Thought I would update with the week I had up in Scotland back in April.
It was a great week, the weather was fair for Scotland (fickle) - cold, windy and also very wet at times.
The cycling started on the Sunday with a nice ride with my Dad, I cannot remember the last time I went on a bike ride with my Dad. We took the ferry from Corran to Ardgour then set off on a nice ride to Fort William.
It was a stunning ride on an empty road, with amazing views over Ben Nevis, unfortunately neither of us has a camera with us. The ride covered 35 miles.
It was on this ride I rediscovered the fickle nature of the wind in Scotland; once we were on the Mallaig - Fort William road, we cycled down a long straight, at the beginning we had a lovely tailwind which changed into a headwind even though we had not changed direction.
On the Monday, mik and the kids went fishing at Ballachulish, I took a lift there with them and headed off on the bike towards Oban. Another great ride on a quiet road. The road followed the coast and the views were stunning, looking out over the small isles off the coast. I arrived at Oban at lunchtime and met the family for a pub lunch. After lunch I headed back the same way I had come and it was as enjoyable a ride back as it was getting there.
Wednesday brought the ride I had been desperate to do since we were up in this area at New Year. I started with the ferry crossing before following the same road as Sunday's ride up to the Mallaig road. I then followed the Mallaig road through Glenfinnan. This was the point where the weather took a turn for the worse and I found myself climbing up a fairly steep hill straight into the wind and driving rain/sleet. The hill was not too bad but the weather was awful. I go to the summit and enjoyed the beginning of the downhill, but then I got cold, very cold. At the bottom of the steep descent I was frozen and it was still pouring with rain. I took shelter in a phonebox and ate a sandwich and Mars bar which brought me back from the brink of hypothermia.
From there it was a simple cycle to the turnoff for the Moidart and Sunart peninsula. At this point the weather changed and the sun came out. I dried off and enjoyed cycling through some of the most remote parths of Scotland, with stunning views out over the coast.
After a nice flat section, came a fairly major hill where mik and the kids were waiting at the top; it was really great to see them.
After the summit, there was a lovely descent before the road became single track, with some very steep uphill sections. I bid farewell to mik and the kids at this point as they headed back to our chalet with the car. I had a good ride down to Salen before heading for Strontian and the final pass to get back to the ferry side of the peninsula, The climb was just a grind but the descent was awesome. Back to a 2 way road, a great surface and next to no traffic. The road was wet and it was still raining and I got covered in spray, but it was a joy and I managed to hit 44.9 mph, shame it was not dry as I think I would have got pretty close to 50 mph. After the descent it was a simple 7 miles back to the ferry and the pub and a well earned beer!
Above are a few pictures taken by mik out on the ride.
The final ride of the week was on the Friday and was planned to be from Inchree back to Perth via Rannoch Moor. I got up early and headed off to get a head start over the car. Within 2 minutes, it has started to rain. Within 5 mins it was torrential. The first few miles were flat and sheltered but once I hit Ballachulish, the wind appeared. Like most of this week it was a headwind. So I headed off for the climb from sea level to Rannoch Moor, into pouring rain and a very stiff headwind. By the time I was halfway up Glencoe I was pretty wet and cold, the hill is not steep and even with the headwind I could not work hard enough to keep up my core temperature. I went over the pass of Glencoe and headed out onto Rannoch Moor.
The wind was pretty wild, blowing the bike all over the place, I was very thankfull that the drivers were keeping well out of my way. I thought that was the 'hard' bit of the ride done with, just a few miles along Rannoch Moor then a nice descent into Crianlarich. I then found that a long descent, into a cold headwind and rain when you are already wet and cold is not good. Mik and the kids stopped part of the way down the descent and shoved me in the car in to try and warm me up. In reality though it was never going to happen and reluctantly I agreed with mik to stay in the car and abandon the ride. Although it is not nice to abandon things, this was the correct decision as nearly 2 hours later when we arrived in Perth, I was still cold even though I had changed into dry clothes.
Overall the week was great. I was able to head out on some great routes and cover the distance with no problems. I feel that I am right on track for the real event. It was 'interesting' to cycle on the A82, it is not a very pleasant road and even on Good Friday was chock full of HGVs travelling at high speed. I would not fancy cycling across Rannoch Moor with a strong sidewind.
It all gives me food for thought for planning the final route for the ride in May/June.
