August 15 - Tuesday
St. Monans to Glasgow
We were out of camp by 0730 and had about 20 miles to get to Kirkcaldy to catch the train to Glasgow. It was overcast and slightly chilly. The terrain had some rolling hills. Jon and I had a talk and he said that he really thought I could go faster if I tried and so I did this morning. By the time we got to Kirkcaldy we were averaging 13 miles an hour which is an improvement from our usual 10 miles per hour. I could feel that I had been trying harder. We stopped at at bakery and Jon asked for directions for the station since we found only one sign leading us in the right direction and that was a couple miles ago.
Turns out we were pretty close, up one more hill and we were there. We had a good hour of riding in total and had a few minutes to wait for the train. We would have to transfer at Edinburgh before Glasgow. The train arrived and we didn't spot any bike signs posted on the side of the train directing those with bikes to the appropriate car, so we just did our usual thing and entered toward the front of the train.
That was wrong.
Our first clue was when the stewardess tried to get the drink cart through to the two other passengers remaining in business class on the other side of the entrance. There just was no way she was getting by with that cart but she did make a half hearted attempt. Shortly after she went off in a huff another car attendant who appeared to have more authority came and told us that there was indeed a place to put our bikes - why no one told us this before or after we got on, I don't know - whose job is made more difficult by doing this? We're already on the train, that's all that matters to us when it comes down to it - it just really annoys me that train staff get all worked up after the fact and are so not proactive which would make everyone's train riding experience more helpful and enjoyable. I don't like standing in the entryway but I will if that's what it takes to ride the train.
Nevermind that we didn't see the teeny tiny - itsy bitsy sticker saying NO Bicycles in the entrace/exit. The train attendant explained that it was a safety and health violation to have the bikes there. Given how this is my big pet peeve I thought I was incredibley polite and outwardly remorseful with a little bit of the "dumb tourist" and "stupid American" thrown in for good measure. Jon tried to explain that we were not sure where to go and felt 'under the gun' to get on the train so it could stay on schedule. He even offered to move the bikes at the next stop to the appropriate bike storage area. The attendant said not to bother as we would be in Edinbourgh shortly. Luckily, we were in the UK so the guy was really polite.
We tranferred trains in Edinbourgh and had our bikes in the appropriate area for the ride.
We got to Glasgow without further incident and found the information center easily. We had the address for the recumbent bike shop that was somewhere around Glasgow. It would mean another train ride and that wasn't sounding too appealing at this point. Jon called the bike shop and told the guy our story and gave some details about the bikes. When Jon got off the phone he explained that the shop owner would try to sell the bikes in his shop first and if they didn't sell then he would put them on ebay in which case they would sell at auction online in a week. He also gave the name of a guy who owned a bike shop in Cambridge that sold used bikes that might be able to help. The idea of selling the bikes and being done with it was sounding really appealing so Jon called the guy in Cambridge - Ken.
Ken took the specifics from Jon and said he would call him back in a hour or so with a quote. What was cool was that both dealers had heard of or had spoken with, Dale, the dealer who sold us our bikes back home in Seatac. This did add a little credibility to our story about wanting to sell the bikes and that we weren't just someone off the street with two stolen bikes they wanted to make some money off of. That being done we tooled around the town with our bikes kiling time, waiting for a return call.
Ken called back: ฃ435 was his quote. Jon spoke it aloud.
What!
I vehemently shook my head and gave the thumbs down sign. There is less than 20000miles on the bikes and it has a new fork and gearing plus all the extra tires, tubes, bottle cages, pannier racks - No Way.
So, back onto the train to see the recumbent store guy. We found his place without too much trouble and showed him - Ben - the bikes. He was willing to but them up for sale in his store - no percentage off the top, no commission - nothing in return. Being Americans we were a little suspicious of someone doing something for nothing - and we told him so. It wasn't that he didn't strike us a completely trustworthy, honest, upstanding individual it just simply isn't how things are done back at home. Well, we aren't at home and this man was willing to sell our bikes so we started unloading the bikes and cleaning them up, taking off the pedals and computers, throwing away the things we wouldn't need anymore like water bottles and our faithful lawn chairs. Ben made room in his shop for the bikes, front and center in the window.
His shop, though tiny, was packed to the gills with cumbent bikes and the coolest trailers. I found the cadillac of trailers. Get this: this trailer not only comes with bags but one of the bags is a back pack with solar panel to charge up your electrical stuff, it converts in to a chair, there's a pole that telescopes into a pole which converts into a camera tripod and there's a flat surface to use as a table. The company is out of Holland and definitely worth checking out if you have the chance: www.koga.com
It's really cool.
It was closing time and so we had one last goodbye to our bikes and started hauling all of our bike gear out of the store. Funny, all these bags didn't feel so heavy when they were on the bikes...
We went two doors down, because we were totally starved, to a Cantonese take away joint. We ordered a ton of food. And then hauled all of our bags (they took up about a fourth of the floor space) and our order outside for a picnic.
Jon got sweet and sour shrimp and I got the house special which I think had chicken in it and had a subtle curry flavor with some kick. We had fried rice and rice crisps, spring rolls - yep, our eyes were bigger than our stomachs when we placed our orders.
We caught a bus back into the city and started looking for a place to stay. We were already experience a sense of loss from leaving bikes behind. We first tried the Holiday Inn Express as it looked as budget as one could get from what we've seen in the city. They were full and didn't think we were going to have much luck in finding a place to stay. The desk clerk was really helpful and gave us a map of the area and marked some possiblities knowing we were looking for someplace on the cheaper side. We headed toward the Silver Cloud and we also had some bed and breakfast options nearby. I thought we could do better than the Silvercloud which would be about ฃ60. I left Jon with all the bags because they were friggin' heavy and began walking around the neighborhood looking for the B and Bs on the map. The first was full, the second place was full - this wasn't looking good. I came to a third Bed and Breakfast and walked into the lobby/front room and asked the man behind the counter if he had accomodations for the night and he said yes
Yeah!
But how much?
Normally ฃ60 but he would give me the room for ฃ54. Not much of a deal knowing that he would likely not have gotten the room filled for the night by anyone other than us. But it did include, "A very good Scottish breakfast."
"Really?" - S
"Yes, it's very good."
"We better stay here then." - S
I filled out the necessary forms and paid in cash.
"You're from America. I thought you were English when you first spoke to me."
I hesitated for a moment thinking about that.
"Thank you I'll take that as a compliment." - S
"Is it a compliment?"
"It is right now." - S
"Have you enjoyed your travels? Where have you been?"
"It's been wonderful. Scotland has been the best part. We just came from St. Andrews."
"Yes, we often don't visit our own countries as much as we should."
I wrapped up the small talk knowing Jon would be starting to worry where I was and said I would be right back after collecting my husband.
"I'll be right here."
I went outside and started running back to Jon.
"Well, it's a little cheaper than the Silvercloud but we also get a good Scottish breakfast." - S
"Cool." - J
I figured that if we were going to be spending approximately the same amount be it at a motel or at a b and b we might as well stay at a place with some character and a meal included, hence, the Victoria House Bed and Breakfast. We got back to the b and b collected our room key and went into our room. It was twin beds only but at least it was a place to stay. The bathroom was huge, Jon was happy because it had a TV. We stayed up a while longer watching TV and eating our leftovers before squishing in together in the twin size bed.
