The Diary - Part Eleven

Day 11 - Wednesday 12th July

By now we've got these early starts off to a tee. Of course, it helps when you've got breakfast to attend to before 8.30 and a ferry to catch which, if missed, could mean being 3 hours behind schedule before the day has even begun.

Our massive cooked breakfast was wolfed down super-quick as the ferry departure time was looming rapidly. With indigestion nearly crippling us, we legged it down to the ferry terminal to find, er, nothing. The ferry was somewhere back towards the mainland, still on its way to Lochranza. We could have savoured that breakfast after all (a point I'm still bitter about, by the way!).

If we thought Lochranza was a quiet backwater kind of place, then nothing could have prepared us for Claonaig ferry terminal. To say that there was nothing there would be speaking literally. Just a ramp for the ferry and a bit of tarmac for the cars to park on. Oh, and a lot of rain.

With the wind and aforementioned rain at our faces we undulated our way up the Kintyre peninsula (cue: terrible rendition of Wings song) towards Oban. The cycling itself was pretty uneventful to be honest (which makes writing today's diary entry that little bit trickier!).

As we arrived in Oban the sun began to shine. Somehow Matt and Martin got separated from the rest of us as they raced through Oban (presumably in a bid to ensure they "baggsied" the best beds in the dorm). We finally rocked up at Oban Youth Hostel just before 6pm.

Dinner once again consisted of mountains of pasta (at Piazza on the North Pier at Oban, on the recommendation of Babs at Garvins) followed by a quick pint in the Harbour bar.

When we got back to the Youth Hostel, there was someone already asleep in the boys' dorm, so we were especially quiet not to wake him. It's a pity the 4 lads who came in about two hours later weren't quite so considerate. It was even more frustrating when we found out that the reason the first chap had gone to bed so early was that he was getting up at 4.30am. Not quite the uninterrupted night's sleep we were hoping for!

Day: 11, Distance: 64.4miles, Cycling Time: 4 hrs 55 mins, Ave Speed: 13.1mph, Max Speed: 38.4mph.