Day 12 - 28th July 2002

Much like Lancashire, there's no point coming to Scotland and not getting rain and again we awoke to find the a very dull day, which was raining by the time we set off. Not Lancashire drizzle this time but good old Scottish rain. The only advantage was the cloud obscuring the big climb to come. Another leisurely start as we packed our lighter loads and put off the time we had to get out in the rain.

Fintry: Mickie

We began along the Forth and Clyde canal, with Mark and Tim taking an (unsuccessful) detour to look for spokes before riding on the quiet roads to Lennoxtown. While the main group went right to tackle the relentless climb up the Campsie Hills Mark and Tim again detoured to the next bike shop, another wasted (and wet) 3 miles as it was closed on a Sunday. The ride over the Campsie's is actually very pleasant in good weather but there wasn't much to see today until we dropped steeply into Fintry and regrouped.

There was nothing to do today other than put the head down and plug away at pedalling, on empty roads through Kippen and Thornhill and eventually into Callendar. Callendar is always busy and today it's Highland Games were on; that must have been almost as miserable a way to spend today than biking. We found shelter under an awning to eat haggis, chips and tablet (Scottish speciality, a sort of solid fudge): a healthy balanced diet!

Sheeny had recommended the new bike route from Callendar to Strathyre on the west side of Loch Lubnaig, then along the old railway line high above Glen Ogle towards Killin. It sounded great in theory so we were heading for the first route sign when we noticed Mike had popped another spoke. With no spares left with the correct nipples Tim went off to look for a bike shop while Mark inspected the problem. The shop turned out to be perfectly situated with a sheltered archway for repairs and stocked the spares we needed (and luckily the owner hadn't given up on the day!) so we spent some time out of the rain fixing the spoke. With the bike back together we were loading up when a slight "ping" indicated another spoke had popped!. We'd been careful with spoke tension so assumed it had been weaked 2 days ago, but it wasted more time. At least Mike was learning about bike maintenance. We'd definitely recommend the shop, beside the tourist information office.

Leaving Callendar

It was late by the time we hit the road but the rain had stopped and the clouds began to lift over the next hour. Initially the bike path was good, but areas became rougher and in some places it was a glorified mountain bike track. Not ideal for well laden tourers on slick tyres, especially one with a dodgy back wheel. We had no option than to stick to the route as it was divided from the road by the Loch and it did improve for a while with a section of paved forest road.

Tim nearly lost Mike and Mark in Strathyre but we regrouped to decide the next move; we had 3 options: keep on the path via Balquidder, hit the road and find the path once it had returned from Balquidder or stick to the road. 3 was out in case the rest of the group were waiting with mechanical problems and we decided on option 1 despite the lateness of the hour. With more time the detour would be excellent with some beautiful scenery and a visit to Rob Roy's grave (famous outlaw), we hadn't much time but it was a great ride.

Looking east over Lochearnhead

We picked up the bike track again near the old Balquidder station and it's hard to see where the railway went because we had to climb very steeply on a switchback path that brought us up to the old railway line. From there the ride was superb: the day getting better by the minute, great views of Lochearnhead and a flat ride on a good path. Especially Timwho'd looked up many times from the road and wondered what the view was like from the old railway (closed like many small lines in 1964). We had to move quickly as it was getting late but that was easily done: I'd thoroughly recommend this part of the bike track from Strathyre. Once we reaced the top of Glen Ogle we moved onto the road for an exhilarating 2 miles downhill to Lix Toll then an east flat couple of miles to Killin.

The town hasn't changed a lot over the years (the most seriously misspent parts of Tim's misspent youth occured here) and we easily found the B&B we'd booked with the rest already in residence, having had a good ride. It was an interesting challenge getting to our rooms without getting mud and grit all over the carpets from the panniers, but luckily they had a shed for the bikes. Once in the room it was an evening for getting in the shower with all the luggage and outerware and trying to hose it all down.

By the time we were ready it was too late for food in the pubs so we headed to the chip van which had fortunately improved it's food in 15 years. Still looked the same though. The woman behind the counter was pretty funny, particularly when berating the so called "healthy americans" for ordering plenty of salt. Then we dodged the biting insects by walking with the food and ducked into the coachouse pub (ah the nights in that place!) before they regrouped. I think everyone slept well, it was a tough but ultimately enjoyable day.