Kilsyth to Troon

Sunday October 3, 2010

My campsite for the night, on the Forth and Clyde Canal near Kilsyth.

I had told myself I was going to wake up early but it's hard when I love sleeping so much and when it's raining outside, because I had the prospect of eating breakfast, packing up and the riding in the rain. It was becoming difficult to sleep though, with the day getting brighter and the cox commanding rowing crews going past on the canal.

The Forth and Clyde Canal near Kilsyth with a rowing crew on the canal.

And also my bed was not comfortable, I think my self-inflating mat (think Thermarest, but a cheaper Kathmandu branded one) has a hole in it because it was quite flat. This is not good since I have two and a half months left of this trip!
The first thing I did upon waking up was read my twitter feed which was filled with tweets about the cycling world championships. This was one thing I was disappointed not to be in Australia for; I would have been down in Geelong watching it for sure! It's the first time it's ever been held in Australia, and happens to be the first time I'm not in Australia :( Thor Hushovd won, I'm quite a fan of him.
After that, I got up, ate breakfast in the rain and packed up in the rain. Then an old bloke out on a morning stroll stopped by for a chat. He was quite friendly. We just talked about the usual: the weather, where I was from, where I'd been, where I was going, etc. This bloke also had a connection to Australia - his grand-daughter I think he said is married to an Australian and they live in Surfers Paradise.
He said "I" a lot, whenever he was in agreement with what I was saying, I love it how the Scots do this. A peculiarity to them I guess.
After that I was on my way, the rain had mostly stopped but the path, which was still following alongside the canal, was covered in puddles the whole way, which makes the bike and panniers really dirty, and covers the drive train in grit. I have actually been having to oil the chain a couple of times each day, because it starts getting dry and squeaky really quickly once the weather dries out.
The sun had come out when I got to Glasgow. I had to find a bike shop to get a new cable to replace the one I left in Edinburgh. The first shop I went to didn't have any, the second didn't have the one I wanted, the third was closed, finally the fourth one, which was the biggest, had the one I wanted, and I bought another set of brake pads, the same as the set I got in Ambleside which I've been using on the front. They perform so much better than the original pads!
Glasgow seemed an alright city, it's hard to really say what it's like with only the brief passing through I had.

The City Chambers in George Square in the centre of Glasgow.

A column with author Walter Scott in George Square in the centre of Glasgow.

 The sun had come out. I saw some mountain bike circuits not too far from the city centre so the city has at least one thing going for it. The cycle path on the way out was also good.

Following a pleasant bike path out of Glasgow, near the Pollok Golf Course.

Actually there didn't seem to be too much traffic at all in the city, I guess partly because it was a Sunday afternoon.
I was thinking about the movie "Trainspotting" as I rode through too, I guess that's how many foreigners think of Glasgow, although Trainspotting was actually set in Edinburgh, but interestingly almost all of the film was filmed in Glasgow.
I was trying to get to Troon by 8 pm to catch the ferry to Ireland.
I stopped at a supermarket in a town called Johnstone at about 6 pm and bought food for lunch. I was having a chat to a bloke while locking up my bike, he was my age rather than the old guys I usually talk to when I'm out on the bike. He reckoned he wanted to do some touring in the future, and reckoned I was "living the dream."
The riding was fairly flat, with a few short steep hills. I passed through a number of towns along the way with nothing notable to mention, except that I have a really sore saddle sore. And I can't even wear padded shorts (knicks) because I posted all four pairs I had home. I'll just have to grin and bear it, and hope it gets better.
So after the lunch break at dusk, I didn't end up getting to Troon until just after 10 pm. I'd missed the ferry by two hours!
At the port, a security guard approached me. Before he could say anything, I fired a few questions at him regarding catching the ferry. After responding and explaining about catching the next ferry in the morning, he asked me where I was going tonight, quite a good question I thought. "Not sure, do you know if there are any camping grounds around?"
"Nah, there's none around here...but there is a spot over there by the beach, if it's just for tonight you should be alright..." and he proceeded to give me directions. I love it when people give me useful advice! I set the tent up where he suggested, great spot it was too.
Tomorrow I have to wake up early to catch the ferry, better set the alarm.

Ride stats
Distance: 109.50 km
Average: 17.2 km/h
Maximum: 46.1 km/h
Time: 6:21:32