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Published: November 18th 2007
Barra
the site we pitched up in total darkness the previous night, sea viewWoke up feeling refreshed to perfect blue skies and sunshine. Crawled out of the tent to see where we had actually ended up. Pretty awesome. We'd ended up next to a little cove surrounded by rolling lush green and clear sparkling blue ocean!
After eating just a bit of dried fruit for breakfast (instant energy), we packed up the tents and decided to cycle south back towards Castlebay, where the ferry had dropped us off the previous night. There we got some string to try and fix my pannier rack (which managed to snap on the very first night ).
We then cycled further south to the island of Vatersay, now connected to Barra by a short causeway. It was here that I encountered the first climb, 12.5%. being brand new to my new shoes and clipless pedals I actually walked this as was not feeling confident unclipping on the hills. We passed over several cattle grids and over the causeway to Vatersay which we circled round and then passed on to another natural causeway which connected it to the south. This causeway had brilliant white sand on either side with the crystal clear blue sea lapping away. It
Barra
the beach next to where we'd pitched on the first night looked more like the Maldives than a Scottish island! On the way we had spotted a pair of golden eagles swooping on the rocks dropping to our left.
The weather suddenly cooled and it looked as though rain was on the horizon so we once again packed up the bikes and cycled back towards Castlebay (this time I made myself cycle up the climb - although I will admit to unclipping again so went up on my toes!)
We headed up towards Barra airport at the north of the island via Castlebay and the spot we had pitched the previous night. By the time we passed our previous night's resting point it was absolutely pouring down with rain and hail. Gloves and socks were soaking wet and very cold.
We passed through Northbay and took the turning left to head north and on to the massive beach that doubled up as Barra airport, apparently the only beach in the world where the flight times are dictated by the tides.
We decided to pitch on the dunes behind the bay for the night.
Cycle stats to that point:
cycling time: 3 hours 3 minutes
travelled:
Barra
the view behind us, where we'd pitched on the first night 24.1 miles
a slow 7.9 mph average
max speed 29.6 mph.
After pitching up we decided to cycle to the very north, without the heavy panniers to Eoligarry where we found another perfect white beach looking over the Sound of Barra towards Eriskay.
We cycled back, topping off at a really old church (I think the Church of Barra). Watched another late sunset from the top of the dunes facing the opposite way from Barra airport, with a hot chocolate.
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