It was July 1997, I was just 15 years of age, the summers were always sunny (except 15 July) and according to my Dad I was clearly ready to join him by embarking on my first big-time bike Tour … Big-time in that the equipment was being carried on the panniers of our bikes and that we would be staying in tents and away for at least a week and putting in serious miles. Although the Tour happened more than twelve-years ago I am amazed by how much I can still remember and recently spent time mapping the entire Tour on Map my ride. The following is the route and a break down of each individual day on the road …

The night before we fixed the panniers, packed our bags and loaded them up onto the bikes, ready for the big tour the following morning. Mum was giving us a lift to Ballycastle on the North Coast to take the new summer season ferry across to Campbeltown on the lower end of a west of Scotland peninsula. At this point if you are thinking “that’s a pretty nice way of getting into the wilds of Scotland without going through the trucking routes”, and that you might follow my lead and do something similar, then think again … A few years after opening this great little ferry run it went bust and, unfortunately, they shut it down. Should I have posted something like this ten-years ago and promoted the ferry harder? Would it still be there? Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. It was also the 12th July and it was also the mid-late 90’s and that meant not only parade season in Northern Ireland, but riot season and road blockages and all such fun so getting out of the country for a week to ride the bike without interruption was the best option for touring.

I don’t remember the time we got to Campbeltown but it was definitely the morning and we headed North up the peninsula towards Tarbert stopping only once on the way there to grab some chocolate to boost the energy levels in my legs which were clearly getting used to riding a big so badly weighed down by equipment and putting in miles that up to now I didn’t often do. By Tarbert it was the afternoon and it was time to grab something to eat … We found a pub for grub and watched the Tour de France before moving on to get to the planned campsite. I remember those final miles into Lochgilphead actually being quite touch for the similar reasons I found my legs draining of energy before hitting Tarbert, but I knew I’d find my legs soon enough … I think I was spending more energy keeping the strangely weighted bike balanced rather than just riding along.

In Lochgilphead we checked into the campside, put up the tent, got the gas stove up and running and had some pot-noodles for dinner — proper touring/camping style. Yep, the Tour was well underway.

NOTES:
0.00 m: Depart Campbeltown
28.73 m: Top of 4th category climb
32.08 m: Stop for Mars bar
37.46 m: Lunch in Tarbert
50.76 m: Arrive in Lochgilphead

LE TOUR DE FRANCE:
Stage 7: Marennes – Bordeaux, 194 km
The Tour has been a big part of my cycling summers and this summer was no different as after reaching every stop we did what we could to find out the result and try catch some of the highlights, so what better to remember our Tour of Scotland than to remember what was going on at the same time in France.
1. Erik Zabel 4.11.15
2. Jaan Kairsipuu +st
3. Jerone Blijlevens +st
Yellow: Cedric Vasseur
Polka: Laurent Brochard
Green: Erik Zabel

The name Cédric Vasseur is also worth mentioning … he became somewhat a cult hero between us on this bike Tour. Two days before during a stage into Le Chatre he broke away on a huge solo effort, one of which you rarely see these days, and stayed away winning not only the stage but the yellow jersey. It was an epic ride and one that was great to watch. By the end of the first day on the Tour of Scotland, Vassuer was still in Yellow over in France and the side show of finding out what was going on in the Tour each day was finding out of Cédric had managed to keep yellow. Of course, Vasseur didn’t win the Tour that year and fell into relative obscurity for the next ten years before popping up to win another Tour breakway stage (not a solo one however) in 1997 just before announcing his retirement from the sport. He is now the head of the riders Union.

UK #1
‘I’ll Be Missing You’ by Puff Daddy & Faith Evans feat. 112

On the subject: Campbeltown, Camping, Lochgilphead | ALL SUBJECTS |

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