{"id":2265,"date":"2009-08-30T11:32:07","date_gmt":"2009-08-30T16:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/?p=2265"},"modified":"2009-08-30T11:32:07","modified_gmt":"2009-08-30T16:32:07","slug":"biking-day-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/uncategorized\/biking-day-three\/","title":{"rendered":"biking day three"},"content":{"rendered":"

day one of biking: not that hard until we got lost. no rain while we biked.<\/p>\n

day two of biking: much harder, more hilly, gravelly bike trail.\u00a0 hard rain on and off.<\/p>\n

and now, day three of biking.\u00a0 this day, tuesday, instead of looping back to Callander, we were headed out to a whole new town, the tiny hamlet of Killin.\u00a0 We had to have our suitcases out in the hall for somebody to pick them up by nine.\u00a0 we did that, but then had a very leisurely and lingering breakfast because it was raining and it looked like more rain was coming.<\/p>\n

this was the view from our room in the morning when we got up.\u00a0 i don’t know if you can tell, but it was raining pretty hard.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-94\"<\/p>\n

so we waited and waited and lingered and lingered over breakfast.\u00a0 we finally set out when it looked like it was clearing.<\/p>\n

exactly three minutes after we started, the rain started, too.\u00a0 today we began on a nice, paved bike path out of town.\u00a0 we went through these woods, so they kind of protected us somewhat from the rain.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-95\"<\/p>\n

in the biking directions it described some “falls” and later we thought we’d missed the falls, but i think these were them.\u00a0 there was also some rushing water in the stream next to us; those might have been the falls, also.<\/p>\n

it was rainy and cold but just so very pretty.\u00a0 also nice to start out without the big hills.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-96\"<\/p>\n

as we biked, we passed some holiday cabins next to the path.\u00a0 they looked very nice, and we did pass a couple on bikes who were clearly staying at the cabins.\u00a0 we didn’t know why they’d be out in such rotten weather, but like i’ve said, this is how it is in scotland, so they’re used to it.<\/p>\n

finally the rain let up…and the hills began.\u00a0 we turned onto a small road, and i stopped to videotape after resigning myself to more bike pushing.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-97\"<\/p>\n

i’ve really tried to whittle down all the photos that kevin took, but it was all just so lovely…if you ever want to see all the photos, please let me know and we’ll invite you over to see them projected onto our big TV.\u00a0 that’s the best way to see them.<\/p>\n

off to the side there is another loch, i can’t remember which one.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-98\"<\/p>\n

\"scotland-99\"<\/p>\n

kevin passed these two long-maned horses and when he reached in to get out his camera they thought he was going to feed them and they tried to eat the camera.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-100\"<\/p>\n

we rode to the really tiny town of balquidder, where rob roy macgregor is buried.\u00a0 throngs of tourists at the church graveyard?\u00a0 no, of course not.\u00a0 there were a few people, though, and we saw a couple of bikes parked that obviously belonged to the bike company we were using.\u00a0 we didn’t see the cyclists, though, so maybe they were off hiking.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-101\"<\/p>\n

here’s his grave.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-102\"<\/p>\n

\"scotland-103\"<\/p>\n

\"scotland-104\"<\/p>\n

do you know who rob roy was?\u00a0 I found this online:<\/p>\n

“The life of outlaw Rob Roy, who was born in 1671, has entered into Scottish legend after his famous dispute with the then Marquis of Montrose. In 1715 he led his clan to battle in support of the Jacobites. <\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He was later charged with treason but escaped prison and lived the rest of his life as an outlaw. Rob Roy’s legend was brought to the big screen in the 1995 Hollywood movie starring Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange. Glengyle House is said to stand on his birthplace and lies within the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.”<\/span><\/h2>\n

so, we must have ridden our bikes past this house, Glengyle House,\u00a0 when were were going around loch katrine in the rain!\u00a0 was there no plaque?\u00a0 i don’t remember one.\u00a0 they also didn’t mention it anywhere in our guide book.\u00a0 i also don’t remember hearing about that movie.<\/p>\n

ok now i spent two minutes looking up this house.\u00a0 we DID pass it, in the ferry going across loch katrine.\u00a0 surely the guy on the loudspeaker talked about it.\u00a0 surely i videotaped it?\u00a0 perhaps i was busy buying hot chocolate with brandy…<\/p>\n

kevin took this picture of little ferns growing out the side of the church.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-105\"<\/p>\n

we met a nice couple in a VW camper van.\u00a0 the guy had converted it to make it even more of an RV-kind of thing and the woman was proud of her husband for doing all that and i said that my husband was very handy, too.<\/p>\n

kevin would love to buy another VW van.<\/p>\n

we kept riding after stopping at the church and the sun came out and it got warmer.\u00a0 we rode along a small road for a while and then back to the bike trail, which was nice and not hilly as i recall.\u00a0 we didn’t stop for lunch, but ate some cold toast we’d taken from breakfast and an energy bar.<\/p>\n

we should have eaten more.<\/p>\n

one of the great bridges we rode over.\u00a0 on this one there was a plaque dedicating it to a bicyclist who had died…i think he’d been hit by a car.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-106\"<\/p>\n

it got hilly again, of course.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-107\"<\/p>\n

we finally stopped at a picnic table and met a nice older couple out walking their dogs.\u00a0 they said that the climb ahead of us was REALLY hard, but at the top it became nice and flat.\u00a0 we looked down at the beautiful loch.\u00a0 there’s a little town one the left there, and there was a plane in the water, and we watched it take off.\u00a0 i videotaped it.\u00a0 very very cool.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-108\"<\/p>\n

more pushing the bike up the hill, and then we got to the flat part.\u00a0 here’s one of the big boulders that had fallen in a landslide a few years ago.<\/p>\n

luckily we didn’t experience any landslides.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-109\"<\/p>\n

another incredible bridge.\u00a0 down below and to the right is the road that we were glad we weren’t on.\u00a0 this part of the ride was so nice and flat and scenic, especially after the pouring rain then the very hilly hills.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-110\"<\/p>\n

\"scotland-111\"<\/p>\n

we finally got to a place where we had to cross over the road and then four more miles into town.\u00a0 at this intersection an old guy with a cane was standing next to his car.\u00a0 he was, as were all the scots, very friendly.\u00a0 he said he had a couple of questions for us.\u00a0 he wanted to know about the condition of the path, and whether, if he were to ride on it, if his daughter could pick him up in her car somewhere at the end.\u00a0 we explained it to him, and later kevin and i both said we were sure he was going to ask us for money or something – jaded americans.\u00a0 he told a long story about wanting to ride a bike and see the path but he didn’t have a bike, and then his daughter for some reason had a fold-up bike in the boot of her car so he was going to use that.\u00a0 clearly he had a plan.<\/p>\n

he talked and talked and talked and was, like i said, really nice, but at some point i wondered if we’d ever get to leave.\u00a0 finally he finished and we crossed the road.\u00a0 i hope he makes it on his bike.<\/p>\n

on the directions it said it was four miles to Killin.<\/p>\n

we went through a pine forest, and it was four miles completely downhill.\u00a0 quite a ride.\u00a0 for a while the path was paved, but then it looked like this.\u00a0 we stopped here at a picnic table and looked around and kevin said it was prettier than the places he’d biked in ireland.\u00a0 wow, i thought the pictures he took in ireland were amazing.\u00a0 later he also said that the biking was HARDER in scotland than ireland.\u00a0 i’m glad he didn’t tell me that till later.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-112\"<\/p>\n

kevin was probably stopped waiting for me after he kept rocketing down the hill.\u00a0 i used my brakes quite a bit, but i couldn’t even see him most of the time because he was flying down the hill so fast.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-113\"<\/p>\n

as i rushed past these trees, i felt like i was losing my focus – there were so many pine trees that they all looked out of focus.\u00a0 it was a weird sensation.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-114\"<\/p>\n

down, down, down we went…and finally we came out of the woods onto the road to killin.\u00a0 the Falls of Dorchart are the big attraction there, and here’s me next to them as we head into town.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-115\"<\/p>\n

as i’ve said, “falls” don’t mean big waterfalls, but more like rapids.\u00a0 lots of people were standing around on the rocks pretty far out.\u00a0 we didn’t do that.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-116\"<\/p>\n

we got to our charming little b&b and i don’t know why kevin didn’t take a picture of it.\u00a0 it was very pretty, and our small room had a view of the mountains behind us.\u00a0 we went next door to a tavern and i had some delicious lentil soup for dinner.\u00a0 i think i should eaten more then, too.\u00a0 i just didn’t feel like eating so much, even though we’d had an incredibly strenuous day.<\/p>\n

we walked down the street and there were too many “for rent\/sale” signs in the closed shop windows.\u00a0 it’s such a lovely town, i hope it survives.\u00a0 there were big tour buses driving through and stopping for a view of the falls, but i don’t know if any of them stayed the night.<\/p>\n

we found a place with ice cream and i realized that i was so tired i was ready to drop.<\/p>\n

on the way back to the b&b kevin took a picture of this sign on an electric pole – we saw these graphic signs everywhere in scotland.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-117\"<\/p>\n

here’s the street, and i think that’s our b&b on the left.\u00a0 there was an identical building right next to ours, a former b&b that was for sale.<\/p>\n

\"scotland-118\"<\/p>\n

we went to sleep really early but i was so overly-tired that i had all kinds of trouble sleeping.\u00a0 too much exercise, not enough food.\u00a0 that never happens to me.\u00a0 it also never happens that i have to resolve to EAT MORE the next day.<\/p>\n

by the way, we went a total of 25 miles that day.\u00a0 it doesn’t sound like much, but it sure was.\u00a0 we had gone 33 miles on the second day, but it didn’t seem so bad because we had a long break for lunch in the middle, plus the hour-long boat ride along loch katrine.<\/p>\n

on that third day, in the guidebook there was an optional route, which would have been about 38 miles, where we would have ridden up a valley past a couple more lochs.\u00a0 when i’d read all these directions before our trip i wanted to take all the longer routes because they sounded so lovely…but when we were there furiously pedaling up the steep hills, we decided we didn’t want to add any more hills to the trip.\u00a0 we had no regrets about our decision.<\/p>\n

ok then,<\/p>\n

grace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

day one of biking: not that hard until we got lost. no rain while we biked. day two of biking: much harder, more hilly, gravelly bike trail.\u00a0 hard rain on and off. and now, day three of biking.\u00a0 this day, tuesday, instead of looping back to Callander, we were headed out to a whole new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-2265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-scotland"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6JLYy-Ax","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2265\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}