Well, it had to happen sooner or later: our first puncture of the trip. Hopefully not the first of many! Just as well today was a fairly leisurely day, then. The big shift we had put in over the first few days meant we were ahead of schedule and could afford to give the legs some recovery time with an easy 50-miler.

The first stage of the ride consisted of all of 200 metres as we rolled down the shore outside our B&B to the tiny ferry that takes you across the coastal loch. Loading the bikes on was a slightly disconcerting moment, given they were only strapped on with a rope looped around the pedals; hopefully that ‘splash’ we heard as Bailey’s Van Nicholas was lifted on board was nothing important!

After unloading on the far side we spent 30 mins cleaning and lubing the bikes (following the previous day’s exertions) so that it was nearly 11 o’clock by the time we got started. It was only 11 miles, but the ride was, once again, stunning – a tiny road that hugged the shore of the loch and gave us more stunning vistas across the glassy still waters, as well as (pay attention, Harry Potter fans) a glimpse of the Hogwarts Express puffing away into the distance.

At Ardgour it was back onto another ferry (the last crossing point to the south before hitting the Irish Sea) and the dreaded A82. The five miles we had to cycle from Corran to the bridge at Ballachulish more than justified our earlier decision to cross the loch and avoid as much of this road as possible: one of the worst bits of tarmac I’ve ever been on. Huge lorries hurtling past, impatient drivers pelting along at near-motorway speeds – all on a road no more than two car-widths across – this is no place for cyclists. We were only on the shared path to the side but the backdraft from the logging trucks was almost blowing us off the bikes. Mary and Pete were uppermost in my mind as we cautiously forged ahead. Why do people drive so dangerously around cyclists?

On the far side of the bridge we were glad to escape onto a designated cycle path, which is where we discovered another consequence of the poor surface we’d just been on: broken glass equals punctures. At least we were well prepared! A quick tube change later and we were back on our way through a lovely stretch of forest, cliff paths and beach-hugging cycle track. Bar a few forays back onto the road (now much quieter, thank goodness!) this took us pretty much all the way into Oban. I’ll say this for Scotland: they’ve spent a boatload of money on their cycling infrastructure. Good effort, chaps!

Oban is lovely but, as has happened every day of trip so far, it started raining about 10 minutes before we arrived. This makes finding somewhere to stay a bit more of a pain in the arse (you wouldn’t blame a lot of hoteliers for seeing soaking wet bikes and cyclists and deciding they can’t be bothered with the hassle!) but we’ve had no major issues so far – in fact, everyone we’ve met so far has been lovely, from other cyclists and walkers, to shop/hotel owners, to restauranteurs.

It was nice to actually spend some time off the bike for a change – a few drinks and a wander around the town – but there’ll be little chance of that tomorrow: back to some proper mileage as we head for the Isle of Arran and a deadline to make the last ferry of the day!