Day #03

Snoreometer: 1

One week till Snowdon and the end of this little adventure!
Slept well despite the rain in the night and woke up to a cloudy and damp morning. Caught the sun on my legs yesterday. Must remember to put sun cream on. There's nowt worse than a burnt ginger! MIDGE HELL!
Enjoyable ride for the first 18 miles or so alongside the banks of Lock Lomond. Have to send out an emergency call to Jim as my handle bars have become loose and I don't have an allen key on me. Jim doesn't have one the right size  so we use a smaller one with a screwdriver shoved in with it. It doesn't quite do the job but it will suffice until I can buy one. A couple of miles later the battery on my ipod packs up so I'm left alone with my thoughts-scary!
Just south of Loch Lomond is Alexandria and Renton where i stop briefly at a cash point. There's some auld Scottish woman stood at the bus stop next to me, looking at me in my cycling gear as if I'm an alien thats just dropped out of the sky!
In Dumbarton I pass a Halfords where I purchase some allen keys & tighten up my handle bars properly. On the way into Glasgow it starts raining and it doesn't stop for the next 50 miles. How wonderful. From what I can see of Glasgow it is a depressing shit hole and the rain suits it. Row after row of crappy looking Council estates, run down pubs and snooker halls. Closed up shop fronts and takeaways. I don't really want to stop anywhere here and have my lunch and planned on having some where on the other side of the Clyde which I am cycling alongside. I catch the ferry across the river into Renfrew which is actually quite nice in comparison to the areas I've come through, and with an increasing hunger I stop for a bite to eat. The last 10 miles or so it's been stop, start, stop, start at successive traffic lights and it's really beginning to get up my nose. This doesn't change much over the next 10 miles or so either! Compounded by the rain, my tired legs, hunger and low sugar levels my mood is suffering. Half an hour or so later when my lunch starts to filter through to my muscles I pep up a little. Note to self, eat more frequently and at more regular intervals. Finally arrive in Troon and receive a text message from Jim saying he's in town doing some shopping and will be back in a couple of minutes.
Following a shower & change of clothes we decide to head into town for a pint and some fish and chips. Pint first, then the best fish and chips I have ever eaten from a place called the Wee Hurrie in Troon Harbour. If for any reason you are ever up that way I challenge you to have some and tell me I'm wrong!
Return back to the van via another pint to watch some very funny Bill Bailey, then bed with aching calves and thighs.

Distance 73.5 miles
Ascent 1800 ft
Top speed 28 mph
Average 11.8 mph
Time taken 6hrs 14 mins, not accounting for stops.