SKINS Challenge - Road Stage

Hampton Court - Aylesbury - Balham (London)

Deuan and myself started out at Hampton Court (10.25)

via Heathrow, Uxbridge, Beaconsfield

High Wycombe

motoring along

got to Aylesbury at 13.05 and nice lunch (baked potato & tuna)

we got adventurous cycling along the canal towards Marsworth

I dare you to jump over that canal

piece of cake

when you're on a canal boat, take a strong magnet and try some fishing for lock keys....hmmm

what shall I say...

some A road back to London (near Chalfont/ Amersham)

and to London (Southall)

to our final resting point (The Bedford Pub, Balham)

Overview:
- we did 97 miles today with the detour via the canal (going East from Aylesbury....who needs mountain bikes again?
- the route was definitely more on the flat side than going from London to Brighton
- weather was pretty nice, even though we got into half a dozen small showers

Total time: 6.05h

Average speed: 15.9452 mph (25.6613 kmh)

Route:

Tw12 3hx @ 10.25
Uxbridge
Beackonsfield
High wycombe
Princess Risborough
Aylesbury @ 13.05

Aylesbury @ 2.20
Aston Clinton
Holton
Amersham
Chelfont
Uxbridge
Southall
Hammersmith
Putney
Balham @ 5.45


Final Points:
- forgot my heart rate monitor at home that day - so no stats...
-couldn't find my SKINS shirt so took LEJOG baselayer and cycle shirt (good choice as it prevented sunburn.
- the SKINS cycle short has performed excellently on this challenge and I felt pretty comfy all the way through
- a great day of cycling, with many memorable moments along the canal and racing through London at the end to get to Balham...

SKINS Challenge - Hill Stage

Brixton to Brighton (detour)

This ride is part of 3 challenges to test SKINS C400 bib shorts, Cycle Pro Short Sleeve Jersey and C400 compression baselayer. Not that we wouldn't have done the rides anyway - we now had a perfect excuse to be doing rides every weekend ;)

...what a wonderful evening, Jorrin, Deuan and myself decided to go for a ride just after work. The weather couldn't have been more perfect and we were all excited to be doing this ride on a Friday evening rather than our usual early start Saturdays/ Sundays. I started my journey in Brixton after some nice pizza in the new pizzeria just in Brixton Village market, where I also fitted the heart rate monitor. A very unusual feeling to have this strap around the chest but also interesting seeing my heart rate go up and down. I also set my personal parameters to measure calorie burn.

A short while later, I met with Deuan, steady cycle companion and superb action film maker, at Fat Boys cafe in Croydon. We really wanted to go with Jorrin but after 20min waiting we decided to leave without him, knowing he's going to catch up little later. We got to Farthing Downs after battling through Friday's traffic, then came the call from Jorrin saying he is "3 minutes" away (thats Jorrin's way of saying I'll catch up with you in 15min or so). We used the opportunity to enjoy the view and take some pictures. At quarter to 6pm it was still really hot and the sun blasting. We continued our journey south...

We were met by Jorrin (15min after phone call), exchanged excuses for being late, marvelled at Jorrin's new wheels and pedalled through ever so stunning countryside, up and down the hills going to Brighton. We made a few stops at a petrol station and a pub to fill up on water, get some nuts 'n raisins and bananas. Luckily I had a few things in my backpack which were going to come in handy: extra pair of shorts/ shirt (from work), hair clippers, some cycle bottles, tools and unidentified stuff... things one takes on such trips...


The SKINS bib shorts amd cycle shirt are the most high-tech kit I've ever worn on and I was excited to see how it performs during the 75miles ride. I know that "good things aren't cheap and cheap things aren't good." For the LEJOG ride I invested in a good cycle short (Assos) and was already positively surprised with the enhanced riding comfort, compared to regular shorts (£50 or less...).



Zooming along the country lanes, overtaking one another, pushing it hard was fantastic. We really enjoyed being on our bikes. It was a very strange feeling to be riding into the evening rather than into the day. As it got darker we pedalled harder. Todays challenge was an extra 12 miles to take the total journey close to 75miles.

The SKINS C400 bib shorts surprised on the upside. Never did I have to adjust the shorts or padding (none of the usual pulling, lifting ;) The whole journey felt really pleasant being able to just sit in the saddle and ride, pushing ourselves harder than on last rides with fewer brakes.all solved with a pair of scissors though. My Assos bib shorts bought for the LEJOG ride were very good, especially at reduced price (from £120 to £75), but I still had to adjust the padding, and pulling them in place once ever so often. None of that stuff with the SKINS bib shorts. They stayed in place and were very comfortable throughout.

The Cycle Pro Short Sleeve Jersey already had a few trial runs in the city and it really felt great - it actually felt like it wasn't there at all, keeping me dry and comfortable whilst the shirt got soaked. I only noticed it after a while, stopping/ starting at traffic lights because a little plastic patch, at the bottom by the zip, stuck out and poked me...


We got to Brighton just after 9pm, went to the beach front, had a quick drink and got back to London by train. We all agreed that this has to be repeated and that its a much better use of everyone's time that being in the pub on Friday - which is nice but it just doesn't give the same feeling of having cycled from London to Brighton....

STATS:

Ride distance: 115Km (72miles)
Time (incl. stops): 4:45 h:min
Av. Speed: 24km/h
Max speed: 65km/h
Av. heart rate: 145 BPM
Max heart rate (MHR): 192 BPM
BPM% MHR: 76
KCAL: 3100

(london to brighton - yes its generally a bit hilly...)

Please check out the Blog from fellow cyclist Quentin - "Leading The Tour" in 2010, cycling all stages of the Tour de France - just a week early ;)

click here to get to his Blog (or click on his pic)!!!


He's on an amazing journey and I am kind of envious that he's out there battling the elements and being able to cycle through France's stunning scenery, taking on huge mountains, passing Lavender fields, and just being on the road....

SKINS Challenge - Time Trial

This ride is part of 3 challenges to test SKINS C400 bib shorts, Cycle Pro Short Sleeve Jersey and C400 compression baselayer. Not that we wouldn't have done the rides anyway - we now had a perfect excuse to be doing rides every weekend ;)

Time Trial Sunday...

and here we go! got up fairly relaxed at 8pm (Sunday morning), had a coffee (or two?), a slice of bread and smoked salmon, nothing too heavy, partly because I was still full from the bbq the day before.

I left around 9am to drive to Jorrin and go with him to some location in Surrey where we hoped to find a suitable road without too many interruptions, traffic lights, roundabouts and so on to do our TT (15Km/ 10miles). We went along the M3, got off at Exit 3 and went to Lightwater.


Now, I've never done a TT and I was really excited to be racing against myself for this relatively short distance. We took Jorrin's racing bike rather than my 'cruiser' and in borrowed shoes I set off. My heart rate was already at close to 80BPM before getting on the bike which is partly due to the warm-up (stretches really) and partly because I was a little nervous. Should have really done a few miles before even getting on the bike for the actual TT - next time...

On the bike, fiddling with the clip-ins, setting the stop watch on the Shimano flight deck and on the heart rate monitor - 3 2 1 GO

I quickly got to speeds of over 40Km/h zooming along this pretty straight road, hit a few roundabouts but kept on pushing hard. My top speed went down to 35Km/h where I could sustain it... The first couple of kilometres went by pretty quickly and were it not for some stupid motorists I would have been even faster. At various roundabouts without a chance to overtake, those guys slowed down pretty heavily to then turn without indicating, I almost crashed into one as I was trying to overtake...

With 10Km done, I was feeling exhausted already because some of the smaller hills kicked in and got me to stand-up and push on. Another useless roundabout where I had to clip out of the pedal leaving me to struggle for another km to get back in (its just not the same if you're used to your own shoes/ pedals).

13.5, 14, 14,7 arrghhh 15Km. STOP the watch.

STATS:

Ride distance: 15.06Km (10miles)

Time (incl. stops): 00:26:28 h:min:sec

Av. Speed: 34.1 km/h

Max speed: 48.6km/h

Av. heart rate: 123 BPM

BPM% MHR: 64

KCAL: 160

Useful calculator (time, distance, speed)
http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/bike/speed_distance_time_calc.html


The Numbers:

the above numbers don't really mean anything unless they're put in a context. I've checked a few websites and a few different courses and found the Richmond TT results. Provided that the course is different from the one we chose I would have ranked 15th out of 75 people. The fastest person was at 00:23:36 for the distance... Now, that means something!!!

First, do the Richmond TT 10.4 and check actual performance
Second, practice more and warm up before another run
Third, read the TT instructions before attempting another TT

Overall I felt more relaxed doing the 15Km and I knew that I was going to be comfortable in my SKINS shorts and shirt. Again, they performed excellently and I did sweat but felt comfortably dry and well comfy even on an unusually formed seat...

To be repeated and improved upon!!!!!

Dear All - We did it!!!

We, Jorrin, Dirk, Ollie and Damian with Ian in support, cycled 1,148 miles started on Sunday 23rd May 2010, finishing in John O’Groats on Tuesday 1st of June at 4:30pm.

We travelled through... Cornwall (absolutely stunning but gruelling hills) to Tintagel, then to Street in Somerset, then (joined by Deuan for two days) to Llanthony in the Welsh Black Mountains, to Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, to Arnside in Cumbria, to Newton Stewart in the Dumfries & Galloway, over the Galloway Hills to Ardrossan, across to Aran to Lochranza, through the West Highlands, Lochgilphead, Connel, Fort William to Invergarry, the breakfast at the Caledonian Hotel in Fort Augustus with Chris, Johanna Stevenson and family (unbeatable!) up and down the south side of Loch Ness, through Inverness, over the Dark Isle to Carbisdale Castle, then north east over the mountains through Strathnaver to Betyhill for lunch before the final 55 miles to John O’Groats. We did it for Project Peru.

“Project Peru runs a children's refuge in the shanty towns near Lima, caring for over 30 children; entirely funded through voluntary effort, Project Peru is a small, lively, totally voluntary UK-based charity offering food, clothes, education, shelter and fun to those in need in a country where nearly half the population exists on less than one dollar a day! see http://www.projectperu.org.uk

For all of you who have already supported us – a huge big THANK YOU – there has been an enormous amount of preparation gone into the planning and funding of this ride. Thank you to Ian Homer for doing all the driving – So, now we have all done our bit and completed the challenge, please support (if you haven’t already) our chosen charity. We are still some way off our target of £15K – having collectively raised around £4K...

Many of you who I have spoken to have pledged to donate so if you still intend to here’s how you can do it.

Visit: http://www.justgiving.com/1000MilesChallengeLEJOG

Or you can send a cheque to Carole Hudson at Project Peru. Cheques made payable to "Project Peru" and send them to Carole Hudson, Project Peru, 1 St. Catherine's Hill, Guildford, Surrey GU2 4EF

Watch this place for the video DOCUMENTARY

Carbisdale Castle (Invershin) to John O'Groats - The Final Ride

WOW – the final day of our 1000 Miles Challenge!!! I can’t believe we’re here. Breakfast was rushed this morning, as we needed to get going hoping to avoid the oncoming rain. I wasn’t a very happy camper this morning (nor were the other people in our room) because Damian decided to get EVERYONE up in our 12-bed dormitory at 6.30am!!!! This was another short night with only 5h of sleep. As I tried avoiding getting up, desperately putting my pillow over my ears, all I could feel was a swoosh – and my blanket was gone. With Damian shouting “get up, get up, its time, we’ve got to go” the words we heard ever so often, the next blanket was on the floor without much resistance from Jorrin… What choice did we have but to get up! I slowly crawled out of bed into the bathroom, then kitchen, ate yesterday’s vegetable stew followed by porridge and toast (great combination…) and got myself ready. The final 110miles today!!

...the road to JOG

The weather forecast predicted heavy rain and Damian's parents coming up from Gleneagles confirmed that. Nobody fancied getting wet so we all tried to get everything together as fast as possible. We left at 8.15 and took the footbridge to the other side of the river and onto the A836 going North. The A836 then turned into a single lane road with passing places - the most quiet A road we've been on so far. At Altnaharra we went onto B873 along Loch Naver, with just a short 'faff stop' after to eat, drink, waste some time talking about things. The weather had been kind to us with no rain, slightly cold and some tail wind. Damian gave me a pocket history lesson of the Scottish Highlands starting around 16th century. We had a really good ride so far and did 38miles in 1.40h going up and down the hills. Time seemed to fly as we were chatting and pedaling.

...faffstop near Altnaharra

Then, finally, we saw the Atlantic Ocean near Bettyhill where we stopped for lunch. Everyone had a strong sense of achievement being closer to our final destination. Damian had a puncture; Ian stopped and checked the tyre. The tyre got changed and Damian drafted the car to get back to the group. The landscape became less barren and the hills were lined with yellow flowering gorse and the smell of pina colada was in the air. As we changed direction from going North to go East, we encountered good headwind and we chainganged to Thurso where we waited for Damian. We had apple pie and tea sitting in the pedestrian zone watching the main road. All of a sudden we saw a flesh of lightning racing through traffic - Damian. He didn't look like stopping to pick up his train tickets (an excuse to make us wait for him whilst he sneaks to John O'Groats???). We also missed Ian who tried to find a parking space. There was no time to waste. We had to catch up with Damian now.

...apple pie & tea @ Thurso, waiting for Damian

Leaving Thurso, Oli got onto what can only be explained as an 'apple pie' rush and I had real difficulty staying behind him. At some point Jorrin turned left to go to Dunnet Head, the UK mainland's most Northern point looking at the Island of Hoy. Oli and I continued to John O'Groats by ourselves going at incredible speed to the finishing line. We overtook a couple of LEJOG'ers en route, speeding past these guys with their panniers, backpacks etc - stuff we transported in the car - lucky us....Close to JOG we were then overtaken by Ian in the car.

We got to our final destination at about 5.30, record time also for us doing 110miles in 8hours with 3 breaks faffing around for only 1.5h. At John O'Groats we had pictures taken, did another few shots for the documentary and then waited ... Damian was the next to arrive and we took more pictures, video and were invited to the local cafe/bar for celebratory drinks by Damian. His parents also joined us in the cafe/ bar and we reported on some of the highlights of the journey and, waiting for Jorrin coined a new phrase: "We are now at the place named after a dutchman, waiting for a dutchman." Damians parents had booked a table at the Seaview Hotel and we decided to find the youth hostel to shower and get changed for the evening - no Jorrin in sight at that time (6pm).

...in front of the cafe/bar at JOG where we had celebratory drinks

Entry in LEJOG Book:
Olli, Damian, Dirk (Not Jorrin) arrived at faffheim today and wont be coming back ever again

The youth hostel, West of JOG (2 1/2miles) was the least accommodating SYHA and the facilities were ok, but actually a bit sub-standards having just come from Carbsdale Castle, Lochranza, Arnside etc...we had a 6-bed room, there was ONE shower in the men's bathroom, and the place locked up at 11pm sharp - no entry/ exit thereafter...we all felt a bit like being on a school trip.
I quickly showered and dressed to take the car back to JOG to pick up Ian and hopefully also Jorrin who should have arrived by now. I got there, parked the car and walked to the new arrival being inteviewed by Ian. I rushed them to the car as we only had another 35min to get ready for dinner. Damian had called the cab company in the meantime to investigate prices - £44 for 5miles was a bit steep and we decided to get back onto our bikes for a last ride!!!! Ian sprinted off like a young deer, dressed in his complete cycle outfit. Everyone else wore comfortable clothing ;)

We were met at the Seaview Hotel by Damians parents who treated us to a superb dinner with all ‘bells and whistles’! That felt good. We stayed until it was time for us to go back to the hostel, got a few more celebratory drinks to go and made our way back. It must have been 10.30 and it was still pretty bright outside. Its really amazing that it stayed like that for almost another hour (nice in summer but in winter the tables turn with long hours of darkness). At the SYHA we met some of the other guests of the hostel: fellow cyclists, walkers, holiday makers. We had a few more drinks before the warden turned the light off. We sneaked into Damian's bedroom to continue our well-deserved celebration for a little while longer before going to bed too. We will have to get up early next day to go from JOG to London - a very looong drive.

Things cycling:

Oli: "We are now at the place named after a dutchman, waiting for a dutchman."

Unknown: "It does take a while before the peanut butter enters the blood stream."

Invergarry to Carbisdale Castle SYHA (close to Invershin)

We stayed in an independent youth hostel, south of Loch Ness, near Invergarry. The rooms, facilities were ok and we even had access to free Wifi, something we struggled to get anywhere else. After a quick breakfast the riders got into their gear and decided to make a quick detour to see one of Damians school mates. Today was my rider/ cameraman support day driving the car – staying well clear of any bicycle. After only a 5mile mile ride we got to the CALEDONIAN HOTEL at Fort Augustus. Arriving at the Caledonian Hotel also known as "The Caley,” run by the MacLellan family, we were greeted by Chris and shown into the dining area where we got a superb cooked breakfast. It was also ‘fafftime’ carried out by the specialists - The Faffbrigade (Jorrin, Ian, Damian, Dirk) with some having their 2^nd and Oli his 3^rd breakfast. We had the chance to hear Damian on his back pipes, the MacLellan children accompanying him on flute and drum, after fixing Damian’s finger for him to play his instrument. This was very entertaining for the guests and us. We then said our good buys, went outside, talked about motorbikes, looked at our bicycles, some weighing and discussing technological advances in bike manufacturing, exchanging vital information about Scottish families Damian knows and so on, and so on – anything to prevent actual cycling….hours seemed to go by...

its fafftime...

We then left for FORT AUGUSTUS ABBEY, at some point a Benedictine School which Damian attended. There, Damian told us all about his school time there and all the naughty things he and his mates were up to. At some point they sneaked out of the school and the school called a huge rescue operation involving the coast guard, police, mountain rescue as they did not know what happened to the boys – only to find them the next day at mate’s house sitting comfortably outside eating their cooked. This netted them a good naming and shaming ceremony in front of the whole school and as a punishment they had to extend the schools' pier into Loch Ness (picture below). With the faffbrigade at work yet again, it seemed to take forever before they finally went onto the road to do some cycling.

The route then went alongside Loch Ness on the South side. We encountered a few steep hills and some very nice downhills, spectacular views and the most impatient caravan/ car drivers so far. They must have been locals who don’t really care about their surroundings and just want to get from A to B as fast as possible on the very narrow lanes which are equally shared with walkers, cyclists, and… horse drawn carriages… Ian took some good photographs and shot video whilst he instructed me to drive here and there to follow the riders. He then missed ‘the money shot’ going downhill in front of the drivers but actually only filming the grass, back of the car, rather than the riders speeding down…. Opposite Castle Urquhart (on the North side) we had lunch, shared stories of people drowning in Loch Ness (at a constant 2C very cold), discussed the use of heavy water for submarines with everyone sharing their half knowledge on chemistry before being enlightened by Ian that heavy water is known as deuterium oxide, D2O or ²H2O, or as deuterium protium oxide, HDO or ¹H²HO and used for submarines – thanks Ian, always wondered!

We then drove to Inverness, where the riders following the Garmin and Jorrin waited on the Bridge over the Moray Firth where the support car overtook him going onto the Black Isle. The cycle group met up little later. In Munlochy, Damian turned off into a side road to get money from the cashpoint, Oli and Jorrin waited, waited some more and then proceeded to Colbokie.We all went into the Highlands (via Evanten), avoiding the A9, where the riders had to cross an unguarded railroad opening the little gates to pass it. Then onto the B9176 towards Bonar Bridge (what would Beavis & Butthead have made out of this...). The lads were making an average speed of 16mph with the threat of rain behind them. All of a sudden, Damian started singing dirty songs and picking up the speed to 26mph facing strong headwinds and going uphill - nobody knew where the extra energy came from after having done 80 miles already, knowing its another 13miles to our luxurious SYHA. We passed the Struie peak (1218 feet), where Ian and myself met a group of fellow LEJOGers doing it for holiday (in 16 days). They were on a completely different challenge – the breakfast challenge! Each day one of the riders was in charge of breakfast and it had to be better than the day before – if that wasn’t the case the rider had to do it again the next day. Theirs front and rear panniers were not full of clothes but food stuff!!! Having chatted with them for about a hour and none of our group showing up we went down an amazing downhill to Westerfearn, with 10 miles to go to the Carbisdale Castle.

At the hostel, we marveled at the grandeur of the castle, took a few pictures, talked to some guests and started to make dinner: spicy vegetable stew, salad, celery & humus. The riders got there by 5 and got changed and came for dinner. We had the soup and drinks and then Damian went on to make Haggis. This was followed by the traditional Haggis toast by Damian, startling of the Slowenians and receiving a good round of applause from everyone...

We all slept in a 12-bed dormitory, I updated the blog and chatted to come other cyclists (on their bikes since 1948) discussing British bicycle manufacturers, Ian sorted cameras/ pictures and Jorrin, Damian and Oli went to the pub. Bedtime by 1.30 (unsure for the others)...

Tomorrow - last day of the 100 Miles Challenge - LEJOG 2010

Things cycling:

Faff (verb) - to waste time doing nothing. 2. to waste time doing stupid things 3. to delay, dilly-dally, especially before leaving the house to be on time somewhere.

Example 1: "I didn't do anything on Sunday; I just faffed around the house."

Example 2: "I can't decided between these 2 jackets to wear to the movies. Which one? Where is my black hat? Oh wait, let me get my phone. Do you know where I put it? Oh and did you feed the cat dinner? Maybe I can just check email really quick right now; we have time." ...faffing at its best

Oli - "Gentlemen, you are now in the faffzone! I've had 3 breakfasts, we played several instruments, took over 50 photographs, said our good buys and have done only 5 miles so far.

Damian - "Being lost is just another way to improve your geography"

Unknown: "..and I think this is Loch Faff"

Dirk to Oli: "Whats on radio Oli today? - Oli: "Interference..."

We've measured distances in Brightons (London to Brighton is about 60miles) and also in trips to work (Oli 34miles roundtrip, Damian 30miles, Dirk 3miles...)

Lochranza (Arran) to Invergarry (near Loch Ness)

got up nice and early after getting to bed very late. The lads went to the pub that evening having a swell time with the locals but I stayed back and write bog, before its all lost along the route. We had to be swift to get the first ferry at 9.30 (the next one would leave at 10:45 which was too late). The boys had a hard time getting out of bed but luckily my phone alarm went off and I had difficulties silencing it... We got everything and everybody ready just in time, all of us ready? of course not, Jorrin, the uncrowned "King of Fuff", was just starting to hang his laundry on the rails, clean the bike, pump up the tyres...

I had to leave to get the ferry and gave Jorrin his ferry ticket and then sped of to catch the boat just down the road. I got there with 15min to spare and admired the rather small boat (car ferry) to cross over to mainland Scotland again. We met a fellow cyclist who's been doing the touring the British Islands for the past 3 weeks. We had a good chat and boarded the ferry - even Jorrin arrived 5min before departure. Not quite dressed but physically present...

Its amazing that its only been yesterday that we did this ride but its already faded into the background. The ride that day was another 130mile ride and faced with such a challenge one really only thinks of the next few pedal strokes, maybe lunch, maybe the next biggest town when on an A road. If you're in the middle of nowhere going up and down the hills, time seems to stand still. Battling with exhaustion and pretty much all the way on recovery drink, one loses focus with the surroundings, hardly noticing the changing landscapes, beautiful mountains, not to speak of birds and things nature generally. But this is what happens if 1000 miles are crammed into 10 days. Riding from A to B becomes a mission, going from town to town are the mini missions - more important than the actual journey itself. It still is a journey but with a different focus. We've met people who are taking 3 weeks to this distance and its probably the right thing to do.... not for us. We battle on!!!

That day I really had a hard time getting started. It took me until lunch time (55 miles) before I started enjoying anything. Before that everything was dreadful, cycling on the straight roads was because I also had to lead and I just didn't have much energy. Going up the hill was terrifying because as soon as I was up, there was only a short downhill before the hill went up even steeper. The road just followed along 'a' lake but went ever higher up. I just dind't want to be on the bike anymore. The scenery was nice, but I didn't really care. We had a spectacular downhill too and at about 40mph jumped the odd cattle grid here and there (2m lenght) - on our racing/ touring bikes - bringing back the days of riding BMX/ mountain biking... that was fun.

At lunch we met another fellow cyclist who stayed and chatted for a while. He had a pretty old racing bike, really old school. We had sandwiches, thanks to Ian, and then began our final 50 odd miles to get to our youth hostel near Loch Ness. This guy, on his old bike, set a pretty good pace and we all had trouble following. After about some 15miles, taking turns at the front, my strength came back and I felt great cycling. I was fully rejuvenated and enjoyed the pretty torn road. I am wondering whether I may have been overdressed with long cycling trousers, cycling jacket & long gloves. I dressed into short gear as I was just too hot! For some reason this felt much better. At some point, some 20miles down the road, Oli and myself split from Damian and also Jorrin fell behind. We set ourselves a good pace and drafted each other along. The road led past Ben Nevis (Fort Williams) and further into the Highlands. The road was always pretty bad and we got a free, yet involuntary massage. At some point Jorrin also caught up with us and the 3 of us plotted along. At some point we found a little cycle path going to Invergarry and we didn't stop anywhere, for anything. We were flying.

We reached the Invergarry Lodge by about 7.30 having done 134 miles that day. We were pretty tired, had a shower, dinner, and I wrote more blog until 1.45am. Tomorrow was another day off for me. My toes are not recovering and 2 are numb completely, knees and tendons are sore - and to make it really clear, I'm whimping out tomorrow joining Ian and do the driving whilst he focuses on the filming.

2 more days to go!!!!

Lochmaben to Arran (Lochranza)

....we've covered some distance already...

WOW!!! we got up this morning at 6:13am, packed up our stuff, had breakfast, asked Ian to pack our things together, gave him detailed instructions on how to pack my tent, put on our cycling gear and off we went at 7.3o - a new record for us (Oli, Jorrin, myself).

We put on our wet gear as we expected showers throughout the day. I personally do mind cycling in the rain, to be precise - I dislike cycling in the rain, especially cold rain... Therefore I began chanting the age old German sun prayers ("Sonne, liebe Sonne, komm schein auf uns herab....") to make the sun appear, rather than focusing on rain not to come (Law of Attraction ;)

We had an amazing cycle ride along the river Ae, through the hills, through the peaceful forest. Oli was not having a 5 minute delay this morning and set off before Jorring and myself taking the A road to Cumnock. Whilst we took the spectacular shortcut through the mountains he was by himself on the busy and really badly maintained A road....As we pedaled along I remembered... The Toilet Key! it was still in my cycle jacket pocket. We stopped and I called Doug - or at least I thought I did. I woke up some guy at 7.30 in the morning telling him about the key and posting it back to him and so on. The guy on the phone had absolutely no idea what I was talking about and after me explaining the whole thing a few times he said that "I called the wrong number" and I did. I then called Dugal and explained the story again, promising to post his toilet key back to him.

A little later we caught up with him after our 3mile downhill and joined the A road to Cumnock, silently sneaking up behind him, putting my foot on his wheel and getting a terrified look from Oli who thought his rear wheel just died....

Together we cycled at top end speed to Cumnock, where we wanted to have lunch. By now we had several light showers and our clothes were either wet from the outside or from sweating on the inside. We decided to skip lunch as we heard the Ian wasn't going to join us. He packed the car in the morning, stried to start it but was greeted by a flat battery. Today was also the day the MOT of Oli's Saab ran out. Ian drove to Dumfries to get the MOT done. Upon arriving at the garage they told him he had to unpack the whole car for it to be checked for MOT. They found that the rear shock absorbers were gone and some other small stuff. Total bill of £395... hmmm, great!!! Ian footed the bill, being very lucky the garage could organise the parts quickly for the car and got it all fixed and MOT'ed in good time.

We cycled to Kilmanack where we stopped at Little Chef to dry our clothes. We stripped in the bathroom and used the hand dryers to blow-dry our shirts, jackets, whatever else needed drying.... We had some substantial lunch, deserts, coffee before setting off again to Ardrossan going to the Island of Arren. We got there pretty quickly, almost flying with a good tailwind supporting us. We got to Ardrossan Ferry just in time to get on board (£30, 3 people return).

On board we met fellow LEJO'er Damian Bell who was sitting down enjoying lunch. We exchanged routes and travel stories. Arriving in Arran we set off to get to the North of the island to our SYHA, Lochranza. The island of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, is frequently called "Scotland in miniature" - and rightly so! There is everything from beautiful beaches, hills, mountains etc - deal for walking, mountaineering, kayaking, and of course cycling. The climate however, is different from main land Scotland. More Mediterranean somehow, some palm trees, more flowers, warmer. We immediately felt the difference. Damian educated me about the island and its strong branding "Arran" and its golf courses, produce, etc. We cycled another 14 miles on top of our 60miles on the mainland (totaling 'only' 74miles today...). The island can be circumnavigated on the main road and its roughly 55 miles. However, going North to Lochranza is via a very steep mountain and we really struggled on this one. The downhill on the other side however was worth the climb - as usual...

photo courtesy of: http://www.hughspicer.fsnet.co.uk/arranpag.htm

The SYHA was a newly refurbished and kitted out house with modern rooms, superb bathrooms, kitchen/ dining facilities and very good clothes drying room/ washing machines - and a very small and dingy bike shed...The hostel was closed for about 18 months and has been completely refurbished at a cost of £500,000. We had to wait for Ian to arrive in the car with all our change of clothes and food.

Oli and I rested in the room whereas Damian and Jorrin went to check out local neighborhood (pub really). Ian arrive an hour later with his story of the day getting the car up and running, fixed, getting to the ferry, and just about managing the last one onto the island -phew. VERY WELL done Ian - this was quite a job for him today to get it all sorted!!!

We had some nice dinner: Salad Deluxe (leafs, pear, cheese, croutons) together with Couscous, pasta, sauce, drinks... Lovely jovely. carbs, protein, the whole shebang!!!!

Off to bed, now, 1.27am... tomorrow, back to Scotland going further North, slowly into the Highlands... over and... yawn... out...

Things cycling:

OLi: "my arse hurts, I just can't sit down anymore"

Jorrin: "are you pulling a 'Deuan' on me?" referring to me sucking his wheel whilst riding close behind him

Oli: "I was in the zone again. What did you say? I was just tuned into radio Oli, my all time favourites like The Beatles, Rolling Stones...BUT there are also other songs like 'the road to Kilmarnock, the road to hell' or 'You take the s**t road, I take the Garmin...' - Oli's mumbling as Jorrin and I passed him on his bike after him riding off in the morning...

Jorrin: "Its getting cold here! Can't we just turn back to Lands End and call it the LELE ride (Lands End - Lockerbie -Lands End)?

Ian: "I feel like I'm going to be sick" - after 120 miles, in the middle of nowhere, without any water or food left

Oli: "The only thing actually NOT hurting is.... my right nostril"

Dirk: "I'll have the backed potato with tuna, a coffee and a small blanket please" - to the staff at Little Chef (Service Station, Kilmarnock) - to which the waitress look slightly puzzled, in her head going over the menu, then saying: "We don't have blankets"