mini adventure # 2

A couple of days in Edinburgh for the start of the tennis programme at Craiglockhart and then off for another wee adventure...

So with this new bike I got the train to pitlochry - really nice bike ride via tummel bridge to Glen Foss, and a quick climb up Schiehallion - an easy climb with clear path most of the way, then rocky for the last 20 mins. Beautiful weather in the valley but its a very exposed area and the wind was wild at the top! Ran back to the bike and continued on past Kinloch Rannoch to Rannoch station. Got there a bit too quick - 6.30, no train till 9.07pm! But I'd seen a hotel marked on the map & thought it'd be perfect for a drink, food & clean up/change. No such luck - only open to residents, and no bar - what's all that about?! Managed to sneak in and change into clean warm clothes but then had to hide in the old station waiting room & cook dinner on my stove!! Funny, and yet not that funny ;) Eventually got the train to Roybridge where there was a campsite really close by...




I biked to Fort William on Fri morning - spent a while in town getting info/maps, some food, a couple of things for the bike, generally faffing around trying to decide what to do...it was raining & visibility was really poor even in FW so climbing any mountains seemed a bit pointless. I decided to bike up Glen Nevis & possibly do something low level - however, as soon as I got going the sun came out! It was beautiful up there, and I ended up going on a bit of a mission - biked as far as possible up the glen (to the upper waterfall carpark), hid my bike & started climbing ;) It was a magical route through a gorge-like area to an open valley, followed by a fantastic circuit in the Mamore mountain range - 7 peaks and 4 munroes later I bush-bashed my way back almost directly to the main track (totally unintentional but a nice surprise after a slightly dodgy piece of navigating!). Had a quick clean-up on the river crossing, ran back along to my bike and free-wheeled most of the 6 miles back to Glen Nevis campsite before it got dark!




A quick cycle to Glencoe to meet Mark & Ben where we started up the Aonach Eagach ridge - the weather turned out much better than expected and at times we had pretty clear views along the ridge. Its a great scramble in parts, with a steep descent through rock/scree & heather at the end! Mark's a bit of a mountain goat - he just leaps about on the rocks as if there was a crash-mat 2 feet beneath him, instead of 1000 feet of air either side :) Really enjoyed the walk, and my bike & I got a lift back to Edinburgh as well, bonus!




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some relaxing time off :)

That would be boring!! The days I had pencilled in for holiday didn't coincide with any of my friends this year, so I just decided to go on my own wee adventure - to be honest I thought I'd be bored of my own company within a couple of days at most, but I had good music and great banter... On Tuesday morning I got the train up to Ardgay (north of Inverness), and set off with my bicycle & panniers heading right up to the North coast - I had 6 days of touring round NW Scotland and absoloutely loved it. Pretty lucky with the weather (only a few showers, and some nice sunny spells in patches!) and the scenery was stunning - beautiful coastline and beaches, and awesome mountains just asking to be climbed!

Day 1 - Ardgay to Tongue (Talmine campsite) - approx 55 miles

The first 10 miles were a bit of a grind until I got going - first time I've cycled with panniers, looked like it was going to pour, and I didn't see a single person for about 2 hours!! Had a short stop at the Crask Inn which came out of nowhere (great wee place) and after that felt pretty good for the rest of the day! The midges were out in force though, I hid in my tent as soon as I'd put it up.


Day 2 - Tongue to Durness, + detour to climb Ben Hope (927m) - approx 44 miles

Weather was really nice (except right at the top of Ben Hope!), it was an easy climb up the mountain and nice to use different muscles for a couple of hours! I decided to go a cross-country route after the climb - river crossing followed by tough 4WD track which involved a lot of pushing, but beautiful scenery and a great downhill reward at the end!

A headwind made the last 10 miles tough-going but the views as you approach Durness are AMAZING, and the clifftop campsite was fantastic!!


Day 3 - Coastal run to Faraid Head (great views along coast) then Durness to Clachtoll campsite (near Lochinver) - approx 54 miles

A big day! The section between Kylesku & Drumbeg was BRUTAL - I had conveniently ignored the sign that said "Road unsuitable for caravans" thinking it might just mean narrow. Having said that, the views were amazing and what goes up must come down, so I got my fair share of freewheeling as well. The campsite at Clachtoll was in a beautiful location, and I had a great walk along the coast and onto the beach early evening.


Day 4 - Clachtoll to Ullapool via Lochinver - approx 42 miles
Climb Conival (987m) and Ben More Assynt (998m) just east of Inchnadamph

Another big day, and possibly the best one! After a quick stop in Lochinver for a weather update I cycled to Inchnadamph, up the 4WD track for about a mile and then hid my bike in some ferns before setting off up Conival - from the summit its a fairly easy 3km ridge walk (but tricky on rocky terrain) before climbing to the top of Ben More. Unfortunately (again) the views from the top were blocked by thick clouds but they had cleared later so I got some great views later as I ran down.

Once back at the bike I just decided to push on to the next campsite - it was a fantastic evening and for whatever reason my legs felt great despite the massive hill past Elphin - but I definitely had a smile when I saw the campsite sign 3 miles earlier than expected in Ardmair! I got myself a well-deserved lager from the camp shop and watched the sunset over the water - perfect :)


Day 5 - Ullapool to Beauly via Corrieshalloch Gorge - approx 51 miles

Today was a real hard push - my legs were pretty sore when I woke up, and starting off with a big hill against the wind did them no favours at all. I stopped for a short walk at the Corrieshalloch Gorge which is pretty impressive, and once I'd had the short break from cycling I felt better. It was the first day I'd had a headwind almost the entire day, and I found it tough-going!


Day 6 - Beauly to Inverness via Cannich & Drumnadrochit (and visit Urquhart Castle) - approx 50 miles


I did a nice circuit on the quiet country roads around by Cannich to Drumnadrochit (west side of Loch Ness) and then had a short run to Urquhart Castle. To finish off a fantastic trip I thoroughly enjoyed having a tailwind all the way back to Inverness - felt like I was flying!!

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Bournemouth Open 08

The great weather continued 10 minutes down the road at the Bournemouth Open straight after county week. It was a successful week, with all the kids reaching some sort of final... except Euan, who unfortunately went over his ankle during his 1st round match, damaged his ligaments, and had to pull out. We all stayed in the house, and it was a much more enjoyable week than it has been the last couple of years - the weather was good, the number of kids was far more manageable, plus they are older and 'slightly' more mature!





The girls practiced their hairstyling skills on the boys, and made some attempts to wash up after dinner (with a bit of prompting from Ross & I!) Our flight was delayed by an hour and a half on the way back - it was already a late departure from Bournmeouth to Prestwick, so we ended up getting back to the flat at 3:15am....lovely. Murdy was happy to discover guinness on tap at the airport bar though :)

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