Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Monday, 27 June 2011
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Day 9 - Coast to Coast
Today we crossed from the west coast to the east: from Kyleakin on Skye passing the Dornoch Firth on the way to Lairg. It was another long day - 109 miles, while we were all very tired.
An excellent ride today - lots of fantastic scenery, including lochs, mountains, sheep and even oil platforms. The day started off very wet, but eventually the rain stopped allowing us to dry out and warm up. We had one particularly exciting decent from 250m above sea level down to a loch which included a rather 'exciting' section over a narrow bridge which necessitated emergency braking to avoid a collision with a rather mean looking wall.
Thankfully, we all escaped unscathed and without losing any skin - which may have been rather lucky considering the circumstances.
All tired - falling asleep on the bikes. Mike arranged a lunch for us, and moved things around in the truck so that the 4 of us could eat inside - heavy downfall and dive-bombing midges outside). Fantastic views and scenery in Sutherland - many highland cattle, sheep and lambs.
An excellent ride today - lots of fantastic scenery, including lochs, mountains, sheep and even oil platforms. The day started off very wet, but eventually the rain stopped allowing us to dry out and warm up. We had one particularly exciting decent from 250m above sea level down to a loch which included a rather 'exciting' section over a narrow bridge which necessitated emergency braking to avoid a collision with a rather mean looking wall.
Thankfully, we all escaped unscathed and without losing any skin - which may have been rather lucky considering the circumstances.
All tired - falling asleep on the bikes. Mike arranged a lunch for us, and moved things around in the truck so that the 4 of us could eat inside - heavy downfall and dive-bombing midges outside). Fantastic views and scenery in Sutherland - many highland cattle, sheep and lambs.
Breakfast on Skye
We're just eating breakfast on day 9 in the small harbour town of Kyleakin on Skye.
We've had two great days island hopping up the west coast.
Arran was great. We had 1h20 to get to Lochranza and the next ferry. Thankfully the descent to Lochranza was very fast, and we got to the ferry 5 minutes before it departed.
We had even less time in Mull. In less than 1 hour we rode the few miles from Craignure to Fishnish and changed both wheels, tubes, and tyres on Tom's bike when one of his spokes broke.
Back on the mainland we landed at Lochaline. Where in the local shop there the lady refused to charge Mike at all when she heard about the bike ride, and the Save the Children ride. Thanks.
Arriving in Kyleakin the hostel owner rode out on his bike to meet us (at 9pm). It turns out in his youth, many years ago, he was a semi-pro rider. Amongst his claims to fame were having ridden 248 miles in 12 hours!
Today we cross the mainland heading towards Lairg.
We've had two great days island hopping up the west coast.
Arran was great. We had 1h20 to get to Lochranza and the next ferry. Thankfully the descent to Lochranza was very fast, and we got to the ferry 5 minutes before it departed.
We had even less time in Mull. In less than 1 hour we rode the few miles from Craignure to Fishnish and changed both wheels, tubes, and tyres on Tom's bike when one of his spokes broke.
Back on the mainland we landed at Lochaline. Where in the local shop there the lady refused to charge Mike at all when she heard about the bike ride, and the Save the Children ride. Thanks.
Arriving in Kyleakin the hostel owner rode out on his bike to meet us (at 9pm). It turns out in his youth, many years ago, he was a semi-pro rider. Amongst his claims to fame were having ridden 248 miles in 12 hours!
Today we cross the mainland heading towards Lairg.
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Pictures
We've not given you pictures for a while, so here we are.
While we crossed the Old Severn Bridge we had some superb views. The bridge is very strange, in that it constantly vibrates with the traffic noise.
![]()
Through the Lake District we crossed over the Kirkstone Pass.
![]()
And today we arrived in Scotland.
![]()
While we crossed the Old Severn Bridge we had some superb views. The bridge is very strange, in that it constantly vibrates with the traffic noise.
And today we arrived in Scotland.
1st breakdown and 1st puncture
We had a minor breakdown this morning. Paul's left pedal crank fell off while riding. Thankfully we found all the bits on the road, stuck them back together, and we were off again.
We also had the first puncture of the trip. Not bad for 4 bikes riding 600 miles. Tom got a puncture coming out of Dumfries, which was the only town where we had any rain showers.
Actually we had a couple of hail-stone thundershowers and a couple of rain showers in Dumfries. The rest of the day was a mixture of sunny intervals in the early part of the day, followed by unbroken sunshine for the rest of the day.
We had a gentle cross through Dumfriesshire followed by a beautiful crossing of the Galloway Forest Moor. The decent towards Ayr was superb, with fantastic views across to Arran and even Kintyre beyond.
This morning we had to say a sad farewell to Claire and Bee. Mike took them to Carlisle station where they arrived with 5 minutes to spare before the train. Quick note to the girls: the car does have a CD/DVD player, which Mike found today. We had his Iron Maiden blasting away during our afternoon stop.
We also had the first puncture of the trip. Not bad for 4 bikes riding 600 miles. Tom got a puncture coming out of Dumfries, which was the only town where we had any rain showers.
Actually we had a couple of hail-stone thundershowers and a couple of rain showers in Dumfries. The rest of the day was a mixture of sunny intervals in the early part of the day, followed by unbroken sunshine for the rest of the day.
We had a gentle cross through Dumfriesshire followed by a beautiful crossing of the Galloway Forest Moor. The decent towards Ayr was superb, with fantastic views across to Arran and even Kintyre beyond.
This morning we had to say a sad farewell to Claire and Bee. Mike took them to Carlisle station where they arrived with 5 minutes to spare before the train. Quick note to the girls: the car does have a CD/DVD player, which Mike found today. We had his Iron Maiden blasting away during our afternoon stop.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)