race the sunset over quiet roads round to the east shore of Loch Gruinart where I make camp just as darkness falls.

Day 3
I have a full day to explore the island and start by leaving my tent to dry and completing the ride to where the loch meets the sea. The road becomes a chunky gravel track which I pursue for some way but it fails to produce a particularly picturesque end point and eventually I just turn back. Arriving back at the loch side I am greeted by a large pod of seals bobbing gently in the morning sun. I sit and watch them for a while then return to take down the tent. From here there is plenty of choice of routes and I decide to ride a loop around Loch Gorm, with a stop off at the RSPB visitor centre and bird hide. There’s a heron, a swallow that lands on the post just next to my viewing window and two well camouflaged ground birds which I excitedly think might be the elusive corncrakes but ultimately decide are actually just female pheasants. Onwards I stop at Saligo and Machir Bays to walk across golden sand and dip my toes in a very cold sea. Back on the bike I pass one of many distilleries (I’m not a whiskey fan so this aspect of Islay is lost on me I’m afraid), and re-join the main road back into Bridgend. I stop at the hotel for an ice cold lemonade then follow the quiet B-road across the moors to Port Ellen. There’s still quite a bit of daylight left so I decide on a whim to add on a ride out to the Mull of Oa, and a little circular walk to the monument at the end, from which I can see clearly across to Ireland. I contemplate camping out but the weather is turning against me and working up quite a wind so I retrace my route back to Port Ellen and join what seems almost to be an informal campsite at Kilnaughton Bay

Day 4
It’s an early start to get the tent down just before the heavens open, followed by a short but soggy cycle to the ferry terminal. This time it’s a much shorter crossing back to Kennacraig on the mainland though the views are somewhat hidden behind a thick curtain of rain. Back on main roads it’s fairly busy and doesn’t particularly inspire me for the direct route to Lochgilphead so I turn off once more onto the Caledonia Way which heads out on single track roads around the west side of the peninsula. A few showers pass through but overall I stay remarkably dry and there’s a great view across to Jura. Turning inland once more there’s a long climb up to a little lochan earning me a great free-wheel descent all the way back down to the main road for a final few km into town.

Arran and Bute

3.5 Days, 191km/118miles, September 2023

Day 1
I get a somewhat spontaneous Friday evening start because the weather forecast for the following morning looks rubbish and I decide that getting started in some evening sunshine and hiding in the tent in the morning beats starting in the rain. Unfortunately in my ensuing packing frenzy I fail to notice the weather warning for 40-50mph headwinds… At Tarbet I’m just in time for the last ferry to Portavadie, which is cancelled but the service is running so late (because of aforementioned winds) that there is still one to come. Waiting on the ramp it’s somewhat blustery and there are plenty of white horses topping the waves. One somewhat bumpy crossing later and I’m committed. It’s an uphill battle to a dizzying peak altitude of 82m, followed by a down-hill slog where losing height feels almost as hard as gaining it. Eventually I reach Kames, permit myself to look at the map and feel like I might just despair at how pitifully little distance I have travelled. Slog on. More hills. It’s beautiful at least, though I do feel the best of the views are behind me. I attempt a photo and the camera instantly runs out of battery. Oups. (The photos below are all from my phone and start from Day 2). On. On. Eventually I reach a little side road on Loch Riddon where I can hide the tent away under some old oak trees and collapse into bed.

Day 2
It’s a stormy night with lots of rain and wind and not a huge amount of sleep. The tent is assaulted by a few acorns and twigs but thankfully nothing larger. Remarkably, despite the forecast, it’s not actually raining when I get up though there is a haze of low cloud merging into fog. Getting going the wind is still very much present and has kindly swung round to blow from the South-East meaning that, despite heading in a completely different direction to yesterday it’s still blowing straight into my face. I escape the worst of it as the road winds through woodland down to a short ferry crossing over the Kyles of Bute. Inevitably Bute is even more windy than the mainland though I find a reasonably sheltered bench on the shore in Moss Wood to stop for some lunch. Then it absolutely chucks it down so I abandon the bike and go for a somewhat soggy walk around the poetry trail in triple waterproofs. It cumulates in what appears to be a community project space with a great shelter and space to sit and wait for the sun to come out. Fortunately it seems that that was the full day’s forecasted rain over with in one go, and from here on it’s dry, bright and even occasionally sunny. Back on the bike I spot a red squirrel, the shore is covered with oyster catchers and the hedgerows are teaming with goldfinches. The wind persists but it’s bright and beautiful enough that I elect to head over to Ettrick Bay and take the loop around the South side of the island. At the bay I call in at a café which provides a welcome respite from the wind and a very filling pakora and chips, followed on the other side of the bay by another stop in a bird hide from which can be spotted a distant gaggle of bobbing mergansers and gooseanders (I know this because the other occupant of the hide happens to be the local bird warden who tells me all about the island’s migratory visitors and the patterns of sightings over the last couple of years). Onwards again I’ve still got quite a lot of island to cover but the road sticks closely to the contour lines and I make reasonable if exhausting progress into the wind. A second bird hide at Loch Quien fails to provide a resident bird expert and all I spot is a fisherman and a dog in a boat. They do not catch any fish. Carrying on I come at last to the corner at the South end of the island and suddenly the wind is at my back and I’m zooming along. Down at the shore I’m hoping to camp just before Rothesay but leave it too late and end up surrounded by very posh looking houses with manicured gardens. Coming into town however does have the benefit of a shop and an improvement in my dinner menu (Katsu curry with fresh red peppers and chocolate chip shortbread to finish), and I find a decent camp spot up in Skeoch woods from which I can look down on the ferry.

Day 3
It’s an early start to be packed up for the 8am ferry as I reason that cycling down the A78 will be much less unpleasant early on a Sunday morning. Quite right too. The guidebook describes it as a route where it’s best to just put your head down and get it over with, but actually there’s a 40mph zone all the way to Largs, and then an off-road cycle path all the rest of the way which is not mentioned in the book at all so comes as a lovely surprise. Less lovely is the persisting headwind with the wind once again turning overnight to remain directly into my face. Despite this it only takes me 2 hours to make it to Ardrossan so I’m in plenty of time for the 12:30 sailing across to Arran and get to sit about in the sun watching it come in. It’s a fairly long crossing so I enjoy a full cooked lunch, and chat to several other cyclists who are doing the same loop as me. Onto Arran the sun is out and the air is warm so I decide to go for the full island loop (the three options being a short and direct ride up the A841 to Lochranza, a mid length cut through the centre, or following the coast road south for the full experience). The Southern section is a delightful ride, with Lamlash Bay feeling almost tropical in hot sunshine. Round the bottom of the island there’s a bit of a climb over the shoulder to the West side, which in looks is a more typically windswept Scottish coast, and then speaking of windswept something magic happens. The wind (have I mentioned the wind recently?), which for the entirety of this trip has been blasting straight into my face at merry 30-50pmh, is now behind me. Oh it feels like flying. The winding road, the shining sea, the warmth of the sun. West coast cycling at its best. I’m intending to camp around the midpoint of the island, but with a combination of the flying, and it being such a nice evening, and all the beautiful sea-facing camp spots being somewhat exposed, I end up almost in Lochranza. Eventually I luck out with a little section of flat mown grass, a picnic table and a sheltering hedge. Couscous, sardines and cherry tomatoes for dinner with Jamaica Ginger Cake to follow. I sit and watch the sun set behind a rim of cloud.

Day 4
There are only a couple of miles left to Lochranza this morning which disappear in no time. There’s a waiting room for the ferry with full facilities including lots of plugs for charging up electricals, and a fantastic sandwich place just next door where I decide to ignore the fact I’ve just eaten breakfast and have brunch too. Then I take a quick detour over to the castle which sadly you can only go round the outside of. Feeling I’ve probably now done everything there is to do in Lochranza, it’s time for a final ferry crossing over to Claonaig and a bit of an uphill slog back over to join the main road at Kencraig. The sun comes back out, and the wind stays at my back to provide some much appreciated assistance. Then it’s head down and ignore the traffic for the final few miles to Tarbet. Cake on the harbour wall. Done.