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...)