The weather was again good to us without being too warm with our first 40 kms winding in and out along the Ayrshire coast following National Cycling Network route 73 which at least seemed to be heading in the right direction
Along the way we passed the slightly more opulent Troon area with its white sandy beach and the sight of early summer paddlers dabbling their feet in the I suspect, freezing shallow waters almost 1 km out from the beach front (you'd be exhausted just walking there !)
It was amusing to watch the sun baking pale skinned Scots roll up their sleeves and take advantage of the first signs of summer all be it in temperatures of around 15 c !
The other claim to fame of this area and viewable on the bike , is that the coastal areas house one magnificent golf course after another with Troon ,Turnbery & Prestwick (the original) having hostiped the British Open !
With the winding NCN route and much to look at, it had taken us 2 & 1/2 hours just to reach Ayr ! Here the route became painstaking (designed by some sadistic cyclist) as it took us through a maze of buildings doubling the time needed on the bike !
Monika had almost reached melt down by this stage threatening to take her case to the human rights commission after first murdering me, as i told her we still had over 60+ kms to go !
Switching to one of the A roads the pace picked you a bit as we road the coast road to Maidens and Gurvan finding the last 6 kms into Girvan a bit daunting competing with trucks and buses route on the A75 the main Glasgow route.
The road out of Girvan was a test climbing through the hills while giving fabulous views back to the famous Aisla Craig, the solitary island rock that features on TV whenever a major golf event is played at Prestwick.
We pushed on for another 15 kms on winding quieter roads across beautifully green fields to Barrhill famed for its religious martyrs, and then turned inland for an amazing 20 + kms on single track roads .
This predominantly forest farming area was almost moor like with hardly a single car in sifght and only the occasional farm house - eery to say the least ! .
Keeping us company through the moor section though was a rail line still in use (we think) that at least told us civilization was somewhere nearby although apart from a few cows it was hard to tell where. !
With the gloom descending and Monika's butt suffering we rocketted the last 8 kms downhill at 50 km hr speeds with great forward visibility & road conditions.
We flew into and very nearly out of our destination village of New Luce arriving at our pub accommodation at 1 minute to 8pm exhausted after 10 hours on the go and horrified when reading outside that last meals were served at 7.45pm !
Thankfully the pubs owners relented allowing us to clean up (read use a splash of deodorant) before coming down to dinner to tiredly celebrate an exhausting day !
Will today's push make tomorrow's final day easier .. only time will tell !
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