Day four.
Todays forecast was not good, but I decided to stick with the plan. That was to ferry over on to the Isle of Jura and cycle the road, and to sample the famous Jura Whiskey. Simples. There is only one road on Jura and that goes from the ferry to about 3/4s of the way up the island, to The End of the Road. After this a private cart track snakes a further 6 miles and then a walk of another 2 miles or so gets you to the top of the isle. I planned only to ride to The End of the Road and back, around trip of about 52 miles something I do regularly at home so no problem. Left the ferry and rode the road into mist, a few deer around, it was weird riding up the hills and hearing noises but not knowing what they were. After a hilly 9 miles reached Craighouse where I had landed on Tuesday, and where the Jura Hotel and distillery are. Then it started to rain and rain and rain and remained raining till I got back to Craighouse later on. The road went up and up and up then down, then back up. It was like that all the way to the End. I took a couple of quick photos and set off back to the hotel, I had some of the Jura whiskey, very nice indeed, and leaving a very large puddle of rainwater on the hotel floor left for the ferry. Another dash for the last ferry again because that simple ride took far longer than I expected. Maybe it was because of the 4,500 feet / 1,400 metres of ascent along the way. A very hard day but one I hope to do again.
Data. Two ferries, two islands, 56 miles, max speed 35 mph oh and 4,500 feet of ascent.
Well at least you have seen the isand at it's worse --next time aim at better weather !! __ I admire your stamina !! Lovely calm before the storm shot -- quite an eerie image !!
@beryl Thank you Beryl, it did feel quite eerie at times, I would hear a car behind me, and as the road is only a single track I would look to see how close it was to let it pass. Nothing there ? After a while I worked out it was the rainwater gurgling down the sides of the road.
I also came across an information board at the side of the road and stopped to read it. After some local history it said if you looked up you would see some magnificent views of the Paps of Jura ( large mountains ) and if you looked carefully you might see Golden Eagles soaring above on the thermals. So I looked up ! Through the mist I could not even see the Paps, or any Eagles and the only thermals that came to mind were the ones I should have had on Hahaha.
Well at least you got the whiskey! But you are dedicated as a rider in all weather. Once, I rode in the rain all around the English Garden because I had made the effort to take my bike on the train and all, and riding in solitude was memorable. (a tiny version of rain adventure)
January 13th, 2018
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I also came across an information board at the side of the road and stopped to read it. After some local history it said if you looked up you would see some magnificent views of the Paps of Jura ( large mountains ) and if you looked carefully you might see Golden Eagles soaring above on the thermals. So I looked up ! Through the mist I could not even see the Paps, or any Eagles and the only thermals that came to mind were the ones I should have had on Hahaha.