Route – Newton Stewart to Wigtown to Bladnoch to Kirkinner to Garlieston to Sorbie to Whauphill to Culmalzie to Newton Stewart. For route map click here.
See route on Strava.
- Weather – dry, mainly sunny and quite warm with very little wind.
- Bike type – road bike
- Distance travelled – 34.59 miles
- Riding time – 2 hours 22 minutes
- Maximum speed – 27.7 mph
- Average speed – 14.7 mph
- Height climbed – 1257 feet
Because of the rubbish weather and dark evenings it has been really hard to get out cycling recently. However, this afternoon Dad and I finally managed to get out for our first cycle ride in 3 weeks. Unfortunately, it rained for most of the 3 hours we were out and it turned out to be a rather grim plod. Much less grim, however, was our summer holiday this July when the weather was lovely and it was light till late in the evening and we were able to go cycling everyday. On day 5 of our Tour de Galloway, after enjoying a nice day at the beach, we managed to get our bikes out after teatime to go for a meander through The Machars…
The Machars is the name of the peninsula to the south of Newton Stewart in Galloway and it is made up of a mainly quite flat rural landscape with picturesque little villages dotted around the coast. Our route began with a quick 6 mile blast down the minor road from Nether Barr to Wigtown which we’ve written about previously. After a short ride through the town centre we turned left onto the A714 road and sped down the slight slope at around 25 mph for the mile or so to the distillery at Bladnoch. The main road was fairly quiet but after crossing the impressive bridge over the River Bladnoch, we decided to turn left onto an even quieter back road which took us under an ancient,
overgrown railway bridge and through the middle of nowhere for a couple of miles before looping back around to the main road again. It was kind of a pointless long cut but we like long cuts and if there’s a chance to avoid a main road, we usually take it! On the A road we went left and headed south for a while on the mostly flat, fast and smooth road, passing through a couple of small villages on the way. Shortly after Kirkinner, we turned left onto the B7004. This road is the longest, straightest road I’ve ever been on and was slightly downhill all the way to the coastal village of Garlieston so we raced the 4 miles there in no time at all. Or at least it would have been quick if Dad hadn’t kept stopping to take photos along the way. I suppose it was quite a scenic ride as we passed in and out of the trees on our way to the coast. We stopped at the harbour to enjoy the views over the mud flats of Garlieston Bay bathed in evening sunshine.
After that we headed west along the B7004 again but soon turned off onto the B7052 and headed generally west again for a few miles through pretty much deserted but picturesque Machars countryside on a road that varied from amazingly smooth to terribly bumpy to anything in between. This seems to be typical of most of the roads in Galloway so it’s always wise to keep your eyes pealed so you can try to avoid the worst of the bumps and potholes…
When we reached the village of Sorbie, we turned right and headed north on the A746 for a short distance before turning back onto the B7052 again, heading generally north-west for many miles. We saw no traffic at all for what seemed like hours as we cycled through the sun-drenched countryside. In fact it seemed spookily quiet. It was as if everyone had stayed indoors to watch the England v Croatia semi-final of the World Cup which was being played that evening – when they could have been out cycling, enjoying the beautiful countryside and weather! Anyway, we eventually reached Culmalzie where we turned right briefly before heading more or less north again for a long time through a deserted landscape of endless cow fields with the Galloway hills far away in the distance.
England were already 1-0 up by the time we came to a junction with the B733 road. Here we went right for half a mile before turning left onto a very narrow road that was covered in loose chippings. It wasn’t the nicest road to cycle on but it also took us up the only real hill of the day so it was actually a pleasant change from all the easy, flat roads we’d been on for the rest of the trip. We were heading north-east for the final few miles back to Nether Barr with the late evening sun starting to set. Unfortuanely, I realised that one of my tyres had a puncture so we had to stop and Dad spent an age changing the inner tube. By this time, Croatia had equalised so we took off back down a rather steep hill towards the junction with the A714 road again. Speeding down the rather bumpy narrow road we enjoyed amazing views of the Cairnsmore of Fleet hill straight ahead, towering above the otherwise fairly flat landscape. It looks like it would be a fine hill to climb one day and probably has brilliant views from the top.
So, after a quick half mile on the main road back to our accomodation in the fading daylight, we had made it back in time to watch the extra time period of the England v Croatia match. Sadly for England, they experienced Scotland-like glorious failure as Croatia scored with 10 minutes to go to reach their first ever World Cup final…
Dad and I normally prefer slighty more challenging and hilly cycle routes but our easy meander through the Machars in the evening sunshine was very enjoyable and highly recommended.
Rowan's Recommended Riding Routes 