Ride all the OS mapsIt is a sign of how hard yesterday’s ride really was that I gave up trying to write about it last night. It’s the first time in 18 days that I needed to sleep more than I needed to finish the daily blog. I’m a night owl and I can usually keep going as long […]
Today was a long, tough ride and I am glad it is over. It was great in many ways to cross the Isle of Skye, and the scenery was at times spectacular. But the wind was strong, in my face and unrelenting. It also brought with it passing showers that punctuated the sunshine and produced […]
Today started early, and for me that is never easy. My alarm went off at 5.30am and I was on the ferry out of Stornoway at 7am. The sun, which had shown scant interest in the place on my visits thus far, stuck 2 fingers up at the forecast of heavy rain and made it […]
After yesterday’s good weather and memorable cycling, it was a disappointment to see heavy rain start in Tarbert around breakfast time this morning. I was really hoping for better. Still, things have a habit of working out. I thought final checkout was 10am; but they told me it was actually 11am, so I went back […]
When Douglas Adams told us the meaning of life, the universe and everything was 42, I am willing to bet he had never cycled the B887 between Tarbert and Huisinis, on the Isle of Harris, on a gorgeous evening. Since we sadly can’t ask him any longer, I am going to assume I’m right. Because […]
Skin, it is said, is waterproof. Lycra, on the other hand, is not. Good news, then, that on a day of some dampness, my legs were bare from the knee down. The weather was reasonable this morning in Inverness, and I enjoyed a breakfast latte with my Tesco meal deal triple pack bacon and egg […]
I started the day still feeling very full from last night’s delicious venison casserole. Despite this, there was the not-so-small matter of a 3 course breakfast to contend with, which I had ordered the night before. So I had absolutely no reason to worry about running out of energy as I set off for the […]
The line across the top of Scotland continues from where I reached last night in Balnakeil, in a roughly west-east direction. It follows the only road of note, the mostly single track A 838, all the way to my night’s accommodation back at the Strathy Inn. It was a ride of some 53 miles of […]
I did an amazing thing this evening. Between the hours of 8pm and 10pm, I cycled the A894 and the A838 from the small village of Scourie, at the western tip of OS map 9 Cape Wrath, to Durness, at the top of Scotland. It wasn’t an especially amazing cycling feat in itself. It took […]
The long distance adventure cyclist has many decisions to make. Today brought that into sharp focus as the weather continued to play a leading part in our trip. We awoke to a dry morning that held the promise of better things to come; but still no let up in the wind, which was blowing strongly […]