Monday 22nd September
Today Mileage miles 47 ∑Total to date 814 miles J
What a beautiful start to our day, Ben Nevis rising out of the mist!
A day of being social today, of speaking to human beings rather than fellow cyclists! So, the talk was not of routes, GPSs, blogs, chains, inner tubes, ham and cheese sandwiches, but of far more interesting things about other people. Why the change in emphasis I here you ask? We cycled from the spectacular Ballachulish bridge into Fort William, where we were met, with Scottish flags flying by Mr and Mrs Maclean, friends of John’s.
They wished us well and we had a few happy snaps taken. We then met contacts of John’s from Giles Insurance in Fort William who came down to the high street to have a chat and speed us on our way. We then made our way to the rather splendid Lochaber College, situated on the waterfront where a hearty reception awaited us from staff at Birchwood Highland and ladies from Highland Breast Care who had come through from Inverness, we had a lovely meal in the college restaurant (another freebie!) with Joan managing to resist her favourite sticky toffee pudding!
We acquired another happy traveller in Fort William, Tom Knowles, who works at Birchwood in Fort William. He seems like a nice chap, but it won’t be long before we will turn him into a boring cycle freak, obsessed with how many revolutions of the wheel it takes to complete the journey and what we will be eating at our next food stop!! Say goodbye to normality Tom.....!!
Did a bit of off road cycling today – on part of the Gt Glen Cycle Track – mixed opinions about this – Joan found it very bumpy and jarring (it’s her old bones, you know!), just when she thought it was going to be a nice, easy day, she had to admit that she was wrong!!! Corinne switched to the spare mountain bike with super duper new tyres and really enjoyed the change in terrain away from the traffic.
Arrived in Fort Augustus where we were met in the car park by Ann from Drumnadrochit, she’s away to visit her son and family tomorrow in Oman, so we wish her all the best.
She made what we thought was a joke – she said “I’ve just seen a sign for Slow Cyclists, is that you?” However, just before we arrived at Margaret’s B & B, Thistle Dubh in Ft Augustus, we noticed a sign on the lamppost saying “Slow Cyclists” and it had our picture on it! Nice one Margaret and you’re right about the speed! Margaret had a nice cup of tea and good Scottish Tunnocks Teacakes (Karen McWhinney take note if you’re reading this!) and Deans Shortbread for munchies when we arrived. Thank you very much Margaret for the contribution of your generous hospitality.
People have been very kind with their donations – the piper just coming back from being on the hill in Skye gave us some money from his days earnings and people we have never met have handed in money to various locations we have stopped in.
Today Mileage miles 47 ∑Total to date 814 miles J
What a beautiful start to our day, Ben Nevis rising out of the mist!
A day of being social today, of speaking to human beings rather than fellow cyclists! So, the talk was not of routes, GPSs, blogs, chains, inner tubes, ham and cheese sandwiches, but of far more interesting things about other people. Why the change in emphasis I here you ask? We cycled from the spectacular Ballachulish bridge into Fort William, where we were met, with Scottish flags flying by Mr and Mrs Maclean, friends of John’s.
They wished us well and we had a few happy snaps taken. We then met contacts of John’s from Giles Insurance in Fort William who came down to the high street to have a chat and speed us on our way. We then made our way to the rather splendid Lochaber College, situated on the waterfront where a hearty reception awaited us from staff at Birchwood Highland and ladies from Highland Breast Care who had come through from Inverness, we had a lovely meal in the college restaurant (another freebie!) with Joan managing to resist her favourite sticky toffee pudding!
We acquired another happy traveller in Fort William, Tom Knowles, who works at Birchwood in Fort William. He seems like a nice chap, but it won’t be long before we will turn him into a boring cycle freak, obsessed with how many revolutions of the wheel it takes to complete the journey and what we will be eating at our next food stop!! Say goodbye to normality Tom.....!!
Did a bit of off road cycling today – on part of the Gt Glen Cycle Track – mixed opinions about this – Joan found it very bumpy and jarring (it’s her old bones, you know!), just when she thought it was going to be a nice, easy day, she had to admit that she was wrong!!! Corinne switched to the spare mountain bike with super duper new tyres and really enjoyed the change in terrain away from the traffic.
Arrived in Fort Augustus where we were met in the car park by Ann from Drumnadrochit, she’s away to visit her son and family tomorrow in Oman, so we wish her all the best.
She made what we thought was a joke – she said “I’ve just seen a sign for Slow Cyclists, is that you?” However, just before we arrived at Margaret’s B & B, Thistle Dubh in Ft Augustus, we noticed a sign on the lamppost saying “Slow Cyclists” and it had our picture on it! Nice one Margaret and you’re right about the speed! Margaret had a nice cup of tea and good Scottish Tunnocks Teacakes (Karen McWhinney take note if you’re reading this!) and Deans Shortbread for munchies when we arrived. Thank you very much Margaret for the contribution of your generous hospitality.
People have been very kind with their donations – the piper just coming back from being on the hill in Skye gave us some money from his days earnings and people we have never met have handed in money to various locations we have stopped in.
3 comments:
oh my god, not long to go now. 814 miles, what troopers!!!
mx
you've done great, looking forward to seeing you tonight!! xxx
There'll be no living with Karen McW now she's a 'blog star'!! Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow - we'll do our best not to embarass you too much!!
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