Ride to Dumfries

Day: 5th October 2008
Itinerary: Glasgow - Ayr - Dumfries - Glasgow
Distance: 358 kms


One more ride around Scotland!

As the end of the year gets closer my bikes rides started going South, craving for a bit more warmth - the problem is not during the day, as soon as the sun sets it gets freezing!


The original plan was to visit the Isle of Arran (close to Glasgow, can be seen on the map below on the left side of the letter "B").
When I was getting to the little town where it departs from it wasn't there anymore, so I went on with the Plan B - go South, doesn't matter where, just go!!


It's true the trip wasn't well planned but the important thing was to appreciate the nice day, it's not that frequent to find one in the weekends.


I took a friend with me, Solene!



Here are the photos




Getting to the South we got in the Galloway Forest Park, the biggest forest park in the South of Scotland, with around 300 sq miles, which means 768 sq kms.
It is known as "the Highlands in the Lownlands" because of it's rugged terrain atypical on the South of Scotland.

We stopped at Glen of the Bar.



After that there were no more stops, the smaller days don't allow rides as long as I'd like, but still it was great, the ideal day to recharge batteries :)

Ride to Glen Coe

Itinerary: Glasgow - Stirling - Glencoe - Oban - Glasgow
Distance: 389 kms (244 miles)
Day: 29th of August 2008



Ever since the first time I came to Scotland I had the idea of buying a bike to get to know the country.
It seemed like the best way to know where to go was to ask the locals about the places of interest, but soon I found that most people around here don't really travel that much.
Plan B was to join a bikers group and go around with them - they should know cool places to go to! Today I know that was a good idea.

The first ride with the Central Scotland Bikers was to Glen Coe, that valley I wrote about last week.

I took a friend with me, Solene.


I took the first photo on our first stop for a drink. For me, on of the biggest disadvantages of group riding is that one can not stop wherever he want to take photos, because that would force everybody behind to stop also. On the other hand, it's great to have company all the way long, even if the person in front of us is going sloooowly!

Here's one of my dream bikes, the BMW K1200R.


When we left Glasgow it was cold but along the way and as we got in the Higlands it started getting really cold! Even with an extra sweater and Solene with the waterproof overall, it was barely possible to keep going on - but still possible!






Not much later we got to Glen Coe. Very unfortunatelly I didn't take any pictures because... I couldn't stop! Not on the interesting places. Day day started getting sunny and warming up, the valley as gorgeous to say the least. I WILL get back one day, alone, to take my time there and a lot of pictures.
Until then, here's a picture of that valley that I found on a website.

After a drink on that valley the group separated again: half went to Edinburgh, the other half followed me to Glasgow, since I had the idea of going by the coast.
Turns out it was a very good idea, the day cleared and it was awesome!
Once again I couldn't stop as often as I'd like but still, here are some of the pics I took.


This photo was taken on the same place as the one when I was going to Skye. It shows the remarkable difference between a sunny and a rainy day in Scotland.


Later we went by my favorite valley. I've posted so many pictures of it around here that I won't post any more, just the ones of the group that got to this part of the journey.




By the time I'm writing this there are still three more rides to be posted so keep coming by, I hope not to take too long to upload them (at least not as long as I've been taking!).

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! :)