Ride to Rihnns of Galloway

Itinerary: Glasgow - Ayr - Girvan - Stranraer - Península de Rhinns - Glasgow
Distance: 232 miles (372 kms)
Date: 17th August 2008




Sunday!

The weather seemed better, way better then the previous day.
Although I woke up later than I should, I still had many hours of light as the sunset was at around 21h30m.


This time I decided to go South!


I first stopped in Ayr, a little coastal town near Prestwick's airport.




Later on, Girvan


Kept going South...




And got to the Rhinns Peninsula.




Found a nice little lighthouse that was also a hostel and a restaurant. Cheap, of course!



Here's me with my old friend MuuCow!






Found Mathilda on the way, MuuCow's girlfriend!


Got to Portpatrick, another nice little costal town!





Going South...


Niiice!





And finally I got to the Southernmost point of Scotland - Rhinns of Galloway's lighthouse.


Here's the lighthouse!



Took this photo short before sunset, when I still had around 120 miles in front of me to get to Glasgow by narrow, twisty roads.


Right after that photo I sat on the bike, tried to turn it on and... nothing!!
For the first time I had a mechanical problem with my bike - many miles away from the nearest mechanic, miles away from the nearest person to say the truth! Getting colder pretty fast, hungry and tired, not a good scenario!
Fortunately my mechanical skills weren't too bad and I managed to repair it.



Got to Glasgow late at night, it was raining, I was tired... but happy! :)

Ride to Carrick

Last August was the first August in 27 years that I spent outside of Portugal. Let's say that there is a big difference to what I was used to - In Portugal people go crazy in the beach while the interior is left deserted.

Here, the weather wasn't really that good, so I decided to take the weekend to ride around Scotland.


I woke up Saturday to find a very gray day, with hints of rain. I first decided to stay at home but after lunch my thought was "if I'm waiting for a better weather, I may as well get back to Portugal!"
So I went out, not too far away in case it would start pouring!

The map told me there was a little castle close to Glasgow, in Carrick, a place I hadn't gone to.

Although it was a very small ride, it deserves a post with a couple of pics.


Getting there, the landscape was typically Scottish


One hour later I got to Carrick




And there was the castle!!


On my way back I decided to go by my favourite valley close to Glasgow. Here I was getting there


...and here's the valley!



This was just the warm-up for the Sunday's ride, so don't loose the next post!