Wednesday 13th June 60 Miles
898 Total
I woke up early as usual. I could hear that it was quite breezy outside. As I made my way to the shower room, I looked outside to see an angry looking sky. The wind was making the sea look choppy, and light rain had begun to fall.
With my ablutions complete, I found Finn was up and about back in the dorm room. Finn likes to get up early and get going so it was no surprise to find that he had his panniers packed already.
I too started to get my things together. Finn and I had a chat while we were loading up our bikes. Finn had a little detour planned today. He was going to ride with the rest of us, and then take a trip to the Abhainn Dearg Distillery. This is a small distillery on the west coast of Lewis. The ride to get there is down a narrow, single track, dead end road out to the coast. It sounded like a nice little distraction.
As we headed back to the dorm for the rest of our kit, the others were all up and dressed, even Robbie. We all headed over to the communal room for breakfast where a few of the other hostel guests were gathering. They were catching the same ferry as us this morning. But, as they were cycling they had to leave about thirty minutes earlier. We would pass them a few times either side of the crossing today as we stopped at different places on our travels.
Stu and Alison had a little detour of their own planned for today too. Alison wanted to visit the Harris Tweed factory shop. This had been a pre-trip deal breaker for Alison. She would spend some (quite a bit) of Stu's money in exchange for having to spend a week sleeping in hostels with a clan of burly men. If that is the case then I want to know where my matching handbag and gloves are, for having to put up with Stu's snoring for the week!
The weather had turned into the major talking point around the table this morning. It turns out we would be in the eye of Storm Hector, as the Met Office had named it, for the next 24 hours. Great! Just as we were arriving on Harris and Lewis with all the lovely scenery.
But, Jim had some good news. After a few phone calls he had managed to secure the only tyre available in the islands. A tyre shop in Stornoway had a tyre on the shelf with his name on it. Jim would head straight there once we landed in Leverburgh, and then meet up with us at our accommodation this afternoon.
It was a few miles down to the Berneray ferry terminal where we had a short wait in the constant light rain that was falling. The cyclists from the hostel were looking weather beaten already. They had a long hard day ahead of them. The bikes and motorcycles were to be loaded first, so we all made our way past the gloomy faced car drivers and onto the ferry. The crew informed us that straps were not used on this crossing due to the shallow sea. They did their best to reassure us, and we headed up to the passenger deck and out of the rain. Finding a group of tables we camped out and made ourselves at home for the hour long crossing.
The ferry makes a series of tight ninety degree turns as it makes its way over to Harris. The sea is very shallow and the route is marked out with coloured markers indicating the correct route across the sandbanks. Looking down to the bikes on the car deck, they seemed to be rocking on their suspension a little more than we would of liked. A couple of car alarms had gone off as the cars were jiggling about too.
But, with Leverburgh in sight the Chief Steward called for us to head down to our bikes and prepare for disembarkment.
After a couple of cars parked behind were let off our bikes were set free to explore Harris and Lewis. Robbie had planned to stop at the café on the port for coffee/breakfast, but it was closed until lunchtime.
So, we got on our way and stopped at the shop on the edge of the village. The others filled up with fuel. I topped up my tank after having stopped yesterday afternoon, I was nearly full but managed to get a couple of litres in. A few snacks were bought and then it was time to head north on the A859. The driving for the first few miles was interesting. Opposing drivers seemed to completely ignore the passing places and just squeezed past our bikes without stopping. This was a little alarming in places, especially in the now driving rain.
But, after a few miles the traffic disappeared and the scenery this part of the world is famous for started to appear. As we approached the Sound of Taransay the first of the sandy beaches came into view. Robbie pulled over so that we could take some photos, but it was too wet to take out my DSLR. It still looked stunning in the rain.
A few miles further on and with the rain easing off, more and more stunning beaches appeared. Every turn offered a beach view. The local gulls were enjoying the scene too. Soaring away on the breeze, one got a little too close for comfort and I just avoided headbutting it as it made a diving turn. It then swooped up and had a go at Johnny two bikes behind. Still, our near death experiences gave us something to talk about other than the weather.
At Seilebost the road crossed a small causeway with beaches on either side. A campsite next to the road looked like a great place to stay if only the weather was more kind.
Heading inland towards North Harris the scenery became rocky and mountainous. It was a barren, dark, wild scene that stretched out before us. It was a complete contrast to the soft white sand that we had ridden past moments before. The wind had also increased. The huge rocky corridors provided the wind with the ideal opportunity to test our resolve.
The gusts were unpredictable and it made the riding were tiring. Colin hurt his neck when a strong gust caught the peak on his helmet and wrenched his helmet round on his head. He had whiplash type symptoms for the next couple of days. I was beginning to feel the effects of the weather too. My legs felt like they were wet through. As it turned out, my waterproof suit was still waterproof it was just that my legs were cold from the driving wind.
At the A859/A858 junction Robbie pulled over for a clan discussion. He had planned for us to ride around the north end of Lewis in a big loop and then to Stornoway. The consensus was that most of us had had enough of the weather. A dry set of clothes and warm pub seemed much more inviting than another few hours of our unwelcome mate Hector.
So, with that we made a u turn and headed straight for our overnight hostel in Stornoway. Finn left us and carried on in search of his whisky fix just up the coast.
Arriving in Stornoway, Robbie started making friends with one of the local drivers who decided to pull out straight in front of him. He pulled along side and gestured that he would like to offer them some freshly ground coffee! How nice of him.
Stornoway is a confusing maze of one way streets on a grid system. We pulled up outside a hostel, only to be told it was not our hostel. Our hostel was three streets away. We left the bikes parked up and walked round to the correct hostel only to find that it was all locked up. Robbie got on the phone and was quickly given the access code by the landlord. He was having a bad day himself as his wife had suffered a miscarriage that morning. We agreed to sort ourselves out until he got here.
Colin, Johnny and I walked back to get our bikes leaving Robbie at the hostel. But, finding our way back to the correct hostel was not as easy as we thought. The route we had walked was marked with no entry signs, so we had to take a series of side streets to make our way back. Eventually, we found our way. There was no parking at the hostel, but the road was empty and quiet enough.
The hostel was not quiet as salubrious as the one on Berneray. It was clearly cheap accommodation for contract workers staying away from home during the week. It was not exactly as advertised on its website. Still we had two large rooms between us all, with comfy beds and plenty of room. We were all pleased to be out of the weather. Soon we were joined by Stu, Alison, and Jim with his new heavily treaded Bridgestone tyre.
We headed into town to find a nice cosy pub for the rest of the afternoon. Stornoway turned out to be less than abundant with public houses. Eventually a pub was found near the docks. It was a bit run down, like the rest of the town. But, it had beer. We settled in for a couple of rounds when we heard a familiar sound coming down the road. Colin and Stu ran out into the street to try and flag Finn down. After a short foot chase, Finn was given the details of the hostel and the key. Shortly after he joined us in the pub.
The landlord of the hostel had recommended the hotel at the bottom of the street for food. We could smell the curry cooking as we walked past earlier. It was a pleasant surprise. The restaurant was busy with locals which was a sign that the food was good. The food was amazing and a reasonable price too. It was just what we needed. We retired to the hostel, and due to a lack of any entertainment, most of us had an early night.
Even though we had only covered a few miles, it had been a tough day. Tomorrow we shall attempt to get back to the mainland. But, with the storm due to hit during the early hours of the night will we be able to travel? Will the ferries be running? We would have to find out in the morning.
Here is the vlog of todays events:
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