I've been away on holiday

....... and the bike came too. I've spent the last week or so on the beautiful West Coast of Scotland close to Oban. Our campsite was next to this stunning beach

the main part of the holiday was 6 days of orienteering which I  managed to complete -  yipee although my overall result was rubbish 38th out of 75 competitors on the short course! but I promise you I'm just glad to be running again and really pleased to have completed all 6 days. I won't bore you with the details of the orienteering but simply say that the 'classic Scottish terrain' proved quite challenging here are a couple of pics from the event

Day 1 start on the beach

Charlie Day 6

I managed to fit a bit of cycling in around the orienteering. A few short one hour rides around the beautiful coast next to our campsite. Plus I cycled to the orienteering on days 2 & 3 a round trip of about 12 miles which took me over the Connel Bridge and the amazing swirling waters of the Falls of Lorna

The weather was gloriouos and sunny for the so called 'rest day' i.e.no orienteering and  Phil and I  cycled over to the island of Lismore with our friends Niall, Margaret and William their 13 year old son. Niall and Margaret were on their tandem and set a fast pace. From our campsite we cycled about 12 miles to Port Appin, this was nearly all on a tarmacked cycle track and was so much more enjoyable than cycling on the road. From Port Appin for £1.50 we caught a little ferry over to the island (bikes were free)

Me waiting for the ferry

We cycled right across the island a distance of about 10 miles soaking up the wonderful views all around us when the road ran out and we could cycle no further we climbed to the top of a little hill and relished the breathtaking views over to Mull.

on the beautiful Isle of Lismore

Just as we thought the day couldn't get any better we came across the local church hall serving afternoon teas and just had to stop and devour the most delicious homemade cakes ummmm then it was a race back to catch the ferry

Phil and lots of other orienteers waiting to catch the ferry back.

and cycle back to the campsite by the end of the day we'd cycled 46 miles.

I also managed a 12 mile cycle on the evening before we left again with Maragret and our friend Kath the route took us along the banks of Loch Etive where we spotted and heared lots of Curlews.

  I really hope we go back to Oban with the bikes and thanks to Andy and Anne-Marie who recommended the cycle trips that we did.