England Within Reach

Nearly there! Should make Carlisle tomorrow.
Left Crianlarich this morning after a good nights sleep and a hearty cooked breakfast and porridge (Scottish style with salt).

Left at 9:30 again in the rain and a steady climb out of Glen Falloch towards Loch Lomond which was pretty good going although the wind and rain made things uncomfortable.

Again the scenery was spectacular.

Met a fellow local cyclist who rode with me for a while which was nice and gave a few tips on the route to take through Glasgow.

The sun came out about 11:30 which has been long overdue and I headed over the Erskine bridge and skirted round Glasgow via Paisley and East Kilbride.

Stopping off for something to eat I saw a McDonalds so I cycled through the drive-through only to be told "sorry we can serve you on your bike due to insurance and health and safety" unbelievable! I decided to pop into M&S and get some decent food.

The road through Paisley and east Kilbride was pretty bad, potholes and loads of traffic lights. It's also pretty undulating which does not make things easy with the knee which is giving me terrible pain.

I have bandage it up but it has become so painful I'm putting about 20% on my left knee with my right leg doing most Of the work. I can't even stand up out of the saddle as my knee just gives way.

Anyway made good progress with another 80 miles done.

Hotel is a god send with a nice bath and an ice pack should help .

Saw a great sign today which said " don't be a tosser!" throw your rubbish in a bin.

The state of the roads give away how rich or poor a local authority is. This has been evident with the state of the roads in Paisley compared to say more tourist areas.

Let's see what tomorrow holds.

Road kill seen:

1 x rabbit
2 x blackbirds

Cycling In The Highlands Get Me Out Of Here

Another long day in the saddle left Fort Augustus about 9:15 in the rain and headed for Fort William following the Caledonian Canal and Lochy. Stopped off for a photo shoot at the Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge which provided some spectacular backdrops and is a fitting place for the impressive memorial.

Stopped off at Fort William for some food and tried to search for a bandage.

Ben Nevis was obscured by low cloud and cycling past the actual mountain range I carried out my winter mountaineering training.

My left knee has got worse today and have had to strap it up and start taking Ibrufen. It's an old injury from a pulled ligament that has reoccurred and is with me for the next 750 miles.

The ride to Glencoe was spectacular but dampened by the wind and rain. Climbing out of Glencoe I was lucky to have the wind behind me which made a big difference. A long climb out of Glencoe leading to Rannoch Moor at 1150ft

A real mixed bag of weather but at least the last hour and a half was dry with the sun making a appearance.

Scotland is bigger than you think and it's the BBC 's fault as they tilt the country on the weather report which makes Scotland look a lot smaller than it is.

Scotland is a beautiful country but I have not been inspired by the architecture, to sum up it's pretty dull and non-descript !

The Brompton continues to cause intrigue by people with even drivers slowing down to take pics.

But the comedy bike isn't that funny at moment as it's been hard going with the limited gear range.

Most interesting thing seen: A three wheeler Morgan and a Nice SII E Type

Road Kill: 1x Deer

Distance covered today 84 miles

Cycling Downhill

Left Dornoch this morning at about 9:15 after a nice breakfast and a good nights sleep.

Set of in the rain which is not a good start to the day. Within minutes I decided to don my £9.99 Argos yellow cycling cape which proved very effective against the heavy rain and spray from passing trucks.

Heading along the A9 south I decided to take a short cut by passing Inverness saving about 10 miles.

The trouble was I spent the next 3 hours on a undulating gradual climb which was hard work against the wind. I had about 2 hours of respite from the rain which was nice. The sun even made a appearance; be it all for about 10 mins.

Saw a few cyclists going the opposite way and they were flying with the wind behind them.

Again some stunning scenery and passed a lot of distilleries. Also in abundance were a lot of those Brown places of interest signs specifically aimed at american tourists searching for a past to their home "Glen this, Clan of Gunn, house of Ord etc".

I have noticed a huge amount of Germans and Italians over the last couple of days, of who I had to remind one that people queue in the United Kingdom when I popped into the post office in Drumnadrochit home of the world famous Loch Ness Museum.

Leaving Drumnadrochit at about 1600 I had another 18 miles to go to Fort Augustus following a very undulating road alongside loch ness.

Arrived at Fort Augustus at about 1815 which wasn't to bad considering the weather.

B&B tonight (thanks mum) as need to dry of my gear and get a good nights sleep.

Long day tomorrow heading to fort william and beyond to Grampian mountains with the weather looking the same.

A few strains and pains. I am going to ensure I stretch off every hour as it seems to make a difference.

The Brompton is going well but is a little hairy at speed, coming down to Drumnadrochit i had a cheeky 3/4 mile descent reaching 35mph.

Total mileage today 80 miles.

Best thing seen today: another bird of prey that flew alongside me briefly, pretty spectacular.

Road kill:

1x field mouse
1x hedgehog
1x frog
2x Blackbird
1x Small bird of prey

A bit of wind and rain doesn't hurt anyone!

However it can make you life quite uncomfortable.

Arrived at JOG this morning at about 0900 to find the chap who has the post that says JOG not there!

Great had photo taken a
D couldn't see much else due to the low cloud (RAF day of) and fine drizzle.

A bonus was the wind which was behind but not for long. I noticed that my little pump was pretty useless as the tyres need about 95psi to perform. I ended cycling the 17 tyres on flat tyres which was hard going.&

Next stop Wick where I attempted to pump my tyres up at the Tesco garage. What a surprise when I had to pay 20 pence for the privilege to only find out it was only capable of pumping out about 60 psi errghh!

I managed to find a tyre garage and they pumped them up and what difference, flying! Lesson learnt take decent pump.

Saw a few cyclist's going the other way with the wind behind them and strangely hav'nt seen anyone else on a brompton. After 80 miles I know why.

Arrived in Dornoch and headed straight for the B&B my mother kindly sorted out for me, thx mum x.

A lovely soak in a bath, sudacream, ibulieve and tiger balm and of for some scoff. Burger and chips and i think it's hit the sack. Shattered.

Best thing seen today: a bird of prey big enough to take a small child.

Still no deep fried mars bars.

Road kill:
2 x blackbirds
2 x Segulls
1 x vole
4 x hedgehogs Ahhhh
3 x rabbits

Quite low, it shows how considerate the Scottish are when it comes to animal welfare

Scotland is beautiful but I can see why most of Scotland live elsewhere.

The challenge begins

In Wick at the moment and not what I expected. It's all very drab and grey. The weather does not help but It seems that slot of these small towns in highlands once had a magnificent past with fishing etc and they now seem a shadow of their former pasts.
An interesting journey up, especially the train where I witnessed my first ever scheduled "fag stop!" unbelievable! The sad thing was I had already identified the offenders before they stepped out on the platform.

Most exciting thing seen today: A Tornado GR something flying very low justifying why we have an RAF harsh I know but true.
Still on the lookout for deep fried mars bars, it's only a matter of time.
Most thing or things seen today: Ginger people there are bloody hundreds of um! Must be all that Iron Bru.

Is my bike going to be there?

I have to say that BA have been very good, £35 to take my bike straight through even though the connecting flight is with flybe. But will the bags turn up and will my bike be in one piece?

Heading to Wick tonight and staying overnight there. John o groats in the morning and the journey begins. Looking forward to the challenge, apart from the weather which is forecast rain for the next four days. Rain and wind a cyclists worst nightmare.

A big thank you to Jane for all her help and support, much appreciated. And thanks to all those that have donated already.

D-13 Picked Up Video Camera

Picked up a Digital Camera today courtesy of Alan at Orchid Communications who has lent me his own personal video the camera so I can shoot a Video Diary whilst on the ride. The plan is for CTV to do a short piece on the ride. I must remember not to swear too much!

Next week is the big week for getting everything sorted and packed. As I am travelling Solo unsupported I will need to travel light and with the airlines current weight and baggage allowances it means I am going to have to selective in what I take. As they say "Travel Light- Travel Fast" or "Travel Light and end up rather smelly".

Rest day today as I had a good 40 mile ride yesterday.