Day 16: A tale of two distilleries
I took off early next morning making my way to Doune and Stirling castles, with a few cordials to warm the spirits along the way.
Away I went!
Down again the beautiful banks of Loch Lamond 
Through some bothersome cattle gates as I exercised the right to roam across some pasture land 
Through towns mixing gothic and modern 
Seeing a grand castle from afar that was closed to business 
To see a marker of the old Antonine Wall 
Which had this cool carving
I decided to swing by almost to Glasgow to visit to this Glasgow, and then after ricochet north towards Doune and Stirling. Getting close to Glasgow meant riding on the shoulder (if there was one) of straight on highway. Yep, you’re allowed to ride your bike on highways here.
The distillery itself 
Which required riding on roads like this to enter and exit 
The show room. Some messaging on the walls poked fun at other distilleries out in “the middle of nowhere,” as opposed to this distillery in swingin’ Glasgow 
A custom flight I ordered there. They were OK but all in all, a bit too woody for me (and not only the Triple Wood)
I bounced back up north into the hinterlands, aiming for Glengoyne and hoping for drams more suited to my taste. Part of my ride took me on the West Highland Way hiking trail – not really made for bikes.
To get to this distillery — 
I had to go down these rocky roads, asking directions from an old man who said they have very good drams there 
And go through some more of these cattle gates 
Inside the distillery its big business, with tours going all day 
They got barrels 
The store here was great — they let me have a sample of many delicious drams, including this exclusive bottling 
I was impressed by this 3500 pound single cask … 
Until I saw the price of the 50-year (which the shopkeep tells me was once almost dropped by a stockboy)
Day 17: On the road again
After a night’s camp, I hit the road again, and this time just a wee bit of hiking.
Google maps thought this would be a good part of my bike route 
Had to drag it across, the bridge was so narrow 
Took a brief detour to hike down to a sight called the devil’s pulpit 
It was n’t that easy to find how to get down. And when I did, it was slipping and sliding down this bugger. 
To see some lovely sandstone colored water going through this gorge 
There was another way down, it seems … I went up the other side which was a WEE bit easier
Looking around for places to eat a couple hours later, I found The Soup Dragon Cafe at a wellness center called Tir Na nOg. It had a massage parlor and a store that sold beads and statues of dragons and so on.
