Cycling Around The Spare Bedroom

Todays virtual cycle will take me from Creagan, around the Appin coast to Dalnatrat. This is my destination for three reasons, first it is about half way to Ballachulish, second it's about the right distance away for my current fitness level, and third it takes us over the border from Argyll and Bute into the Highlands.

Heading out from Creagan I'm taking a steady pace but fair pace. The past two days I've really pushed hard, but my legs are a bit sore and I want to give them an easier day today.

Creagan to Dalnatrat is 13.6km and the road closely follows the route of the old Caledonian Railway line which Creagan station once served. My first 4km are through the Strath of Appin to the Appin village. Here I pass the turn off which leads to Port Appin from where a ferry crosses to Lismore (offically ranked in the 2001 census as the Scottish Island with the oldest population).

I follow the road past Appin Village until I reach Loch Laich and the village of Portnacroish. From here the stunning view of Castle Stalker can be seen on an islet in the Loch. The name Stalker is derived from the Gaelic "Stalcaire" meaning Hunter or Falconer and appeared in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (as Castle Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh!)

Built around 1320 by the Lords of Lorn, the castle has been held by a number of Clans, passing from MacDougall to Stewart to Campbell (the result of a drunken bet) and then in 1908 it was sold back to a Stewart. The castle has now been fully restored and is now a private residence.

After a short break to take in the view, I ride North until I pass the Sound of Shuna over which I see the Island of Shuna. Shuna is known as one of the Slate Islands (along with Seil, Easdale, Luing, Lunga, Shuna, Torsa and Belnahua), this title is a reference to their underlying geology of Dalradian slate. The island has a pretend castle, built in 1911 but which is now in a state of disrepair.

Farther on I pass Appin House, the remaining section of an 18th century mansion before making the final push to cover the final 6km, passing into the Higlands to reach Dalnatrat.

Today I've covered 13.6km around Appin. Tomorrow I'm headed for Ballachulish

Today I'll be riding from Benderloch to Creagan. It's a slightly shorter ride than yesterday being just 11.8km but my legs are still tired so I reckon that's far enough.

Before setting off, I've decided to visit one last memory of my childhood trips to Benderloch. When staying in my Uncle's carvan, I was always enchanted by a mysterious tower which sat on top of the hill side in the distance across the bay. I would sit and wonder what it was and who lived there. The tower had something magical about it and I imagined wizards and kings, dragons and ogres and the occasional long haired Princess. I vowed that one day I would climb up and see the tower close up (and rescue the Princess maybe?) but alas I've yet to do so.

On my visit to Benderloch earlier this year I saw the tower once again. Lady Margaret's Tower (as I now know it is called) sits the ridge of Garbh-aird to the west of Ardmucknish bay on the Lochnell estate. Unfortuately I've not been able to find any more information than this so if you know more about the tower, I'd love to hear from you.

It's time to set off once again and I do so with trepidation. My legs still hurt after yesterday's ride from Oban, but worse than that, my poor buttocks are pretty saddle sore.

Heading out of Benderloch I follow the A828 Northbound and pass through the villiage of Rhugarbh and head on towards Barcaldine. Here I pass the "Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary". I've visited here before and plan to take my children at some point. This is not only an excellent day out for the family but does amazing work particularly with their seal rescues. This work has been going on since 1980 and in that time dozens of seals have been rescued and subsequently released back into the wild.

Barcaldine itself boasts Barcaldine Castle, and Barcaldine House. The latter of these is a swanky hotel which really does look like a wonderful (but a bit pricey for me) place to stay. The castle is a ruin and dates from the 15th century.

We recently stayed in a wonderful campsite in Barcaldine. The site itself is situated within a 20 foot high walled garden which was built for Barcaldine House. The gardens originally housed huge heated glass houses with vines where peaches, pineapples, nectarines and other exotic fruits were grown.

Today the site is somewhat less exotic but is an excellent Camping and Caravan Club site which is a sun trap in high season and is shielded from the elements in low season.

Just outwith the walled garden lies Sutherland's Grove. Here a collection of huge fir trees can be found and some of the best forest walks I've ever discovered.

Pushing on from Barcaldine and I'm getting really tired. I've come 6.9km so far, and I push on for the last 5km until I finally reach South Creagan. By now I'm exhausted yet still going strong. A shower is definately required but I'm nearly done, so I ride over the newly built (£4million) Creagan bridge across the narrows of Loch Creran into North Creagan and I'm at my destination for the day.


Creagan is best known for it's now closed railway staion. Once on the Oban to Ballachulish line (which closed in the 1960s) the railway station is the only one remaining on the old route. The building has recently been renovated.

I'm done for today. Benderloch to Creagan, 11.8km and I'm knackered. I need to push on tomorrow if I'm to make Ballachulish by Friday but for now it's time for a long cold drink and a lie down.

It's my first day on the bike (remember it's an exercise bike and this is a virtual journey) and starting at Oban I'm hoping to make it to the village of Benderloch.

Todays journey will be 12.7 km and take me over the Connel bridge. What's more I've only got half an hour to get there as there's a program on TV at 9pm that I want to see and it's already half past eight. So I'd better get going.

First problem is that the kids have been playing with the bike again and the resistance has been turned down to pretty much none. After setting it again I set off at a fair pace hoping to make it back to the comfort of my sofa in time for my TV program starting.

Leaving Oban by the steep A85 it's 5.3km before I reach the village of Dunbeg. Near here is Dunstaffnage castle which I don't think I've ever visited.

The castle dates back to the 13th century and is strategically surrounded on three sides by water. Dunstaffnage has been translated as dun stafr-nis which is a mix of Gaelic and Norse and means "Fort on the Headland".

Today Dunstaffnage Castle is maintained by Historic Scotland and is open to the public (more...).

By now my legs are starting to ache and I'm getting a bit hot so it's time to press on towards Connel. Just under 4km later I arrive and I'm already thinking I've set the resistance too high. My legs are burning and I'm a bit sweaty.



I've fond memories of Connel and in particular the Connel Bridge. It was built in 1903 as a single track railway bridge but soon afterwards a new service started carrying road vehicles across the bridge on a specially designed train. In 1914 the bridge was extended to carry both cars (for a toll) and trains (but never at the same time). 1966 saw the closure of the railway branch line and the bridge became as it is today, a single track road bridge.

As a child my sisters and I used to have a competition to be the first to spot the Connel Bridge each holiday. This was a great source of excitement as seeing the bridge meant we were nearly at Benderloch.

The bridge spans the narrows which lead into Loch Etive and below the bridge you can see a spectacular "tidal race" known as the Falls of Lora. This has the appearance of a long low waterfall with water pouring out of Loch Etive into the Firth of Lorne.

Crossing the bridge to North Connel the road now bypasses the village. When I was a child the road went through it passing a hotel the name of which I can't remember. This was a great place with good food and live music (usually an accordian player). Out in the gardens many an evening was enjoyed playing in a small hedge maze.

Totally exhausted I cycle on and finally after almost 28 minutes from Oban I reach my destination for the day, Benderloch. This was where I spent almost every childhood holiday at my Uncle's caravan in Tralee Bay caravan park. Back then it was an overgrown, muddy, molehill ridden field with a cold smelly toilet block but to me it was brilliant. In those days we seemed to have such freedom. I'd disappear off on my own for hours at a time and only return when I wanted fed or was tired (or it started to rain). Today the site is a posh well manicured private site, with every possible facility you could need. It's all a far cry from the way it used to be and I'm sure I would have got into trouble for digging big holes all over the place trying to catch sleeping moles. I'm not keen on such modern campsites, there doesn't seem to be much camping going on.

I remember there was a small path made from railway sleepers which led down to the beach. I would spend most of my time either on the beach or climbing on the rocks next to it.

We visited the beach earlier this year when we stayed in a campsite in Barcaldine (I'll travel through there on tomorrows trip). It was April and although it got a bit chilly we had a wonderful time building sandcastles and playing on the beach.

I didn't really remember much about Benderloch village centre. I was only about 8 when we stopped going there so it's not surprising. I must admit however, I was a little disappointed that I didn't recognise anything.

So my virtual journey for the day is over, I've come 12.7km of my journey and my legs feel like jelly. I know I'll be sore tomorrow but I'm planning to push on a further 11.8km to Creagan.

Now it's time to get a drink and go watch some TV.

My first virtual ride starts in Oban (the Little Bay), on the west coast of Scotland, in the region of Argyll.

Oban is a lovely town with a small ferry terminal and a harbour. Above the town sits an interesting structure called McCaigs Folly. Built by John F McCaig, a banker from Oban, this was meant to be a minature replica of the Colluseum in Rome. Unfortunately John died before the building was complete and so it never was.

Across the water from Oban lies the island of Kerrera and beyond that across the Firth of Lorn is Mull. Oban is known as the "Gateway to the Isles" as ferries leave here headed for many locations.

Oban is quite a special place to me. As a child I spent almost all of my holidays at my Uncle's caravan in a place called Benderloch which is just a few mile out of town (and which my virtual journey will be passing through really soon).

My memories of Oban are wonderful. A trip into the town was always exciting and we usually returned to the campsite with a new toy or a magazine.

I used to love watching all the fishing boats offloading their cargos and the smell of the fish. I was always terrified of standing near the edge of the pier not just because I might fall in but because I didn't want to get squished between the the boats and the side.

Much as I loved the boats however, my favourite place in Oban was John Menzies with it's rotating door. To a small boy this was an aladins cave of goodies and somewhere me an my sisters always wanted to go.

I've been to Oban many times since then. One such trip was in 1997 when I went on a friends stag weekend. We got shamefully drunk in the Oban Arms (which I think has now closed) and hand-cuffed the poor guy half naked to railings outside. The next morning, Oban Camanachd, one of Oban's two shinty teams won the Camanachd Cup and we all joined in the celebrations not really having a clue what was going on. A few of our group even climbed up on top of a telephone box to celebrate with the locals and made it into the local paper.

And so I'm quite pleased that for my first virtual journey the pin fell on Oban. I'm also pleased that this is a virtual journey, as the road I'd be taking out of Oban is very steep.

My journey starts tommorow, let's see where I get to.

So how am I going to get fit?

We'll it's October and in Scotland that means cold, wet and windy. I also work full time so any riding would need to be in the evenings or at the weekends. But I've also got 2 small children so realistically the evenings means after they're in bed asleep and by then it's dark outside.

And so the title of this tale, "Cycling Around The Spare Bedroom".

My trusty steed will need to start out as an exercise bike. I've got a nice shiny new one we bought about a year ago. It's sitting in the spare bedroom pretending to be a clothes horse.

I've also thought of a fun way to make things a little more interesting. Armed with a map of Scotland and a pin, I close my eyes. Where will it land... I open my eyes and the winner is... Portree, on the Isle of Skye. So what you're thinking, what does that have to do with an exercise bike? Well it's simple really. Each day I'm going to try to clock up miles on the exercise bike and when I stop I'll look at the map and see how much farther along my journey I've come. If I land somewhere interesting I'll see if I can find out a bit about the place. All from the comfort of my spare (we never have guests) bedroom.

So where will the journey start? Well let's see. Out with the pin again... Oban. That sounds good, not too far, both on the West coast and whatsmore I've stayed in both towns and know the roads my virtual journey will take. Imagining my trip will be easy.

Oban to Portree... 154 miles


View Larger Map

Of we go...

What was I thinking? Me and exercise don't mix. Yet I've done it now, I've made a pledge to get out on my bike. Not only that, I'm supposed to do go on some epic adventure. What have I done? I don't even know how far John O Groats is?

Hold on, a quick look on Google Maps tells me it's.... 317 miles, oh my goodness.... thats 510 km in new money... how am I going to do that?

Let's think, I've got to get fit, I've got to plan a route, I've got to get organised. I've already got a bike, a Saracen mountain bike, but is that a wise choice for a long journey which will probably end up being mostly on roads?

Although I'm a slow reader I love books. When I'm not reading fiction, I love travel books, especially those which follow someone on an adventure. I've read loads of good ones (more suggestions welcomed) but a few which stick in my mind are;

• Full Circle - by Michael Palin
• Long Way Round - by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman
• Long Way Down - by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman
• These are the days that must happen to you - by Dan Walsh

Although these were all great reads, they never left me thinking of setting off on an journey of my own. Maybe it was due the the scale of the adventures, or the commitment required, I don't know, but I was never left thinking, "I want to do that!"

Then about six months ago I read another book. It wasn't really the book which got my attention however. It was the idea. The book was "From the Mull to the Cape: A Gentle Bike Ride on the Edge of Wilderness" by Richard Guise. The book itself was good, although as I recall, the writer's sense of humour was questionable (a bit like my own probably).

It follows a cycling journey from the Southernmost tip of the Mull of Kintyre, to Cape Wrath way up at the top of Scotland. Here was an adventure of a manageable scale which wouldn't require too much commitment. I was inspired, I wanted to do it. So the very next day I did.... nothing.

Six months have past... I've done nothing. Until now. Now I'm going to do it, now I'm going to ride my bike from my front door in North Ayrshire to Cape Wrath. There's just one problem. Aside from the occasional trip out with my kids, I haven't ridden a bike seriously for about 10 years.

I used to ride a lot. Not great distances, that wasn't my thing. I preferred going up. Up hills on my Mountain Bike and then plumetting down again at crazy speeds, usually falling off in the process. But as happens, life took over, I got married, we had kids and Daddy's hobbies took a back seat. But with the big 4-0 approaching in a few years I'm starting to feel my age. I'm a bit over-weight (not much), totally unfit (I couldn't run away from a rabid dog) and I do no exercising whatsoever aside from walking to the bus stop and back.

So things are about to change. I'm going to cycle from my home (I don't like the sound of the Mull of Kintyre) to John O Groats (I don't like the sound of Cape Wrath). You heard it here.

Let the preparations begin.