Electric Dreams

Saddling up for an e-bike adventure, the quest was to see the best of Kintyre in 24 hours

- by ALISTAIR HEATHER

KINTYRE'S highlights in just 24 hours. That was the challenge and, to start with, as I pedalled hard on my electric bike, I felt like I was making progress.

The coast road on the south-west peninsula is snake-like as you slalom along with sea loch left and hillside right, just wide enough for a narrow car to squeeze by.

The smells are the advantages of cycling. The shores of Campbeltown Loch are thick with kelp forest canopies, breathing their distinct fragrance into the briny air. The cattle in their winter byres bring an occasional earthy reek and, nearer Campbeltown, the famous distilleries add their perfume to the air.

It's also easier to spot seals. In winter, the grey sea, slick seals and silver sky share a selkie sheen, and it takes a keen eye to see them as they swim and flow in their quicksilver element.

I had a big plan: fly into Campbeltown airport on the early flight, rent an e-bike, and then try to visit as many interesting spots on this peninsula as possible in a single day. My first targets were in the south end of the island. A single track road traces the coast south to the bottom of the peninsula, where the sea opens up. A scatter of small islands lily pad their way to Ireland, just 19km (12 miles) away. It's quiet in winter, the tearoom shut, views subdued by cloud.

This is a dead-end now, but was once a thoroughfare. The kingdom of Dalriada stretched between what is now Ulster and this whole south western portion of Scotland.

A big hill fort sat on Dunaverty Rock, a plug of igneous jutting up 15 metres (50ft) right on the shore line.