Cairnryan to Troon route

[cooper_coleraine]

Could anyone advise me on the best cycling route from Cairnryan to Troon please? Ideally I should like to stay overnight about 15-20 miles north of Cairnryan. Thanks

[SA_SA_SA]

http://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=105508&p=1005984&hilit=cairnryan+route#p1005956
Doesn't this cover the start at least?

[nosmarbaj]

I was brought up in South Ayrshire so was very familiar with the area, though I've not lived there for >40 years.

Depends what you mean by "best" route. Personally I think I'd just go up the A77 to Turnberry, then the coast road A719 to Ayr, cross the River Ayr in the town centre, then left to the seafront, from where IIRC there is a signed and reasonably well-surfaced* cycle track via Prestwick to Troon. Possibly a fair bit of traffic at times but not that bad, some great coastal scenery, and hard to miss the route

Easiest place to stay overnight would be Girvan, about 23 mi. N. of Cairnryan, though unfortunately IMO it's also the dullest place on the route.

*you might want to check the surface, it's a few years since I cycled there and I might be mistaken, but I certainly don't remember any difficulty on a touring bike.

If you'd prefer to be more inland, and probably on quieter roads, there are plenty of alternatives, as described in SA_SA_SA's link and elsewhere. The problem might be finding somewhere to stay if you're not camping, since there are few villages of any size within 15-20 miles of Cairnryan.

[cooper_coleraine]

Thanks for your help.I shall be coming back through Straiton and Rowantrees (a pilgrim to the Davie Bell Memorial).The A77 is busy and I am wondering if I can find a quieter route through Pinwherry and or Barrhill, possibly staying at one of these. I have read that the Stinchar Valley is beautiful. I don't mind hills and rough tracks but do not enjoy traffic and traffic noise.
Cheers

[nosmarbaj]

You live and learn. I'd never heard of Davie Bell until I Googled after reading your post, even though he would have been around when I was a child. There are many macabre associations with this part of Scotland too - the Rowantree murder hole, the Sawney Bean cannibal legend, the story of the Kennedy heir (Kennedy were the dominant family in all this area) falling to his death from Greenan Castle, the roasting alive of the Abbot of Crossraguel at Dunure, etc, etc (not to mention Tam o'Shanter and the witches at Alloway, as told by Rabbie Burns).

[Paulatic]

Don't forget 'Hitlers Grave' in the area too.

[cooper_coleraine]

Thanks for the information. I have always been intrigued by the Guilthill Road frm Dalrymple to Straiton. My guess is that it was possibly a gallows site. In my home territory in Lincolnshire there is a Tom Otter's Lane which is the site of the hanging of Tom Otter who was a navvy working on the widening of the Fossdyke Canal near Saxilby, who murdered a local girl. Here in Coleraine there is murder hole road, Coleraine to Limavady, a local highwayman Sawney Dean committed murders on this road. Davie Bell loved the Galloway Hills and his books of the articles he wrote for the Ayrshire Post feed my nostalgia for the fifties when the roads were very quiet, they still are and there was a wonderful network of Youth Hostels...Kendoon, Minnigaff,Wanlockhead, Mochrum and many others. Great accommodation and shared conversations with cyclists and walkers.
Cheers