Isle ofArran, Isle of Mull, Isle of Islay, and Isle of Jura 21 July 2021

 Start mileage 51335, end mileage 52913 =1578

Got the bike out of the garage at dark o'clock, thought I had overloaded the bike, turned out to be a front wheel puncture. I have spare rims and tyres with knobblies on, so swapped the front wheel as I was supposed to be meeting Rob Davis at 7a.m  at Birchanger services, and didn't want to be late. We had a brief chat, and headed North,

 and after a few fuel stops, and a Subway sandwich (thanks, Rob), we split up at Gretna Green, Rob heading to Kielder Forest, and me to West Kilbride to spend a pleasant evening with fellow Bastard Squad Caving Club members, Clive and Carol, and Carol's sister Mairie. After feeding me and putting me up for the night, I headed off the next morning to the Ardrossan -Brodick ferry

I rode most of the wayround the Isle of Arran, then found a suitable campsite (Middletons), got the tent up, it was very sunny and about 28 degrees. I popped round to the local co-op on the bike and got a puncture

I managed to get a footpump from a local store, got back to the campsite and got the wheel off. I eventually got the tyre off, but as its not the done thing to look for holes in a tube in a campsite sink, I stood in a river next to the campsite, blew the tube up and found that a nail had put 3 holes in the tube. I first of all tried putting a spare tubeless valve in the tyre and tried blowing it up, but the footpump was cheap and fell apart, and using my spare bycycle pump, couldnt get enough air in fast enough to seat the tyre, so took the tubeless valve out again, patched the tube, and put it all back together again (still 28 degrees and no shade, I was roasted).The tyre stayed up ok overnight, so I headed for the ferry to Mull of Kintyre. A couple of hours later when the temperature had gotten hot again, the tyre went down, as the glue for the patch had melted in the heat. There was no phone signal or internet, so I borrowed a landline and phoned the RAC. 4 hours later a local breakdown vehicle arrived, but he was looking for a peugeot, not me. A bit later, he came back, turned out the RAC had given him the wrong details, and as it happened, he had never had to deal with motorcycles, so I took the wheel and tyre off again, threw away the tube and put the tubeless valve back in and used his compressor to blow the tyre up. The original hole was so small that the tyre seems to have self sealed.

   I was now sorted, and went to Port Ban campsite for the night. The next morning, I went North to the West Highland railway line to scatter Laura's mums ashes (She liked it there) and then back down to Oban for the ferry to the Isle of Mull.                                                                                                                 

 I rode down to the Southwest corner of Mull to Fidden Farm campsite, but tents are not allowed at the moment, so I then went to Crannich campsite, although they have no showers or toilets, but they do have spare midges, and some noisy peacocks.

   Next morning, after hastily getting the tent packed, and loosing several pints of blood to the midges, I explored the rest of the island, and had a look round Tobermory, famous for its multi coloured buildings, then back to the ferry to Oban, and rode down to the ferry at Kennacraig. I got to the Isle of Isla port Askaig 2 hours later and had a tour round the Island. I then went looking for a campsite and found a nice one, Iomairt Chille Chomain

The next morning, I packed up the tent and headed to the Islay-Jura ferry, as I had a few hours before my booking on the Islay - Mull of Kintyre crossing.

Jura only has one main road that goes three quarters of the way up the island

+++++  These plus signs were added by Holly walking on the keyboard!

The road is single track, and while going up a steep hill just past a passing place round a blind corner, I met a large tractor coming the other way, too fast to stop so I was going slow enough to stop, and scooted the bike backwards as fast as I could into the passing place. He skidded past me and stopped about 10 foot past me. Close one. I got as far North on the island as I could, then realised if i carried on I would miss my ferry to Mull of Kintyre. 

   I went back onto the Islay ferry, and raced down to the  Port Ellen ferry, then across to Mull of  Kintyre, then a ferry back to Arran, where my cousin Lisa, who I had never met, offered to put me up at the holiday home they were staying at. It was great to meet her and her family, and I slept in a summerhouse, they were very welcoming.

   Next morning I caught the ferry to Ardrossan, then rode 100 miles to see my other cousin Betty and her husband Gordon. After a great evening, I slept in "The Smaa Hoose", then headed home where the weather finally caught up with me, and I got home 497 miles later. Great trip, 8 ferries, 4 islands and 5 new relatives. Great fun.