Friday 25
th, the mini bus collected us at 7am in George Square (We all rode in expect lazy-boy Steven!) and whisked us off to arrive at
Inverness Castle about 11am after a 2
nd breakfast stop en-route.
We promptly proceeded to get lost leaving
Inverness, which turned out to be a theme on the adventure! My GPS and map reading skills are not as good as I made out, but a nice lady set us on the right path and pointing in the right direction!
The first section was mostly B class roads down to the
Slochd Summit, passing some beautiful country side as the weather closed in on us.
The first tea room came at
Carrbridge which gave us time to reflect on myself, riding a chunky mountain bike, passing Ross as he pushed his carbon fibre, dream road bike to it's limits down a hill at over 42mph. (I don't think it will be a story he tells at his bike club meetings!).
By Boat of
Garten the drizzle was on, spirits were getting dampened. Leaving
Inverdruie, the B&B's were firmly set in
everyone's mind and the race was on to minimize the soaking! 20 miles still to go.
Ruthven Barracks outside
Kingussie were a long time coming, for myself. Meanwhile the lead pack had arrives in
Newtonmore and had found their target B&B's. An hour later, I roll into town at 8:15pm.
The B&B's were fabulous
1 &
2 . Pasta & Beer in the local pub before a well earned sleep!
Saturday 26
th was epic! It started in the rain as we headed for the
Drumochter Pass. We edged forward, pushing into a blustery head wind, rain stinging our cheeks. Up, every up we passed
Dalwhinnie Distillery, sadly closed, dampening spirits further!
The summit came for some quicker than others, but they patiently waited on me again for the photo opp! Cold, wet, and windy, we left the summit behind. The route turned more eastward and the descent started to flow and pick up speed. Crossing countless foot bridges we headed down into Glen Gary when a foot bridge was replaced by a narrow, off angle cattle grid, which caught a few of us off guard. None more so, Alan, who's bike slid and slammed him hard into a post. From 20mph to 0mph in an instant. His face said it all. His ribs were clearly in a bad shape. He soldiered on to
Calvine a couple of miles down the road where we doped him up on pain killers, but by the time we were a few miles further on in Blair
Athol, and having had some soup, it was clear he could not continue. Train times were checked, and he knew it was the only route left for him.
As said our farewells, and headed off for
Pitlochrey, the weather was turning, and the sky was clearing.
Pitlochrey - another one street town, and lost again! Climbing out of town once we found the trail, we looked down from the summit in time to see Alan's train, in the distance, head South.
The route now winded through country roads, rolling up and down to through the beautiful
Strathtay and
Weem, passing interesting places like Dull!? and into Kenmore. The lead pack took the main road down Loch
Tay to
Killin, while others took the up, up, down, up, up, down.....route on the south side. Ross arrive just after 6pm, Derek, Steven and Alex about an hour or so later, while Andrew and I wheezed into town just before 9:15pm. A truly beautiful ride.
Sunday. - Sunshine!!!
We left
Killin and headed up again. That's of the things I recall a lot on this trip, is the amount of time spent going up!
Bums were all sore, thighs all burned with fatigue, but the sunshine brought out the high spirits. We climbed up a nice winding trail through the woods to join the disused train line down Glen Ogle. Stunning!
Ross left us to meet us in
Aberfoyle, taking the road climb over the Dukes Pass while the rest of us grabbed a quick pint and some lunch in
Callander before heading off up through the woods on a fantastic climb over Dukes Pass. A lung busting, thigh burning, sweat drenching climb! Followed by a very rapid and sketchy descent into
Aberfoyle. As was now the norm, the lead pack rested until I doddle into town.
I was assured the worst of the climbs were over, but soon found this to be a lie as we climbed up behind
Drymen. I'm sure I almost touched the clouds at the top! The descent was the longest I have ever sustained over 30mph for so long. Fantastic! Well worth the climb!
One street town......lost again!
Knowing we were close to
Balloch, the road, relentlessly, would off ahead of us until we eventually came to Robin House Hospice at
Balloch, who would be benefiting from our hard efforts and money raised. A lot of back slapping, high
fiving preceded the photo opp.
A lump in my
throat, the cry goes up "Let's get this finished! George Square, here we come!"
And so, started the 20mile sprint to the finish line. Through
Balloch, quickly through
Renton, Bowling,
Clydebank, and another puncture for Ross.
Yoker,
Scotstoun,
Partick,
Clydeside - all swept past in a blur.
Up Buchanan Street, turning for George Square, and the team, hold back.
The rider who has been at the tail of the ride all the way from
Inverness to Glasgow is allowed to spin into George Square first! I pull up where we got the mini bus just two days earlier! Lost for words that I had managed to push my self to the edge and on in the most grueling, physical and mental challenge of my life, the back slapping and high fives start!
We had made it! Our thoughts went to Alan, who we knew would be beating himself up about having to pull out.
Did I mention my map skills were not the best? Well, the 214 miles turned out to be 234 miles, so those who sponsored us by the mile, you owe us 20 miles!!! Our fund raising target of £2,500 looks like it's going to be smashed as we estimate the total may be closer to £5,000 once we have it all in and counted. I'll confirm once we close.
My thanks to the whole team, Andrew, Ross, Derek, Alex, Steven and Alan, who I could never have done it without. For all the encouragement from friends and family that we all received, and to everyone who sponsored us. To our corporate sponsors, Hitachi,
EMC, Pillar Data Systems,
Auldercroft Homes, and to National Australia Group. Thanks
Ian
