8 Weeks on 2 Wheels
Scottish Youth hostel cycling tour
1965 July 10-August-September 1
The morning I was to leave started off with a clear blue sky but it was not to last. I had loaded my hike the previous nights so I was ready to go early.
As I live south of London the first thirty miles was all through town and the first rain came as I was crossing Vauxhall Bridge but it only lasted a few minutes and I was
soon out of my cape. Ahead of me was the awful ride out of North London along the A5 and A41. When I reached the AI I cheered up as this was the road to Scotland.
The AI is not a very good road for pleasant cycling but it is the fastest route north. That day I was to go to Houghton Mill a distance of 90 miles. It should have been less but I got lost in Stevenage. I was cycling up to the town when I was told by an aged man on a bicycle that I should ride on the cycle path, whilst I was listening to him I rode straight past the sign post so naturally I took the wrong turning at the roundabout and ended up going on a six mile detour before once again I met the AI.
The rest of that ride was uneventful but easy as the wind was with me but there was a bit of intermittent rain.
I found the hostel quite easily but arrived half an hour early. After I had booked in I had a look round. There were massive cogs made of wood which abounded everywhere in dark corners and many other weird pieces of machinery such as the governor in the common room.
In the evening I went with two other chaps on a punt on the river. It was O.K. until the other two started rowing then we went nowhere fast except from side to side of the river.
July 11 Sunday (108 miles)
I left Houghton mill in the rain but it soon stopped although it remained overcast with stratus. At first I thought the wind was with me but I was wrong for after I left a straight stretch of road it came charging at me from the west, and soon after more rain came. It was light at first but around 12 noon it became rather heavy and I was forced to seek shelter but there was norte to be found so I kept rideing in my cape until I reached one of the many road bridges which cross the AI. It was about four miles before Grantham and as it did not look like stopping raining I decided to have my packed lunch in its shelter.
When I left the bridge it was still raining hard and it did not stop for at least one hour. When it did stop the wind tried its best to push me home and I was extremely glad to see the hostel at Bawtry and have a meal.
In the evening I went out to have a look around the town where I saw many traction engines. When I got back to the hostel another cyclist started complaining about the wind I just put on the appearance that I was listening ” to his words of wisdom .
July 12 Monday (104 miles)
As a reward for the previous two days weather the sun decided to shine on me for the ride to Barnard Castle this made things much easier :the wind was also with me.
This ride was uneventful but much more enjoyable than the other two. When I reached Scotch Corner I was well ahead of my E.T.A. but I had the hills to cross and this slowed me down. When I was about four miles away from the hostel it decided to rain again. It was the beginning of a warm front so the rain continued through the night.
July 13 Tuesday (47 miles)
That morning I woke up to a very wet scene, the rain was still coming down and did not look like stopping so rather reluctantly I went out to the cycle shed where I found a flat tire on my back wheel. I was not in the mood to mend it so I just pumped it up and hoped that it would last the day.
My intention for that day was to ride up Tees Dale past High Force then over the moors and down to the hostel at Acomb. When I arrived at high Force the rain was still coming down heavily so I decided to go on and miss it. I cycled on for what seemed miles and I had to look at the map as I thought I had passed the turning off. Naturally the map got soaked and the turning was still miles on so I continued on in the rain, passed the hostel then up and over Langdon Common which was over 2000 feet. It was a steep climb and I was forced to push almost all the way. When I was near the top I entered the cloud, it was soaking wet and I could only see a few yards ahead. Next came the ride down the other side this was just as bad as the ride or push up Because of the cloud and rain I had to go very slowly also there was a notice warning me about quarry blasting. By the time I reached the bottom my wrists were aching with having to hold the brakes for about three miles.
I continued on through St.John’s Chapel and had my packed lunch on the side of a hill whilst the rain eased off for a for a few minutes. I do not know why it decided to do this as it did its best to get me wet at every possible opportunity. The rest of the ride was wet and cold so I arrived at Acomb hostel in a miserable state. I was anxious to see the warden and make my bed but as he lives away from the hostel he was not there so I had to go out and buy my food in saturated clothes.
When I returned from the village the warden was there so I booked in and changed into dry clothes. This hostel was my first self-cooker so I had to make a fool of myself and give a saucepan a coating of Chow-mien.
July 14 Wednesday (49 miles)
Before I left Acomb I was told by two other fellows that I had some hills to climb. They were right. It started off fairly flat but when I joined the military road the hills appeared. The road was like a switch-back and from the top of one hill there was a view of the road going straight ahead over several hills in front in a straight line.
The weather was better that day with no rain at first but still it was overcast with stratocumulus, this did not worry me. I had my dinner on an old foot-bridge which spanned the river Pede then continued on to Ferniehurst Castle via Carter Bar.
The climb up to the boarder was rather steep passed the reservoir at Catcleugh. When I reached the top I celebrated by taking a photo of the sign which read “SCOTLAND”. From the top there was a marvelous view across the so-called lowlands but it was slightly hazy. The run down was very good after t the long sweat up.
All along the run down towards Jedburgh I was looking for what the S.Y.H.A. handbook described as a “picturesque border castle on the River Jed . When I saw it I could see way of getting to it as it was over the other side of the river and there was no bridge. I continued on down the road for about two miles until I saw a drive which led to the hostel, this went back for two miles.
This was my first Scottish hostel and to my surprise the warden filled in the hostel register this is one of the Scottish customs. The hostel was as the handbook said complete with spiral staircase. There are 120 beds there but that night there were only about 7 of us. In the evening the warden told us about the ghost and a few other stories. That evening I saw for the first time the through for washing it was soon to become a familiar sight. Earlier that evening I was told that Broadmeadows hostel was closed so decided to go there first to see if it really was closed and if it was to go to Snoot.
July 13 Thursday (43 miles)
I left Ferniehurst at about 10.A.M. and cycled passed the ancient Capon tree which is the last tree of an old forest. I then went through Jehburgh, and round the Eildon hills which towered above me, and on to Galashiels where I brought dinner. I ate it just the other side of the town. After this I went along the A72 then south to Selkirk.
All that day there was no rain but it was overcast with stratocumulus and at this time some gaps were appearing. Once I was past Selkirk I turned off to Broadmeadows where I found a temporary warden so I went back into Selkirk to buy some food for supper. I should have known that I would have to pay for the good weather and I did for when I arrived I found the place closed all except one S.C.W.S. from which I brought my breakfast. When I got back to the hostel I brought a humble meal from what is called a limited store. That evening there were only three of us there including the warden who told us a lot about Scotland and its hostels the other chap was Danish so I do not know how much he understood he had a curious liking for water. The hostel was in a very pleasant spot, so as the sky had cleared we went out to watch the sunset. The hostel was also small and was the associations first possession but it was good except for the temperature which was rather low that night.
July 16 Friday (52 miles)
I woke up the next morning feeling ready for the ride to Wanlockhead. The weather was even better than the previous day, the sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly so after I had done the necessary things such as chores and cooking I set off.
The first part of the ride was passed St. Mary’s Loch and the Loch of the Lowes which in the sun looked very nice. Once I was passed here there was a bit of a climb up to 710 feet. The decent was passed the Grey Mares Tail which is a large waterfall. Eventually I arrived at Moffat where I brought my dinner. The climb out of the town was fairly steep and the sun had melted the tar which made a horrible tearing sound on my tyres. I kept going until I found a suitable place to stop and have my eats.
When I had finished I continued the climb over the hills and down to the A74. I saw this road long before I reached it as the road I was on went along above the main road for about two miles gradually descending to it To my surprise it was a dual carriageway, one of the few I was to see on this trip in Scotland. I went along this road for about ten miles then turned off for Wanlockhead which is the highest village in Scotland. Because of this there was a heck of a climb up to it but it was through good scenery.
Eventually I reached the top and found the village but I quite happily went straight passed the road to the hostel this meant a long pull back up to the hostel. After I had booked in I went out to buy my food. I was told by the warden that I could get milk from the dairy it least I think she called it a dairy. There was one shop on the village and that was closed but they opened it when they saw me outside. I bought my food which included two eggs, and made my way up to the dairy which was by a petrol garage. On my way up the grassy slope – there were very few roads in this village, it was all footpaths and open grass – some minute Scottish boys asked me if they could break my eggs, they did not seem very disappointed at my refusal.
That evening I went for a walk above the village. The sky was still clear and the sun was setting behind the lofty hills behind the village. When I arrived back at the hostel I started my book “And so Ends the World’.That night was cool.
July 17 Saturday (42 miles)
This day I was to meet my friend Clive Cherry at the station in Thornhill. I thought it would be a miracle if we met, so I set off feeling rather doubtful. That evening we were to arrive at Kendoon hostel.
The weather was again marvellous, there was not one cloud when I set off from the hostel but it was still cool after the night and I had a long run down the Mennock Pass which cooled me down a bit. Despite this it was a really good run down. The walls of the pass towered above me spotted with patches of glowing heather and in its base ran Mennock Water which gushed all the way to the village of Mennock.
After ten miles cycling passed Mennock I came to Thornhill and soon found the station. I arrived early, about 11 a.m.as we had arranged to meet at 12 noon so I had a long wait. His train came in at five past and I heard all about his troubles. He had set off the previous night and had a three hour wait at Euston station. When he did get on the train he had to sleep on the floor. When I met him he was hungry, so he had some ham sandwiches then we went into the town to buy our dinners By this time it was really hot and my legs were burning nastily but it was better than rain.
When we had eaten we carried on to Moniave where we brought more food. We had to get two days supply as the hostel was supposed to have no store and tomorrow was Sunday. It was a very hot ride to Kendoon along the B729 which was a very narrow road winding its way across the moors.
Once we had booked in we cooked our meal then went out for a walk. Clive seemed surprised that there was not anything there except hills. Back at the hostel Clive brought out a piece of string that he said I had written home for. I could not understand this until a few days later I realised that my mum had read what I wrote as cards as chords. We were now stuck without cards, so often an essential in hostels.
18 July Sunday(31 miles)
This day we had to ride to Ayr. The weather was not quite so good as the previous days but there was no rain.
We set off along the B729 passed the Kendoon Loch which slowly tapered and turned into a river. Once we were passed here we started to descend as we were already up about 800 feet. The wind was with us and we went down for miles free wheeling for most of the way. We caught a brief sight of Loch Loon. After Panta the scenery was rather disappointing as it was flat like any part of England.
It was on this journey that Clive started having trouble with his pannier frame and gear-leaver, two things that were to give much trouble in the future. We arrived at Ayr at about 1.30. p.m. there was not much to do so after we had eaten (fish and “chips) we just went near the beach for about an hour then went to look for a cycle shop as my mileometer had refused to record any more miles. We were later to find out that cycle shops were a luxury rarely enjoyed in the Highlands. By some misjudgement of Spode we found a shop but as it was Sunday it was closed but at least we knew where to come the following day.
We now had to find the hostel. This was not too easy for although the handbook gave a small map we had no idea as to which part of the town the map showed, so after much turning up wrong roads we found the hostel. It was large and did not have the atmosphere of a real hostel, it was more like a holiday camp. In the evening we had a game of table tennis then played football with some boys from Glasgow and finally that day we went for a look round with them.
July 19 Monday (66 miles)
We had a longer ride this day as the ground was fairly flat and uninteresting and we wanted to get it over in one day.
After we left, our first stop was the cycle shop. I brought my mileometer, fixed it on then went on along the A77, which took us passed the air port at Prestwick. We then turned off to Irvine, it was rather flat all along this road but there were several long drags. We soon noticed that the wind was against us but at least it was not raining although it was overcast. All we could do was to keep up a steady pace while the wind did all within its power to blow in such a way as to make us vary our speed and direction more than a blow-fly who had had a drop of the hard stuff.
Eventually we reached the small village which went under the name of Lugton here we bought our food from the only shop in the village which was nothing to shout about, they did not even have fruit pies. We ate what we had about a mile outside the village then proceeded along the B775 which very soon started to climb onto moorland where the wind was even worse. Eventually we dropped down a rather steep hill into Paisley. We rode over cobbled roads for several miles until we saw a bakers this forced us to stop and eat, I got two large Scotts pancakes about nine inches in diameter while Clive got a selection of tarts and buns.
After Paisley we made for the Erskine Perry, and naturally when we reached the other side of the Clyde we took the wrong turning and ended up in Clydebank. lt was not too much trouble to get back onto the A8I0 and then to the A809 which took us round the Kilpatric Hills to where we were to turn off to Fintry. We stopped at Killearn to buy our food then rode on to the hostel.
It was a fairly good hostel complete with table tennis. After we had booked in we cooked our dinners, I had a 4/6 tinned chicken dinner while Clive decided to try something original, he had boiled rice savoury minced meat apple sauce and chrisps. Naturally he could not eat all of it.
After we had eaten we went out for Clive to phone home. We decided to go by bike although it was not far. He had a bit of a wait and when he did get in he could not
get through to the operator so he called for the assistance of a girl who was from the hostel. Even the two of them had no luck so he gave up for the night very disgusted with Scottish communications. The girl’s friend then came up. They were just on a short tour and had only come from Glasgow on rather decrepit bikes.
When Clive and I got back to the hostel we had a game of table tennis then at the last minute we had to go to bed.
July 20 Tuesday (41 miles)
As we were the last to leave the hostel we had the job of crushing the tins. This we found out was done with a log with which had a large nail through it. Eventually we got away and meant to head back to Killearn but through some misjudgement on our half we ended up at Buchlyvie which was miles north of our route. While we were here Clive decided to try phoning again it was when he was doing this that I realised that we were off course. he managed too get through this time. After he had done this we brought some food then carried on.
We went on to Drymen where we bought our food for dinner then continued through the town and down to the Endrick Water where we had our dinner. It was just by the bridge and was quite a nice spot, so nice in fact that Clive went to sleep there for about thirty minutes after he had eaten his frozen creme cake. After this interval we carried on towards Loch Lomond.
The road was fairly flat, eventually we saw the loch. It was not a very impressive view but as our first sight it seemed good. We continued on to Balloch and round the west side of the loch. We had arrived fairly early so we went down to the loch, it was crowded with tourists who for some reason sat in their cars in the sun. We cycled along very slowly and stoped by two old roadster bikes their owners turned out to be the two girls who Clive had called to help him the night before. Like us they had got lost but they had managed to turn the wrong way just outside the hostel, how they did this I will never know but it was comforting to know that we were not the only ones who did daft things.
They soon went up to the hostel but it was against our principle to arrive early so we rode on up the road a few miles so Clive could have a swim. He changed his mind after he felt the water, it was rather cool. About twenty minutes later we went back to the hostel. It was a massive place fully equipped with milk machine dance hall and a few other things.
When we had had our meal which was cooked for us at this hostel we went into the common room, there was nothing there so Clive persuaded me to go to this dance which was going on in a large room upstairs it was a bit stupid for me to go as I can not dance, but reluctantly I went. There were very few people there and all who were there were just sitting around. It was a very boring evening even when they started but I stuck it out. Clive seemed to enjoy it and tried to convince me that he didn’t.
The White Heather Club had once done a broadcast from this hostel. After much shouting in our dormitory on the part of some French blokes the assistant warden came in and said in very English French”fair mala bosft” after this all was quiet.
July 21 Wednesday (43 miles)
The next morning we woke up to not such good weather but it was not raining so we decided to go for a ride as we were staying at this hostel two nights. We had our meal
which was provided then set off.
We rode up the side of the loch to Arden which is hardly a village and probably would not be noticed by a motorist. Here we turned off along the B831 which is a quiet
little road leading over the hills to Helensburgh. I rather expected this town to be industrial but it was not and we were forced to look at it quite thoroughly for almost as soon as we arrived Clive’s pannier frame, which had been giving him trouble for some time, snapped. This meant that we had to tour the town for a cycle shop. There were three and none of them had a pannier frame. There was nothing we could do except go on, it was lucky that our bikes were not loaded.
From Helensburgh we went up the side of Gare Loch which seemed almost full of boats. When we arrived at Garelochhead we had a bit of food in a cafe then brought some food from the shops, this was the first place that we brought oat cakes. When we had bought all we wanted we carried on up the road, and it was up, but I made it and Clive would have too if his wheel had not decided to move off centre and rub against the frame.
When we both arrived at the top we had our food on an old tank which turned out not to be so old after all. From this tank there was a marvellous view down the Loch although it was misty. Just as we were finishing our food a coach load off tourists appeared, and coaches are one thing neither of us agreed with. They stopped about a hindered yards from us as that was how far we were off the road. The driver walked up to our tank, probably just to prove that he could walk then he starred to talk. He sounded normal and did not want all public traffic banned from the roads, I decided that he must be new at the job and had not yet lost his patients with other road users. He told us that the Loch we were now looking at was the first place where a man was fired through a torpedo tube, he also told us that the tank we were sitting on was still used.
When the coach had gone we had a look at the tank then carried on down the other side off the hill to Loch Long. The water was so calm that it gave the impression of being covered with oil, there probably was some oil there but not as much as there appeared to be. We rode on up the Loch until Clive saw two submarines they were over the other side of the loch we stopped to look at them then went on till Clive found a blackberry so I just had to wait until he was satisfied. This was some time but when we did move off again I pointed to the other side of the Loch and told him that in about a week we would be over there, this did not please him.
We continued north along the side of the Loch to Arrochar which is a small village which gives the appearance off trying to attract tourists. This sort of village is not found further north. From Arrochar we went across the narrow neck of land which separates Loch Long from Loch Lomond. It is said that many years ago a fleet of ships was dragged across this land and into Loch Lomond so as to raid some clan.
The previous day we had seen a poster advertising the highland games at Luss so we hurried down the side of the loch to get to the games in time. We did, and it was well worth it. I used up quite a bit of film trying to get a picture of a bloke tossing a caber but he kept hiding from me just as he tossed it, it was most annoying. They had a hill race in which about twenty poor fellows had to run up an incredibly steep hill.
After the games we made our way back to the hostel in time for supper. After that we went out to our bikes, Clive to fix his pannier frame and me to fix a curious grinding in my back wheel. I did not realise how serious this was so I just oiled it, it made it a bit better but it certainly was not right. Clive did not get far with his frame before he went in for the dance. I had had enough of that the night before so I decided to try and mend the puncture I had got at Barnard Castle but I could not even find it so I had to put the inner tube that I had bought at Ayr in. I did this just in time for the warden was locking up the cycle shed just as I was about to start, he left it open for me, also that night I wrote to the school perhaps a bit late.
When I had done all this I went to find Clive sitting in the common room with some girls. Apparently he had got too bored with upstairs and the whole group were just looking bored downstairs. A bit later we ended the day.
July 22 Thursday (49 miles)
After breakfast Clive found a way to fix his pannier frame, after this he was convinced that he was a genius. When all was fixed we set off tor Lochard. We had to go back along the side of the Loch to Balloch, then back along the way we had come through Prymen and Buchlyvie where we brought our food. We went through this town and on to Arnprior where we turned off for the Lake of Mentieth. Before we reached it we crossed the River Forth it was no more than a stream at this point. Eventually we reached the Lake, it is the only piece of water in Scotland that is called a Lake. We had cur dinner here on the beach, the scenery was by no means bold as we were in the river valley but it was quite good, the weather was good that day but it was rather cool at the lake. When we had eaten Clive decided to give a swan some of our bread, it was strange how stupid this swan was for when there was no more bread left it did not seem to understand and came waddling out of the water and up to Clive who backed away cautiously at first, then a bit faster. All I could do was to sit down on the nearest log and almost kill myself laughing ,it was really funny .After much persuasion it returned from whence it came.
After this we set off again. The road sloped up a bit towards the A8I passed port of Menteith. The A8I is not a bad road but it has nothing special to offer until Aberfoyle which is quite a nice town but has many tourist attractions. Just the other side of the town we turned off along the B829 which has a large sign at the beginning saying “no through road? but it went on for about 14 miles.
We went up this road as far as the hostel and went into the grounds as Clive’s pannier frame had slid down he fixed this temporary then we carried on along the road as the hostel was not yet open. My back block which I had oiled the previous night was starting to moan again, but we carried on passed Loch Ard,through Kinlochard, and down to Loch Chon. This was about three miles and was a very pleasant ride although Clive was moaning because the road was all up and down.
Then it happened, my chain came off, this in itself would not have been bad, but it was the cause of this that was bad. I put the chain back on, making my hands black with oil then carried on,and off came the chain. This time I had a better look and discovered that the back block had jammed and was now like a fixed wheel,so all I could do was to keep peddling and this was not as easy as might be thought for every time, I forgot and free-wheeled the chain came off and this happened quite often. We had a a long gradual climb ahead, this was what I needed, but when it came to go down the other side it was very annoying to have to pedal and use breaks. This road took us passed loch Arklet which is a reservoir then we came to a road junction and turned right to Loch Katrine to the village of Stronachlachar which unlike its name is very small. We had both been here before a few years ago. When we had had something to eat we set off back to the hostel. Apart from my block which caused the chain to come off several times lit was a very nice extra bit of cycling.
When we got back I asked the warden where the nearest cycle shop was, quite expecting him to say Glasgow, but luckily he did not, he said Callander and we were heading that way so I felt better. I was rapidly finding out that cycle shops were not common in the highlands as the last one we had seen was at Helensbrough and before that there was an even longer gap.
At the hostel we met two Welsh chaps who we had seen on our first night at loch Lomond, they had hitched up and were supposed to collect there bikes at Glasgow station but they never turned up so they had to hike. When we left them they shouted after us “see you in the outer Hebrides” this never happened.
After our meal which was again provided the Welsh fellows went to the pub and said they would see us down there but they were back before we went so the next time we all went together with a German chap and his sister. The first place we tried had no bar so we had to go to the one we originally intended. We were back at the hostel in time for another game of table tennis with three other hikers. We had several games and were the last to bed. We had to get in in the dark as the rest of the dormitory was settled down but this did not stop a few witty remarks being made and so another day ended. At this point of the holiday it seemed that we had an almost infinite time left.
July 23 Friday (25 miles)
Again we woke up to dry weather but it was not to last. As usual we had breakfast and packed our bikes, we found out that the three blokes we were playing table tennis with were going to the same hostel as us, Lenarick.
We set off along the road which we had come along the previous day back to Aberfoyle, and over the Dukes pass which we found too steep to cycle up, besides I did not want to put too much strain on my broken cog. After a mile or so we could ride as it was not so steep. We passed the fellows from Loch Ard as they were sheltering under a bush from the rain which had starter a few minutes before. This was the first bit of rain that Clive had had on this trip and for some reason way beyond my comprehension he enjoyed it, he said that with a cape on it gave him a sense of being dry while everyone else was wet. The worst part of the pass was still to come it climbed for miles but I found the going down much worse as again I had to pedal with the breaks on. The scenery was marvellous round here it was one of the few rugged places so far south even in the rain it looked good. The high tops were covered in cloud and patches of sunlight shone on the mountain walls through the thinning rain showing the heather in bright purple. By the time we reached the bottom the rain had stopped and ragged stratus was blowing by.
The next Loch we saw was Loch Achray, this is only a small loch but its setting makes it typical of the highlands this is probably the reason for the Trossachs Hotel,which is a grand building with many spires and towers. The whole of this area is commonly known as the Trossachs, but the true Trossachs is the small piece of land between Loch Achray and Loch Katrine.
We went on round the Loch to Brig o’ turk and bought what food we could at a very limited store. We went on a few miles then ate what we had brought.
This day we intended to go to Callander so we had to go passed the hostel. The road took us along the bank or Loch Venachav which I thought was a rather dull loch. When we arrived at the town we went to the cycle shop which had not been hidden by Spode, he was inside it. We went in only to find out that the only person who knew where things were was having his dinner so we had to wait about an hour. When he did come I wished he hadn t for as soon as I told him what I wanted he just said no and did not even try to help, all he could do was to tell me that the nearest shop that would have a back block was in Stirling, he didn’t seem to sure of that. There was nothing we could do except go to Stirling but neither of us felt like going then so we just looked round the town.
Soon the rain was with us again so we had to shelter under an old arch. We must have been there for about an hour and every few minutes a funny old man came out of the bakery and muttered something to us about cigarettes. Eventually we had to go, it was not a very comfortable ride but we did not get too wet. We passed some highland cattle on the way.
The hostel was a good one and was not too crowded whilst I was making my bed I found some money under the mattress but it was only about a shilling, most disappointing, Clive found a comb under his. In the common room we met the chaps from Loch Ard. As usual they were playing table tennis, and we joined in. There was a group of girls there but only one of them was interested in playing and she did not play much, just sat and watched most of the time. Soon our meal came up again it was provided, and somehow we got a large extra helping of potatoes, it was welcome. Naturally we got the washing up to do but there were quite a few of us doing it. After this we went back to the table tennis as on a wet evening there is not much you can do outside, Nothing eventful happened that evening but we had a good time, I even won a few games but none against Clive, that was almost impossible. Besides tennis we also played cards the game was slow as everyone was talking but it was good.
We went to bed at the normal time,that was about 11 and it was still raining, I had the thought of going to Stirling in the rain. Two of the chaps in our dormitory intended to go to Ferniehurst the next day but they had a car.
July 24 Saturday (53 miles )
This morning I woke to the sound of rain, not a pleasant experience. I realized that Clive would not want to go with me to Stirling in the rain so I got up before he had woken he soon got up as he had to be ready for breakfast. As I wanted to be off early I showed him his route to Balqhidder He had decided to leave as late as possible because of the rain, but I was soon out of the hostel and on my way to Stirling in the rain.
First I had to go through Callander, which is the home of Dr.Finley. It is just on the edge of the highlands, it is almost the gateway to them. Rather reluctantly I left the two of them along the A84. By now I was beginning to get used to the back wheel and through the whole journey I managed to keep the chain on. The rain stopped when I was only a few miles passed Callander so after removing my cape I continue at a pace faster than my normal. This way I soon got there but in the town I was cut in by a bus this forced me to stop pedaling so off came my chain.
I soon found a Halfords and was asked to go with my bike up to the workshop, this was awkward as my bike would not fit in the lift but after much struggling it was in the workshop, and the mechanic was soon at war with it and it was war. The wheel came off easily but that was all, the rest just stuck fast. The mechanic who was frequently called Matt first tried a Free wheel remover but this was far too an innocent tool and the block would not bodge, next he tried dismantling the block, this to was a waste of time, then we both had a go at it with one end in the vice, me frantically trying to turn the wheel while Matt attacked it with a wrench, but this made no effect so he resorted to my method of bashing it with a punch, and very slowly it began to move so that about an hour after I had entered that shop we had it off. The new one went on quite easily but when we got the wheel back on it would not turn so off it came, this time he found that the spindle was bent so I had to have a new one. At last all was on but the gears would not work but after adjustment they were O.K. He charged me for forty minutes when I had been one and a half hours, possibly because he did not want anyone to know hat he had taken so long over changing a block.
On my way out of Stirling I bought my food and ate it a few miles outside the town in a lay-by and was joined by a motorist. The ride back to Callander was not very interesting but it was marvelous being able to freewheel. Just as I was arriving at the town the rain started again but it was intermittent The scenery passed Callander was much better. I had to climb the Pass of Leny, it was not too steep,but it was only up. I soon came to the Falls of Leny where the water crashed down about a hundred feet in several stages. At the bottom there was a typical Scotsman playing the bagpipes and making the whole scene typically Scottish. I carried on along this road to Loch Lubnaig which means Bent Loch, and stooped to have look and take a photo. The walls of the loch rose steeply from the water which was only broken by the scattered raindrops the far end of it was out of sight round the bend, and the whole view had a misty appearance.
I rode on round the Loch and passed Strathyre and soon turned off this road to Balquhidder. About two miles later I arrived at the hostel which had a long bumpy track leading to it. I arrived in the rain before it had opened and was greeted by two girls who asked me if I was an English boy, when they found out that I was they told me that my friend had been there and he would be back at four. I thought this would be rather difficult as he did not have a watch so I went out to look for him. This was a hopeless task and I gave up at Rob Roy’s grave which is in Balquhidder church yard.
Soon after I got back to the hostel Clive turned up and we had a game of table tennis and as usual he won. Again at this hostel the meals were provided but it was the last one for a long time. In the evening we played cards with the two girls who were at the hostel at first. Clive and I also went for a walk down by the loch which was Loch Voil, it was very calm and almost looked like rain so we did not go far. I went down on a small peninsular to take a photo and the fool started throwing stones near me he even admitted that he could not see where they were going. When we got back we played cards again then went to bed. The only thing we had to worry about was the fact that Clive’s block had done the same as mine, but only for a second, and this could probably be fixed with a little oil.
July 25 Sunday (29 miles)
We woke this morning to dryness for our ride to Killin. But just so we were not too happy another cyclist told us that we had a long climb ahead of us it was Glen Ogle. We also found out that the two girls were going to Killin but they were walking.
We set off rather late but we did not have very far to go. We stopped at Balquhidder Station where there is a small shop we bought our food here, and ate some of it. While we were doing this the two girls caught us up but we soon left them, and carried on about two miles to where we were to turn off for Loch Earn. It was a very minor road and was only wide enough for one car, we were to meet many roads like this later on.
We soon came in sight of the Loch, the steep bank on the other side was broken by Glen Ogle. We continued along the south side of the Loch for about thee miles, then stopped for dinner. As usual we took some time over it, when we had finished eating we did some skimming on the Loch this was to become a normal loch side habit for us. When we had finished this we continued on to St Fillans which is a small village at the end of the Loch. We stopped there for an ice cream then went back along the north side which was a more major road. This road held some attraction for Clive for he went speeding along it chasing every car in sight and if I had not told him I doubt that he would have noticed Ben Vorlich which towered above the loch on the opposite side.
Very soon we came to Loch Earnhead and had to turn and face the Ogle. It did not look to bad at first but it seemed to go on perpetually up and up for miles and miles. We kept on struggling, taking the lead alternatively, but we seemed to be getting nowhere near the top, then after much sweating we came to the top,945 Ft. The run down was well worth the climb,but Clive could not go too fast as he was not to sure of his block. As I sped down I decided to eat the Scotch Pancakes I had bought at St. Fillans. The view from this road spread for miles into the distance making the whole run perfect. Half way down I saw the chaps who we had met at Lendrick and Loch Ard the ones who were playing table tennis so I slowed down and stopped then Clive came up.
That day they had come from Lendrick, they had stayed there yesterday because of the rain. After a few minutes chat we carried on leading them to cut across a field to Killin. Most of the rest of the ride was down hill and we were soon flying passed the Black Watch memorial which stands at the entrance to the town. We had both been to Killin before and it was good to see it again, especially the Falls of Bochart. It took us some time to find the hostel as it was at the other end of the town. Opposite the hostel was a very large camping sight with a useful shop.
After we had booked and had done the normal things we went into the common room and bought our food which, believe it or not, we cooked and ate. For the first part of the evening we watched and played table tennis, then Clive and I went out to the Falls. It was about half passed nine and it was still fairly light, we also had a look round the town/then returned to the hostel.
July 26 Monday (9 miles)
As I did not have any food and Clive did not have much I got up early and went to the shop in the camping site and bought the food for my normal breakfast which was two eggs, bacon and fried bread. When I got back Clive was just getting up. After breakfast we decided to have a lazy day, this was more my friends idea than mine, but I thought it was quite good as the weather was hot and sunny, it was so good that we even took our trunks but never used them. As usual we waited some time before we got our job as this way we normally got an easy one but not always. So at about half passed ten we set off for Loch Tay.
We took the small road round the south of the Loch it was rather like the one round Loch Earn, but we only went out four miles we would have stopped before but that part the Loch was private so we went on to where there was I long steep bank dropping down to the Loch and a small beech. It was awkward getting the bikes down but we did it eventually. Once we were down there we did almost nothing. I took my book “And so Ends the World” which I read a bit of and Clive took his book “Julius Caesar”which he did not read. We had a few skimming contests but as in all of these conntests we rarely came to a decision about who had won at least we never agreed about it. Naturally we ate and I took photo but apart from that we were just living and looking at Ben Lawers across the loch which always seemed to be in the sun while we were in the shade of some passing cloud. We decided to leave at about four o’clock,and when we reached the top of the bank we were met by a motorist and his wife who had come from Coventry, they had done the journey in one day which seemed fast to us after a fortnight cycling. We talked for a bit then went on as it was clouding over.
The ride back was nothing and we bought our food at the camping site. It was not long before we were back at the hostel still dry. While I was cooking my beef curry the warden came in gave a slight sniff and said,’Indians” .After our meal we played table tennis then went out for a walk with the two girls. We went down to the loch, the other three took their waterproof but I did not and it started raining but it was only a few drips. When we got back to the hostel we had a cup of tea then after a game of cards we went to bed.
July 27 Tuesday (37 miles)
This day we were to leave Killin and go to Ardgartan. which is on Loch Long it was doubling back south again and was not wholly appreciated by Clive but it was the only way to see the place properly. The weather was not as good as the day before but it
was dry at first anyway. We set off along the A827 which took us along the Dochart Valley which goes under the name of Glen Dochart. lt is a broad glen and although we were going up it we hardly noticed it. The wind certainly was not with us but it was not too strong. Nowhere along its length is the river as good as it is at Killin but it is a slow peaceful river in no apparent hurry. The southern side of this glen is flanked by Ben More and other mountains in that group.
After about an hour we came to a small loch I did not know its name but I found out that it was Loch Lubhair, it was no more than a mile long and had many reeds growing in it. We were soon passed the Loch and were at Crianlarich in time to buy our food. Here we joined the A82 which is the main Glasgow-Port William road, the one we had been on about a week ago but this was another part. It climbed out of the village into Glen Palloch then leveled off a bit. Somehow on this climb Clive managed to break a toe clip and we knew that it was very unlikely that we would see a cycle shop before Oban. It was lucky it was only a toe clip. About 2 miles passed Crianlarich we stopped to eat. The rain was still holding off but it was rather cool when we stopped cycling.
We spent some time here as Clive went to sleep but but last he awoke and we continued down the Glen, but we did not get far before the rain came, it was obviously a warm front and I realized that we were in for a wet time. Apart from the rain it was a good run down, it was much steeper than the climb up and the Glen was much narrower than Lochart and the river flowed much faster in places it was almost a water-fall we soon stopped descending and went along the flat bottom of the Glen. It was still raining when we came in sight of Loch Lomond again, but this was the northern end and was much more rugged than the south. The bank opposite us towered steeply to well over 1000 feet. We went along this stretch of road almost in silence, this always seems to happen in the rain as no one feels like talking.
It was not long before we reached Tarbet again and crossed the narrow bit of land to Arrochar and Loch Long. We stopped here to buy our food. We were dripping wet and we continued to drip all over the shop. When we had bought our stuff which included a melon we went round the head of the Loch,and after about three miles we found ourselves at the hostel.
Ardgartan is a center for pony trekking and the hostel almost full of horsy people. Even the cycle shed resembled a stable. When we arrived we asked a fellow who was packing a horse where the key to the shed was he said it was the common room on the end of a block of wood four feet long he added that we thought he was kidding we made no reply. He was right about one thing, that it was in the common room but the block was no more than two foot six inches long.
That evening we cooked our meal over an unusually hot cooker. We only left our plates around for a few minutes and the warden washed them up. He did not realize that they were ours but when he did he told us never to say that the warden never helps. It continued to rain all evening so we stayed in and played cards. I also read a bit of my book.
July 28 Wednesday (35 miles)
This day we were to go to Strone which is on the Cowal peninsular near Holy Loch. This would have been a good ride in good weather but it was not too bad.
As usual we waited for the last job which turned out to be polishing the floor, we should, have taken this as omen for it was still raining.
After this we were soon our way towards Glen Croe in the rain. I had thought this would be a steep climb and when I told Clive the previous day as we were climbing another hill he did not seem to pleased. He said I made a habit of telling him of the hills to come as we were climbing another, this rather put him off. Glen Croe turned out to be just as bad as I had thought and the rain made it worse as we had to ware our capes and get hot or not ware them and get wet. Clive chose to get wet while I decided on the heat. We climbed for ages and eventually reached the top which is the well known”rest and thankful” and we were. The ride down was marvelous, it went on for miles and the wind was with us but it was still raining and the cloud was low on the hills so we were completely closed in in Glen Kingias. When we came to the bottom of the glen we still had several miles to go before we reached Loch Fyne, which is a sea loch like Loch Long but larger. We rode down the side of this loch about ten miles all of it in the rain. The small streams which ruched down to the road were now rushing torrents but they did not flood the road as there was a channel to take the water away. There seemed to be one every half mile or so, sometimes they came in groups of about three.
We intended to reach a small village called Strachur for dinner, we did, and it was still raining. We brought our food in the only food shop in the village then carried on. At the other end of the village there was another shop with a cafe, Clive was tempted to stop but we did not. At this village we turned away from Loch Fyne, and headed towards the other side of the peninsular it was a bit of a climb at the top of which the road went over the river Cur. We both saw this as a shelter so we stopped and tried to get under the bridge but we could not, but there was a bit of shelter down by the river near the bridge so we went there for our food. Once again I had some oatcakes.
When we had eaten we carried on. The rain was not so bad when we left the bridge but it soon became rather heavy again when we neared Loch Eck. This Loch was set in grand scenery at least I think it was but the rain made everything misty. It is about eight miles long out it seemed to go on for much further and I do not think that it was flooded.
After some time we were passed it and were descending towards Holy Loch. The hills gradually lowered and the whole scene became more peaceful as we arrived at the Polaris base. There were two of the submarines there with the ship, we stopped for a look then went on to Strone which was only about three more miles down the road. We had a rather steep hill to climb before we reached the hostel but at last we reached dryness.
The hostel was not very full, there was one family there and three other chaps, there was also a decorator there who was naturally doing some decorating. When we arrived we were early so we were not given our dormitory till later but this did not stop us changing our feet in the kitchen. There was an awful smell in there anyway it was something cooking I think it was potatoes but it smelt bad. When we had cooked in and done the necessary things we bought our food and cooked it, I had tinned beefburgers and instant potatoes while Clive had some weird concoction of his own. After this we played table tennis, or at least we tried to but the warden had two small sons who seemed to have something against us doing this, they pinched the balls and did all within their power to prevent us from playing, and we could not stop them by any threats no matter how vicious. In the middle of our battle another fellow who called himself Chris came in he had been out that day and it showed he was a bit on the wet side. He attempted to have a game with Clive but he was not successful.
later that evening we went to the pub, it was still raining and too keep his shoes dry this Chris chap took them off. When we were there he told us about how he had got there. Apparently he worked on a farm, he enjoyed it there but there was not much to do at that time of the year so one morning he decided to go off for a bit. So early that morning he got up, packed his ruck-sack and left without telling anyone. This was about a week ago and he was just thinking of writing back to say where he was. I thought he would get sacked but he said that he often did it . After a while we had a game of darts and by some miracle I beat the other two easily, I had finished when they were just starting. The decorator and the father of the family were also there, and we learned from them that this Chris chap had been a bit merry the night before, his favorite drink was vodka. We all went back to the hostel at about ten thirty.
Once we were back we went into the kitchen for something to eat Clive and I had Ox tongue sandwiches. We had been given this by a chap at Kendoon but it was tinned. We spent some time here and also had a cup of tea and a lot of talk passed before we went to bed, and the warden did not mind what time we went.
July 29 Thursday (29 miles)
Again we woke to the sound of rain, that warm front was certainly passing slowly and it did not encourage us to go out. Because of this we stayed at the hostel until half passed eleven. Again we saw the hovercraft that we had seen the night before, soon it was to start a regular ferry service across the Firth of Clyde between Gourock and Dunoon.
When at last we had to leave the hostel it was still raining and we bought our food in Strone and ate it in a bus shelter which made Clive let out a yell when he saw it. When we had eaten our food which was mostly from the bakers Clive did not want to move, the rain had broken his will to travel but at last he agreed to come with me to Tighnabruich which is pronounced as it is spelled but that does not help much.
The first part of the ride was reasonably flat. It took us round Holy loch then struck west back across the peninsular by way of the B836. This very small road wound
its way through the hills to Loch Striven. It climbed to about four hundred feet at Loch Tarson which is dammed, this does not mean a curse has been put on it. Then we dropped to Striven. It was some drop and just for a change it stopped raining but I kept my cape on to dry it off. When we reached the bottom we went round the loch then climbed the other side. It was some climb but was small besides what was to come, all the same it made us get off and push and the ride down to loch Riddon was so gradual that we hardly noticed it I felt rather heated about this but there was nothing I could do. Our next climb was much worse. We both had our capes off before we reached it, it felt rather strange without it . We went up Glendaruel, then came to our turning off, it was across a small bridge on which we stopped for a few minutes before starting the climb.
The road was flat for the first two or three hundred yards then it went up. We soon had to start walking as the road wound its way up the hill, there were many hair-pin bends at first then it became straighter but still too steep to ride. We pushed on for ages all the time the view became better, we could see row after row of mountains from this little road which for most of its length had grass growing down its center. The road roughly followed a snail stream after a few miles, the stream had carved out a large ravine which the road came very close to at times. We kept on pushing and here I made the dreadful mistake of saying to Clive that it would be flat after this climb. As we neared the top there were places where we could ride, but they never lasted long and we were soon off pushing again. Eventually the top did come although I had begun to think that there was no top and that we would end up in heaven almost dead with exhaustion. The view from the top made the climb worth it. The road dropped away before us we could see for miles along Loch Fyne, some hills in the distance appeared a dark blue, and the rain was not falling. We dropped happily down towards the Loch then to Clive’s disgust there was a series of little hills for the rest of the journey and the rain returned. He was really annoyed and he still has not got over it today, I thought it was rather funny but this did not cheer him up. He was glad to get to the hostel.
When we were settled in I found that we had climbed 1042 feet that day. This hostel was on the Kyles of Bute which is well known for sailing, so the hostel was almost full of of people who were on a sailing course. After we had eaten we found out that a caley was being held at the pub, so as neither of us knew what it was we went to find out. Clive regretted this as it was Scottish dancing which seemed to upset him as much as my false statement about the hills. When we got back to the hostel we found two people who had been at the caley having a fierce argument about about each others driving. Soon after we got back we went to bed.
July 30 Friday (52 miles)
This morning we woke to a bright sunny day for the ride to Inveraray, but we still did not get up early. After we were up Clive suggested catching a boat to Tarbet and
cycling up the other side of the loch I was not very keen on this but it did not seem a bad idea, so when we had eaten we went down to the pier to find out the price. Of course we went to the wrong pier at first and had to cycle back a few miles to the right one then we found out that it was about 15/- this made up my mind and rather reluctantly Clive agreed, and we set off north.
From here on we would be heading North almost all the time. First we had to cross to Loch Fyne, this took some time as we stopped for dinner on the way. We had bought our food at Tighnabruich and as we were late leaving we soon had it. We stopped in a field by the road where we had our normal monchaes as Clive called it. He could speak some French but he did not like using it on French people, whenever someone asked me whether I spoke French I rapidly told them that Clive did and even faster he said that he only spoke a little. This may have been true but every so often when we were cycling some queer word came out which I presumed to be French but seeing that I can not speak it I could not be sure. In the middle of our eating a tractor came along but did not seem to mind us being in its field.
Soon after we had set off again we saw a shop van which Clive could not resist, this was the second one in the day and we had hardly left the hostel, he bought some tarts there and ate them as we rode this was what he called perfect cycling. We soon reached the Loch by the Otter ferry but there is no ferry there any more just a pier and a house. Once we were passed here we were on a marvelous road. It was single track and ran right by the side of the Loch, this made it flat except for a few small bumps. We cycled along in the sun for several miles before my back cog went again, at that moment it seemed like disaster but it was not for I was so angry that I sprayed the thing with oil and forced it round. It went from then on I realized how good it was to have a free wheel and it gave me no more trouble. After about seven miles we turned in a bit then we were at Strachur again, but in much better weather. The only thing wrong was that we knew that we had a large hill to climb in a few miles but before we came to this we saw a submarine and stooped to have a look at it then started the climb. It did not seem too bad but it was a long drag. When we reached the top we stopped so I could take a photo as there was quite a view down the loch. We then ran down to Glen Kinglas and round the head of the loch and down the other side towards loch Shira which we had to go round. Just as we were at the end of this loch down came the rain, it was the first shower of many. We put our capes on but it soon stopped and we were in sun again.
When we arrived at Inveraray we could not find the hostel but by asking we found it. There was only one person there when we arrived and he was a very Scottish scot. Clive had been longing for this moment for ages as he was was to have his clean clothes sent here and they were waiting for him, as always when he is pleased he gave a strange sort of laugh which does not stop for some time, it was a good job that there were not many people there.
The evening was rather quiet as we had to stay in as it was raining. For dinner I had a tinned old English grill and a tinned sponge pudding both of which took ages to cook but it was no trouble as I just had to boil the tins. For most of the evening we played cards with this Scottish bloke and two girls.
July 31 Saturday (40 miles)
I was woken up very early that morning with the window by my head being blown open and the rain showering in I closed it quick and went back to sleep. In the morning I was thanked by some fellow for closing the window, I soon told him that I did it to keep myself dry.
We soon left the hostel and went into the town which is the county town of Argyll but it is not much bigger than a village. Here we had to post Clive’s dirty cloths and buy our dinner as we knew that there were no shops for some distance. I bought another Jersey slice. When we were ready we set off along the A8I9 which took us up Glen Aray, it was not terribly steep but it went on for miles, and we had a shower on the way up. When we reached the top there was a good view of Loch Awe and Ben Cruachan behind it. We found a suitable place and sat down to scof(eat). At first the sun was out and we were warm after the climb but it soon became cooler and a large cloud approached from round Ben Cruachan pouring rain down as hard as it could, we sat and watched it as the wind built up then we prepared for it. I covered my cycling bag and like Clive made a tent out of my cape and got in it and carried on eating while the wind howled round us, but to our surprise we only had a few drops of rain as the cloud passed down the valley between us and the mountain, which was obscured by the rain.
When it had passed we went on but as it was colder I put my anorak on Clive thought this was a waste of time but he soon learned different as we had a long run down in front of us and it was rather cool. Half way down I had to stop and take a photo, and by this time Clive was getting cooler. We continued on down until Olive’s hands became so cold that we had to stop for him to warm them up.
This done we continued round the Loch until we came to a shop where we both decided that it would be a good idea to stop and just as we did the rain came down again but it was only a shower. We bought some food and eat it while we were waiting for the rain to stop. We soon were off on our journey again round the base of Ben Cruachan and into the pass of brander. I thought this was rather good and decided to take a photo of it and to get the right angle I had to stand in the middle of the road, I was so intent on getting this photo that I did not notice the traffic build up behind me until I had taken it then Clive told me about the pile up of cars and I had to move fast, for some reason this struck him as funny and he was forever telling people about it for the rest of the trip.
Soon after this the wind built up and the rain came down in a shower again and naturally the wind was against us. l put my cape on which did not help things as it acted as a parachute. When it stopped we were almost through the pass whose sides dropped steeply to the Loch which gradually became narrower. Here we stopped to take off our capes. We had to get to Oban before the shops closed as Clive had to get a new pannier frame and toe clip for we would not see another large town for some weeks. It was not long before we met Loch Etive which shone in the sun with the large hills of Etive in the back, I meant to take a photo but for some reason I did not Just laziness.
We rode along the side of the Loch for some time in the warm sun but every few miles the road went inland a bit then dashed back to the Loch. Towards the mouth of the Loch the road stayed with it and we could see the current getting more rapid as we approached the Falls of Lora. When we were about half a mile from them they came in sight, only a few feet high but for a tidal fall they seemed quite large as they stretched right across the Loch which at this point was about half a mile wide. We stopped to have a look just under the bridge at Connel which almost crosses the falls. Instead of crossing the bridge we had to turn south for Oban. By this time neither of us was feeling very energetic so we went fairly slowly along the last hilly five miles to Oban, but it did not take life long to get there, and we were soon gliding down to the town.
The first thing we did was to look for a cycle shop there was only one in the town so it took us some time to find it and when we did it was not much good. It did not have a pannier frame but it did have a cycle clip but he had to buy a pair. After this we went to find some food, Clive was thinking of having a brought meal so he did not get anything but I got my usual stuff which included two eggs one of which I broke.
After a long search we found the hostel which was on the sea front. It had a good store so Clive decided to cook his own. When we had eaten we went out for Clive to phone home, he spent ages while I gazed across the Sound of Kerrera. We then went along to the pier to see what boats went to Port William, there were none so we went back to the hostel where we just talked with a load of others.
August 1 Sunday (53 miles)
I woke up this morning realizing that I was seventeen but I forgot this for the rest of the day, or most of it. It looked like being a good day weather wise, the sky was clear and was showing no signs of clouding over.
After our breakfast we packed our bikes, I took a photo, then we said goodbye to a couple of girls and went. We had to go back over some of the road that we had come along the day before, but this was only as far as the Connel Bridge, which we had to pay to cross. As we left the hostel at our usual time we were almost ready for our food by this time but it was a Sunday so we were forced, to wait until we found a shop, we had tried Connel with no luck so we went on until we found a caravan site which had a small shop, Clive got me a packet of oat cakes for my birthday, it was very welcome.
When we had bought our stuff we went on a bit until we came to Loch Creran. The sun was very hot by now so we were glad of the rest and an eat. The loch is a branch off loch Linnhe and looks similar, the hills were close round but were not very high, the sky was still almost clear except for a few small cumulus. As usual Clive had some oranges and every so often he would trot off to the Loch to wash his hands, each journey was a bit longer as the tide was going out. After some time we had to carry on reluctantly towards Fort William, but the ride was marvelous.
First we had to round loch Creran which we both thought was rather unnecessary as it meant going about ten miles instead of about one, the only way round this was to cross the railway bridge but we could not reach it with our bikes so we had to go round. We were soon it the region of Appin,and I had to stop to take a photo of the castle. We then carried on towards Ballachulish in the boiling sun, while the sides of the Loch Linnhe closed in. The road followed the side of the Loch for sometime then went inland a bit. This meant a climb but we were soon drooping down the other side and back to the Lock. I had not looked at the map this day and thought that Ballachulish was still miles ahead this did not seem to please Clive very much when I told him, but round the next corner was the place where we were to catch the ferry across Loch Leven, also at this point the Pap of Glencoe came into view so we stopped for another photo.
There was a long queue for the ferry but this did not bother us, we just went passed it and onto the first boat that came. It was a typical Scottish ferry with the usual turnable deck. When we were across we had an ice then carried on north up the side of Loch Linnhe which now had steep sides. We were riding along innocently then it hit us, we saw Ben Nevis, it was only a glimpse but that was nearly enough to knock Clive off his bike, as we had planned to go up the next day. The first thing he said when he had recovered was that he hoped I would enjoy myself tomorrow.
Eventually we arrived at Fort William, which we passed straight through to Glen Nevis. The road running up the Glen was only small but was good for cycling. There were quite a few caravans and tents near the river which came down from the Ben. The valley sides were steep and there were a few trees around. The Bens seemed to run out of grass at a certain height above which was the bare granite which was a slight pink in one place. We soon came to the hostel which was built of timber.
As usual we booked in and made our beds then ate. After we went across the river. The bridge was rather strange, there were steps up one side but there was only a slope down the other, and this was covered with sand so it was very slippery, but we got across and soon came back and went into the hostel to do anything. At first we just had a natter with this French bloke, then we got into a game of cards with a few others who had been up the mountain that day. As usual the only games played were wist and pontoon. Also that evening I washed some of my things, including the sheet sleeping bag. Somehow during this process I lost my soap and its container, which left us without any between us as Clive had not got any since Kendoon. At about eleven we went to bed hoping that the weather would be good tomorrow for our climb
August 2 Monday (6 miles)
Again we woke up to a sunny sky, and Clive decided to come to the top. After doing the normal things we bought some food at the hostel store then went off.
We were behind the main body of people who went up but not for long. After we had crossed the bridge we had to cross a bog this was no joke, but it was rather funny to see everyone jumping about trying to keep there feet dry; I do not think that anyone succeeded, we certainly did not. Passed the bog we had to start going up,this first bit was the steepest on the whole journey. By the time we reached it we were still near the back, but we just went up passing several people on the way. It took about ten minutes to get up this, then we met the path which was rather rough but it was much easier. From here on we just went on regardless passing almost everyone in sight. The path wound its way up the side of the Ben and we could still see the hostel when we were at about two and a half thousand feet. From this height we had a fantastic view. We could see almost vertically down to the Glen and passed this loch Linnhe was just coming into view and we could see most of Loch Eil. Soon the path curved round into the hill towards a stream which we crossed quite easily as there were many stones around to step on. After this the path carried on upwards soon to meet the end of the grass.
At this point we accidentally left the path and ended up on some rather wet ground, we soon found it again and carried on. By this time we were ahead of everyone who had started off before us. The path went on up and up, the grass became thinner and there were more and more stones, and it got cooler but we did not notice this as we were sweating with the climb. We were soon out of the grass and we found that what we had thought was solid rock was all loose stones, this made the walking harder but the path was not so steep. About ten minutes after we had left the grass we were in the snow. The first sign was just below the four thousand foot mark. I suddenly shouted out to Clive when I saw the first pile of the stuff. We thought this was a lot but as we went on we saw more, then we met two other chaps I think they were German. They had left at about seven that morning and were now on there way down. This was our first rest and we were glad of it. None of the people from the hostel were in sight, the sky was now more cloudy but there was no sign of rain or snow, and the top was clear of cloud which was the main thing. We soon continued on to the top. The path was not at all steep now, and the top was soon in sight. Near the top we saw the edge of a large cliff but we could not get near it as there was a large pile of snow covering it which did not look too safe.
When we reached the top it was deserted and the snow almost covered the ground, and it looked new as there were no footprints. The first thing we did was to take some photos of each other standing on the trig point on top. The view from this point was strong enough to make anyone feel a little queer. You could see all round for miles, to the west the Cullin on Skye were visible so was the island of Rhum, to the south was the whole of loch Linnhe stretching as far as Oban, to the east was the great bulk of the Cairngormes and all the nearby mountains, and north lay all the mountains of North west Scotland fading away in the distance.
We had our food on the edge of the cliff where there was no snow, there was a drop of about a thousand feet possibly more. Just as we were starting two other chaps arrived, and we all scoffed and ate the snow for water as we had stopped walking we soon felt the cold so I put my anorak on, Clive had his P.V.C .which he claimed to be extremely warm. After some time spent gazing across to Skye, and down on the Loch,we set of back down.
It had taken us two hours to get up but it was to take much longer to get back down. The sun was still shining but at first it was still cool, but we took it slowly after the effort of getting up. Going this way we could see the path ahead and we found that we had been zig zagging up the last bit. At about the place where we had met the German chaps we met a fellow from the hostel with his sons . He seemed surprised when we told him that the snow was thicker at the top. Whilst we were up there we had a look at the old observatory, it was just a ruin but quite interesting. He was also rather surprised that there were quite a few people up there who had trodden the snow in. Soon the climb down started to have its effect on my toe. Every step down made my foot slide into the shoe and every time this happened it took some skin off the toe.
When we were back in the grass we decided to leave the path and go straight down. Turning off the path was an excuse for another rest, we had had many rests since we had met the chap from the hostel, we excused ourselves by saying that we were admiring the view which was still very good. The course we took took us over a stream, we could not see it but we could hear it running under the rocks. In places it came out and we stooped for a drink. It was rather steep here and my toes soreness was increasing so I stopped often. After some time we came to the path again, and this time we stuck to it but it still seemed harder going down than going up, mainly because of my toe. In places the path was just a stream but this did not bother us much but we always found it a relief when we came to a bit of flat path. About half way down there was a spot of rain, but it was only a spot so we ignored it, and the sun was soon out again.
Eventually the hostel came in sight but we were still rather high, all we could do was to keep droping. The view gradually disappeared and about four hours after we had left the top we were ready to leave the path. This last drop just about finished my toe, somehow Clive managed to run down that slope, I did a bit but it was killing. We were soon down in the luxury of the bog. Clive just walked on regardless and his shoes are still off colour. When we reached the stream we stopped, Clive washed his feet, and rested while I just rested.
When we had recovered we staggered back over the bridge and into the hostel, changed our feet then ate. After this Clive found someone who could play canaster, and I carried on with my book,I also went out to get a photo of the Glen.
August 3 Tuesday (29 miles)
Waking the next day was terrible, we both found that we had been paralyzed, then we realized that we were just stiff but this made it no more comfortable. We just managed to get down the stairs and hobble about getting something to eat but it was not easy. After much groaning we were almost ready to leave but first I had to get the things that I had washed. They were all there but the sleeping bag had been collected with the wardens so I went to him with the one I had hired and asked him for mine, he asked me whether it was a thin one then came out with one I looked at it then he told me it was mine so I took it.
Soon we were off back along the glen on our way to Loch Lochy. lt was only a short ride but it was enough for us that day. First we wanted to get a good view of Ben Nevis so we went to Corpach where I took a photo. We were not sure that we were on the right course but it turned out all right. We were now in the Great Glen but it was so wide at that point that you could hardly tell that it was a glen. We went along side the Caledonian Canal, which showed few signs of use. I wanted to have a look at Loch Arkaig but this was too much for Clive, he strongly protested so we left it, and went on. As we were so fagged out we decided to go to Fort William to eat , we just had fish and chips then went back to the hostel feeling much better.
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on along the B8004, until we came to a dam where we stopped to have a look. lt was on the River Lochy, and was used as a power station. We continued on along this road till we met the A82 which is the main road through the Glen, it was also the last sizable road we were to see for some time. We met it at the Commando monument, which we had seen and were to see on many post-cards. There was a small crowd of people round it taking photos but I did not bother.
The road from here was moderately flat as Scottish roads go and it curled into the Great Glen but it was some time before we were on the way down to Loch Lochy. On this slope Clive went ahead and I had fun by keeping at the same s speed as him all the way down. When I was behind him I caught up as I was in his slip stream, then just as I was about to run into his back wheel I moved out this slowed me down and I drooped back, great fun. Soon we were at the side of the Loch and at the first suitable place we stopped to eat. It was at the side of the Loch and we spent ages there. First naturally we ate then rested, there was quite a bit of cloud but the sun came out occasionally and there was no rain again. We then had another skimming contest but could not come to an agreement about who was best so we gave up and Clive decided to show me how to play five-stones. I had no idea of the game so he won every time, this pleased him but not me, but we played for some time until I was thoroughly sick of the game then we stopped and had another go at skimming but the result was the same as the last time. We then lazed about for some time, about half an hour then went.
The ride up the side of the Loch was quite good until Clive fell off. We were riding double when a large Scottish lorry came roaring by, all Scots lorries roar by, when he heard it coming he went to pull in behind me, but instead of doing this he pulled into me, somehow I stayed up but he went over taking part of my pannier bag with him. He was all right except for a large cut in his leg which had round it an even larger bruise round it. He was soon on his bike which was rather scratched and was busily complaining about the mad Scottish lorry drivers who roamed the country until we arrived at the hostel.
It was a large house just passed the end of the Loch and the cycle shed was more like a stable. There was a fairly good store there which we bought our food at. When we came to cook it we found it rather difficult as there were about eight people trying to cook on the one coal cooker, which was not very hot. There were three gas rings but the warden would not turn the gas on so they just sat looking at us. A while later the warden came storming in saying that the fire would not get hot if there was no coal on, this seemed logical so she piled the coal on and soon the top of the stove was red hot and things cooked fast. For the rest of the evening we just played cards with two girls and their brother, then went to bed.
August 4 Wednesday (46 miles)
Early that morning I woke feeling very hot and sick but it went off after some time when I had opened the window, it was just lack of air.
When we woke the weather was looking fair, it was dry but rather cloudy. We had a good ride ahead of us to Ratagan so I was rather pleased. As usual we were about the last ones up but this time we were given worse jobs like washing the floor of the kitchen which was of a ridiculous size.
We were soon away along the A82 to Loch Oich, this is only a small loch but it forms part’ of the chain through the Great Glen. About half way along its length the road turned in to Invergarry, where we turned off along the A87, but first we had to buy our food as we were to see no more shops for many miles. We went into a grocers, about the only one in the village, and spent ages there deciding what to get. Clive saw some bottled jellies and burst out laughing for some reason only known to him.
After some time we were off again. The road was a major Scottish one, it was single track for the whole of its length with passing places. The first few miles were fairly flat then we came to Loch Garry, the road then went round the North side of this loch across which could be seen the mountains of the west.
After about two miles the road left the side of the Loch and started to climb, and it kept on climbing for miles. Round each corner we expected to see the top but it did not come. When we did eventually reach the top we stopped to eat. There were some other cyclists eating up there but they soon went. We found a suitable place on top of a small cliff then ate. There was great view from here, we could see almost all of Loch Loyne which looked almost empty as it was a dammed Loch and beyond this we could see Maol Cheann Dearg, these are the mountains above Glen Shiel. We could also see Gleourach.
Clive did not seem to think much of this view, he was too busy eating his melon. After a long rest we carried on, this time it was downhill for miles, passed the dam of the loch and on to the top of Glen Moriston. Despite the wind which was against us this was still a good run down. When we came to turn west the wind was with us. We had to go up a bit at first but it was only as far as Loch Cluanie, then the road went along the side of the Loch. All along this road we had not seen a sign of civilization since Invergarry except for the occasional car.
This Loch looked as grand as the others we had seen that day and as bleak. It was about seven miles long so we were with it for some time. When we left it we had to go up again but not for long it was only along Glen Cluanie which was not very steep, nor were the surrounding hills. Soon we came to the top of Glen Shiel, which looked much better, it went down steeper and the sides were higher. The sky was now overcast but it was still dry, as we went down the Glen became more rugged, the sides were steeper and higher, and the road became bumpier. We were able to freewheel for about eight miles. On the way down when we were about two miles from the bottom we saw a group of cyclists going up, so to cheer them up I shouted out that they had an awful ride ahead of them, they just said they knew and did not look very pleased.
We were soon at the bottom and were in the midst of the mountains of Wester Ross. From this point the Glen was almost flat until we reached Loch Duich. We had to turn off here for the hostel, and naturally turning of meant a climb, but we were soon going down again when we turned off this road. According to the map the hostel was somewhere along this road but we somehow managed to go straight passed it and on for miles. As we had come so far for nothing I had to take a photo looking at the Five Sisters of Kintail.
The cloud was now down on the top of the hills, and it looked very much like rain so we turned back and found the hostel which was rather like a barn. The dining room, common room, kitchen and the store were all in the same room, so it was rather crowded. To get to our dormitory we had to go round the outside and up a sort of ladder this led us to what looked like an attic but was really our dormitory. There were two rooms one for a common room but this was not used so much as there was no fire. We had our food here which was tinned beefburgers and instant mashed potato which I made with evaporated milk it was awful. Clive could not eat his. In the evening we discussed Clive’s bruise with some nurses and tried some tricks with matches and cards a few jokes were also told.
The rain started at about eight and when it was really comming down the warden came over saying that I looked a big lad and told me to stand up like a fool I did this and he happily said “yes you re big enough to get the coal in’, so I had to go out in the rain to get it, and got soaked in doing so. When we went to bed we thought that the roof might leak as the rain was hammering on it rather heavily but it did not.
August 5 Thursday (32 mi1es )
When we woke up that morning the rain had stopped but it was still overcast so it looked like we were going to get wet before we reached Broadford. We had a normal breakfast which included cornflakes with evaporated milk, then after we had cleaned the sink and washed the tables we were ready to go, but as usual every morning Clive had to fix his pannier frame. This was becoming a habit now.
At first we had to go along the road that we had come along the day before then we turned off round the end of loch Duich on the A67. This took us in a wide sweep round some swampy land before we were back at the Loch on its north side. The weather was dull but we always considered that it was good if it was not raining. After several miles we came to a horrible looking hill which I had been warned about before I left home by a certain fellow called Tucker. It was awful. There was not much wind bit the rain was starting. We soon caught up with two other chaps who had been at the hostel, but they soon left us as we decided to walk, and put capes on. After much pushing and sweating we reached the top and had the run down to come but the road was rather bendy so we had to use breaks which were not much good in this weather. When we were near the bottom we saw the chaps from the hostel taking a photo I could not be left out so we stopped and took the same photo of Eilean Donnan Castle then went on down to the village of Dornie where we bought our food at Hanks Store. Clive got among other things about three fruit pies they were all in a bag with the rest of his food but he had to take them out to get them onto his bike in doing this he found that lie had been sold an empty box instead of a pie. He was back in that shop within seconds and was out with another pie just as quick.
As it was raining we wanted somewhere sheltered so after we had been to the post office for Clive to draw out some money we went over the new bridge across loch long and ate underneath it. It was a salt water loch so there was rather a smell but the tide was going out. When all was eaten we started trying to skim under the bridge and somehow this lead to a splashing contest, we each got the biggest stone we could carry then threw it into the nearest bit of loch to the other person, it was great fun except when I got splashed. Under many of the stones were some horrible Scottish enlarged earwigs.
Soon we had to leave and carry on along the side of Loch Alsh, this loch joins on to Loch Long and Loch Duich it also separates Skye from the mainland. At the village of Loch Alsh we stopped for something to eat as there was a shop. About five miles passed this the road turned inland and we had to climb again, and as we were feeling lazy we had to push Clive wanted to start riding again when we saw some cyclists coming down this hill, but we did not. About four miles later we were at the west coast at Badicaul, and the wind was getting up and it was starting to rain. It was a hilly bit of road so we were both glad to get to Kyle of Loch Alsh where we were to catch the ferry across to Skye.
The wind was quite strong by the time we caught the ferry and the rain was becoming heavier but we thought it was all right as there was not very far to go. The crossing was only about a mile but it was rather choppy for this narrow straight. When we reached the other side we found out how strong the wind was. It was trying flat out to blow both of us off and at times it almost succeeded, I think the wind has something against all cyclists, and especially us. Just the other side of Kyleakin where the ferry stops there was a hill and on our way up the rain really came down and did not stop that night. When we got to the top of that hill we saw a marvelous rainbow over the hills. It was not a smooth curve but was creased like the aurora, it did not last long and we were soon riding along in almost gale force winds which were certainly not with us. At times we were having to lean right into the wind then when it stooped we went shooting across to the other side of the road only to be blown back by the next gust. The rain was so heavy that we could not see even the bottom of the hills which started close to the side of the road. By the time we were thoroughly worn out and soaking wet we came to Broadford where we bought our food at a caravan sight. There was a car stuck in the mud and while I was looking at the map Clive went off to give it a push. We then had to go through the town then turn off the the hostel which was not far.
When we got in there was a little notice it the window of the store which said that we were not to disturb the warden as she was having her tea. I did not like the idea of standing around soaking wet so I rung the bell, and Clive quietly crept off but I dragged him back just as the warden was coming and for some reason she thought that he had done it and started to ask him whether he could read to this question he just gave a grunt as if he had no idea of what he was talking about, I listened to this for a bit then told her who rung it, she was not very pleased but we were soon dry and cooking.
After our supper and after I had once again been asked by the warden to go out in the rain and get the coal in, and break it up, and after Clive had stopped laughing a group of us squeezed round the table and had a natter about various things, mainly Scots and English. Clive also mentioned the fact that he wanted to buy a kilt, but he was soon put off the idea when he was told that it would cost about 20.
As the hostel was so-crowded some girls had to sleep on the floor of the common room so our little group had to go up to the top to get the mattresses. Clive gave one of the girls a scare by saying that he was sleeping there as well. When I went to bed she was waiting outside our dormitory and asked me to ask a fellow called Jimmy Thompson or some name like that for the tooth paste. Several people came in after this asking this Thompson fellow for various things.
August 6 Friday (49 miles)
That morning the weather was much better but it was still rather cloudy. Before we left we both had too oil our bikes as the rain had washed most of it off . When we were ready we set off with no food as we thought we would be able to find soon.
The first bit of the road, the A850, was inland but there was a good view of the Red Hills, and it was not long before we were at the coast. The road was not bad at first but a few miles on it was dug up where they were trying to widen it as it was only single track. Bumps always make me annoyed and them putting up boards that said they were sorry about the inconvenience caused made it no better! tried to hold my temper and rode along in silence when we were on the bumpy stretches but at times I had to shout out my protests. By the time we had reached loch Ainort we had passed several villages none of which had any shops. They were strange places the houses were more scattered than in English villages but it was hard to believe that there were no shops so I came to the conclusion that they were hiding them. At the end of the loch the new road turned off but we decided to stick to the old coast road and went round the coast, there was still no sign of a shop. All along this road there were deserted beaches before the view across to the Island of Scalpay. It was not long before we were back on the main road and riding along the side of loch Sligachan. In front of us was a good view of the Cullin and when we got to the hotel of the same name we could also see Blaven and the view of this became better as we went away up the road towards Portree . We still had not found any food and were getting rather hungry as it was about two o’clock. The road we were on climbed at first to about 362 feet this was in just over two miles so we had a good long run down. It went on for miles, there were a few parts that went up but they were hardly noticeable . From this hill we could see across to the Storr and the Old Man of Storr, but we did have a bit of rain.
Before long we were at the side of Portree Loch and were longing to get to Portree and its shops. In the town we saw a bakers so we had to stop and spend, we then went onto another shop and spent more money on food, and carried on until we thought we had enough to fill us . After this we struggled out of the town as it was up
a rather steep hill, and stooped at the first suitable place and just ate and ate. We both had spent about seven or eight bob, but it was worth it. From where we were we had a good view of the Storr but its top was in the clouds most of the time. After some time we carried on .The road was still single track but was not too bumpy, and we had no really big hills it went round the Storr and passed two small Lochs then went down slightly. From this point on the road kept fairly near the coast but at times it was way above it and there was almost a sheer drop down from the road to the sea. After some time we came to where I thought the Kilt Rock should be so we stopped at a place where the road went within about twenty feet of the cliff edge and went over to it. There was quite a drop and along to the north we could see the rock which was just another part of the cliff. We stayed here some time just looking over the edge and trying to throw stones into the sea without throwing ourselves over.
We carried on passed Loch Mealt towards Staffin, and before long the road was made of paving stones laid down in rows of three but we were soon in Staffin and once we found the road that went to the hostel we were soon there and were booking in. It was quite a large hostel and as we had not booked we had to pay, we both thought this was a cheek but we payed. To get to our dormitory we had to go up many stairs as it was in the attic. There was a sea scout there who intended to go to the Outer Hebrides the next day but he had to get to Uig to get the boat and this would take some time. After we had had our food we went to the beach which was not far from
the hostel but we had to cross many rocks so it took some time the tide was coming in so we just messed about on the rocks. There were several large waves which seemed to come in groups so we just tried to get out as far as possible without getting wet. Soon we went back to the hostel where we did not do much except find the cycle shed which was hidden outside the hostel disguised as a cow shed. We also played cards, but only the usual games.
August 7 Saturday (9 miles)
When we woke the next morning the sea scout was ready to go but it did not seem possible that he would be able to get to Uig in time for the boat. We were taking all day to get there. We set off at our usually late time and had to go back into the village to get our food as we did not think that there would be many shops along the road, and there was not.
When we had all we wanted we set off north along the same small road as we were on yesterday. The wind was against us but it did not matter much as we did not have far to go. The road went round the north end of the island and was near the coast most of the time. When we came to Kilmaluig we stopped at the post office there for food and a stamp then went on a few miles till we came to Score bay where we stopped for some time.
The wind was still fairly strong so we found a sheltered spot and ate. After this we went over the rocks to the sea where we saw a fellow how we had seen at Broadford eating a cauliflower. He was with some other people in a boat, an inflatable one, they were trying to get out beyond the breakers but were not finding it very easy as every time a wave came it either showered over the side of the boat or the boat would buckle up and try to toss them out and it almost succeeded while Clive and I stood and almost killed ourselves laughing. We were standing on a kind of breakwater which was very broken and while we were laughing at the people in the boat the tide was coming in and we were forced to take a jump across a nasty gap which kept filling up with water. Clive made it but I got a wet foot. After this we went back to our rock for more food, then we went off round the side of the cliff it was easy at first but we soon came on some slippery patches which were not so easy but we got across them, just,eventually we came to the end as the rocks jutted out into the sea. We went as far as we could then there was a gap, full of sea, then another bit of rock so naturally we had to get to it. When there was a lull in the waves you could just get across so I did so and as soon as I was across a series of waves came thundering through the gap, this set Clive off laughing but I did not think it all that funny, but when I got back and he was over there I saw the funny side but he did not and he got back at the first chance. I went over there once more just for a laugh and nearly got swept away so when I got back we went away back along the cliff to our rock. On our way back the rain came, I was back first so I got under my cape Clive did the same when he got back. There were only a few spots so after some time we were ready to carry on towards Uig. So we loaded and went.
We only had about three miles to go but the first thing we met was a horrible great hill for some reason I had an urge to belt up this one so I did and regretted it. Once we were at the top it was fairly flat and only came down again when we were going down into Uig there was a terrible hair pin bend in the road but we got round it and stopped at the first shop we saw to get some food, then we went on to the hostel which was a gnat infested hut but it could have been worse-possibly. Our dormitory was another hut, and in it we found a fellow who we soon took an intense dislike for, he was atypical Scot who thought that the English were a load of idiots -maybe he was right- but we could not let him think this so we did all we could to make the Scots look daft, I don’t think he liked this.
That evening we all went into the common room and had a game of cards and there we saw that Thompson fellow and his companion who did not play. I gave up after a while as we were playing solo and another chap wanted a game during the evening this Thompson fellow came out with some rather good stories, had everyone laughing, but we did not laugh when we were told that all the shops on Skye closed on Sunday as we had hardly any food left, I had an egg and Clive had a bit of bread, everyone else seemed to think this was funny I can’t see why. At eleven we fought our way through the gnats and went to bed.
August 8 Sunday (38 miles)
This day we were to go to Glen Brittle which is by the Cullins but we knew we were in for a hungry day and were right. After we had had our breakfast and I had hard boiled the egg we attempted to load our bikes this was far from easy as as soon as we stepped outside the hostel we were attacked by a swarm of gnats by the time we were loaded we were covered by a rash of bites, this was not very nice, so we were glad to get going.
It was not too hilly but the road was Scottish so was not very good it was the A856 and took us right to Portree where we had hopes of finding something to eat. From a few miles away from the hostel we could see the Cullins which were under a clear patch of sky all day while we were under a sheet of stratocumulus stratoformis undulataus. By the time we reached Portree we were rather hungry and we still had miles to go. We searched the town for an open shop but they were extinct and all we found was a chocolate machine and we had no sixpences but we managed to get some changed, about two bob it was better than nothing so we went off and ate what we had which was not much.
Passed this so called town we took the B885 which was an even smaller road than the one we had been on, but it was not a bad road for its size. Twas rather hilly but we were getting used to hills by this time. It went right across the moors towards the sun which we could still see over the hills. After some time we went down rather steeply to another road the A863 our road went down the side of a valley to get to it . When we were down we had a rest by the Loch which was called Harport, but after a few minutes we were invaded by gnats again so we had to move on round the Loch. After going round a rather deep inlet in the Loch the road climbed and we struggled. We could see the Cullins almost all the time now so when we got to the top of a hill we stopped for a photo and just at that time a car came up but stooped for me to take it, the fellow in the car was foreign and said something like”you wish to take a picture, yes” I just agreed and said I would allow him to be in it, so he was, well the back of his car was. After this we carried on feeling very hungry but the sun was getting nearer so the hostel must be as well so we struggled on over the hills. Soon we came to the end of the loch and turned off along the road to Glen Brittle. It was not much better than a track but it only had one real hill in it but that went on for miles and up to about 625 feet on the way up we passed a couple of girls who were going to the hostel. They were pushing so we did for a bit then carried on up. We were now in the sun which made things better but we were still hungry. Once we were up there was a fantastic run down but I somehow got stuck behind a car and the road was not wide enough to get round it, Clive went belting on but as the road was so bumpy it shook his pannier frame loose again and I soon caught up with him while he was trying to fix it.
When he had done this we went on to the hostel which seemed to be used as a climbing hostel mostly. The beds were not too good they were just boards with a very thin mattress and two tier as usual. After we had booked in and done the normal things we went down to get some food from the hostel store which luckily was a good one. I got a big tin of Irish stew but the worst thing about this was that it had to be put in boiling water for 45 minutes, this did not please me but I did it and when the time was up I went out there to get it and found that some blundering fool had taken it off the gas, fuming I put in back on and stood there to guard it for about ten minutes then I gave up and ate it. I only just managed to get it all on my dish and take it in to find Clive arguing with the two girls we had met about him and me eating different food and not sharing. We had found this the best way and were not going to change.
That evening after food we went for a walk through the midges to Loch Brittle with two chaps who had been to Ratagan the day before they were almost thrown out as one of them swore at the warden for turning the light out before they were ready but at the time they did not realize that it was the warden. When we reached the Loch the tide was out and there was miles of whitish sand, it almost tempted Clive to go for a swim but not quite. On the way back I managed to get a photo of a cow, it seemed quite friendly and looked at the camera when I told it to and not many cows do that especially Scottish cows. When we got back to the hostel we did not do much except have a natter then went to bed. At about half passed eleven several bods came strolling in after climbing some mountain. They had walked straight through a bog and got lost but this did not worry them they just got into bed and started eating cornflakes.
August 9 Monday (44 miles)
This was to be our last day on Skye and we were to make for the hostel at Kyle of Lochalsh. We started off the morning by having an argument about how to get out of the glen, Clive wanted to get the bus and for some reason I wanted to cycle, so after a rather heated discussion we started off cycling and as we knew we had an awful climb ahead so we pushed. When we were near the top someone in a car stopped and said that he knew exactly how we felt as he used to cycle, this seemed to make Clive very annoyed. When we got to the top there was quite a good run down but it was rather bumpy. The weather was great so we were boiling and just felt like resting but whenever we stopped the midges came into the attack. Hopefully Clive said that they only lasted a few days but those few days were terrible the only place that they did not go was round the coasts.
Somewhere along the A863 which runs up Glen Drynoch we decided to stop to eat. We had bought our food earlier that day before we left the hostel. There was a shop of sorts down by the Loch. To eat we chose a sort of field with a large bump in it, it looked like it was free of midges but after a few minutes we found out different and were driven off by the things. We decided to keep going until we came to the coast then have a long rest and a feed. We stopped at the bit of coast that we had seen a few days ago. It did not take too long to get there so we had plenty of time to do nothing. As usual we had a skimming contest and as usual we did not agree on who won. The rest of the time we just ate and did exactly nothing, then I realized the time, we would have to hurry to get somewhere in time to buy some food. This did not bother Clive but I was getting hungry so after about another hour we left. After a few miles I got a nose bleed this was not much fun but I carried on as Clive had gone ahead in a huff when I caught up with him it was still gushing blood at an amazing rate but it stopped when I ran out of the red fluid. After this we carried on along the rather bumpy road the only thing wrong with it was that there was no surface as was the case with most of the Scottish roads. Soon we came to Broadford again and we bought some food here for the evening then carried on towards Kyleakin. It was a good ride along this bit of road. The sun was out and we could see across to the mainland where we could see the hills around loch Carron, obviously sheep had been on them as there was no grass just rock. It was not long before we were at the ferry again, in rather different conditions than the last time.
Once we were across we had a nasty hill to climb before we got to the hostel so naturally I changed gear, and just to make up for the weather the cable snapped and there was no sign of a cycle shop so I had to push. After asking the way to the hostel and being told wrong and getting lost we arrived at Kyle hostel which was a converted school, which like the rest of Scotland was infested with midges.
After doing the normal things such as eating we did not much. Then some chaps started a game of canasta which Clive joined in but that game is above me so I went out. Just went for a wander with the camera was a good sun set so I used up some film, then went back to the hostel where Clive had given up playing as they were playing to rules which disagreed with him. For the rest of the evening we just told jokes with a group of girls and tried some tricks. Clive and I did one which had them all fooled.
When we were all in bed and the lights were out through the darkness came a loud ZZZZ… ZZZZ, someone snoring this I did not like as it was coming from below me, I was not the only one who did not like it as an even louder, rather artificial ZZZ came from the direction of Clive’s bunk and was followed by other ZZZ’s from all over the dormitory which was followed by a very disgruntled voice telling us to shut up or it would get the warden, there were a few dying ZZZ’s then all was quite.
August 10 Tuesday (28 miles)
This day we were to go to Achnashellach but first I had to do something about my gear cable. I asked the warden who said that there was a electricians in the town who should have one, so I went along there, but I was told when I got there that he only had the sturmey archer type cable but he said that he would try to fix my old one which he did and I went back to the hostel to fix it on. Soon we were ready, but we were still the last out of the hostel, I suppose the good weather got everyone else out-early.
Before we left we asked the warden the best way to go. He told us about a road which was not even on the map so we decided to take it. First we had to go along the road to Dornie but not that far. The warden had told us that we were to turn off a road that went up, and it did go up and up and up. When we were near the top we met two other cyclists who had cycled up, but they had very low gears, they said they had got up Hardknott Pass in the lakes, I had pushed up this a few years before and that was bad enough. We went along with them for a bit then they turned off and we went on to the Strome ferry which took us across loch Garron, it was better than swimming but this time it was baking hot with hardly any cloud. Once we were across the Loch we went straight to the Town of Lochcarron where the warden had told us that there was a marvelous baker but by the time we got there it had almost run out. We got what there was and a few other things and went a bit further along the Loch then went down to it to eat. We stayed there for most of the afternoon as we were only a few miles from the hostel. Clive decided to go for a swim in the Loch but he got in as far as his knees then said he wasn t going any further unless I went. I think he knew that I would not come so it was a good excuse for him to come out .For the rest of the afternoon we just messed about, had a skimming contest and a rather long heated argument which he won but I did not let him know that.
After some time we, reluctantly carried on to the hostel which was an old forestry commission hut but it was very popular as a hostel as the warden was a bit of a folk singer. There was only one thing wrong with it and that was that when we got there to our horror we saw the chap who we had met at Uig, still, you cant have it all ways for some reason.
In the handbook it said that there was no store at this hostel but it had one of the best ones we had seen so I got a beef curry and Clive got that Chow Mein which he managed to get stuck all round the saucepan like my first attempt. The stove there was literally red hot with most of the plates glowing. After we had eaten we just sat around and had a natter then in came the warden armed with a guitar and a few other so called folk singers. Things went on all evening until about quarter to one when people started to drift out. All evening there was a swarm of flies round the lamp above us and they kept dropping dead on this bod who was with us having a natter they also fell all over his dinner, or what ever you like to call it, hundereds of the things. Eventually we all drained out and went to bed.
August 11 Wednesday (62 miles)
Naturally we woke up late so did most of the others except a few keen ones. Our friend from Uig was going in the same direction as us so we made sure that we left before them. We left for Aultbea just as they were getting there bikes out so we went off saying that they would probably catch up with us as we went so slow as soon as we were out of sight we belted and kept going for about two hours. This part of the ride was all up Glen Carron but it was not very steep.
The idea was to get to Achnasheen and buy something to eat and when we got there we were just about ready for it, but disaster struck. We got to the village but we had to find a shop and that was not possible as there was not one. We went into the post office to ask where the nearest one was and we were told that there was one about ten miles down the road so we set off again feeling rather hungry. I told Clive that most of the next ten miles should be down hill and he took this to mean that it was all down hill. He got a bit niggled when we had to go up but it was not long before we were belting down Glen Docherty to Kinlochewe where we stopped to eat. That was about just over half an hour after Achnasheen which pleased both of us. We had a bit to eat in a cafe then bought some more and set off for loch Maree which was only a few miles on.
When we got there we stopped to eat some more, and as it was another hot sunny day we spent some time there skimming as usual and doing Clive’s favorite hobby – nothing. After some time we set off again,along the side of the loch which had the massive hulk of Slioch over it. At a point where the road turns away from the Loch I stopped for a photo and managed to hold up about two cars which was quite good seeing that in those parts cars were rare creatures.
After about an hour of riding through these wild parts we came to Gair Loch where we decided to stop for something cool and had a bit of a laze, sitting on a wall looking out over the Loch of the same name,I also decided to buy some eggs here. Ahead of us now was another great climb which we slogged up sometimes pushing but not often. It was really wild round here, there was no grass just the bare rocks and the occasional Loch. Soon we come to Loch Tollie, which was only small but it marked the place where we started to go down again so it was a welcome sight, although neither of us were feeling at all tired seeing we had come about fifty miles over a rather hilly part of Scotland. I suppose we were getting used to it. The run down brought us in sight of Loch Maree again but it was some way off. At the bottom of this hill we found ourselves in the primitive settlement of Poolewe which is at the end of loch Ewe round the other side of which Aultbea was supposed to be hiding but it was still some way off so we didn’t stop, but just went straight into another hill but once we were up this we were up and only came down gradually round the side of the hill. From up here we could see the small peninsula which the hostel was stood. There was also something in the loch we did not know what it was but we found out when we got to the hostel, it was something to do with the Polaris things, they were digging a hole in the side of the hill or something like that. Soon we were down and had to turn off the main road there was a sign post to the village which made a change, and we found the hostel quite easily.
The hostel was not at all crowded. There were only about four others there besides us and that was a family. After we had booked and done the normal things we went to the store . Clive got his stuff first and as he had some food left he did not want much but the warden would not have this and tried, without success, to sell him some more. When it came to me all I wanted was some baked beans as I had almost a full meal with me, this she did not like and she accused me of being stingy, she was quite right.
After we had eaten we went for a stroll round the village, what there was of it, then went back and bought some cards to write back, I decided that I wanted one of that mountain Slioch, so I asked for it, the card I mean, and the warden gave me a rather odd look as if I was talking a load of rot, then it snapped and she pronounced this word the wrong way and gave me the card.
We did not do much else that evening ,but we were warned by this other chap there that if we went any further north we would run into the Cleggs. I thought that this was notorious family whose ghosts haunted the wilds of this part, but later I found out that they were a type of horse fly, they were either this or cannibals as this chap said that they would eat you alive if you were not careful. After some time and much natter we all went to bed.
August 12 Thursday (51 miles)
This day we were to go to Ullapool, and we knew that we had a nasty hill to climb, but we still did not set off early, that was not allowed by us. The night before Clive tried to bake an apple, and as it would not bake he left it in all night and it still was not done so he left it to the warden, who didn’t seem overjoyed.
Eventually, after Clive had tightened up his pannier frame we set off across the peninsula between loch Ewe and Gruinard Bay. This was a bit of a climb but not much and we were soon over it. Like all Scottish hills we seemed to have to go up the steep long side and down the even steeper short side. We stopped at the top, there was a fairly good view so I took a photo and had a good ride down. Something happened to Clive on the way down but I saw him at the bottom, where we stopped to have our food on top of a sand bank.
After eating and letting it settle Clive managed to persuade me to go with him for a wade, so very reluctantly I fell down our sand bank and we wandered out to the sea which had tried to get away from our feet by getting the moon to pull it, but after much struggling we caught up with it. The beach was very shallow so we walked and walked before we got anywhere then when we got there we just cane back so it was a bit useless going but it was something to do.
A few five minuteses later we were off again. Naturally uphill but it was only over to Little Loch Broom, at least I thought it was only but to Clive’s disgust it was not. We had to get off and push, and that was unforgivable although we did it many times. We had to push and push until we got to a point where we could ride again,and soon we were at the top and we started to go down, if we hadn’t Clive would have erupted, and that could have been nasty.
The ride down was long and gradual, but the wind decided that we were having it too easy so it blew at us as hard as it could. By this time I had accepted the fact that you could not fight the wind, but Clive thought that this was a lot of nonsense so as soon as he felt the wind attacking him he went flat out to beat it while I ambled along behind.
Soon we came to this horrific hill which went over the corner of An Teallach, and we started to climb again, but this was a real climb. If we had gone much higher I think we would have come to the place of eternal rest which would have pleased us both when we got to the top. The top was 1110 feet up and it felt every inch of it. When we were up there the top was rather moor like so the wind howled across. We passed old deserted houses which was not really surprising that they were deserted. We stopped at the highest point to get a photo, but it was rather bleak, the sun had gone and there was a rotten looking lump of liquid floating above us. So we were soon on our way again,this time down. The wind was still against us but it was not a bad run.
After about three miles the road turned and we were almost with the wind for a bit.
It was not long before we were at the bottom of the main hill and we turned towards Ullapool along the A835. Clive was in front at this point so naturally we went straight passed the Corrie Shalloch George and the falls of Messach. Even with me shouting at full volume he still did not hear so I just slowed down a bit then caught him up and acted as if nothing had happened. We were still going down but by this time it was in the rain but it was not very heavy and we were soon out of it, it had overtaken us, and Clive was doing his best to catch up with it again, of course we never saw it again but this did not worry me. After a few more miles we came to loch Broom but this didn t make the road flat, we still had plenty of hills before we got to the town, which compared with other places in this country was fairly big.
It was on a small peninsula sticking out into the loch. The first thing we had to do was to find a cycle shop for Clive’s bike as his tire was running out of rubber and his pannier frame was not getting any better. We never really expected to find such a shop and we didn’t so we tried all the garages who only had the wrong size tire 28 inch instead of 27. After this we fought our way back through the midges to the hostel and booked in.
It was not a bad hostel but as the warden at Broadmeadows had said it was full of foreigners. This evening we were both rather hungry so we both went out and bought masses of food. I got some kippers and other stuff and a cream cake. Clive got the same sort of thing and we went back and had a good feed. There was one fellow there, agerman, who sat down to a plate of cauliflower, nothing else. For the rest of the evening we did not do much except sit around and do nothing.
August 13 Friday (41 miles)
I woke this morning hoping for a good day as we were going through some of the best of Scotland, but I was rather worried about the date so was Clive.
After the normal things were done and we had done the hardest job in the hostel we left. The first thing to meet us was clear skies, but this was rapidly followed by a long hill which we had to struggle up. When we got to the top I stopped, so did the other, to take a photo which didn t come out at all well. We then carried on but it was not really downhill but there was no wind and the sun was out so we didn t complain. This bit of the ride was still round the edge of loch Broom. After about five miles we turned inland still on the same road, which was the main road to the far north, as soon as we turned we started to climb some more, and this time we had to complain as the road was bumpy as well, and this is one of the many things that gets me annoyed when cycling. After slogging up this in the baking sun, which was really hot, we turned off this road to another which was really a surfaced track, but was good for cycling. We stopped here for a few minutes while Clive complained to me that this part of the wild country was no better than the rest, I just said it was and we went on a few more miles before we stopped to eat, we had bought the food in Ullapool. Soon we came in sight of Stac Polly which changed Clives mind about this part of Scotland.
When we came to Loch Lurgain we started to look for a place to stop. We found a good spot down by the loch fairly easily the only problem was how to get there as there was a small cliff in the way, but this did not worry us we just fell down it our own ways each saying that ours was the best, and how stupid the other was to try and attempt it that way. When we got there we just ate and did absolutely nothing in the sun which was even hotter now, even the mountains around looked too hot. As we were near we did have to do some things such as skimming and think about going for a swim but we didn t.
After some time we both reluctantly left and started to ride. We went on passed the end of this Loch and passed another called Loch Baddagyle. Then we turned north again and this meant a hill which we pushed up and Clive was so hot that he took his shirt off but soon put it back when he realized that he was being burnt. There was a great view from the top of such masses as Stac Polly Cul Nor and Cul Beag. We carried on passed loads of small lochs and hulks of rock. There was not much grass near the tops of the hills which were mostly small but steep, so the road went all over the place in all dimensions .At times it looked like the road was going into a kind of canyon with a sheer wall of rock blocking the end but the road would just squeeze out through some hopelessly small gap. After much struggling in all directions we came out at Lochinver, which is on the loch of the same name. We hoped to get some food here but as something had to go wrong that day the whole village was closed for the Highland Games. We weren t too worried about food but we were both about to die of thrust so in sheer desperation we went into the games and bought a bottle of liquid each, and it was very welcome.
We spent some time here as we were near the hostel and it was still fairly early, but we were soon on our way again up a hill and out of the town. We went not far along the main road to Loch Assynt then turned off a small road which went over the hills to this place called Achmelvich which we both thought would be small village, but when we were about a mile from where we thought the hostel was we were stopped by a chap on a motorbike who wanted to know where it was. I told him that it should be jutst down the road where he had come from. He seemed convinced that it was not but he followed us down there. It was there but it was hiding behind a sand bank which was half over grown with grass. There was no village although it was on quite a few sign posts, all there was was the hostel and a camping site but it was a great place, we both agreed that it was the best we had seen so far.
There was a marvelous beach which had white sand, they have to be different, and there were rocks all round the side of the bay. This pleased Clive who would now be able to show off his diving. As soon as we had booked in we went to the beach, which was only a few yards from the hostel, and after a conference we decided to go for a swim so we went back to the hostel and got changed then went back to the rocks. The water it these parts, even at the height of summer seems well below freezing, but after Clive went in I had to go but I was not there for long, he went two or three times which was more than I could do even though each time was just in and out.
After this we went back to the hostel and get something to eat but the store did not have a very good selection but it was good enough for us. There was no tap in the hostel which was one of the smallest, in Scotland but there was a row of buckets full of water.
In the evening we did not stay in as there was hardly any room as the place was overfull with people sleeping on the floor. First we went up this hill opposite. All I wanted to do this for was to see that thing called Suilven which seemed to give Clive a bit of a shock on first sight. We had both come up our own ways but Clive decided that he would lead us down but for some reason we kept coming to sheer drops until it looked as if we had climbed an unclimbable rock, but after much searching we found a way down and decided to go for a walk round the coast.
It was more of a climb than a walk as the coast in these parts is not exactly flat but it did not take us long to get to another beach which like all the beaches in this area was deserted. Before we got there we came across a sort of gorge which ran out to the sea and was full of it, this was normal enough but there was a cloud moving up it, when this cloud came to the end it turned round and then we saw that it was just a swarm of fish if you get such things, if you don t it must have been the ghost of a whale.
After walking along the beach we made our way back to the hostel. It was about ten when we got back and it was still fairly light. Back there there was not much to do,everyone else there was talking a load of foreign rubbish, Clive can speak a bit of French but I can’t and what he could speak he did not often use.
August 14 Saturday (67 miles)
This day we had to go the Durness. We did not want to on this day but the hostel at Scourie, which was about half way, was closing for the season, we thought this was the real thirteenth but as it was in Scotland it had to be a bit different, it was.
After getting up, which as usual was very difficult, we had a very humble breakfast then set off for Lochinver as we had to get some food and we knew we would not see any shops for many miles. We lazed around a bit then set off to the real north. The weather was not too bad but it was not as good as the day before.
We had decided to take the road round Loch Assynt as according to the map it looked a flatter road, it was going along here that we realized that the wind was against us and it was blowing rather hard, so Clive got annoyed but he did not try to fight it this time as we had quite a way to go. All this was the first sign that Spode was to be with us for the day. It was soon cloudy and almost overcast and was rapidly becoming cooler. After quite a bit of struggling we came to the Loch which had fairly large waves on, soon we would turn off this road and start to climb but at least we would be with the wind, the thought of being with the wind pleased me but the thought of the climb ruined this thought for Clive. When we came to it it was not very good but we did manage to get up even if we did push most of the way and have several rests. The run down was great but it was not at all warm in fact we almost froze but I just ignored this and belted down and slowed down at the bottom for Clive to catch up. Then we carried on to the ferry at Kylesku, which is the only free ferry in the country but of course we arrived just as it was pulling away and had to wait for the next but this did not worry us as we thought we were in fairly good time but when we looked at the map we realized that we weren t .
When we were over the loch we decided that we would stop at the first suitable place but one decided not to come so we had to slog right up a hill before we found anywhere. Then we were perched on the edge but there was a good view out over the wilds. There were small lochs all over the place to the natives these are known as lochan and to Clive they were lakes. It was still rather cool so we did not stay long. As soon as we had eaten our stuff which was mostly sort of puffy biscuists with butter, we attempted to start again but spode had attacked Clives back tyre and punctured it so as he had no idea of how to mend it I did it. Luckily it was easy to find so it only took about five minutes and we were off again, and it gave Clive the impression that I was good at mending holes in tires.
After we had been going about half an hour spode decided to have a go at me, so the next time I changed down the gear cable snapped again. This did not please me so I thought I would have a go at fixing it where we were. This did not please Clive much as we I had no food, for the next day which was a Sunday and it did not I look like we were going to get to Durness before the shops closed! Eventually I got it done and once again we set off. Not much further on we came to Scourie. This was one time that we did beat spode as I we found a shop that was open so we stocked up here and after getting lost we carried on towards Laxford Bridge. By the time we got there it was getting rather bleak and it was threatening to rain, so we stopped for a bit of a rest and had something to eat but we were attacked by swarms of midges so we were forced to continue after a few minutes.
The first thing we met was a hill with an old woman walking up it. Once we were up the hill it was fairly flat but it was not long before we were on our way down to a place called Riconich this was not really, a place just a name on a map to lure poor innocent people there thinking there is something there. After this we had our final large climb which was welcomed unwelcommedly, if there is such a word, it was good that it was our last but it should not ha been there at all if it wanted to please us. But this was not the sort of day when something would want to help us so we just had to climb the thing.
It was a gradual climb besides some of the things we had seen that day so we got up it without much trouble, but spode had not finished with us yet so he gave me a puncture, and this time it was a slow one so I stopped to pump it up and try to get to the hostel that way but it meant pumping it up many times before we got there. Each time I did this Clive went on and I had to belt to catch up then I had to stop again. While we were still on the top of this moorland we ran into a very much overgrown swarm of midges, obviously working for Spode, they attacked us viciously and seemed to be enjoying it. When we escaped them down came the rain, another act of that spode. I think we were both glad to see the Kyles of Durness even if they were only mud flats at that time as the tide was out. The road from here was mostly flat so it was not much longer till we were at the hostel, but there was one hill.
The hostel was two fairly large huts but it was quite good, when we came to book in there were a few motorists in front of us but the warden let us in first and when we had done this the place was almost full bit I think they got in. The dormitories were in the other hut so we had to cross to it each time and got soaked as it was still raining. After eating we just sat around, played cards and did the normal things. I ended up having myself drawn by this girl wasn t a very good drawing, and all it did was to give me cramp from trying to keep still. Olive recognized a fellow who he said was at Ullapool after a bit so did I. He was French and was not very popular with us as he had starred at us all the time we were eating at Ullapool but we forgave him and had a natter then went to bed at the normal time. When we went it was still raining.
August 15 Sunday (30 miles)
This day we were to stay at the hostel. The idea was to cycle to Cape Wrath, but Clive wanted a rest so I went by myself and he stayed at Durness with this French chap.
Before I set off I had to fix the puncture and do the gear cable a bit better, this took some time and I was the last to leave the hostel, even Clive had gone. First I had to go down to the ferry to get across the Kyle. This was not too hard, but it was not much of a ferry, just a small motor boat that hardly looked big enough to take a bike but it did,just.
As the tide was in the ferry got right, across, and I was soon pushing up a nasty hill the other side but it was not raining so it could have been worse, there was an overcast of stratocumulus but this did not worry me. On this bit of road between the ferry and the lighthouse there are no cars as they can’t get across but there is what they called a mini-bus and I saw this many times as I struggled along. It was mainly for tourists. This passed me for the first time just as I was at the top of the first hill. There was a good run down but it was rather steep and there was a vicious looking ford at the bottom which I decided not to risk so I crossed it by the footbridge. The other side was another great hill which I had too push up, on the way up I met two hikers, I asked then if it was like this all the way meaning the hills, so just too cheer me up they said it was but this was the worst. As I did not have far to go this didn’t bother me, so after a natter I carried on. They had walked there the day before and had got soaked by the rain, it seemed rather a long way to walk to me, I was glad to have a bike. All along this road it was up and down but there were a few flattish parts. About four miles further on I met up with this lad from the hostel who was walking with some others from that place, he had hitched up here from Dorking or somewhere said it was the furthest north he had come, what they intended to do was to walk out to the Cape then catch the mini-bus back to the ferry. It looked like they could have done with a lift so I left them laughing with aching feet. It was not all that funny though as I had a hill to climb and I could not get off and push so I heaved my way to the top. They were the last sign of life I saw until I got to the end of the road which ended at the lighthouse which is also an observing station for the met office.
When I got there I had a look round and tried to find somewhere to eat but there were midges all round. Just at this time the sky was starting to clear from the west so it did not look too bleak but in lousy weather I should think that it is a rotten place. Just passed the lighthouse is a dirty great drop of several hundred feet so after almost faling off this I went up this hill trying to escape the midges but there were still some. While I was there the others who were walking arrived but I was some way from them.
After a bit of a rest I set off back for the ferry, by this time it was quite sunny but I could see over towards Durness and they were still in cloud. About an hour and a half later I was back at the ferry, but this time the tide was out and this made a difference as there was now as much sand as water. lt looked quite good as I came in from above. I had rather a long wait as the ferry had to go all over the place to get across and back, it had to do this as I just missed it. Because of the tide we were dropped off on the sand and were warned to walk round a certain bit of sand as we would sink into it. The bike almost sank into the firm stuff but I did manage to get across and shake the sand off the bike and get back to the hostel.
Clive was already back, he had just messed about all day went into Smoo cave. After we had eaten, I finished off the tin of stew I had bought the day before, we just sat around thinking what to do. Just for a laugh Clive suggested going for a swim and to his horror this German girl who was with us said yes, well he had to go so we all went off to have a good laugh.
On our way to the beach we met up with a herd of sheep, which reminded me and this lad from Dorking of what we had seen on the way back to the hostel, as I caught up with him before he got there, what had happened was this sheep was being chased by a sheep dog and it ran full speed right into a fence and bounced back about two yards it sent both of us into an uncontrollable fit of laughing. When we told the French chap about this and called the sheep a stupid animal he seemed quite upset as we were both waring wool, and said ‘Ignorant yes stupid no”. We were soon down to the beech and Clive started to look for a suitable place to go in. After some time he found one but could not take the plunge, but the German girl came along and went straight in so Clive had to follow, he was only a few seconds then was straight out again almost frozen, which is not surprising as it was about nine. The girl stayed in some time somehow. While they were drying I started to write my initials in the sand and soon had the help of the others, when it was done I made a heroic attempt to get to the the top of a nasty ridge and take a photo of the masterpiece. After all this we all went back to the hostel getting some food on the way. We didn t do much for the rest of the evening except natter.
August 16 Monday (42 miles)
This day we were to go to Tongue so after doing the usual things we set off. But that was after the French lad had scrawled his address all over my handbook for friend Clive.
First we went to the village and got some food as we were not going near any shops . After this we struggled back up the hill and carried on towards Loch Eriboll. It was a fairly easy ride as the road kept to the side of the Loch which was fairly flat. There was no rain but it was rather cloudy but as long as it was dry we didn t mind. Being typical of Scotland this Loch was a sea one so it made us cycle about twelve miles to cover three. When we were round the other side we stopped to eat, a good idea, we manager to find a place by the Loch just as the road was about to turn in-land. We spent some time here as neither of us were feeling very energetic.
When we were satisfied that we had spent long enough there we carried on and ran straight into a thumping great hill which went up into eternity. After a rather feeble struggle we gave up and pushed having rests at regular intervals as Clive was not feeling too good, so he said. Eventually we reached eternity and went down the other side only to find that we had to go up again this time to eternity plus. When we were almost at the top we were stopped to have a look at the map when some old chap came up and started muttering something about the German Ocean we both agreed with him as we had no idea what on Earth, or outside, he was talking about. We soon dragged ourselves away from this highly educating lecture and carried on to the top which was flat for some miles reaching a height of 741 feet. Then we plunged down to the depths of hell, to be greeted by the man himself in the disguise of Kyle of Tongue. This was another of these awkward waterways of Scotland where you have to travel an infinite distance to get nowhere, and this one wasn t so flat. The road kept doing stupid things like leaving the side of the water and climbing some towering mountain and not coming down again instead the water came up.
After much struggling we arrived at the town and bought some food. Then tried to find the hostel, this was not easy as it was hiding from us, but eventually we found the thing lurking in the bushes on a peninsula. After booking in we wanted some milk, and were told to go across the fields to some farm. We went with two other chaps but we forgot to !take any jugs so we had to go back to ti the hostel milkless. Back there we found a letter for us, it was from the girls we had met at Killin. Clive said he would write a clever reply but he never did as he is not clever. Next we decided cook some food as its the best thing to cook, but the stove was not very hot so it took ages. Clive had the bright idea of cooking some real potatoes, but not being very bright he did too many, and he spent three years doing them, and then couldn t eat them all so I had to help him. For the rest of the evening we did very little except have a chat and a general do-nothing.
August 17 Tuesday (73 miles)
This day we were to make the famed run to John O’Groat’s, but it was against the wind and was cool and cloudy. We had a rough idea of what we were to meet as the night before two bods on three wheelers had come the opposite way. They did exaggerate a bit tho, well not a bit a lot. Still we left the hostel quite happily and set off.
The first bit of this run was rather hilly so we did not get very far before we stopped to have our food which we bought at some little shop which like most Scottish shops sold almost everything we spent some time eating and as friend Clive was feeling fussy we had to find a good spot to eat. This we did so we stayed even longer. At this time it was sunny but a sheet of stratocumulus soon came over once we were on our way, battling against the wind. Soon the ground flattened out and it just rolled along giving us a hellish climb every so often. Eventually even these died out end we were on a vast expanse of flatness in all directions, and the wind was increasing its velocity rapidly while we were decreasing ours.
After many hours we saw a huge dome to our left. This was part of thee atomic power station at Doonreay. As it was passed four the place was closed so we stopped for a rest, as it was a good excuse. About ten miles later we found ourselves in an outpost that went under the name of Thurso. It was a miserable looking place all grey cold and windy so we went straight through,round Dunnet bay and out too Dunnet head. When we met the road going out to the head we stopped and had a conference about whether to go out there, we decided that as we had come so far north we might as well go as far north as it is possible, so off we went, climbing all the time until we got there.
It was bleak and all there was was an ‘orrible cliff and a lighthouse. After we had had a look around we went into the light with a crowd of others. As this was my first time in one of the things it was O.K.. The ride back to the road was down but was against the wind so it was not very fast. By this time it was gone six so we had to start to think of finding somewhere to stay as there is not a hostel around there. It was not much later that we saw a B&B sign with meals written under it, this we could not resist so we went in.
It was a change from the hostels, seemed like luxury. There was a blazing peat fire which even at this time of year was welcome there was also one of those unheard of things there called a tele which we watched all evening in amazement. Another thing was that we did not have to cook .So we just sat around all evening doing naught.
August 18 Wednesday (62 miles)
We left our nightly residence rather reluctantly and started the long battle against an evil south-easterly wind. Our first stop was to be that remote outpost of civilization John ‘o’ Groats. It didn’t take us long to get there as it was only a few miles. The idea was to buy some food there, and have a look round but there were no shops that sold food except a post office, so after we had had a look round at what little there was to see we went on down the A9 which is really part of the great north road.
Once we were on this road we were really into the wind which did not please either of us, and there was a dull overcast of cloud which kept things cool. There weren t even any hills around too break up the wind. Once we were passed Wick we decided to stop at the first place we came to to get some food, this was in some little village in the middle of a vast expanse of nothingness. We both stocked up with food there and went on a bit, then ate. I had many small biscuits which we later found out to be about three years old but I lived, and after a rest in a field of cows we carried on towards the hills which were now beginning to show up. They were not like the hills of the west but were just curved instead of the jagged hills we had been seeing a few days before.
After quite a few more miles we saw a shop so naturally we had too stop to eat and drink. By this time the hills were getting steeper and longer and we were getting slower, but we did keep going even if we were pushing a fair bit of the time. The road
went in great sweeps round and over the hills so they were not too steep but were an awful drag to get up,and when the top was reached the wind met us with its full force. Still, there was always the run down, but as that was always followed by another up it did not seem very good. When much pushing slogging and heaving was passed we were at the hostel and were glad of it as it was about half passed seven by the time we were in the hostel which looked like an old school. Clive had another load of clothes there waiting there for him, and as the last time it seemed to please him beyond reason. Once we were settled in we started the cooking Clive had his tinned
Salmon, which he said was rather dry, and his Instant whip which he had been cracking corny jokes about ever since he had bought the stuff, such horrible things as, “lashings of Instant Whip’, There was not much to do in the evening except have a natter with a couple of chaps who were traveling by car and were saying that it was more exhausting than cycling.
August 19 Thursday (46 miles)
As usual we were not up early that morning and as we had no food we had to go out and get it. Most of the shops were closed for some reason but we did manage to find one grocers where we stocked up with cereal. Clive got some fresh milk but I had become an addict to the tinned stuff, when we thought we had enough we went back to the hostel and ate, this time nothing cooked at all.
After we had swept the floor of the common room we got packed and started off on another ride this time to Carbisdale Castle. Once again we were against the wind but it was not so strong and we were beginning to get used to it by this time. We were still traveling along the A9 and most of the way it followed the coast so it was not too hilly. As we did not leave the hostel till about eleven it was not long before we stopped to get some food which we decided to eat on the rather deserted beach.
To get to it we had to cross the railway and a few fences but that was O.K. so we found a suitable rock then ate. The tide was quite a way out so every time Clive wanted to rid his hands of the leftovers of some fruit he had a long walk. We both thought about a swim but although there was a bit of sun it was a bit on the cool side so we decided against it.We spent some time here as we did not have far to go that day,but eventually we had to heave ourselves back over the railway and onto the bikes.
The hills around this part of the country were still rather uninteresting and so was the coast. After quite a few more miles we met Loch Fleet which was like most things round there, rather pathetic, once passed this the road turned inland to meet up with the Dornoch Firth, which looked a bit more hopeful. lt got a bit hilly here and the clouds were beginning to build up a bit and it was not long before we had a shower but it did not last more than about ten minutes. On top of one hill I stopped to take the only photo of the east coast. I wanted to get as it seemed nothing after the west.
lt was not long before we were tearing down a hill to the side of the Firth. We went passed some weird looking place that sold windmills or some such sort of machinery. The road then followed the water closely, and we both went happily passed the turning where we were supposed to turn off but we found another turning and it was not too long before we were back on the right road for the castle. We got our first view of the thing when we were miles away as it stood on a small hill over the Kyle of Sutherland.
There was an awful climb up but we did manage to get up, and after we had put the bikes in the cellar we went to book in. The place was more like a museum than a hostel, with marble statues, right down the main corridor. There were numerous rooms most of which were now dormitories. We were sent to a fairly small one with only about two bunks in. This place did meals which was a change and we were glad of them even if they were not anything marvelous. Alter we had eaten we did not do much, except have a game of table tennis and have the usual natter then went to bed.
August 20 Friday (61 miles)
We got up to a cooked breakfast, which was a change, but one thing wrong with cooked meals is the jobs that go with them. This time we were given one of them, peeling spuds, about four of us marched into the medieval kitchen and attacked a massive pile of these ‘orried vegetables with a very crude peeler. It was a large cast iron drum with a handle on the side, which you wrenched until you were thoroughly exhausted then someone else took over. All this took some time as when it had been done in the machine they had to be done by hand as the machine was not really any good.
When all this was done we set off for Inverness, the so called Capital of the Highlands. We had a choice of two routes. A long flat one or a short hilly one, when it came to it we took the long flat one. I don’t think I had much say in it I just found myself belting along behind Clive at some fantastic speed till we got to Tain, when we got there I found out that it was his idea that if we belted we would save the time lost by taking the longer route. The weather was not too bad, it was not raining but was rather cloudy and cool like all the east coast seemed to be. We carried on across some kind of peninsula till we came to Nigg bay. The road, which was still the A9,went down the side of this bay to Invergordon, where we stopped to get something to eat.
We found a place where we could stay still for a few minutes without freezing to death then ate. We were at the point where Nigg bay meets Cromarty Firth, and if that sounds impressive it wasn’t, especially in that climate. So once we had eaten we were glad to get moving again, after a bit of a rest of course.
We had not been going long before we decided that it was time to stop at a cafe for something warm to drink, this we did gladly,then carried on till we had to have a look at the map. When we were looking at it Clive saw a ferry marked across the Beauly Firth, so we decided to cut across the Black Isle and catch this ferry.
We were to branch off the A9 at Conon Bridge. This we did and were met straight away by a very long gradual hill which like many others in Scotland seemed to go on for ever. After about half an hour we were at the top and there was a fairly good view out over the Black Isle, which is not an isle at all, but for some reason best known to the Scots it is called one, probably just to confuse visitors. It was not long before we were at the ferry where once again we just went passed all the queue and on to the next boat that came. We had just missed one so we did have to wait a bit, but once we were across we did not have far to go till we were at Inverness, which seemed rather strange as we had not seen a town of any size for weeks.
The sky was looking stormy in the mountains but it was not so bad where we were, and after a bit searching we found the hostel hiding behind the castle . It was not a bad place but it was certainly different from Carbisdale. We were back to self cooking again, and this night I had the soup cube that I had bought at Broadmeadows weeks before. There was not much to do in the evening except do the usual things and have a quick look at part of the town.
August 21 Saturday (18 miles)
This was to be a day of rest as we had decided to spend the day in Inverness. This was a good excuse for not getting up early but eventually we did have to rise and cook and do a bit of work.
For the morning, what was left of it, we decided to go for a swim as there were swimming baths not far from the hostel. I suppose that for Scottish baths they were large but as it was not crowded there was plenty of room for both of us. We were in for over an hour as after the swim we had had in the far north the water was almost unbearably hot, but somehow we stood it.
After this it was time to eat, so we went rash and had a proper meal in a cafe and spent a great amount of that life giving substance, money. Still it was worth it for a massive bit of curried chicken ,which almost made Clive sick on the spot to look at.
When this had been digested we went out and had a look round the town friend Clive was now thinking about buying things to take home and saw a box of rocks in a window but the shop was closed and so it was to be every time we went there.
One of the main things I wanted to see while we were round here was Loch Ness, so although Clive was not too keen we decided to attempt the eight miles to the Loch on the bikes. The weather was O.K. and what distance there was was flat. On the way to this puddle we saw two tricyclists ahead of us; we only knew of two people who would do such a thing as ride one of those things through that country and they were the two we had met at Tongue, when we got closer we found we were right, so we had a bit of a chat then went on as they were ambling along even slower than we were. When we reached the Loch it was at the narrow part so we went on to where it was a bit wider then stopped had a gaze, took a photo, then went back passed the tricyclists and on to a shop where we stopped for food. I bought a double vegetable curry, we also had a long cool drink of milk which was very welcome even tho it was not very hot .
We didn’t hurry back but it did not take us long to do it so we were soon in the hostel, cooking, well not really cooking as we decided to just have a snack of kinds. Again in the evening there was not much to do so we just played cards and had a natter and had a look in the town for some more rocks. Then once again we climbed over the fishing rods and into bed.
August 22 Sunday (46 miles)
We awoke that morning to the sound of rain, not a pleasant sound when you know you have to cycle through it all day but as there was nothing we cold do about it we heaved ourselves out of bed and cooked breakfast, this was now becoming a habit
and it seemed the normal thing to do. Because of the rain we were in no hurry to leave so we waited as long as we could. In fact we waited too long and the doors were shut before we had all our stuff out but after disturbing the warden we had it all and were waiting in the cycle shed for the rain to stop but it didn t, and to me it did not look like it would so after a long talk with Clive I failed to convince him in my knowledge of the weather so I went on and left him to wait for the end of time, apparently he did not do this but left soon after me.
Again the ride was down the A9 which was still a very quiet road with very little traffic. The way out of the town was not at all clear but I got out O.K. and was soon on a rather long hill which went in the direction of Culloden but I did not bother to go to it as the weather was still none to good. After a few miles the rain eased off but only for a while. I decided to wait a bit arid see if Clive came but after many minutes there was no sign of him so I carried on up this awful hill. I was still half expecting to see him come up behind me at any minute so I often looked behind. There was a good but wet view cut across the Firths but no bedraggled looking cyclist struggling up this hill. The run down was shorter but steeper with a sharp hair pin at the bottom, with a struggle I just managed to get up without having to push. Once I was up here I was on the moor proper,the hills were not steep although they were high so it was fairly easy going. The rain never really stopped but there were quite a few dry periods and occasionally the sun came out but it was never for long.
I stooped for something to eat at Carrbridge there were some frozen eclairs in this shop so I had to get some with some other things. I went out of the town to a place a few miles along the road. There was a seat so I sat but soon the rain came again and I was under the cape scoffing. After this I waited a bit in case Clive was any where around but I left before he arrived. The road was still fairly flat so I drifted along through the rain easily. When I reached Aviemore, which was about 4 o’clock the weather was showing signs of clearing up, but all was still wet and dripping. When I arrived in Kingussie there was no sign of the hostel so I searched, this one was really well hidden, and as it was up a steep hill it was not the first place I looked, but after much time wasting I found the place, which was full of horses, well the horses were not actually in the hostel but they seemed to govern most of the things that were said. This did not agree with me so after I had booked in and made the bed I went to see if Clive had arrived as it was fairly certain that he would not be able to find the place as he did not even have a handbook. Just as I went into the main road I saw a creature riding a bike, and it was not long before it showed itself to be Clive full of stories about how he had got rather tired and had tried to catch a train. He asked some fellow when the next train was to come, to which the fellow said “No trains today;no trains ever now’, so friend Clive had to carry on cycling.
We went up to the hostel and had something to eat, I had the double vegetable curry that I had bought the day before. As the hostel was so full of horse chat we decided to go out in the evening and see the town, or what there was of it. All we could find to do was to have a game of snooker, this was one of the things I could beat him at. After this we went back to the hostel and did nothing then went to bed.
August 23 Monday (31 miles)
As usual we did not fall out of bed any earlier than could I be helped, but it was not very long before we were on our way to I Strathtummel.
The weather was cloudy at first as we dragged ourselves up Strath Spey. It was not very steep but it was just noticeable as a climb. The journey still led us on along the A9 through Newtonmore and on up the valley. Soon the weather cleared up again and we I were in warm sunshine for the rest of the day.
We kept going till we reached Dalwhinnie, where we stopped foe noshings. We took them just out of the village and went to the near end of Loch Ericht, which was held back by a dam. We had our food here. The dam was concave so when I jumped down it was not so easy to get back up and this sent Clive into fits of laughter which no force on Earth could have stopped. After a struggle I did get up and went for a walk along the dam to the other end. It was further than it looked, and as I was walking along the lower side of the thing, which was sloping at a fair angle, it took even longer. Soon I came to a dead sheep which stank. I went passed this and took a photo looking up the loch. When I got back and told Clive about the sheep we had to go back to it but this time we went along the top. When he saw this poor creature he had an overwhelming urge to chuck rocks at it, all of them missed. After we had had a bit of a rest we carried on up the Glen, and after about seven miles we were at the top ,1504 feet said a sign, then we went down, and down, and down, it went on for miles. We hardly had to pedal for about 15 miles. When we were about half way down we saw a sign leading to a waterfall so as we had plenty of time we decided to go and see it.
We left the bikes in a small car park which was hardly being used, and followed the sign. It was only a small stream but somehow it had cut itself a fairly deep gorge. The path went along the top of i and gave some great views straight down into it. We were expecting to see a proper waterfall, but all it was really was a series of rapids but it was well worth seeing. We spent some time at the end of the path where there was a bridge over the gorge and many photos were taken.
We went back and were soon in Blair Atholl where we stopped for an ice thing, and got a glimpse of the castle which for some reason impressed Clive although it was not really ancient. We did not have a look at it then but the other said that he was going to have a look at it tomorrow. A few miles passed Blair Atholl we came to the Pass of Killiecrankie, luckily this was not a steep pass but just went down with a slight rise before it so we were soon through it to the place where we were to turn off for the hostel. This was a climb but it was only about three miles to the place where we were staying for the next two nights.
The hostel was a massive great house which did meals which were quite good for hostel meals. Now we were getting further south we were entering the land of table tennis tables, this place had one which we used a fair bit, but as usual I lost every time, once or twice I almost won but never quite.
August 24 Tuesday (34 miles)
We had this day to stay at this hostel, but we had to get up for the meals. Clive had decided to go and have a look at the castle at Blair Atholl, and I was going to have a look at Loch Tummel and Loch Rannoch which are on the famed road to the isles.
Clive left before me as I had a few things to do to the bike but I was soon off, and was met straight away by a thumping great hill. This led up to Queens View, which was fantastic. A photo was taken then I went on down the other side towards the Loch which was loch Tummel, the smaller of the two. It was a good run down although the weather was not too good, but at least it was not raining. All along the side of the Loch there were people cutting the grass for some reason that was far beyond me as it was not cut in any other part of the country. Sshiehallion which is a noted peak and can be seen from as far away as Ben Nevis was now covered in cloud
and could hardly be seen from this distance which was only a few miles. It was not all that long before I was at the end of the Loch and was on the eight mile stretch of road between the two lochs. The first bit of this road was surrounded by a sort of power station but this soon ended and gave way to trees and a river. This river soon widened out into a small loch or lochan as the locals call them, and passed this was the village of Kinlochrannoch where I stopped to get something to eat, luckily there was a bakers there, so I stocked up with cakes and stuff then went on to the next loch.
I got about three miles down this thing when a catastrophe occurred it started raining so it was under the cape and down with the food. I found a fairly sheltered place by the loch so it was not too bad, and the rain was only slight at that time. After I had finished eating the rain got heavier so, instead of going on to the end of the road which was at Rannoch Station, about twelve miles further on, I turned back and the rain steadily became heavier and I got, wetter. In fact it was a rotten ride as I had seen it all before and so knew when each hill came, a nasty thought.
After a through soaking I was back at the hostel. It was about half passed three and I was sure that I was the only one who would be back at this time. I decided to wait for the place to open in the cycle shed as it was the only place where it would be dry, when I got in it was full of people who had had the same idea as me and come back early. I thought I would let them stay as I could not turn them out.
It was not very long before the hostel was open and we all went in to dry off. Not much was said while we were waiting in the shed as everyone was so fed up with the rain, but it was not so bad once we were all in. At about five Clive came in with tales of high teas and big rooms and all the other things that go with the modern type of castle. For the rest of the evening after we had had our meal there was not much to do so we just had a few game of table tennis then went into the common room and read magazines and had a chat to some people who were working there way round the world. After this we just played cards with some other blokes who had different rules to us so we did not get very far as we had to change the game completely.
August 25 Wednesday (42 Miles)
We dragged ourselves out of bed with the thought of leaving the highlands that day as we were going to Perth which is not a highland town. After breakfast we packed again ,loaded the bikes and set off.
First we had to go back the way we had come a few days before, that was to the A9 again. That was downhill but when we were on the main road it was roughly flat and almost at once we were by the artificial loch Faskally, which is where the river Tay has been dammed. The dam is at Pitlochry so we decided to have a look at it as we had been told about it several times. It was not all that easy to find but after asking we got there. It was about fifty feet high so as salmon are not that good at jumping a salmon ladder had been built. We did not see one in the ladder but there were pleanty in the river just below it. Half way up this ladder there was one “step” that had a window in it, but no fish were there. We went up the side of the ladder then on top of the dam as there was a walk along the top. Up there we saw two chaps that we had seen at Inverness. We wandered around with them a bit then went back down to the bikes.
From here the road was down the Tummel Tay valley which is wide and flat. The country now seemed civilized again and all down this road were small towns and villages we stopped in several of them to stock up with food for dinner. When we got to Dunkield we stopped for our food. We went over the bridge and up a hill which was topped with a monument and a seat, it was more of a mound than a hill. As we did not have far to go we stayed here some time. After all the food was gone I went down to the river to take a photo while Clive stayed up top to do a drawing. After I had struggled to the top again we stayed a bit longer doing naught then fell down again, onto the bikes then off out of the highlands. This part of Scotland ended, just round the corner from Dunkield so it was only about ten minutes before the highland line was behind us and we were on the flats of Strath More. It was only about fifteen miles from here to Perth but we took it easy and were not there before four.
Perth, being a fair sized town, had its hostel well hidden so once again we spent some time looking for it, but we were there by five and booked in. Almost as soon as we were in Clive went out to find a cycle shop as he was having trouble with his bike, while he did this I was rash and washed my feet as there was a foot bath in the wash room. I had just finished by the time he was back. He had had to leave it at the shop. While we were making our beds two other fellows came in and claimed to be from Bedford, they were traveling by car.
After we lad eaten a cooked meal we decided to go out with these Bedford bods for a game of football. We went by car so it did not take long to get to North Inch, which is just a kind of green, where battles used to be held as a kind of sport. Funny people these Scots but they don’t like to be told that. When we were all thoroughly exhausted we stopped and had a sit then went back to the town, had a look round, and went to the hostel where we did little.
August 26 Thursday (55 miles)
Again we had to get up for the meals but it was better than having to cook, although we were getting used to it now it was a rest. After doing the normal things and a bit of dithering we were off again but first we had to go and get Clive’s bike. While we were doing this we saw a few bakers shops and we were tempted, and temped and tempted. After one shop we went and ate what we had bought then went to another and bought some more then went off and bought some more until we had been to almost all the bakers in perth. We came to the conclusion the the Perth bakers knew how to bake and that too many creme cakes laid heavy in the lower half of the stomach. We spent most of the morning doing this so we were not away early, but that did not matter as we did not have far to go,only to Edinburgh.
When we were ready we set off towards the Ochil Hills, which we had to cross, we were not feeling like anything to eat so we went without a dinner, terrible as this may seem we survived. The first thing that we met was an awful hill over the Ochils, it went under the name of Glen Farg, and did its best to stop us but it did not succeed and before long we were down the other side and heading for Kinross, which is on Loch Leven when we got there we were feeling a bit hungry so we stopped and had some weird ice cream type thing. This done we carried on round the loch, most of which was hidden as the road was not near the side of the thing. Once we were passed this the towns became larger and more industrial and the surrounding land flatter.
Eighteen miles later we were at the Forth road bridge, which we had been able to see from miles away. There was no toll for cyclists but friend Clive went ahead when we got near and missed all the signs for the cycle path and went straight onto the road way, I nealy did the same thing as the signs were not very clearly marked, but somehow I did find myself on the right path, and managed to catch up with Clive and laugh at him and tell him what a fool he was. He did not seem to see the joke especially when a bus hooted at him and reported him at the other end of the bridge. When we reached the other end a warden walked out in front of Clive and put his hand in the air, I think he was making a Scottish gesture, all the same Clive came to a stop just in front of him, then I pulled up. After a bit of a talk he was told to get away quick as a nasty warden was coming up, who would not approve of of his method of crossing the bridge.
It was only about nine miles from here to Edinburgh but it seemed to take ages. It all seemed rather strange as we had not seen a town of this size since we left home. It seemed like a maze and finding the hostel was only possible as there was a map in the handbook, and I had a one inch map of the place.
Most of the people in the hostel were there for the festival and thought it was strange that we were just passing through. This I did not like, even the meals were nothing to cycle on. When we had got settled in and had a meal Clive forked out a phone number from somewhere, and as there was a phone in the hostel we used it. It was the girls we had met at Ardgartan that all this was about as they lived in this town. It turned out that one of them was away still the other said to meet her outside some shop.
After a long bus ride we were at this shop and so was the girl. First we went to the castle. It was a fair climb up there but it was worth it. We stayed up there about three quarters of an hour then Clive wanted to have a look at an art gallery, and as I’d never seen one I did not object, but later wished I had, still I now no not to go into the gallery by Waverly station. After we had thoroughly looked at everything in there we were taken on a conducted tour of the central part of the town or city. We saw the stock exchange where our friend worked looking at teles or some such odd job. When much shoe leather had been worn out we went and had something to drink then as it was about ten and as we had to get back to the hostel before it closed we had to go. We managed to get a bus and were back in time easily as the hostel was open late because of the festival which we could not see as you had to book.
August 27 Friday (56 Miles)
We got up knowing that it was our last full day in Scotland getting out at last.
It was decided that we were to stay in Edinburgh for the morning as Clive wanted to get somethings to take home. So when we had eaten we went down to the town on the bikes. We spent most of the time looking round the shops and spending what little money we had left. I stocked up with oat cakes to take back and luckily I found a tinned Haggis so I had that as well. When we had exhausted all the gift shops there we were ready to eat again so we found a place and lashed out with a bought meal. After this we made our way through the place to the east, but before we got far we saw a bakers so had to stop and have more eats. After this we had the thought of a fifty mile ride in the afternoon.
We set off at a fair pace, and it was not long before we were out of the capital. The road we were now on was the A1 again, a sure sign that we were on our way home. Although this is the main English road it was no bigger than any ordinary road in fact it was smaller than most normal roads but as this was the Scottish part of the road it did not surprise us. The ride was rather normal and there were not many hills, well no big ones. We kept up a steady pace and soon we were on the edge of the Lammermuir Hills. Here we did have too climb, and we turned off the main road to Coldingham. We went up to 756 feet and didn t really seem to go down again.
After not much longer we were at the hostel and I had a puncture. lt was a fairly big place and had a good view out over the bay. After we had eaten I went out too fix the puncture, Clive who had decided to go out to eat came back just as I was starting. lt was not too hard to fix but many comments were made by odd bods. For the rest of the evening there was not much to do except play cards and do the usual things.
August 28 Saturday (50 Miles)
Again we were up late as we were not having cooked meals as there were none done so we could not have them. Two chaps there were staying all day but we had to get too Rock Hall, which was back in England.
We were out of the hostel just before it closed, and were on the A1107 on the way back to the AI. This took us through Eyemouth then on the main road to Berwick. This road was still small but was big enough for a bike, just. Just north of Berwick we came to a sign that says England so we stopped, leaned the bikes up against the sign and took a photo of it then crossed back into Civilization.
In Berwick we stopped to get some food, we used several shops for this but eventually we were stocked up and went too have a look for a suitable place too stop. We found one just to the south of the town, and went down to a sort of promenade, and ate. We stayed here for some time with Clive threatening to go for a swim. He got as far as changing but did not get right in. We had a wander round but there was not much to see so we went on.
We decided to go to Banburgh Castle, that meant we had to keep to the A1 till we reached Belford. Here we turned off and about five miles we reached Banburgh. As there were shops here we had to stop and get something to eat, it was then that we realized how little money we had, so the spending stopped, the main reason for this was that we had nothing to spend. This hit us suddenly but it was part of Clive’s theory, that money should be spent while it was had. As we had almost no money we could not go round the castle but we saw it from the outside, it looked all right but half of it was left. We went along the road a bit then stopped for a rest, this only lasted a few minutes. We then went along this road that was the B1340, through Seahouses then we got lost. Clive had a few sheckels left in his post office book but we had to get to a post office and as we were lost it was not the easiest thing to do. At about twenty nine minutes passed five we were still in Seahouses and we saw a person who said that there was one round the corner so we went round the corner and were just in time before the place closed.
We were now not far from the hostel, but the roads were not very well signposted so it was not long before we were lost again. Because of this it took us some time to get to the hostel and it did not seem to please Clive very much. Still, after much map reading we were on the right road and were soon in the grounds of this thumping great house, Clive’s first English hostel.
Again we were self cooking but this was to be the last time but that did not worry us. After we had eaten there was not much to do so we had a game of chess, and of course he won.
August 29 Sunday (83 Miles)
This day we were to start the real journey home, one of the longer runs. For me it was completing a loop as we were going back to Barnard castle. As we had some distance to go we did not get up too late, this was difficult,but just possible. After breakfast and packing we set off for the A1 again.
We were only about four miles off it so we were soon on our way to Alnwick, which for some strange reason is pronounced Anick. We had decided to get passed Newcastle before we stopped to eat, so we kept up a steady pace through Alnwick then Morpeth and on to Newcastle. lt seemed a long way as we had not done a distance like this for many weeks. The weather was all right as far as there was no rain but in was quite windy, and of course it was against us. This did nothing to cheer us up so we just slogged on.
Newcastle came on us gradually,at first it was just a few houses then it became more dense until we were in the thick of it. When we were there we had to think about getting something to eat but as it was a Sunday the place was shut up so it was qitte a while before we found a place where food was sold. When we did we were in Gateshead and we found a park there where we could nosh. We still had forty miles to go but we did not hurry; we spent as long as we did usually.
When we set off again it was not easy as the wind seemed stronger, but it was probably just us getting weaker. By now the road was getting more like the A1 and there were even bits of duel carriageway. When we were about seven miles out of the town we had a shower, I wanted to carry on but Clive insisted on stopping. It did not last long and we were soon on our way along the cycle path which like all cycle paths was rather bumpy. This soon came to an end and we were back on the road again which took us round Durham. By the time we got to this place we were feeling a bit tired and the wind was having more effect, but worse was to come as we were to turn off this road in a few miles and head right into the wind. This came about five miles south of Durham when we turned off along the A6074
There were only twenty four miles to go but they went very slowly and many times we stopped for what Clive called five minutes. Each of these were very welcome, and every time we stopped we said something about how little money we had left as we had nothing at all now. Luckily I did have my post office book but did not want to use it unless I had to, and as we had all meals booked I thought we could just make it, Clive had other ideas.
When we were both thoroughly worn out we were at that place that is known as Barnard Castle, but we found the hostel easily as I had only been there a few weeks before. Meals were supplied and by some miracle we were in time for them. There was not much to do in the evening except play cards.
August 30 Monday (104 miles)
Of course we had to get up for the meals but we had to anyway as we had miles to go. This day we would be on road that I knew as we were going back to Bawtry.
We set off together at a reasonable speed along the A66 which is part of Watling street. Clive seemed in the mood for belting and I was not especially as we had a long way to go, so when we got to Scotch corner we decided to split up and go our own speeds as this would be much easier. At first Clive went belting off and was soon out of sight of me. The route was simple as it was straight down the A1, which by now was all duel carriageway.
After about a couple of hours I saw Clive’s bike at the side of the road as he had stopped to have what food there was in his lunch packet. As it was about the time when we usually stopped I stopped as well, but I didn’t stay long after I had eaten as I get too tired. Because if this I was off before him but I thought he was bound to catch up fairly soon, and he did but not for long and I was soon in front of him again and this time we were not too see each other till we got to the hostel. There was not much wind so it was easy going and the various towns seemed to go passed fairly quickly, in fact they went too quickly, and I was at the hostel to early as now we were back in England they did not open till five. I spent the time just sitting in the cycle shed and it was only about half an hour till the place opened.
I explained about Clive to the warden as we were booked on the same receipt, then went and made the bed. Clive came in later saying that he had nearly fainted with hunger, and that he would not be able to make it the next day unless he had more money. There was not much we could do there and as none of us were overflowing with energy we just sat around and read.
August 31 Tuesday (104 miles)
This was another long day so we got off fairly early and we went separately again. We were now on the way to the last hostel which was also the first for me, Houghton Mill. Before we left Bawtry we went to the post office so I could draw 10/- to lend Clive, then I left him as he wanted to get some cream cakes and I could, not stand to watch him eating them.
It was only four miles till I was back on the A1. The weather was good and the wind was blowing in our direction, all this made an easy but uneventful ride. I decided that I wanted to get passed Grantham before dinner, and this was fairly easy. I found out later that Clive had gone into Grantham and bought a meal. I stopped for mine under a. flyover but it was O.K..I knew what was coming most of the time but it was still a good ride, most of it was spent brooding about how rotten it was to be going back. In spite of the number of miles the ride went quickly and I was there early again, but not as early as the day before.
Clive arrived a fair bit later as he had got lost trying to find the hostel. Once more there was not much to do so all evening we just nattered. But as usual when talking to females the subject went round to exams so for that bit I kept quiet as I was still waiting for my o’level, results and everyone else was talking about A’levels.
September 1 Wednesday (91 miles)
This was our last day and because of this the warden was in a bad mood. Everything was all right, till we went to him for our lunch packets then for some reason he went mad and started throwing books about and cursing us that he had run out of bread, in the end we got our money back but he was not at all pleased.
As this day we did not have to go so far and it was the last day we went together again. Of course this was slower but what mattered was there was no limit to what time we had to get back.
Our first stop was at Eaton Socon where we saw a bakers so we spent our last pennies that we got back from niggled warden in this den of sin, and ate some of it in a bus stop over the road.
After this we carried on at a reasonable pace but it was not fast. We stopped to eat what we had left somewhere around Baldock. From here it seemed no time that we were in Stevenage, then Hatfield, and soon we were in the fringes of London and then in the thick of it and were struggling round Hyde Park Corner. We Stopped the other side of it then split up, Clive went off to Putney and I carried on south to Purley along familiar roads to my o’level results which shall remain unsaid here, also to my tinned HAGGIS.