Day 11 - Glasgow to Ballachulish - projected distance 90 miles.

A memorable day.

I had a very busy morning before leaving Glasgow. There was some work to do before breakfast, then I changed my front tyre, found a cashpoint as I was in need of some fine Scottish banknotes, and cycled round to a bike shop to pick up some lubricant for my chain. It had been a little squeaky.

It was just after 10am when I finally rolled out of Glasgow city centre to the west. This took me through the area of Clydebank - the old shipbuilding area. I noticed a sign saying "Clydebank - proud past; dynamic future." Maybe so, but the present is not so great. There's a fair bit of wasteland by the river, plus the dramatic Titan crane.

Soon I was on the A82 to Loch Lomond, which is not far from Glasgow. I was looking forward to this part of the trip, which promised to be very scenic. It didn't let me down. The loch looked majestic under leaden skies - and it's massive. I was cycling directly along side it for a long, long while - fortunately along a very fast, flat road with excellent smooth tarmac. I was able to zip along, stopping every now and then for a closer look or a photo. There is a cycle path at the loch edge for much of the way, although this is more suited to mountain bikes. I stayed mainly on the road. My GPS told me to stay on the same road, and indicated that it would give me my next instruction in 46 miles. Yes, 46 miles. That could be daunting, but the road was good and I was enjoying the ride. It felt special, out of the ordinary.

As Sarah and the children were engaged for the morning at the local acquarium, followed by a boat trip on the loch, I stopped for lunch at one of the lochside cafés. As I was having my soup, the Glaswegian gentleman at the next table asked where I had cycled from. "Land's End", I said proudly, and he then told me some cycling tales from his youth. Cycling is rather like skiing - everyone who has done it has a story. The café, and the area in general, seemed fairly quiet to me - the area does not seem at all overrun with tourists.

When the loch ended, the A82 continued with a stretch of spectacularly rough tarmac which threatened to shake both me and my bike to pieces, and then my nice easy flat run was over. There was a reason for the loch ending - the mountains. I climbed back up to 1000ft - and you'll see from the profile below this was very much a day of two halves. The second half was tiring, but, wow, were the views dramatic. Around every turn was another photo opportunity, another picture postcard vista.

After a quick stop at a gift shop in Tyndrum to buy a book about the Loch Ness monster for the children (we'll be there tomorrow), it was onwards and upwards again to more amazing views. I clocked up 70 miles, then 80 miles, and Sarah overtook me in the car at the top of one of the peaks in Glencoe. We stopped to have a look at the famous 'Three Sisters' mountains. My GPS read the elevation at over 1000ft, and I knew we were staying by a loch, so I reckoned I had a good downhill run to finish. Oh yes. I flew down the pass into Ballachulish at over 30mph, a fitting end to a wonderful day in Scotland. Today's ride was 89.6 miles, which is the longest on this tour (unless I lose my way). Tomorrow I'll pass Ben Nevis and then Loch Ness, so there's more to come.

The last picture on the right, by the way, is exactly what I'm looking at while I'm typing this diary entry. It's Loch Leven - not a bad outlook.