Arran black route

I was planning to go to Arran today (yesterday by the time I've finished this blog entry) got up at 6am but it was raining so back to bed I went.
Got up again at 8am still raining so thought I'd have another half hour in bed and leave Arran for another day but, by 10am it was looking distinctly bright causing me to flip back to 'Going to Arran mode' finally getting along the road for the 12:30 ferry.
It was definately worth the effort, the air was crystal clear, the clouds slid away over the horizon and the ferry arrived in Arran to glorious sunshine.

I've been checking out Arran cycle club and had a map for the black off road route loaded into my new GPS toy to assist with navigation. I'm pleased I did there are two places on the route that are tricky to find and the GPS was very handy at both of them (I'm oh so pleased it wasn't a complete waste of money).
As for mountain biking the black route its a bit mixed, the off road down to Lamlash is an overgrown muddy mess I got two punctures, one to my knee and one to my back tyre both caused by briers. The forest track from Lamlash to Whiting Bay is just another forest track but the descent down Glenashdale was great fun, so too was the 'hidden singletrack' at Lag an Daer.
Of course what makes these track special is not what they are but where they are, glorious Arran, there's nowhere quite like it!

Video here.