Rain began overnight and by morning it was very heavy. It’s a good
job this is my last morning as the tent was completely waterlogged
as I packed it away. I set off in full waterproofs and wheeled my
bike down to the cycle track and continued south west. There were
several gates to negotiate. At the road I turned left to pick up the
rail route again then soon left it to descend to the main A828.
Castle Stalker Appin
It was uncomfortable riding for a while until I reached a cycle
track on the path. I was relieved to be back on the cycle track
along the old railway to Portnacroish and the remains of Appin
Railway Station which opened in 1903 and closed in 1966. I stopped
here for a good view of Castle Stalker across the bay. It was used
as a location for filming part of the 1975 film Monty Python and the
Holy Grail. The present castle dates from around 1440. The cycle
route continued along the railway for a few more miles to re-join
the A828 after Appin and thankfully the cycle track followed the
footpath.
I stopped to photograph some interesting large chess men by the
road. Approaching Connel Bridge the cycle track follows the old road
by Connel Airfiled. Over Connel Bridge I was on the busy A85 road
for a while before leaving it at Dunbeg. The rain had briefly
stopped so I took my waterproofs off but a few minutes after
starting again the rain started.
Larger than life chessmen
I put my top back on and continued to the car park and road at
Ganavan Bay. The road followed the shore line towards Oban where I
cycled up the hill and back to the car park and my car. It was
raining hard when I arrived so packed my bike away in the rain. The
start of the drive home was also in very heavy rain but it eased by
Loch Lomond and the rest of the drive was in good weather.
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Whittle Wanderer
