Madness and mayhem continue here as the sun splits the skies
and the farm is bustling and buzzing with activity. A whole crowd of my family
are over for a visit, the bed and breakfast is going like a fair and the
cottages are booked up, so last weekend saw me doing sofa changeovers too, swapping
one set of visitors off the bed settee for another….
Yesterday I took a well-earned break. I had been invited to
cycle around the Isle of Colonsay with my action man brother and his super fit
cycling girlfriend. I was encouraged along by the happy farmer who assured me,
in his ever calm, happy state that he would look after the pottery, the farm,
the bed and breakfast, the laundry, the children, the pet lambs, the horses, the chicks,
the dogs, oh and Bramble, the birthday surprise Mist, our collie dog, introduced
to us on Sunday morning.
The only problem facing me was the lack of a bike,
that and the fact I hadn't ridden one since I was about 12. The happy farmer, ever
resourceful at overcoming life’s challenges, went for a quick rake through his
handy shed and appeared some hours later with a rusty specimen, which had few problems
that a quick squirt of oil and some pedal power couldn't
fix. He called me away
from customers to have a quick check that the bike would be fine for me. Now
the fact that both of my feet could sit flat and firmly on the ground reassured
me that although I was a bit wibbly wobbly and shaky I would be quite safe.
Next day I kidnapped the happy farmer and his trailer to
give me a lift down to the ferry port, I wasn't brave enough to free wheel down
the very steep brae with all of the Lorries and passing traffic.
Safely deposited
with the old rust bucket I purchased a round the world ticket at the ferry
office and took my place among all of the seasoned cyclists and their shiny bikes, waiting for the
ferry to Colonsay.
We sailed into Colonsay a short while later, cycling along
the pier up to the only single track road on the island and we were off, and
the challenges began, firstly there were the gears to get a hang of, I was
putting in more pedal power than my brother put in for the whole day’s cycling
just to make it up the first hill, if you could call it a hill. I quickly also
realized that while my feet could indeed sit firmly on the ground this also
meant my knees were up round my ears as I cycled along on old bertha. It didn't
help when people with bottoms twice, even three times, the width of mine went
swiftly past me while I was huffing and puffing away. I discovered that I do have a bit of
a competitive streak after all, which quickly led to my behind becoming very
saddle sore with all of the effort, indeed by the end of the day I had mastered
cycling standing up in the pedals, or at least raising myself slightly just to
ease the pressure as the roads seemed to get ever more bumpy, just to add to
the challenges.
We cycled to nearby Oronsay, and then around the island,
each twist and bend in the road opening
up more spectacular views of turquoise seas and white pebble beaches. The
strong coconut scent of the gorse bushes in the air, the soothing sea breeze
and the brilliant sunshine made for an amazing day, that and the fact that my
brother swapped bikes with me half way round, which made my bike ride ever more
amusing as I watched him pedaling like mad with his knees going way beyond his
ears, and luckily I didn't get a puncture until we were two minutes from the
ferry, having had a well-earned refreshment at the local hotel
Until next time….
