Lejog day 12 - 07/14/2018

Today we had planned to ride from Ballater to Inverness across the Cairngorms. Storm Hector had arrived overnight so Julie did an early drive along the course and returned with bad news at our morning briefing.

Today's route contained some of the steepest climbs of the tour and was exposed to 60+ mph cross winds for the first half. We were urged to allow Peak Tours to arrange for transportation to Inverness. Five or six of the more testosterone impregnated riders (none of them female) decided to ride anyway. I was not one of them.

As we were passing the riders I noticed the minibus driver had his steering wheel almost a quarter turn to the left to stay in a straight line at some points. The wind was pushing the riders into oncoming traffic. There were occasional heavy showers and at the higher elevations the temperature was down to 2C which, apparently, felt like -10C with the wind. Those descents must have been sphincter clenching.

Their decision was selfish in some ways because it meant that a Peak Tours guide had to ride with them. Dave drew the short straw and I could tell he was not happy about it. Honestly, I think it would have made a lot more sense to have him drive one of the vans in close support. If one of the riders had got into difficulty,  Dave would have been able to SAG him out.

Even though we were disappointed to be unable to ride the entire distance, it was obvious we had made the right decision. It was such a horrible day I didn't even take any photographs. We were relieved to hear that all the riders and Dave made it through in one piece.

We took the opportunity in Inverness to get some shopping and laundry done. Inverness is a big city on the mouth of the River Ness (same as Loch Ness). It has a Marks and Spencers which we visited twice and a modern brick castle which we visited once. It's a very pleasant city to spend an unexpected day in.

I normally rode with my meds in the bike pannier and made the mistake of leaving them there while we were driven to Inverness. I didn't realize I would not get my bike back until the following morning so I couldn't get to them for the entire day. That was a bad mistake.

We had the best porridge ever at the B&B there.

Lejog day 11 - 6/13/2018

Today we rode from Kinross to Ballater. It was a long day with lot's of climbing up to the Cairgorms.
In the afternoon we had a very difficult climb up to the Glenshee ski center with short sections of 20% up to 2500'.

Here's guide David test riding a small rider's bike he was trying to fix. Looks pretty awkward to me.

In the morning we passed through Perth which is small, bike friendly and scenic.

Perth

Lunch was at the Wee Tea Shop in the middle of nowhere. They treated us to a splendid lunch and made Martina a lovely vegan lunch. They sell many wonderful things so I bought Sherry a stag cushion. It is badly overpriced, but I loved the place so much I just had to buy it.

The Wee Tea House is hard to spot from the road

Many good things to buy

After lunch the scenery just kept getting better and better as we climbed.

Near the end of the rider we passed through Balmoral but didn't see the castle. The road from Balmoral to Ballater might have been the best of the entire ride.

It got very overcast and windy towards the end of the day with some rain coming down in the last ten miles. Storm Hector was getting close.

We rode 82 miles and climbed 4761' today. Definitely one of the top five days of the tour.

Lejog day 10 - 6/12/2018

Today was a long day to Kinross. Other than Edinburgh it was a lovely day. We could easily have skirted Edinburgh and I wish we had. Even though it's one of my favorite cities it is not bike friendly.

We started, as usual, with a big climb out of Moffat followed by an even longer downhill.

Lunch was at our first Scottish lunch pub. It was pretty much indistinguishable from the English pub food except for the haggis on the menu.

Scottish pub lunch

After lunch we rode through Edinburgh which is a beautiful city when you're on foot. But there are buses and coaches everywhere and I would not want to drive or cycle through it. Plus most of the streets are cobbled.

Edinburgh

After Edinburgh the riding became nice again and the Firth of Forth bridge was even more impressive than the Severn bridge.

The iconic Forth bridge only carries rail traffic now

Note the GoPro camera mount on my aerobars. That's how I took most of my photos and videos.

After crossing the Forth the approach to Kinross was mainly quiet, scenic roads including this unexpected bike path.

Today we rode 81.8 miles with 4134' of climbing. One of the longest days. Clouds were coming in rapidly as Storm Hector approached. Named storms are never good.

Lejog day 9 - 6/11/2018

Today we rode to Moffat, Scotland. Amber had never been to Scotland before. I was determined to check haggis off my bucket list today. Haggis isn't haggis unless it's eaten in Scotland.

We had good road surfaces today until we got to Scotland.  They're noticeably worse there although the very worst was yet to come. Traffic was increased which surprised me. We overshot the first brew stop and had to turn back. I guess we were really enjoying the roads

.

Take a look at Ian's form - no hip swivel at all and very steady. Ex-pro?

The brew stop was tucked away in a car park on the right but Jim managed to get our attention so we wheeled around and had a cup of tea. Then on to lunch.

We also overshot the lunch stop which was at a pub a few yards before the Scottish border. We got there early so we decided to take a photo at the border.

Scottish border

Last English lunch

After lunch we were in Scotland. While the lowlands roads were still reasonably smooth, the traffic was heavier - possibly because they seem to have fewer roads. The Scottish are very proud and seem to hold some resentment against the English so I found myself playing up my American accent.

Here's a video of Mike and Liz on  their electric assisted bikes. Note how Liz takes the lane, which is probably the safest option considering the width of her hand tricycle. She rode Lejog on an electric assisted hand tricycle. Amazing. The Peak Tours crew made a special effort to charge, carry, and replace her batteries along the route. Kudos all around.

We finished the day in Moffat.  While looking at Moffat on Google Maps we noticed the Moffat Toffee shop which closed at 5pm so we decided to stop there on the way to our hotel. It is a wonderful store and we spent a lot of time and money there. The only reason we didn't spend twice as much is that we had to carry it all back to the States.

There was a group dinner at the the Star Inn which claims to be the world's thinnest pub. It may well be. There were many other places to eat in Moffat but we decided to be sociable and join the group. This is where I had my first haggis. It was surprisingly good, especially as it had melted cheese on top. The calories, cholesterol, and salt content make this very unhealthy so I'm not planning on eating any more.

Today we rode 73 miles and climbed a mere 2683 feet.

Lejog day 8 - 6/10/2018

Today was the best riding day of the whole trip (there had to be one). We rode to Penrith through the lake district and it was scenic and flat, with decent roads and light traffic.

Cream tea for lunch

Here are some of the mellow roads we rode.

Amber and Ian admire the view

Afternoon brew stop

I think I have finally found a part of the world that I would rather cycle in than Hampshire - it took almost 60 years.

We stayed at a B&B in Penrith and I ate some uninspired fish and chips for dinner. Perhaps the regular cook was at church. Sunday today, so most of the shops were closed.

You know how, when you've been riding long enough, everything reminds you of something else? Well today was like nothing I'd ever ridden before.

We trode 76.5 miles with 3969' of climbing. Wonderful day.

Lejog day 7 - 6/9/2018

Today we rode from Northwich to Garstang. It was the worst day of the tour (there had to be one). We spent most of the day passing through the Liverpool/Manchester conurbation with heavy traffic and aggressive drivers.

As we were riding to the start point, Anne was panicked by a driver approaching rapidly from the left and slammed her brakes on without saying anything. I ran into the back of her and knocked her off her bike. I felt bad about that, but I had had problems with riders in the group stopping without warning and failing to call hazards or turns. I guess they're not used to riding in groups.

Morning brew stop

Lunch at the Rock Inn was lasagne and binoche pie - never had binoche pie before and it was good.

Lunch - Anne is standing

After lunch we were back in heavy traffic. Anne got hit by a car as she tried to make a right turn. She went to hospital and got stitches for a cut forehead and finished the ride. Wow.

The last 20 miles were back in countryside and we stayed at a very nice Best Western.

Best Western

We came across a hedgehog on the grounds of the hotel.

Amber and I walked around and found a canal so we walked along the tow path into Garstang for dinner.

Canal

I saw something I'd never seen before - a canal passing over a river!

We rode 71.9 miles and climbed 3794'.

Lejog day 6 - 6/8/2018

Today was one of the longest days, but without too much climbing. We rode from Clun to Northwich.

We left our B&B after a full breakfast and headed out on the rough Shropshire roads.

B&B

The route through Shrewsbury was mainly alongside the Severn river - very pretty but roads were rough and my shoulder was very painful.

Shrewsbury

Lunch was at the Burlton Inn in Burlton. I met David Ivory there, we hadn't seen each other in 40 years. He had a full beard and looked like a cross between a skinny father Christmas and a happy Ayatollah. He had become an evangelistic vegan which seemed to help his climbing skills but I think I enjoyed lunch as an omnivore more than he did as a vegan.

Lunch

David (right)

We rode the second half of the ride together and talked a lot, catching up. He flew up the hills like they weren't there. I slogged up them like I weighed an extra 100 lbs (which I probably did).

The riding in the afternoon also had rough roads, but also some interesting breaks.

David had parked his van at near the end of the ride, but we had a road closure within a mile of the overnight that forced us to take a long detour. Eventually we ended up at the Hartford Hall Hotel in Northwich.

We rode 86.6 miles with 4045' of climbing.