It's a long way to go

The plan (not the 4:05 wake up call) worked a treat. With the mists kissing the surface of the Loch Fyne and the sun starting to rise above the hills, we made our way through the twisty roads across to Loch Lomond and then down towards Glasgow without a hitch. It was a beautiful morning and having the roads virtually to ourselves made it all the better.

We crossed the Erskine bridge, skirted round Glasgow airport and were soon heading towards Irvine and Ayr. Even a quick double round a roundabout didn't dent our progress. We even had time for a much needed (it was quite chilly) coffee/toilet break.

We had been planning to visit the Electric Brae, just south of Ayr but in our haste we had to give that a miss. In hindsight, we could still have done that, given that even with another pee stop at Girvan, we arrived at the Cairnryan Stena Line terminal 75 minutes before recommended check-in. We had a coffee and a toasted panini snack whilst we waited and Biggsey once again gave away one of his cards (promoting his book) to the lady in the cafe. She promised she'd download the book for her kindle.

Incidentally, if you don't know what I'm talking about, it's the book Biggsey wrote after Route 66. There's a link on the blog, if you are interested.

Soon we were being ushered onto the ferry. Happy the bikes were lashed down securely, we grabbed ourselves a bank of the bench settees. Dudley was soon fast asleep, his tube neck warmer over his face. I had a quick walk round the decks before catching some zeds myself. With an hour or so to go, we had some lunch, to set ourselves up for the final leg of the day's journey, up the Antrim coast to Ballintoy.

Ailsa Craig