In ’22 we cycled a less-than-obvious line to call on the four Celtic capitals on the way to an extended clutch of pet and house sittings.  Which I thought of as the ‘CelticCapitals Circuit’, which in the current parlance would probably be branded, at great expense, the ‘CeltCap Way’.  In ’23 we finished the ‘Cycle home from the Mediterranean Sea’, that had been curtailed by an interregnum of Covid.  Marketable as yet another C2C route; possibly ‘TheMedNord Way’.  So when it comes to ’24 we need a new theme, one that carries on a developing ethos that is gaining currency in the ongoing climate debate.  A ‘no-fly’ route that will take us to a destination that has been an aspirational ‘thought’ for some considerable time.

Iceland.

Once, back in the last century, the ‘land-sea’ route to the Norse island would have involved a three day cycle ride or a three hour train journey to Aberdeen for the ferry to Shetland.  Today it’s a bit more convoluted.  The sea journey now starts out of Hirtshals on the northern tip of Denmark, and no longer calls into Shetland.

So whilst map-gazing for possible routes, a potential line suggests itself.  At a certain magnification using the on-line mapping site, a blue dotted line materialises, with the script ‘Kintyre Express P. Summer Only’, crossing the Irish Sea to connect Port Ellen with Ballycastle.  A quick search determines that it does exist, and that it is still running. It even takes bicycles and has spaces.  It’s meant to be. 

A triptych of isles on the letter ‘I’.  An alliteration that comes with a nice phonetical scan: Islay – Ireland – Iceland.  

All I need now is a clever branding title. 

It really does exist!

Just over an hour, port to port.