Arran Day 3: Brodick, the hard way

After a long walk yesterday, my legs let me know that they would appreciate a gentler day today. Well, they sort of got that ....

From Arran 2010: Tues

Detours seem a great idea at the time, and on the map. We thought we'd warm up with a gentle roll along the bay at Lamlash to see what lay further to the north of the main strip of houses and shops. Part way down, we saw an inviting sign for a footpath to Brodick that was too much to resist. Problem was, it really was a footpath, and not really suited to the bikes, as there were fields to cross, stiles to clamber over etc.

We made it up to join the red MTB route up above Corriegills and then decided to take the hard route over the summit of Clauchland Hills. Bits of the ascent (...and the descent!) were completely unrideable, but we puffed and struggled along feeling like complete amateurs. The descent down to the Cnoc Na Dial car park was great though, weaving through the forest.

From Arran 2010: Tues

From here, we headed on the blue graded route through the grounds of Brodick Castle. It's all on very rideable tracks and forest roads, but there are some steep climbs up but also some great descents, particularly the one down into the lower reaches of Glen Rosa: a narrow sheep track of a path, plunging down towards the river.

From Arran 2010: Tues

From here, we headed back to Cnoc through Glen Cloy and then took the easy option home, along the main road to Lamlash (and even with a strong headwind, I still managed to get a speed warning from the windmill-thingy at the entrance to the 30mph zone...)

Not bad for an easy day...