Miles: 65 (progress 60 miles), Nearest town where I slept: Loch Lomond

4 August 2011

If you look in Wikipedia under Scotland, or maybe Western Scotland, you’ll see a description that says something like, “This area of Scotland doesn’t get inches of rainfall a year, it gets feet or yards of rain each year.” Ok, I’m exaggerating a little, just a little, but Wikipedia does mention that this area is unusually rainy. Soon after I woke, I heard rain against the tent. That meant I would have to pack my panniers from inside the tent, instead of being able to spread things out a bit outside. Fortunately, my panniers are water-tight, so once their packed, even a Scottish rain can’t get inside.

I was surprised at how fast the packing went. Everything was packed around 8.30am, so all that was left was to roll up my tent, put everything on the bike, and start another day of cycling. The tent was soaked when I rolled it up, and noticeably heavier. Nonetheless, I was peddling at 9am, finally met that goal after days of trying. I didn’t expect my first effort of “wild camping” in Scotland, as described in my description of Day 15, to finish so efficiently.

One challenge if wild camping is that there is no shower. Fortunately the rain continued for most of the day. So, I didn’t have the 15 minute shower I enjoy, but I did have 5 hours of rain. Since it was raining, I didn’t take many pictures. A couple of hours went by, and I started to worry about the very wore tire I had on the front, which I moved from the back the previous day. Wore tires mean more punctures. I went through a town and asked a guy at a bus stop if a cycle shop was nearby. He said there was  Halfords, a cycle chain store, in the next town. I carried on to that town, asked again for the Halfords and found the place fairly easy. The service was everything you expect from a chain store when you aren’t buying a lot. My folding bike uses an unusual tire, a 20” tire. The clerk said they had one, exactly one. It was made for off-road cycling, but it was the only option I had. The clerk gave me the tire and pointed me to the cashier, not wasting any words. Chain stores can be a pain.

I decided to change the tire whenever I got another puncture, so I just shoved the new tire over one of my rear panniers. A little while later, I was surprised to see that I was entering Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city. It’s a good thing I’ve done a lot of cycling in London. Those skills were handy in Glasgow because traffic was intense, and me on my folding bike with 4 panniers. Finally, the rain ended, just as I was leaving Glasgow. That was especially helpful because my front tire went flat just as I was leaving Glasgow. At least, I wasn’t changing the tube and tire in the rain. One frustrating part happened when I had the new tire installed and was ready to go. I couldn’t find one of my tire levers. I always put my tools and parts in one place, but this time, I lost a tool. I looked around for as long as I could and decided I must have dropped it into a pannier.

The new tire just didn’t feel right. Compared the road tire I was used to, this new off-road tire was like pushing a brick all the time. But, the new tire had 2 or 3 times the amount of rubber than the old wore out tire. That meant fewer punctures with the new tire, so I had to accept it.

I peddled by some canals and canal boats, which was fun to see. The picture here is a hand-powered draw bridge, for canal boats. All of the locks for canal boats are also hand-powered. Canal boats used to haul frieght, before the train was invented. Now, canal boats are for fun.

Later, another bike shop showed up. It was also a privately owned store and not a chain, like the Halfords store I was at earlier. I stopped by to see if they had a better tire. They did, were friendly, even threw in some Scottish souvenir pins for free. This new tire was a road tire, which I need, and it could be pumped to a higher pressure than the other new tire I bought at the chain store, all good stuff. So, I changed the tire on my front wheel again. I offered to give the shop owner my other new tire, from Halfords. He wouldn’t even take it, since the quality was so low.

When I changed the front tire again, I found my lost tire lever. I was inside the tire, between the tube and tire, oops.

I reserved a place in a youth hostel that night, so I could have a shower, dry out my tent, and relax a little. Unfortunately, it took me a while to find the hostel, so I only had time to shower, eat, and put my tent in a drying room for the night.

The hostel itself was an amazing sight. I’ll let the pictures tell the story, all for £22 ($35) a night.

It’s late, and I need to post this and get to sleep.