16th June 2019 Sunday – Last 8½ miles were fun

June 04, 2019

Hello Everybody!

Route: Aviemore to Bonar Bridge

For the non-mathematicians out there:

Distance: 73.6 miles (Total 874.2)	Average speed: 13.2 mph
Calories: 1,332	Cycling time: 5h34m
Average cadence: 71 rpm	Climb: 3,622ft, Descent: 4,288ft
Heart (yes I have one): max 138 aver 110	Aver Temp: 14C, Max temp 25C
Temperament: Great first 65 miles then it happened….

Rest day over and my legs and other bits were feeling super fine and really in the “get go” status position. Good choice Al Baby.

This morning the Yoof Hostel in Aviemore was chock full of people wearing lycra and also some cyclists, including me. We all had “continental” breakfast. I think the breakfast was picked from a country with superb culinary qualifications but on reflection, I think I was wrong. Maybe Greenland was chosen as it is almost as big as a continent without having a continental breakfast heritage other than roast moose with eggs (from fish).

I left at 08.30 hours (and minutes) which was fairly early given my want for faffing on with things i.e. where did I put Blossom, taking the dog for a walk etc. Anyway any faffing delays were soon distant memories as the SUN was shinning and my back was feeling the gentle caress of a tailwind or perhaps I should say a gentle big shove of a tailwind.

Again, like the breakfast moose, I was tracking the A9 northwards. I was looking to stop about a third of the way in but nothing really appealed so I kept going. I then decided to make the first stop in Inverness which was 18 miles up the road and would take me to about 32 miles which was almost halfway. I had planned to join the A9 just before Inverness for about 4 miles but when I joined the carriageway, it was made for two and it was very quiet. I ended up doing about 7 miles and then got into the town centre. It was very nice apart from the fact that almost everything was closed, including many cafés! I found a small Costa, and with my new membership card in my hand, I bought the standard latte and blueberry muffin. I spoke to a few cyclists who were walking bikes around town but most of them had finished their journey and were just getting the train back to wherever. I was a bit jealous.

OK, me and rivers are not the best of friends and I needed to cross this river (which is actually the Beauly Firth). River or Firth they all pose the same issue about getting across. I saw a chicken and asked how to get across but all the chicken said was “I needed to get to see my friends Marjory and Flintstone”. So, we now have the “why” but not the flippin where, how, when, who, how again and which as they were many bridges and even a small ferry that just went around in circles.

I then had an idea! Follow what the Garmin GPS device is showing. Now I’ve tried this before with poor results but this time things went very well. This was not due to Arnold showing me how to turn it on, change the system language from Bulgarian to English and install the map of Scotland. He also showed me which buttons to touch when I needed to do things. I must admit I’m not sure about what “things” I need to do. BUT IT WORKED and I got across the right bridge, at the right time but not necessarily in the right order.

I had two main climbs to do both of about 4 miles. The first one was the hardest but I got it out of the way pretty easily and then started to “MULLER” the next bits and then the second climb which I would summit about 8½ miles from the finish. Just as I was about to get to the top it started to get dull, not in the sense that things were not much fun anymore, but more in the way of “where’s the flipping sunshine gone?”. This was then replaced with “Oh dear, it’s raining again”. At this point I then took some of my clothes off and then put them back on again also with my rain clothes as well and then made sure all buttons were zipped up and locked. The new phrase was “Oh very dear, it’s chucking it down and the temperature is getting colder at 6.5C”. Luckily there was no descent to master apart from the one that was just appearing on my Garmin. Only 10% what difference does that make, well apart from severe windchill I guess.

Blast you Arnold.

Anyway, I started the descent with the rain in full pelt, sky as dark as a cave and funny little bits of hail hitting the left side of my face. For the first time this trip I stopped to put my neck/face buff on. All you could see now was my very small nose peeking out below my “John Lennon” sunglasses. The road turned left at which point the wind was in full headwind which resulted in lots of water entering my shoes – almost a pint in each shoe. I know this as I used the water to make a cup of tea when I got to my Airbnb. Adds taste at least.

In these situations, it’s best to get down asap which I did and then enjoy the warming air, which I did not. I arrived at my Airbnb which is FAB (as in Thunderbirds stylee) and the host is great and very helpful.

So only 2 sleeps before I finish LEJOG and an extra sleep before I get to see my lovely Ruthiepoos, Sal, The boys, Ian (yes in that order) and our other acquaintances.

The 3 A’s will be staying in Redbourn for a few days and some of you might meet them, so long as you have the imagination.

THE SUNNY BITS