Arran

This is one that has been on the cards for so long and it was well worth the wait. It was my birthday week and I had some well deserved time off work after some very challenging winter months. There was only one day that week where it was going to be sunny so I booked the 0630 ferry over to Arran with the return at around 1720 to give me as much time as possible to get around the island and film as much as I could in the one day.

From the minute I got on the ferry it became apparent that this was going to be a special day. The hue in the sky was perfect as the sun got closer to making an appearance and it cast the perfect light on this magical island.

The amount of effort I had to put in that day seemed much more than usual and that can be put down to extra weight from carrying extra layers as well as extra equipment to try and capture as much as possible. lets not forget I was up at 0445

There is a few segments in this video where you just see the road rolling by as I make my way around. This is to try and show as much of the real experience of cycling around this island.

You definitely need more than a week here to properly explore this amazing island and everything it has to offer. I’m definitely looking forward to doing it again and if there is ever a clear incentive to get my fitness back to a healthier state it would be to come back here and do a lap without needing to get off the bike and walk/push up the hills.
I had the best time cycling around this island at a time when I really needed to get out and feel the adventure more than ever.

The roads are so quiet when you get around the other side of the island from Brodick. For the most part drivers where courteous and gave me plenty of space when passing. One white van driver let the team down but I cant let one driver spoil what for me was a perfect day.
If you haven’t already I highly recommend visiting this island and doing this route as it is extremely good for the soul.

Arran you are absolutely stunning!

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Hi, I’ve made another video. Aaron, I am absolutely knackered. Didn’t realize there was so many hills in Aaron. It was absolutely stunning. Stunning. [Music] Hi guys, it’s Thursday the 27th of February and I set my alarm for quart to 5 this morning so that I could make my way down the M77 to Dun and catch the first ferry of the day over to Aaron. It’s my birthday week and I have been looking at today as the only chance I had to do this trip. So fortunate to be on the ferry before the sun comes up and it’s looking like we are going to get an awesome sunrise. It’s moments like this that pave the way for a great day. It was cold outside, but I couldn’t miss out on this very special moment. [Music] I need to warn you guys just now that I’m going to say stunning about 200 times in this video. I was honestly lost for words to explain how beautiful this day was. [Music] Well, this is exciting. Upon arrival, I headed to the co-op to stock up with a few snacks to help fuel my ride. Park my big girl. What a stunning morning. This is just great. Just arrived in Broadrien. Going to cycle around this beautiful island on this beautiful day. It’s the end of February. I had to get up at4 to 5 this morning to come down and catch the ferry at half 6. I just caught it. They’d actually put the barriers down and put them back up. Anyway, I’m going to cycle clockwise around the island and I’ll probably talk a we bit more once I’ve been cycling for 20, 30 minutes. This is great. [Music] First thing I’m going to do is find somewhere to chain my lock to so I can just grab it when I get back around cuz I don’t really need it. I thought I did needed it when I went into the co-op, but place is so quiet. Loving this we sort of path along the front. I think I’ll leave my lock here. So, I’m going to go clockwise, head south first. I think that makes sense. Straight into it. This will wake you up. I just set out. Feels like I’ve been on this hill for about an hour. My god. Morning. Stunning heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] It’s absolutely stunning. Absolutely stunning. Massive hole number two. Oh god. Yeah, I think that’s the end of that hole. That was a biggie. It’s maybe a problem when it’s straight in here. This is great. Can’t see it just now, but I have got a massive cheeser on my face. This is great. Stunning. [Music] Doubling back here just to admire these bus shelters. That is proper proper good beautiful. Look at that. I love it. Full tool. So, I’m going to stop every 2 minutes just to admire the viewer. That’s excellent. Absolutely love these. Heat. Heat. This is absolutely amazing. Absolutely amazing. gobsmacked. People have been telling me to do this for years. I’ve wanted to do it, but I thought I’ll wait till the weather’s just right. But it’s perfect. This is great. Another tree that came down during the storms. Hey, I can’t believe what I’m looking at just now. That’s phenomenal. Let’s dump this in there. Bike’s gone there. This First, I thought because there’s a phone box up there at that house, I thought that this was being bought by the person. But look at that. Oh, I love it. There’s actually a phone in there. Should have put it back on the receiver. This forms. That’s amazing. Does it work? I don’t know. I can’t get it up there. I don’t even know if there’s anything on the screen. That’s amazing. Every time I go for a cycle, I find a new phone box that turns into my favorite. This is going to be it. I’ve ripped my jacket before. Look at that. Phenomenal. I take a left here and go down this steep hill to K Dornan, knowing that I will be climbing back up it in a short Yeah, we down this hill just to visit this village cordan I think it’s called known fine well I need to climb back up back out the small island you can see 1 kilometer south of Konan is Plad. Platter is an uninhabited stone teardropshaped island and is privately owned, having been put up for sale by Aron Estate in 1990. The island was put on sale in 2022 for 350,000 and was bought shortly after for breakfast and stranger places. Look at that. My veins. Perfect. [Music] Plada is 700 m long and rises to 27 m above sea level. What’s really unusual about this small island is that it has its own source of fresh water. Could you live here? [Music] It’s good to see the first signs of spring coming through. It’s going to be a good year. Oh, it was worth it for that shot of the lighthouse. Yeah, this is just I mean w is absolutely stunning. So good. Just feels like we’re leaving winter properly and that’s good. This is the last view we get of the iconic volcanic plug Elsa Craig away in the distance in the outer fur of Clyde. As I travel around the southwest of the island, I will pass through Kilm Lag and Slithery. It’s getting a bit colder and it also looks like there has been a recent downpour that the roads are still wet from. Kilmer Kilaroy Kar I love stuff like that. Kale superb lot of hills on this island which normally wouldn’t bother me but carrying a lot of weight just now both on myself and on the Thank you. [Music] as well as a great varied landscape. There are superb views over the Kulbran Sound to the Cana Peninsula. At this point, my legs are really starting to feel it. I’ve not been able to cycle as much as I would have liked this winter, so these hills have been a bit of a shock to my system. Oh man, it’s all good. Cycling this quiet stretch of road, looking out over the clear water was such a great feeling. It’s at this point I start to feel the rewards for all that hard effort. Getting up this morning and pushing myself out the door to catch those early signs of spring. Winter is behind us now and a great year of adventure beckons. Oh, so all good again that this is just ridiculous. I mean that water clear stretch. I’m guessing this is just all over summer as well. adventure. I was honestly lost for words and just basking in the greatness of this landscape. This year, let’s push ourselves out there and explore, explore, explore. There’s so much beauty out there, and the bicycle is the ultimate tool to see it all. I must be halfway around then. Lanza 17 miles. Lash 19. Let’s see. How many miles have I done? I’m dead quiet. Don’t like this. I probably need to cycle more than I need to make a video. That’s totally fine. 25 miles. Yeah, I say that’s halfway. What I’m probably going to do is just cycle a bit more just to get a bit of distance in. Hopefully that’s majority of the climbing that I need to do. Hope I hope so. Anyway, anybody who has cycled around this island will be laughing so hard right now. Heat. Heat. Another hill. Stunning. Absolutely stunning. Knowing that there is an ancient stone circle nearby and not having the correct footwear and possibly not enough time to check it out was quite frustrating. I was also starting to feel that my fitness wasn’t as good as it should have been to take on this quite difficult cycle. The good thing is knowing that I will come back to this awesome island again and again to dive deeper and explore more. Caught in a wee bit of shower there. I’m glad it’s just a wee bit of shower because when you look over there, there’s it’s a bit to my my left, but it’s an absolute downpour. I thought it was going to be a lot heavier than what it was. That’s about eight seals that I’ve seen just on the rocks. Um, just sitting on the rock getting some sun. Quite impressed with that. Did not expect to see that today. That was good. It’s at this point every hill that I come to just hits me like a ton of bricks. It slows me right down. I do get to enjoy these great downhill sections as I head along the coastline to permill. Oh, this is so good. So good. So good. So bad. Smashing. [Music] That was good to get a me coffee and then we sat down for 10 minutes with that bus shelter that’s way back there. I’ve been absolutely drenched. Checked when I was back at that post office getting a coffee. Says it would take me 2 hours to get round this way. So, I can take my time a bit and get some more shots if the rain stops. Still February. Don’t forget it. I think it’s the 26th, 27th. And then on these bridge, I find it funny the chairs that you see on in bus shelters. Seen quite a lot of that in the sky as well. Stunning. There’s about five houses there. You see a land space. Right. Well, we’re on the island of Aaron. I’m having an absolute great day. I’ve only been soaked once. There’s still time. I’m probably here for another hour and a half before I get back into Broadick. I’m now on a good flat section. What a difference. I’m searching for a public toilet. I’m looking rocks there. I’m thinking gaps. If only the road was like this all the way around. But um the hills break. I look forward to coming back here in summer or something. Yeah, it’s locks up. Feel like I’ve um heading home now after this. I mean, it’s a public toilet, but these things are essential. It’s a castle. This place is stunning. Look at that. Lorranza Castle is situated on a peninsula that extends into the beautiful Loranza on the northwest of the island. The castle dates back to the 1200s with modifications taking place in the 1500s. It was probably built by the Mcweens and was passed on to the Stewarts of Mntif. It became a royal castle when Robert Stewart became king in 1371. In the 1450s, the king granted it to the Montgomery’s who held the castle for the next 250 years. Just waiting for the ferry traffic to come off. I don’t know if it drives this way, but just to make sure it’s all away before I hit the road again. Plenty of time. That is only 20 2. I’ll probably be back in Broadri about an hour, maybe less. add in single malt. He’s talking much seed shed house. Surprised that snow been towed out there. Think of tractors. I’ve seen a bit here. Overtook me. I’m begging that I don’t see him going up that hill. Please know. It looks like it’s a road, but it looks like it might not be a road. Think I’m ready for this. It’s the only way. It’s getting close to it. Ah. Oh well. It’s got to tip back. I’ll need to take my jacket off again. Stunning though. What a place. Body’s not ready. Well, actually, now that I see that, I’m absolutely gobbmacked again. That’s stunning. Absolutely stunner. Stunning. Stunning. Stunning. Stunning. Stunning. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] After a hot down this beautiful stretch of the A841, we go through the picturesque villages of Sanox and [Music] Cory. How beautiful is this? [Music] 7 miles under the winds. [Music] Yes. This place is lovely. The last few miles are a slog. Even though I know for definite there are no hills left, my legs are struggling to move me forward. All I could think about to keep me going was all the food I was going to eat over the next few [Music] hours. Cody and son. Cycling on this road next to this coastline is how I envisioned the last 20 miles of this epic cycle. And to be honest, even though the hills have broke me, I can’t wait to get back over and do it all over again. I’ll say it now cuz I’ll probably say it again anyway. This has been probably the most challenging 50 50 plus miles that I’ve ever cycled. Coming at the winter coming a particularly tough winter for me where my mental health took an absolute doing Rodri. I’ve never been so happy to see a place in my life. Wow. Absolute wow. Say please be no more hills. Please. I’ve had up the hills. When researching before and after filming this video, it became clear there is so much more to explore in this magical island that one guy doing a lap on a bike could ever show you. Of all the places in Scotland I’ve cycled so far, this has got to be the one place I recommend the most. Just as long as you get a day like this one. Not good. All the drivers gave me plenty of space when passing, and for the most part, this was hardly any traffic at all. The ferry is great value for money, although it’s recommended that you book in advance to avoid disappointment as there are limited spaces for bikes. What a day. A stunning backdrop. Can you fall in love with a place? This island is beautiful, addictive, majestic, and amazing all at the same time. Let’s not forget, it’s seriously stunning as well. Stunning is a word I’ve scorned myself with for now, and it’s a word I will try to use sparingly, although it will always be my go-to word to describe this magical island that is Aaron.