A Day of Two Halves...

Stats for the day (approx, actual to come): Miles: 75ish, Ft Climbed: 3500 Calories: 6500ish Group Punctures: 1, Beard Status: I hope it’s not blocking the sun. Undercarriage: Good to Fair.

Hello Slog Blogettes! (Which, dear reader, I’ve decided is your new name) So, I’ve actually written this one once already today but after a flat battery and blogger failing to back up I’m sat typing out round 2…

After yesterday’s Travel Lodge we’ve stepped up in the world today; a lovely old hotel, right alongside a Loch and some pretty impressive mountains..sadly said mountains are also our route out of here but more of that later.

Today really was a classic run of ups and downs. After another Tesco breakfast, (no square sausage action I’m afraid.) we had a gentle run out of Inverness and turned towards Loch Ness. Nessy really did not disappoint, a truly stunning place, especially with the sunny weather we were blessed with all day. (Pics will be up tomorrow again once we get a decent signal) We then had a nice few miles cruising along the lake shore, before hitting what was set to be the norm for the rest of the first half of the day- nasty hills. We basically climbed constantly for 15 miles or so, but it was never a steady incline, and the varying gradient did some real damage. The climbs culminated with a really steep peak, which opened up to some amazing views although I spent the first few mins up there trying to put my lungs back down my throat.

What goes up…must come down and that means fun! We really got a move on, with Andy B hitting very close to 50mph, but we throttled back a bit after Mark, who is a descending hero, almost inspected the undergrowth very closely on one bend, a broken face is not a strong look in lycra.

I personally had a fairly big descent, my first real mental crash of the trip. At lunch, I was pretty lost. If you’ve never felt it, it is hard to describe, but you don’t know what to do with yourself. In technical terms it is called hitting the wall, but we’ll stick with just feeling really, really, shite. Thankfully once you’ve been there you also know you will come out the other side, it’s just a hard 30 mins or so getting there.

Oh and our van managed to roll fwd despite the handbrake on a garage forecourt. Unfortunately, there was a motorbike in front of it, and a biker man filling with Oil. For a while a very small part of Northern Scotland looked like BP had been up to their tricks again. Ooops

The second half of the trip was much flatter (thankfully) and we ended up cruising past Ben Nevis and into Fort William- East to West coast in one day! One thing that really stood out for me was stopping at the Commando Memorial which is right up in the hills. There are individual tributes to soldiers from just about every war, but the really hard hitting ones are the photos of guys killed recently in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s a moving and fittingly stunning place, and it certainly made me man up a bit- puts into perspective what you’re doing, could be much worse.

So that was day 3, which we’ve just finished off with a smashing steak and is now rapidly powering down. As I mentioned, tomorrow isn’t one we’re not exactly looking forward to- we’ve been dreading the climb out of village tomorrow since we set off – 7 miles long and pretty full on. Gulp. I guess we didn’t come on this not to be challenged though. Bring it on. (by the morning I might actually mean that!)

Time to get in my mega zeds. zzz

Day 2: A (very strong) breeze

Day 2 Stats: Miles: 86.4, Ft Climbed: 3920ish, Calories: c6300 , Group Punctures: 0
Beard status: Chin warming, Undercarriage: Tatty Bodywork, but a good runner.

Another day, another travel tavern- this time in Inverness, which according to the sign on the way on is the capital of the Highlands. Every day is a school day.

After my rant about the rain this morning, it actually dried up, and we set off in good spirits. Almost straight out of the camp site we hit a climb, and then we got the wind, which was so strong it was enough to blow you a few feet sidewards. Great when it was to your back, pushing you along, but not so much when it was in your face. Thankfully most the time it was the former, but it's fair to say that my big lump of a frame, on my fairly upright bike is not the most aerodynamic. After a bit of monster climb early doors we managed to get a decent rhythm going and started making some good progress through some amazing scenery, the pics don't do it justice. (try the video below)





We've all got different cruising paces and mine is smack bang in the middle of everyone, which means I find quite a lot of the time I'm on my own, no problem at all, but it makes the times you feel low that little bit harder- The ride is both literally and mentally about peaks and troughs.


After a gruelling 3 mile climb at the end of the day we all felt pretty sore, but after a decent feed and some sleep we'll be good to go- tomorrow brings Loch Ness. Let's see what monsters we'll encounter. (there were a few in Falkrik, most of them eating Square Sausages.)



So that's about it for today, time for some much needed rest- tomorrow's 3 day of riding is a trip into the unknown for the legs!

PS We saw a Seal today, in the bay. Heidi Kulm wasn't there though.

PPS I've updated yesterday's post with pics

I take it all back.

Scratch that from yesterday. Mother Nature You ain't my home girl. It's raining.

We're up and almost ready, just getting some porridge in us and then its 80 miles to Inverness. The wind is very storng but mainly to our backs I think, so it should be ok. There's a couple of big lumps on the route today, a couple of 1:10 inclines. Yesterday's blast was the prawn cocktail for today's roast beef, the proper riding starts now.

A Travel Lodge is our home again later, which will be nice as today's shower also acted as a warm up as I was squatting to get my head underneath.

Time to turn and burn!

see you in 80 miles. Boom.

Just a post..(the sign is missing)

Stats for the day:

Miles: 40 Calories: 2700 Ft climbed: 1510 Punctures: 1
Beard: Beyond stubble Under carriage: Good/Good to soft in places.

First ride done, and we're sat in a static caravan in a little park about 40 miles south of JOG. Food is on the go, TV on. Sweet. If a little late.

That doesn't really tell the story though...it took us much longer to get up here than we thought, and that coupled with our square sausage and bridge thingy excursions this morning meant we got the start line at about 630..and it was cold.( I think Michael Fish would use the technical term 'nut shrivelling') We were excited to get our legs turning though, so after sorting the kit we headed to THE sign for the team pic. Except, the sign wasnt there..the pole was, but apparently they take it down every evening to stop people stealing it. A 750 mile FAIL. You cant make this shit up. It's as funny as it is tragic. I think the pic says it all:



Other than that though, the ride was ace, a nice starter with a strong breeze giving us a push. Mother Nature if you're reading this on your tea break, high five. Tomorrow brings 80 miles and some big hills ( we drove down the road today, there's only one) but judging by what we saw today it will be as beautiful as it is knackering. Exciting.

Oh, and as we were late, we missed the footy. But clearly, we missed nothing! They must be waiting for us to be done before they start playing the real stuff.

Time for late late pasta, and then bed.

Over and Out.

A quick day 1 post..So far..Pringles lots Miles..None

Riding day one is upon us! 40 fairly flat miles, a nice warm up for the monsters that await. Problem is, we still have a 6 hour journey to get there so this post is more to pass the time than anything else- I think we're just outside Perth as I speak/type. My phone cable is in the back though, so no pics till later.

Last night's Travellodge was spot on, we were 3 to room though and its fairly to say that one of our trip (we'll call him driver John..as that's his name) snores at a fairly impressive level, sadly we cannot kill him as he is fairly integral to the van moving, so ear plugs it is.

Breakfast was at a local tesco cafe, and I had my first experience with a square sausage. Really, WTF? I presume it is cut from a mega slab of sausage, which in turn is made from only the finest ingredients. Like Eyelids.

After careful consideration, I had fruit and fibre.

On the way out of Falkirk, we stopped at the Falkirk Wheel- a uber geeky but kinda cool contraption for joing two canals that are a good 100 ft apart vertically. Our cultural diversion means we're chasing time a little now, so we might miss kick off later but if we'll probably get more than your avergae ITV HD viewer..

Right, time to put this away, I'll do a post later after we've done 'The' pic at JOG and got our legs turning. woop.

PS One thing I forget to metion last night was the tidy bit of engineering in the back of the van that allows us to get all our gear in: Major props to Steve for the install.

PPS prediction for later.. 3-1 England.

PPPS Hello Luce. xxx

Cometh the hour, Cometh the Van

It's very late, but we are here. Where 'here ' is exactly is a Travel Lodge in Falkirk. Not the most fancy of locations but after 12 hours of travelling, it is a palace.

Our van is a little trooper, formally owned by the Royal Mail its not exactly mint condition but as you can see from the pic, it took all our stuff (after an interesting tetris style packing session) and its not too thirsty. We have high hopes it'll make the 1500 miles ahead.

That's about all there is to say today, apart from a quick intro to my tormentor in chief/best friend for the next 10 days- my bike. It hasn't got a name yet, but i get the feeling by the middle
of next week it may well have my number...


Tomorrow brings another 6 hours in the van, then our first 40 miles on the bike before we attempt to watch England play..in a pub in Scotland. Lets hope the locals are feeling friendly, maybe we'll buy them some buckfast and a deep fried mars bar to do our bit for international relations. And, on that slightly racist note, I think its time to hit the Travelodge hay. zzzzz

So Here Goes..

So here we go, tomorrow we (Myself, Andy B, Mark, Zoe, Steve and our legendary driver John) se off in our Postman Pat style van for Northen Scotland.

When, at Christmas, I got the text saying a trip was being planned, it seemed a good idea. As stupid as it sounds I remember thinking 'I've never been to Scotland' not 'oh that is going to hurt and will needs a lot of training.'

But now, it's actually happening. Shit. Note to self: next time just book a mini break.

(At this point, it's probably worth mentioning that until March, I did not own a bike. This alone has meant the last few months have been an adventure, not least when I fell off at about 1 Mph not being able to get my feet out of the pedals quick enough. It also means that apart from my bike, most of my stuff has had to be a balance of quality against cost. In short, I am the Karrimor kid.)

Don't get me wrong though, I am excited. It's going be hard, but that's kinda the point and it will be great to see where my limits really are, and all being we should actually get to have some fun on the way. I also currently have the nice warm feeling inside form having raised some good money for charity in the process, although at some point that is liable to be replaced with what is basically nappy rash.

Even tomorrow will be an adventure and we don't actually ride: our van is worth less than a decent bike so we're hoping it runs on a mixture of diesel and good will. There's countless other things we don't really know the answer to, but there's no time to worry about them, its time to bring it on and more pressingly time for some sleep! Night Night.