I came across this beautiful poem and thought I share it as it really speaks to me about Jura as I see it too. Here it goes
No Excuses But Honestly- Liz Lochhead
Hard to draw
Jura’s beauty –
foxgloves and fuchsia far too flashy for just black and white
hard to write –
the mountains with their purple passages
the long curve of empty road
the wide swathe of empty moor
the too-blue-for-Scotland sky
this intricacy of thistles
far too intent on being emblematic
The weather app I used called Meteo is a great app. Fairly accurate so far in Europe. I am not sure if it is as accurate in Malaysia or other places. Try in and let me know.
From the looks of the forecast, it’s going to be a great day of riding. Mostly cloudy but with sunshine most of the day. Rain ? Of course, after all this is Scotland. Rain was forecasted to be minimal.
I decided to push off around 9am as it started to rain in the morning. It was moody and cloudy as I started out but it cleared up after awhile and the Jura started to show it’s amazing scenery. Sparse, barren and rugged, it’s beautiful. It seem like I have the whole island to enjoy for myself. The ride was wonderful mix of undulating climbs and descends and some mini dragon backs here and there. All adding to the drama of the ride but nothing extreme.
The iconic triple mounds named affectionately by the locals as the Paps is so prominent in the land so barren. So much so for the longest time I was riding along it, me staring at it and it staring back at me. There were of course other native inhabitants like the
Jura cows, sheeps, deers and occasional flapping pheasants being spooked.
Jura is the place where George Orwell wrote the famous 1984. The house which he wrote this novel was at the northern most top and the most remote part of the island.
I rode as far north as I can until the tarred road runs out. I ran out of time and had to turn back to Jura ‘town’ before dark. So unfortunately was not able to reach George Orwell’s cottage.
The reverse direction riding back gave a completely different perspective of the landscape and just as stunning. However it started raining slightly and then more so. The multiple short intervals of start rain and stop rain really feels as if Mother Nature is having in continence and having to pee fain every 5 mins. This frustrated me as I had to put on and off my rain jacket so many times. After awhile I just kept it on. Upon arriving base camp Jura, I had a light leftover packed dinner and then had a quick shower before joining the locals for their barn yard concert of traditional music. After the concert, I returned to my tent to call it the night. It started to rain again. It was a great day of riding. I enjoyed Jura very much. So far it is my favorite.
Tomorrow off to catch the ferry to Oban and continue northwards. In Oban I am fortunate to have a Social Enterprise Academy fellow tutor host me. I am looking forward to meet Roy again and learn more about the Social and community projects in Oban.
Reflective Saddle 