Day 129 West Kilbride to Ayr

 

Date: Friday 5^th July 2013   Distance: 32.81 Miles

 

Bob’s birthday and the weather looked promising. The bed though short seemed quite comfy. We met the other guest, another cyclist doing at CTC tour taking in points of special interest like the “pencil” in Largs which we didn’t see. It was a shame about the shared bathroom as I crossed my legs all night not wanting to disturb anyone. The whole B and B was cluttered with things from the lady’s past. Her parents had died and she had taken the Band B over after living in Edinburgh. She wasn’t really doing it because she enjoyed it but it had such potential and the location, with its views were probably the best we’ve had.

 

The day became murkier. There were plenty of seabirds and apparently seals sit on the rocks nearby. We left for West Kilbride Station with the bike in the car and then we set off cycling the next stage hoping the car would be OK left all day there. We thought Ardrossan not so nice and there was definitely more litter around. It was then Saltcoates and the edge of Kilwinning. It was mostly along cycle routes and off road, alongside the sea or across commons or nature reserves.

 

This area has a lot of Robbie Burns commemorative statuary. This was at Irvine where later 

  we stopped for tea at the Maritime Museum cafe, sitting in the wind and a short burst of sunshine. We then missed the right route and came out through an industrial estate then a bit of nature reserve, followed by a housing estate, Barassie station and then the seafront into Troon.

 

We rode by Prestwich Airport, small and seemingly not very busy. At Prestwich beach cafe we stopped for a late lunch. Bob had been looking for a pub with a sea-view for this but we didn’t find a suitable pub open.

Between Kilmarnock and Troon we came upon impressive Dundonald Castle. It overlooks the coast and was built in 1371.

 

Most of the ride today wasn’t a pretty route but at least it was off road and Bob enjoyed it! We passed a lot of golf courses which were set in the dunes (efforts were being made to conserve dunes here)

 

We arrived at Ayr, big county town where we took the train back to Kilwinning where we changed for the Largs train to West Kilbride£5.80 single. There was a 50 minute wait at Kilwinning. We put the bike in the car and after a short fast drive we were just outside of Ayr at the Premier Inn where we would stay 2 nights. Bob had a T bone steak to celebrate his birthday! It was 32 miles into the wind again today. It had been flat except for going over railway lines and there had been sandy expanses with some children paddling in the sea.