I am not sure where to start really. I guess to say firstly I am alive! Today has been the toughest day ever on a bike for me. There were so many reasons not to even attempt today's stage and on reflection it was very dangerous at many different times throughout the day.
The weather forecast at 6am when we checked was as follows:-
This was going to be a day I would not forget in a hurry.
We started the day when George cooked us a superb fry up at 6.45. Constant weather talk and the route to take were the main source of conversation around the breakfast table. Everyone had been kept awake in the night by howling winds and torrential rains, which we sheepishly spoke about over tea. Susan asked if we wanted to hear her thoughts on the day and after saying yes to her she proceeded to tell us that it was really not a good idea to even consider it and for our own safety we should not even try to travel in this hurricane weather. She and George know all the roads like the back of their hands in this area so why should we not listen to locals?!
I cannot give up without even trying as most of you will know and after dragging on my gear I could see that Andrew was thinking carefully about his aunties advice. We eventuallly left George and Susan in East Kilbride to hopefully find our way to Fort William.
Today's route was meant to take in the Glasgow suburbs to the East of the city, crossing the Campsie Fells, skirting the edge of the Trossachs and passing through Glen Ogle. Then, the route will cross Rannoch Moor and the famous Glen Coe Pass before finishing for the night at Fort William.
The ride started as predicted weather wise and conditions were tough. Exiting Glasgow Andy had a number of issues. The first one was presented by white van man who opened his door without looking whilst we were going around traffic on the inside. He was lucky not to eat the door as a second breakfast, just managing to avoid it in the nick of time. Then the wind really started to pick up and one huge gust came along and he wobbled all over the place but just about held on. This was a warning. The next time he was not so lucky. We reached the summit of a small hill after only 15 miles and I turned around To see he was splattered on the flloor due to the gale force wind driving him over. This was a bad indication for things to come or suggested how hard things would be today if we decided to even go on! At one stage a nice man in car pulled over in a lay by to stop and wait for us to see how we were doing and offered to help us if we needed anything.
After the fall we decided to come off the roads and find shelter with from the wind with some covered cycle paths. We battled down these NCN routes for a good few miles before coiming back to some more exposed roads again. We reached Loch Lomond in good time and it was still beautiful to look at even whilst being attacked by the elements. We actually followed another cycle path round the lock which worked out until we needed to stop for a banana break. At this time a slight miscommunication, lack of concentration and the bad weather contributed to a double wipe out. Luckily nobody was hurt but we were both certainly a little wetter as we both landed in large puddles after the fall.
Andy did some great work in the morning session by taking the lead and really drove us through to lunch at 60 miles. It was a really tough morning to get to Crianlarich and took a lot out of us both. This little dwelling was a very strange offering of a place to live as we found out when speaking to the waiter in, what seemed to be the only hotel in Crianlarich. He told us that the village only had 180 residents and then corrected himself saying that it was now 179 due to the old boy dying a few weeks back. His manor and tone were also very odd. The hotel had a roaring fire in the dining room with large stags heads on the wall and reminded me very much of the hotel from the film the shining.
There was a sense of feeling that both of us did not want to leave lunch at all and especially not to get back on our bikes as the afternoon session was all about climbing. Also, Susan had suggested if we did make it as far as Crianlarich then we should stay there the night due to the conditions and how much energy we would have zapped getting there. So this was a big challenge of the mindset to overcome.
We got on the road just after 3pm and this wasn't the best time to be tackling all these climbs due to the amount ahead of us and the amount of daylight left to boot. The climbs were tough to begin with but as we got higher and higher we became slower and slower as the wind started reaching up to 70 mph at times, with rain driving down on us and hail stones viciously attacking our faces leaving a stinging sensation at times. I am not sure how but even at times I had my own brief moments to really take in and appreciate the scenery on the moor. There are some big big rocks here. The back drop in this national park looked like the set of The Lord of the Rings. It was spectacular.
As we climbed and climbed it became more and more intolerable. We were both beginning to question if we would make to the end, why we were there and how far away is the closest B&B that could house us for the night. At times we were battling at 5 to 6 mph in gale force winds. Today was also incredibly cold at only 5 degrees and the wind chill took it down to zero. Everything was starting to hurt, ache and freeze whilst getting nowhere fast. It took hours to battle through the top of Rannoch Moor, which is very slow, and we were both tested physically and mentally not to mention questioning that only idiots would attempt this. The danger factor was also in play as the wind had tried to chuck us into traffic regularly and worryingly there were some big vehicles taking this road, as it is the only route through. This weather was the end of hurricane Gonzalo dont forget and it certainly lived up to its name and nearly finished us both. I would not do this again and it was in no way fun whatsoever. It took a very long time and many energy supplements to get us to Glencoe, which sadly for us was only a few miles on from the moor area we had been struggling on. To give you an idea how cold it is up the mountain we passed the entrance points for the ski lift that will open shortly...
The dark was about to set in and the wind was not giving up anytime soon. We were 85 miles in and finally we received some respite with a decent. This is the only thing that saved us for the day as we had just previously agreed not go any further as it was pointless and dangerous and that we would find the next available place to sleep.
Once we got down an incredibly huge decent things improved slightly and we battled on to Fort Williami the pitch black, which again really wasn't nice.
I felt emotional, tired, hungry and exhausted when I got in today and dont really want to experience anything like that again. I know a left a little piece of me out there on the mountain today that I will never get back. We later heard that a lot of the roads that we travelled on today had been close just after we had got to them. Today could have been a very different story.
Thank you for all your messages, text, call and donations. Whether it is a quote from Winston Churchill and a good luck text everything is great fully received and helps me along the way.
Here are the daily stats:-
Total ride time = 9hrs 14mins
Distance = 177kms
Calories burnt = 5143
Elevation = 2106m
Fort William to Lairg tomorrow
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