Day 3 - Fort William to Strontian

Looking out of the window from the Ben Nevis bunk house there was no way that anyone would have looked forward to stepping outside let alone the 100mile+ bike ride that we faced. The wind was truly horrendous and drove rain horizontally. I wish I had taken a video of it as it's difficult to really describe how hostile things had become. That said, the logistics of this trip are tight and losing a day isn't really an option except in extreme situations so we set out to at least give it a go. Actually, away from Ben Nevis things were better. Still pretty terrible but an improvement from the scary stuff we had left behind so we headed west, still against the wind and still in driving rain until we reach Glenuig (where the elephants live, apparently!)




At that point we headed south and inland which offered some welcome protection whilst we climbed over the rather untouched and beautiful hills between Ardmolich and Salen.

Over some lunch we decided that, as with the night before, it would be better to not camp in Repisol that night but to head to a bunkhouse in Strontian as it would give us a chance to properly dry everything out. Ross left me at that point and headed East to the bunkhouse leaving me to travel West down the Ardnamurchan Penninsula before turning round and making my way back and then on an additional 7-8 miles past Repisol to Strontian as well.

What I though would be a rather flat coastal road turned out to be anything but that. The constant short, sharp dips and rises in the first half made progress slow, however the real stung in the tail was that after the village of Ardslignish the road turns north inland and rises sharply to over 1000ft to then traverse around a mountain before heading south again and descending back to sea level at the village of Kilchoan. It then turns north west and ascends to a few hundred feet over the most ridiculously bad roads and severe gradients before descending back down to the most Westerly point of the UK mainland. Ardnamurchan Point and Ardnamurchan lighthouse. There was a brief pause in the atrocious weather so I managed to take a few photos and videos and strangely there was no sign that mentions the geographic significance of this place. There had been 25 miles back in Salen I guess to try and encourage people down the peninsula but not at the point itself. Very strange.

Here's the video I took with me looking somewhat.....worn! It was after about 75miles so that's my excuse.

By now things were starting to get a bit tight in terms of when I'd finish riding vs when the sun sets so I headed straight back, over the 1000ft mountain pass again and back to Salen. I had a slight niggle in my right knee for the previous day and it had persisted that morning but when I got to Salen it suddenly became a very sharp stabbing pain just on the inside of my right kneecap :-( instead of a short 3 mile ride, due to the change of heart of sleeping arrangement I now had a 10 mile ride in front of me and a road with lots of hills between me and the end. I can tell you without hesitation that this was the worst 10 miles that I've ever spent on a bike. Physically I had already ridden 100 miles that day, not to mention the ridiculous climbing on the peninsular but now I was having to crawl the 10 miles effectively only pushing the pedals with my left leg! Mentally of course the worry's that something serious has happened that might need a few days rest (which would cause all kinds of logistical nightmare later in the challenge) or in a worst case might need me to abandon the challenge completely. I think it's fair to say that when I finally crawled through the bunk house door I was a wreck and I genuinely don't remember much about what happened that evening except that I recall sitting on a sofa and applying an ice pack to my knee. Needless to say I fell asleep very early, hence why I'm writing this blog entry the day after).

Overall, the toughest day so far for me. I didn't think things could get harder than the first day but the wilds of Scotland have corrected me on that one! 171km (106miles) ridden and almost none of it easy.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Strontian