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!!!!