Day 18 - Glasgow to Balloch


Day 18 Glasgow to Balloch


We have not had a rest day since we started 18 days ago. So today we will just have a short day to our next stopping place in Balloch. Which means that we have time to enjoy Glasgow this morning. We have a great breakfast at the Ibis Budget hotel.
It is such good value for money.  We store our bikes for the morning in the hotel beer garden/smoking area. And our panniers in a lock up room.

We go into the city to book the bus tickets from Wick to Edinburgh. This is for when we have finished the trip.  So now we have to think ahead about getting back to London.  The bus tickets cost about £100.00 for the two of us. We ask the agent in the bus ticket office also for  tickets from John O'Groats to Wick.  She has to ask her boss where John O'Groats is.We are told this is a local bus and we will just buy the tickets on the bus.
We go  looking for the Rennie Mackintosh tea rooms which I remember with affection  from 15 years ago. As being really interesting and enjoyable to visit.  But the ones we find this time are boring and unattractive.  We go to the Lighthouse  Mackintosh museum in the centre of town.  It is really lovely to see some of his great work which has so much appeal.



We find something for lunch and go and eat it down by the river.
Then we go back to the hotel, get changed into riding gear and head off for Balloch.  It's very very windy. Severe gale.  And a headwind as we head down beside the Clyde River.

The route is complicated but very well marked. Soon enough we arrive on a sheltered path through trees and  then beside a canal.  We stop at a bike shop to fix Zita's front tyre which has a pronounced bump in it.  He does lots of work to fix it  and it only costs £6. On we go, a convoluted but well marked route, for a while.  Then we turn inland and up the Leven River on a great river path to a Balloch holiday resort at the bottom of Loch Lomond. There are heaps of boats moored here,  motor boats. There is the occasional abandoned boat which is left half sunken in the water and  sitting on the lake/loch bed but sticking out of the water. A distressing sight. Surely they could be removed.
We find our holiday camp. Our accommodation for the evening is a  Pod. £60 and £10 for bedding.
We find this very expensive but the cheapest we could get.  We have a Chinese takeaway for dinner which is cheap, tasty and good value for money.  We only did 32 km today so it was a nice rest half day for us but we're glad to be out of the busy messy noisy city that is Glasgow.

If anything Glasgow was somewhat disappointing as a city for us. It feels scrappy and stressed.

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