Biking and Bagging -- A biking and hiking tour through Scotland

From Aug 24 - Sept 21, 2007 Mike and I joined Alan and Jan on a biking and hiking adventure in Scotland. We rode though some of the Western Isles and Highlands.

Our route

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Islay Riding

Finally, I have been able to get to an internet-connected computer! Just a quick update on riding on the island of Islay. We cycled the northern and western portions in good weather on quiet roads. We saw some great birds
(hen-harriers), but the Celtic crosses - some dating from the 800s were the most interesting things (to me at least). We had some trail riding and
off-road riding below the most magnificant sea-cliffs on the west coast
near Machir Bay.

Our third day on Islay had us out on the Oa -- wild moorlands with views all the way to Ireland. We also got a personal tour of the Lagavulin distillary -- 1.5 hour tour, and lots of great samples.

Food on Islay was great -- especially smoked haddock for breakfast.

Overall, the cycling has been fantastic thus far. I certainly recommend Islay -- both for the scotch and riding!

More info on our other ports of call in the next few days.

ttfn
Mary


Our routes and pictures:
Biking and hiking routes on Islay
Hiking and biking pictures
Lagauvlin distillery tour pictures
Celtic crosses on Islay

3 comments:

Armin said...

Great to read that you enjoyed your visit to Islay!

Did you see Granny's Rock when you cycled up/down (?) below the cliffs over Machir Bay. It's a bit difficult to find, but once you see it it's very good.

I assume you went walking on The Oa, I'm not aware of any good cycling opportunities out there?

Unknown said...

Isn't it fun hunting for tele-infrastructure?

Reminds me of when I tried to send an e-mail to half a dozen people from an internet café in England back in 2000, while Karolle wrote 3 postcards. I hit the wrong button and got no message out, losing about 10 pounds (sterling) in the process.

Glad to hear that biking, sightseeing and eating are good. In your next message, could you say where you'll be the next day or so? You might get some free advice in the comments. Karolle and I are looking at maps & other references.

Have you come across any references to Somerled, "first" duke of Argyll, who lived in the 11th-12th centuries? Any reference to the French language?

We might check out the Mt.Valin area today, where you had a nice view of the Saguenay region last year. À la prochaine!

Mary Sanseverino said...

We did walk on the Oa -- we rode as far as we could and then chained the bikes to a gate. From there we headed across the moor to the monument. It was a wonderful windswept late afternoon -- the sky was always changing. Also, the headwind we fought on the way out was at our back on the way in -- always a nice way to end a day's riding!