Continuing to explore the island...

Elaine and I took a ride north through Tong and Back to hit one of the beaches, you can see our route here:

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-kingdom/stornoway/656377547

It was windy the whole way, and then started raining pretty heavily when we were well on our way. We took shelter in a bus stop enclosure and waited out the rain while eating our picnic lunch. We were debating heading home to a hot bath and a Whiskey Mac when the rain stopped. Once we were able to look around, we saw that we were within sight of our goal.

We rode on and explored the beach a bit. We had intended to stop and maybe read a book and relax, but the cold and wind and wet sand really didn't lend themselves to that, so we walked around for a bit, then headed back.

In between showers, there were some lovely sweeping vistas. Pictures to come in a bit.

Another lovely ride...

Elaine and I went out to Arnish after dinner:

http://www.mapmyride.com/view_route?r=ad1ee1591e65f002933c71de7ccc531d

We went out on the street, with some tough climbs, but some really fun downhill segments as well. We ended up in Arnish right on schedule, although we didn't find the route to the lighthouse our first time out. We did get a good view of the town from across the bay.

We came back through the castle grounds, which was great as always. Turns out the road from Arnish connects into one of my favorite parts of the grounds, along the river and leading down to the bay. We came in sight of the bay just in time to see the evening ferry docking from one of the higher overlooks, which was very nice.

Next time, we'll have to go both ways through the castle grounds, and find trails to the lighthouse and this stone structure we saw on one of the hills.

Biking to the beach...

Elaine and I went for a bike ride from Stornoway over toward Pointe, and stopped at a nice beach (this beach, unlike the beach near us, has sand rather than salt grass and rocks). Here's the route we used.

Photos to follow shortly.

Taking Advantage of the Good Weather...

I usually go for a longer run on Sunday. Yesterday was pretty crummy, colder and a spitting rain. Today on the other hand, was nice and warm with just enough of a breeze. I mapped out a longish route (8+ miles), but ended up only doing about 80% of it. Still a good run (see the route here)...