DEAR MARLO IV

Hello, Marlo,

I have finished my big bike ride and am going to be home in a week.  I cannot wait to see how much you have grown and get a big hug from you.

I thought you might like to see some of the animals I saw while I was riding.  We went a long way, through lots of towns, past mountains with farms and over rivers. I was riding with quite a few other people who were good fun to travel with and now I miss them too.

 These beautiful horses passed us on the road and because we weren't going as fast as cars we called out hello to the farmer who told us he had seen our lunch being got ready down the road and we'd better hurry along to it. So we waved goodbye and headed to lunch.

  .

I know this isn't a real swan and it is just one of lots of swan statues that were around the town.  I liked the colour of this one, the crown and the necklace and it looks like it has a seat too.

We saw a lot of cattle, but these cows seemed to be more interested in seeing us.

 There were also quite a few horses and ponies, this one looked as though it might be hiding from something. Maybe it was just keeping out of the wind.

Sheep were all sorts of colours,  some shaggy, some not. Quite often they were in the road as they had lots and lots of space to roam around.  They didn't seem to mind people on bikes, but some of the lambs ran up next to their mothers when they heard us.

My favourite is this shaggy haired cow, a highland cow.  They need to have all this hair to keep them warm I think as they live in a very cold part of the country. The people in Scotland say it differently, when they talk about them it sounds like "heeland cooos".  

LEJOG D21 LAST RIDING DAY

Three weeks ago we set out from the other end of the island, on my part with some trepidation. I had never ridden so many touring days with only a single day off. Have I brought the right gear, did I make a mistake only bringing riding sandals not shoes, I should have done a little more hill training, etc etc.  The usual concerns. Yes, I brought the right gear, only bought a heavier rain jacket and a pair of waterproof socks (neither of which I have at home). In hindsight I might have been better with shoes, but on the other hand I wore the waterproof socks on only one freezing cold rainy day and my feet were fine every other day. Frankly, who doesn't think they should have prepared more for hills, distance, putting yourself back on your saddle every day or something ..no point thinking about it, these things work themselves out on the road.

Anne is dancing with delight this morning

Today everyone is ready to go, excited at the prospect of actually arriving at our destination and having attained our goal.  So, give us the navigation and we are off, pretty well straight into the first hill. Sailing along I pause briefly to pick up the £40 I saw drop from another cyclist's pocket, going I can catch up at morning tea so he can buy lunch when the time comes. (I do)

Peter has set up the van where he has heard there might be puffins but they leave in the morning to return in the evening so it is not very likely we'll see any (we don't).  There are a couple of peat cutters going out which is interesting. 

More rolling hills and to our great delight, and contrary to the forecast,  the sun comes out and patches of blue spread around the sky. Lunch in a very good harbourside cafe in Thurso with a great view of the Castle then as the day continues fine and sunny away we go.  The riding today gas been up and down, not as strenuous as other says but up and over headlands to see the next cove.  A very enjoyable ride.

Lauren and I detour slightly  confident that we won't be holding the others up to go and have a look at Castle Mey, home of the late Queen Mother. The entrance to the driveway is a beautiful grove of trees. This is repeated further in and put to good use. 

Then the last few miles into our hotel for the night, where we wait in the bar for everyone to arrive.  We set out together and are going to finish together. Thanks, Skedaddle,  for the sparkling drop at the very end which we manage to down just ahead of some rain. We hear it's good weather down South.

Photo by Richard. tku

LEJOG D20

Penultimate day - wow. I can hardly believe it is so close to the end of the ride. True to the tradition of Scottish summer that I have experienced the day dawned cool and cloudy, but a little warmer than the last few days. In fact ,it is a good day for riding as the wind is very light. 

Everyone is cheered by the prospect of some flatter elevations and good scenery and points of interest along the way.  We take off past Loch Shin and head up to ride through timber country before emerging onto open moors.

We stopped for morning tea at an old inn, Crask Inn, which has a peat burning stove, a small cosy bar and a very old school feeling about it.  It is very isolated and gets snowed in frequently in winter.

Peter, our guide,  leads us out after this as he knows a quarry where carnivorous plants can be seen. One is in flower which he has not seen before. He warns Sue to take care as they would have her leg off if they catch it. She believes him,  right up until she sees how small the plants are.  I don't think she will believe him so readily in the future.

We have all had good briefings from Peter about the points of interest we will ride past each day, so we know to look out for reminders of The Clearances - a time when landowners forcibly removed Crofters from their homes, usually destroying the buildings, leaving them to fend for themselves  as part of an "improvement" plan which included grazing sheep. The descriptions of this are very moving. We follow the Stratham et Trail alongside the beautiful Loch Naver stopping to read plaques and explore sites, with lunch alongside a church made from corrugated iron.

On through more rolling hills to our destination, Bettyhill.  I can hardly credit what I am about to say, but on arrival at Bettyhill some of us,  myself included,  CHOSE to ride an extra mile downhill to get a cheese or fruit scone on the recommendation of a very pleasant woman we met at the lunch stop. Of course you realise that what I am saying is really that we chose to ride an extra uphill after the scone.  Our brains are perhaps not functioning correctly. It was a very good scone. 

LEJOG D19

Got a little behind so am trying to remember what it was like two days ago, and now I remember coming into lunch wet and deciding to change into my heavier raincoat. I dried out during the rest of the ride as the rain had pretty well passed by then.

It is Murray's birthday so we have cake by the trailer in the car park at tesco' s in Dingwall. Murray doesn't mind it being his birthday, just that everyone knows it is. Murray and Sue are known affectionately as 'the Kiwis' for the obvious reason they hail from Christchurch and are great fun.  Murray is a mountain biker whom I couldn't say has taken to road riding with a vengeance but they are both damned good at it, frequently leading the charge. Happy Birthday, Murray.

While the weather may be a bit dreary the countryside is not. It is another very scenic day through the highlands which continues to delight us all. Pictures don't really do it justice but I won't stop taking them.

On again with the promise of leaping Salmon at the foot of Shin Falls. It is still very early in the season but we are assured of a sighting if we remain still and patient. That is easier said than done.  No matter how much warning I had I am still surprised by the number of biting midges attacking at every available opportunity. I look like my legs have measles or hives at the moment. However, we are rewarded .. I definitely saw one attempt and am pretty certain I saw another.  That done .. time to move on.

Site of the great salmon hunt

LEJOG D18

One of the funniest things about yesterday was at lunchtime hearing from a friend asking if I would recommend the ride. Great day to ask. I refrained from screaming no, it is a terrible mistake, don't do it. .. I wouldn't have meant that for more than five minutes anyway.

IT is amazing what a good night's sleep and a better forecast can do for everyone. We were all ready on time to set out on another day's adventure.All the remaining days are less than 60m/100km and have no very steep hills. Today is expected to be a cruisy day.

My goal, along with some others is to take advantage of this and fit in a bit of sightseeing along the way.  Unfortunately Lauren had to get off her bike at morning tea so I am steaming along alone.

Quick lunch at the Dulsie bridge picnic site and off, leaving the midges behind.

 First stop Castle Cawdor, of Macbeth fame.  I decided to go into the castle and have to admit to being a little disappointed.  Cawdor looks wonderful from the  outside but is in a way quite ordinary inside. The current Lady Cawdor lives there for more than half the year, and we are advised that the rooms we see are all used by her. It is a collection of rooms which seemed to me to be cluttered with family memorabilia and paintings.  Just not my cup of tea I suppose. I didn't have enough time to see the extensive gardens as I have other plans.

I rode off the route a little to see the Clava Cairns that our senior leader, Peter, had recommended. When I got there he was there with 'The Kiwis", Sue and Murray, and I got a bit more information from him on the spot.

Passage cairn

The my final stop, using my National Trust membership to gain entry. The site of the battle at Culloden. Coffee first in their rather excellent cafe, then on to the museum exhibition which gave a very good two sided explanation of the lead up to this battle between the Jacobites and the British government troops. It is an excellent museum with memorabilia and multimedia displays before going out onto the site itself with a self guided audio tour.  It is moving and I highly recommend a visit. I particularly enjoyed walking on the moor site in sunshine as we haven't had as much of that as we would like.

Culloden moor

LEJOG D17

I said already I think that we got a lift in a bus this morning past the uphill climb of 13 miles didn't I?  It was just as well we did.

Before I go on I should say that I am having a great time e on this ride, when it's tough I am glad to get to the end of the day and catch up with everyone and try and have a quick look around wherever we are and I enjoy having ridden that day. When it's not tough I enjoy the ride, and getting I  at the end of the day and catching up with everyone. I have great travelling companions, have met some very good people and really delighted that I embarked on the trip.

Now, today was horrendous.  If you look at the profile you will see why .. climbing pretty well all day. The rain held off for most of the day, got wet towards the end with misty drizzly rain in low cloud, and the temperature was low - didn't go above 10C and at the top of one hill it was 2C.  The WORST thing was the wind, straight off the Arctic and into our faces strongly blowing all damned day. Very disheartening.

When I got to the first tea stop I advised Peter that he might as well cancel my dinner reservation as I had just  worked out that I wouldn't arrive before 8.30 at this speed. The wind was bound to improve as we went down lower over the hill, like I believe that. Shortly travelling  uphill at 2.2 miles per hour I got off and walked for a while at 2.8 mph.  It was right that the wind abated a little lower down, but not enough to really benefit from  the downhill run. Still had to pedal.

The whole day was like that, with the weather closing in on the last,  worst hill. When I finally reached the top of it I was worn out, cold and damp. The downhill run into Tomintoul was not good, rainy, windy and I was relieved beyond belief to arrive at around 6.1 5pm and get into a hot bath to recover.

Then a single malt local whiskey helped further.  We had been asked by tonight's restaurant to pre-order a couple of days ahead and I had no idea what I'd ordered. . I just hoped it would be something I wanted. Looking at the list didn't help. I'd ordered "Fresh and wild" entree and "One eyed Jocks".  Turned out very well, goat cheese and caramelized onion tart followed by cod atop a bean and chorizo cassoulet.

I fell into bed and was almost willing to get up and do it all again  in the morning as the forecast held no wind, no rain and the profile of the hills was more friendly. As Anna pointed out we were at the highest village in the Highlands so it really had to be downhill from here.

Just after lunch I saw Lauren fall heavily onto the verge in front of me landing on her knee and shoulder so she had to stop and get into the van. I rode most  of the afternoon alone and missed her company on the road.

All that said I knew it would have been a beautiful ride in better weather. Perhaps we should have come in the middle of summer - oh, wait ... we did. Melbourne had a better forecast on this day. We rode through some spectacular countryside and I began to think that Heathcliff might come riding by at any minute, or the Hound of the Baskervilles. ...

LEJOG D16

Well, we were all I think relieved to get to the pickup point this afternoon, put our bikes in the shed and go into the pub to have a coffee,  beer, hot chocolate, whatever took our fancy .. and wait for the bus to take us to the hotel. The headwind over the last few miles did pretty well everyone in. With the prospect of  more tomorrow we were glad to stop today.

The morning had started out well with very little rain, if any. More wonderful landscapes.

The miles went by happily and we made the tea stop in Perth with time to plan a slight detour to have a look at the Scone Palace, where the Kings of Scotland had been crowned.  Tried to use our National Trust membership to get in to no avail, this is not part of the National Trust. I am not sure that we really had tice for a good look round anyway so on we went.

To Blairgowrie for lunch, checking out the recommended eating spot and rejecting it in favor of a local sandwich bar and a seat in the park. On leaving that town we came across a roadside stall selling g berries at the farm gate so stopped to buy a pun net of raspberries.   They were delicious and I managed to carry half of them inside my vest to share and finish off at the end of the ride. I was concerned that they might have got a bit knocked around, but I need not have worried. The uphill and the headwind meant that I did not go so fast as to put them at risk.

Saw another hare today, just one, bounding across a field and looked up at one point to see a flash of red disappearing at the edge of the road.  That was a red squirrel, said Lauren who got a much better view of it. Red squirrels are no longer common so was good to see one alive. Sadly I have seen many dead hedgehogs and one dead badger in the road.

The funniest thing  today was a  circle of stones that we rode through as the road has been built through the middle.  No druids in sight even if it is the summer solstice.

LEJOG D15

What? No more rest? That wasn't quite long enough my legs think. Today is a shorter day so all should be well.  Peebles is preparing for the big Festival day as we head out in light drizzle. Damn, little tired of being wet. Fortunately not very wet, and today it stopped early and held off for the very cruisy ride.

Beautiful countryside as usual - and Edinburgh, which we rode straight through along a number of cycle paths,  all of which reminded me of home. The were like the Ai inversely trail,  the Port Melbourne rail trail, the Main Yarra trail, etc. I loved it, and am glad Lauren and I are coming back for a couple of days after the ride as it would be dreadful to think that was all I saw of it.

We lunched at an excellent cafe under the Forth Railway Bridge before riding across the newer road bridge with a view of a third bridge under construction. We rode straight into the roadworks for this as we came off the bridge but worked round them and on we went, only stopping briefly at a bike shop. How can we ride past one of those, and why would we. I don't think anyone bought anything, but we had a good look.

Over a few rolling hills, up and down and onto our destination, Kinross. We all made very good time so enjoyed more rest and a walk through the park to visit the loch and see the castle on the island where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned for a time. Poor Mary, there are a few of those.

Good news, tomorrow's ride has been cut by 13km. The hotel we were to stay at burnt down so we are booked into another further along. However we would have ridden the 13km downhill to get there and had the same 13km UPHILL first thing in the morning.  Grrr.  So we are to be ferried each way instead. Oh joy, oh rapture. I love riding the bike but there are times when adjusting the route mean I will enjoy it more. Not a hill free day, but an easier start. Hip hip hooray.

LEJOG D14. .DAY OF REST

What a welcome relief it is to have a day off after so many days in a row on the  bike.  Never done so many strenuous days in a row before and might not again of course.  We are in Peebles, a Scottish border town and it is festival time .. Beltane Festival,  their annual celebration of the town. Everyone is involved and a great time obviously had by all.

On Thursday  night we heard a marching band,  which turned out to be accompanying the Beltane Queen home, ending up returning just below our hotel.

Friday morning dawned cool, or really cold, and after breakfast we delivered the washing to the service was laundry and wandered around town, ending the , owning with a walk alongside the River Tweed past the castle. Then followed Richard's directions to cross the now disused railway bridge and follow the old track line back to town. We would come across so, e thing very special, and would need our phones with us. This turned out to be a tunnel that you can walk through.  We started through it, but before long were completely disoriented in the very very dark with insufficient light from our phones. We couldn't see the end at all and could only hear dripping water.  So we abandoned that and started back along the river. We asked some locals about the tunnel and heard that we couldn't see the other end as there is a turn in the tunnel and the trick is to carry a stick and keep it on the wall alongside you so you know where you are in the tunnel.  We decided not to go back anyway but next time ......

Award winning bakery with flapjacks/pancakes/griddle scones in the window

Lunch, a fair bit of doing nothing and an early dinner so we were free to watch the parade go by.  It seemed the whole town was massing at the back of the hotel in fancy dress, some on floats, but it also seemed the whole town was in the road waiting for the parade. A stage just outside the hotel was ready and wiring for the heavily costumed Rugby team to perform routines from Disney films (Aladdin, Mary Poppins, Toy Story,  and more. They were not good, but very enthusiastic. Men do like getting dressed up as women.

Then the parade led by the marching band, many participants on foot, three bagpipe bands, floats from a range of local organisations and then it was gone.   The rugby boys started to repeat their show and we escaped to our nice quiet room at the rear of the hotel for another good night's sleep.  A relaxing day, refreshed, rested and ready to start again tomorrow ..

LEJOG D13

Last day before the rest day .. a long day with climbing and a forecast of unpleasant headwinds.  The climbing in Scotland is generally predicted to be longer uphill climbs of lower gradients. That will be a relief.  We still have to get out of England however.

Those of us at the alternative hotel successfully negotiated the early start we craved so well, and Peter kindly delivered our navigation devices so we could get away.  It was a great morale booster for us all.  We are all strong steady riders,  just appreciative of the extra time this allowed.

Morning tea is suitably right on the border so the lovely Richard was on hand to act as tea lady and photographer before enough cyclists arrived to take each other's photos.

You might notice that the road slopes up, immediately we crossed the border the first pinch hill hits. Walked that, but after that I rode well.  It was one of those days which are a combination of managing it well and my bike and I just fitting together.   Some lovely country before lunch, including a coffee stop in Langholm.  Still making good time.

Lunch is in the car park of the Samye Ling Tibetan centre,  a Buddhist complex including temple, garden, retreat house and tearooms. It is unexpected and beautiful in the middle of a stunning valley.  Very peaceful and a welcome respite today.  Still a way to go.

Stupa

Temple courtyard and entrance

We had a magnificent run along a river valley and I loved it, I flew along, then turned left into a stiff headwind.   Bugger.  Ploughed on and turned out of it for a whole, more gradual long uphill,  more down down downhill into Peebles.  My best days riding so far if you follow statistics.  All I know is that my legs worked, my bike seemed to like it and way we went.  Might happen again,  might not.

Peebles is in the throes of the annual Beltane Festival so for a change we have arrived while something is on, not just before or after it is happening. And we have tomorrow off the bike.  Three cheers.. hip hip hooray.

Glimpse of the band and entourage across the river accompanying the Beltane Queen home

LEJOG D12

Was this the day it rained? Did we ride? The days are starting to really blend, it seems that I have done nothing forever but ride my bicycle.  The rest day is now in sight - but not yet. Oh yes, it rained .. we moved the morning tea stop to under the motorway overpass and abandoned the picnic lunch.

It wasn't heavy rain, but again steady rain - and it had actually stopped by the time we got to the good cafe (Mrs Miller's by the garden centre) for lunch.  My feet and sandals dried out nicely during the afternoon.  I haven't yet regretted bringing them instead of shoes and I could put the woolly socks on if I wanted to but so far it's been ok. I must have good circulation I've decided.

Today we rode by several railway bridges, on an unused line. Also all the stone bridges we see, all the churches are interesting and photogenic but I won't put them all up here.

This is a heart shaped wood planted by a man for his new wife, I just couldn't see very well in the rain to get a clear shot of it

After lunch fortunately the rain held off. We had a stiff little hill immediately we left the Cafe but the rest of the day was not so bad.  Some of 7 detoured slightly off the road to have a look at the local standing stone called Long Meg and the druids circle of stones alongside.   We are a few days early for the solstice celebrations that will take place here, though I have high hopes for something wherever we are in Scotland on the day.  I am also prepared for disappointment if the Scots don't set as much store by it as I hope for.

Long Meg and the circle of stone (with cyclists)

The last town we passed through for the day has an interesting village sign, a reference to their annual music and dance festival we presume.  The onto our destination where a handful of us are spending the night away from the others.  This happens from time to time as there are not always enough rooms for us all in one place. Ours is The Belted Will, a family run pub with a name for food. . Good news.