I enjoyed my trip to the Isle of Islay a lot last year and had hoped to go back to see a little more of it and learn more about it. It’s an easy boat trip from Ballycastle (probably easier for me to get there than for many on the Scottish mainland) and sensibly priced accommodation is available in the Port Charlotte Youth Hostel. I’ve found the cost of accommodation has become a real problem nowadays and the type of short cycling breaks I like are harder to book and plan as it can easily cost way too much money.

I had booked it a few weeks in advance to ensure I would get a place in both the hostel and on the ferry (the ferry only seats twelve people). As the time drew closer, the weather forecast wasn’t particularly promising.

There is only one sailing on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays in September do going Friday to Monday made the most sense. The boat sails at 9:30 AM and meant quite an early start for me to drive to Ballycastle without being rushed last year. I decided to make it easy for myself and on a whim, I booked a night at the White Park Bay Youth Hostel and went the night before. This meant I could have a nice relaxing walk on the beach and relax and watch the sun set at one of my favourite parts of the Antrim coast and I would have a leisurely start to my day and a short drive in to Ballycastle in the morning. I’ve come to the belief that life is more enjoyable if you slow it down and take the time to enjoy things.

The Friday morning dawned bright and clear and looked promising as I took my early morning walk along the beach before breakfast. It was slightly breezy though and was actually very cold which made me revise my choice of shorts and I changed into long leggings when I got back to the hostel.

I made my way to Ballycastle and parked in the harbour carpark near where the Kintyre Express sails from. This is another good thing about sailing in this way as this is a free long-term carpark so leaving a car whilst going away on a boat for a weekend isn’t an issue. I was in good time for the ferry and as it’s such a small boat departing from the marina, it is not like the anonymity of a larger sailing like a P&O ferry or a busy airport. The passengers usually chat to each other. There was one other touring cyclist, an American who was in the midst of an epic three-month trip taking him from Heathrow to Wales and around a lot of the south and west of Ireland and was now Caledonia-bound by a less obvious route. This was all done on a Dahon folding bike. It confirms my views that small wheeled bikes make perfectly good touring bikes. What interested me was he seemed to have less luggage for a three-month trip than I had for a weekend trip! I was never any good at travelling light as I like to be prepared for anything.

Previously, I had used my Brompton on my last trip to Islay but on this occasion, I would use my Viscount Aerospace. I enjoyed riding it in Connemara last month. It was good to have got it back into service again, even if it just is with a temporary replacement front wheel due to issues with the Shimano Dynohub, which I hope to be able to resolve. I opted for a road bike this trip rather than the Brompton as I had hoped to be faster and do a more targeted tour with going to specific places and riding faster in between now that I had some experience of the island. The forecast for a lot of wind also made a drop bar bike seem like a good idea. I love my Brompton, but it’s upright riding position can be demoralising into strong headwinds.

With the two bikes secured on the ferry’s open deck but our luggage removed and placed in the hold we were ready to depart. The sea was quite choppy even as we were leaving the harbour and it was only ever going to get worse as the seas around Rathlin Island are notorious. So, it proved; but fortunately, I seem to have been born with good sea legs and have never experienced seasickness no matter what. It was rough but it definitely wasn’t the worst boat trip I have experienced. Thankfully everyone else on board survived the experience without issue as well. The crossing took longer than usual.

We disembarked at Port Ellen which is a quaint little seaside town with the docks, and some beaches in the vicinity. With my bike washed down to remove the salt spray and my panniers re-attached and the goodbyes and good lucks exchanged with the other passengers, I was on my way. For about fifty feet at least until the rear wheel pulled forward in the dropout and locked against the chainstay. Clearly the quick release lever had caught on something and partially opened while the bike was being lifted on and off the ferry. It just shows that it is prudent to check the bike over when it has been manhandled. It was a minor inconvenience as all I had to do was re-align the wheel in the dropouts but the front wheel being loose could have caused an injury.

I decided to eat in the café in Port Ellen before continuing on my way as it would save having to stop later. I then proceeded along the south-east side of the island. This of course took me on to the rather nice cycle path that leads past three of the many whisky distilleries for which the island is internationally renowned, and probably the three best known ones – Laphraoig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg. There is so much history attached to these places, although I hadn’t planned to do any tours it’s nice to stop for a quick look around and enjoy the sweet aroma of the malt that lingers in the air, even on a breezy day like today.

I had done all this last year but I wanted to see how far up this side of the island I could continue as I remembered the road continued past Ardbeg and had signposts but it didn’t seem to show up on any maps. I wondered if I could make my way all the way to Port Askaig like this.

I couldn’t. The road rapidly deteriorates in terms of surface quality but I was able to continue for quite some distance (about ten miles from memory) on a traffic free haven as there is very little out here apart from the odd stray tourist like myself who insists on taking the road less travelled. The road was quite steep in places (one climb was signposted 14%) and offered some beautiful coastal views but eventually I came to a gate so turned around and re-traced my steps back to Port Ellen. I always prefer if I can do a looped ride in some way rather than ride up dead ends, but I’m still pleased I did this as it’s nice ride. You also get to see an interesting old Church and Cross at Kildalton.

From Port Ellen, I took the other road out of the town heading in a westerly direction which would take me to Port Charlotte eventually where I would spend the night. I could have made my way directly to Port Charlotte (actually an option of two different roads here) but I had planned on a detour to a part of the island I hadn’t managed to get to at all last year. I would go to the Mull of Oa. I did stop briefly at the Port Ellen distillery before leaving town.

 I found this one of the more challenging routes I’ve done on Islay with a lot of rolling hills combined with the inevitable sea breeze. It was worth it though. Again, the road was largely traffic free and the route is scenic. I stopped at the Carraig Fhada Lighthouse, famous for being a very unusual square lighthouse. It is the work of David Hamilton and Son, and it dates from 1832 so will soon be celebrating its bi-centenary. It serves two purposes, as a lighthouse and guiding light for sailors on the approach to Port Ellen, but it was also built as a memorial Lady Ellinor Campbell, the wife of Walter Frederick Campbell, Laird of Islay. Lady Campbell died at the young age of 32, and it is to her that the town of Port Ellen is named after.

The road terminates at the car park for the American Monument. The American Monument was built by the American Red Cross as a tribute to the Americans who lost their lives the waters around Islay during the Great War, those who perished on board the American troop carrier S.S. Tuscania. The Tuscania was hit a German torpedo, seven nautical miles north of Rathlin Island as it entered the North Channel on its way to Liverpool in February 1918. Two hundred and thirty US servicemen lost their lives. Many of the survivors and the bodies of the dead ended up ashore on Islay. Only eight months later, tragedy was to strike again when the H.M.S. Ontario, enroute to Glasgow, went down in heavy seas with the loss of four hundred British and American servicemen. The remains of the dead are mostly buried at Kilchoman Cemetery.

The carpark is as far as one can travel on wheels. It still looked quite a distance to the monument. I asked two hikers who had returned to their car who advised me it took them over fifty minutes to reach the monument. I looked at my watch and reluctantly decided I didn’t have a spare two hours if I was to reach the Port Charlotte hostel at the agreed time. I would also probably be running short on daylight if I had done it and then continued on to Port Charlotte. I retraced my steps back to the main road. A visit to the American Monument would have to wait to another occasion.

I stopped briefly in Bowmore for some groceries as I knew the shop in Port Charlotte would be closed. It was drizzling rain for the ride between Bowmore and Port Charlotte. I reached Port Charlotte shortly after seven with just over sixty miles covered since I landed in Port Ellen earlier in the day.  It had been an interesting day and I had seen and learned some new things. After a shower and change of clothes, I was able to prepare my evening meal in the kitchen of the hostel. I did take a walk around the town later and called into the Port Charlotte Hotel public bar for a nightcap.

The forecast for the next day wasn’t great but it looked fine first thing. I would aim to visit Jura today. There really is only one road on the Isle of Jura which runs along the south side of the island. I did a lot of it last year on the Brompton but I wanted to reach the end of the line to see what was there; it was for this reason that I brought a road bike this time as I wanted something that could cover the distance a little quicker than the Brompton. I made my way back towards Bowmore as I needed to go back to Bridgend to join the road to Port Askaig.

I also wanted to look at some of the outlying distilleries along this road. I had seen most of them last year but I hadn’t seen Bunnahabhain or Ardnahoe. I wouldn’t be doing tours but it’s nice to browse around the shops and take a wander around the ground. These distilleries all have a lot of history. I took the turn for Ardnahoe and Bunnahabhain which are both located on a road that leads off the main road to Port Askaig.

As I approached Ardnahoe, it began to rain quite heavily so I was forced to don waterproofs. I never like doing this if I can help it due to the boil-in-the-bag effect but it was far from warm today. It appeared that summer had finished for another year.

It’s only a few miles off the main road to reach Ardnahoe but involves quite a bit of climbing. The road surface was also absolutely atrocious with crumbling surface and really deep potholes. Ardnahoe is the youngest distillery on the island, opening in 2018. It was nice to see it and have a look around the gift shop but as always, all the whiskies are out of my price range. In some places, it is possible to get samples to try but I have always declined when I am cycling. I don’t think spirits mid bicycle ride are really a good idea. As a new distillery, the buildings are all nice and new but lack the character of the older distilleries.

I continued on my way to Bunnahabhain Distillery, which dates from the 1880s and the beauty of its location could not be dulled by the somewhat inclement weather I was experiencing. It’s quite remote though, and I believe the road was only built in the 1960s and previously it was only accessed by boat. It is the only Islay distillery to use natural spring water and is also noteworthy as being the non-peaty Islay whisky.

I carefully made my way down the steep and very poorly surfaced road to the join the main road again and continued on my way to Port Askaig. The weather had really deteriorated now as I sought shelter at the ferry terminal whilst I waited for the next crossing to Jura. There were very few people around and I was the only passenger on board the open decked ferry. It was only a short crossing across the Sound of Jura but it was very rough at times and the iconic Paps of Jura were hidden under a veil of mist.

I began the Jura part of my day trip into strong winds and often torrential rain. The weather did not take anything away from the beauty of the Island though and there were a few short spells where the rain stopped and the mist lifted when I could get a few photos. I continued to the Jura distillery. I stopped at the café which is adjacent to the Jura distillery and bought my lunch there while I looked out the window at the rain and mist as well as the pool of water at my feet on the café floor. Water had even pooled on top of my mostly empty pannier while I had been riding! A fine advertisement for Carradice products that the water remained on the outside.

I made the decision that would go no further. There was little point. The rain was very heavy, the wind was mostly behind me at this point but that meant I would have a headwind on the return leg, Port Charlotte is quite a long way away and I would be adding another thirty odd miles to my ride. I decided to turn and go back. I enjoyed the ten or so miles I had covered on the island as it’s beauty is undimmed by the rain. One day, I hope I will complete the whole length of the island’s road but with the wind, it was just going to be too slow today and still get back to Port Charlotte before dark.

Again, I was the only passenger on board the ferry as we crossed the Sound of Jura with waves washing over the deck. I was disappointed that I wouldn’t reach the other side of the Isle of Jura but I felt I was making the right decision. Apart from anything else, the possibility of them stopping the ferries for the evening if conditions got worse would have left me stranded on Jura, and I didn’t want to risk that happened.

Typically, once I reached Port Askaig again, the rain began to ease off as I began the long 15% climb away from sea level. As the weather was improving, I decided to make the minor detour to Caol Ila distillery which I had visited last year. I remember the stunning location and nice views. Getting there involves some more climbing but nothing too serious. Caol Isla is the largest of the Islay distilleries and dates from 1846. Most of their output goes to Johnny Walker. They once had their own Clyde Puffer steamship to deliver their wares to Glasgow until the car ferries and road transport took over. The Clyde Puffers were small steamships with a design based on canal barges. They developed on the Forth and Clyde Canal were then made seaworthy and fitted with condensing boilers to service the Hebrides and other islands. They managed to be competitive against the railways as they could deliver goods from the industrialised Scottish Central belt canal system to the islands with less goods handling but the use of lorries and car ferries took away their advantage in the 1960s. Only a handful remain in existence today.

I did see a group of cyclists at Caol Ila also braving the weather and I had seen the same bikes at the other distilleries I had been to as well so they were clearly doing some sort of distillery tour. I would be making my way back to Port Charlotte via Bowmore to buy some things in the shop. The rain had mostly cleared away now but it remained very dreich. It also remained very windy which ate into my cruising speed.

After get wet earlier in the day, I had almost dried out again by the time I arrived back at the hostel at nearly eight o’ clock. I had covered nearly eighty miles, mostly quite slowly due to the wind. I always find cycling into wind much more tiring and demoralising than hills. It also works up an appetite and I attached my simple evening meal with relish! I sampled a dram of Ardbeg in the bar latter to help me warm up again as it had been cold at times. I could complain about the weather but I still enjoyed my day and felt pleased with myself, as I feel I demonstrated good mental and physical stamina to complete today’s ride at all. It’s on days like this that you build fitness and stamina in my opinion. If you commit to a tour (especially in the west of Scotland or Ireland), you will always experience days like this. You can complain, but I prefer to just get on with it. The perfect day doesn’t exist.

Sunday morning seemed much more promising and looked dry and sunny. It felt a lot warmer too and I decided to risk shorts. I didn’t have too much of a plan for today. I had decided to make Saturday my long day to visit Jura as there are less ferry options on a Sunday. I had always planned to make Sunday a leisurely day.

After breakfast I made my way to Portnahaven along the coast road. Last year I had taken a slightly longer, inland route to Portnahaven from Port Charlotte which involved quite a bit of climbing from what I remember. The coast road isn’t flat either but no serious climbing involved. I had fond memories of Portnahaven as it is a really beautiful little seaside town. I was in no hurry. I took the time to explore the village and coastal paths properly and to speak to some random people. In many ways, this is proper cycle touring, rather than just clocking up high mileage rides but not taking the time to interact with the people and places you come across. Both have their place and their enjoyment, but it’s the slow tours that create the memories. I took the time to stop at a rural graveyard where the McDonalds, Lord of the Isles are buried. You can see the decorative grave stones, now protected from the elements under glass.

I made my way back to Port Charlotte but would be going further afield in the opposite direction. I decided to go to Saligo Bay, for no particular reason other than deciding it would be a nice place to go! The route would take me past Kilchoman Distillery, one of the other newer distilleries on the island and related to a farm. You can see the gates to the fields of barley I saw had signs saying they were for Kilchoman distillery. It had been a very dry but windy morning so far and I could see some activity with trailer loads of barley making their way along the road. It has been a terrible year for agriculture with so much poor weather over the summer and most of the barley should probably have been cut by now in a normal year.

The roads to Saligo Bay are sparsely populated and quite exposed so the wind was very much in evidence. It started to rain too and I took shelter in a remote barn for a bit. As the rain showed no sign of stopping, I put on my waterproof jacket and continued on my way. It had stopped raining by the time I got to Saligo Bay and I went for a walk along the sand dunes. It was cold and windy but I have always found something enjoyable about walking along coastal areas in windy conditions and watching the power of nature as waves crash on the shore.

I rode around the area a bit and around Loch Gorm and the surrounding areas. These roads take you through a nature reserve too and are very quiet and pleasant to cycle. This was a very leisurely and enjoyable afternoon’s cycling despite the less-than-ideal weather. I made the detour into Bowmore again on the way back as I decided to eat out since it was Sunday and it was all about relaxing. I arrived back at the hostel in Port Charlotte having completed over fifty miles.

There was to be a traditional music session in the bar of the Port Charlotte hotel so I went to see that. I love traditional music. It rounded of an enjoyable day and created a nice grand finale for my final night on the island.

The Monday morning was brighter, sunnier and warmer than any of the previous days. One of those things where weather seems to improve just as you are about to go home! It was still pretty windy. I packed up my panniers and loaded up the bike. Before leaving, I cleaned and oiled my chain as it had suffered over the past few days with being washed by the sea on board ferries, soaked in heavy rain and coated in sand being blown from the beaches when it wasn’t raining. Ride in these conditions all the time and I suspect chain life would be very short. I always carry a small bottle of oil and rag when touring.

I began my return trip to Port Ellen. I decided to stop at Bruichladdich Distillery which is located near Port Charlotte. This distillery dates from 1831 and I enjoyed walking around the visitors’ centre and shop, as I had done at all the distilleries I had visited. A group of tourists were getting ready to commence their tour of the distillery and I was tempted to see if they could fit me on it too but I decided against it as I didn’t want to be rushing to get back to the ferry. Yet again, headwinds were the order of the day as I made my way at a sedate speed towards Port Ellen. The ride took me much longer than I thought it would. I had bought something to eat in Port Ellen. I had hoped to take a ride along the lovely distillery shared use path to Ardbeg again and maybe have eaten in the highly regarded café there but I decided against it as I only really had an hour before I was supposed to be ready to board the Kintyre Express. I found a sheltered spot down by the harbour and watched the comings and goings there until it was time to leave.

The crossing back to Ballycastle was pretty rough again but it didn’t cause me any problems and thankfully the other passengers seemed to be okay with it too. Riding the short distance between the Ballycastle Marina and where I had left my car in bright, warming sunshine, I reflected on the feeling that I had had an adventure. I had been out and about in less-than-ideal weather but loved every minute of it and was taking away fond memories of my experiences of the island itself, the friendly people, both local and tourist that I had encountered on and the knowledge than Islay is a very special and enjoyable place to visit. I hope to return some day again.