2000: Inverness to Glasgow
~ in aid of Meningitis support

:: Day One:
We assembled at the Shepherds Arms Hotel Ennerdale shortly after three o’clock, for a photo shoot by the Whitehaven News, then it was time to pack our bikes, bags and spare equipment onto the bus -we were on the road to Aviemore shortly before 16:00hrs. We finally arrived in Aviemore about 22:45hrs where we were due to spend both Thursday & Friday night.

:: Day Two:
On looking outside first thing on Friday morning, the cloud was low and the rain was coming straight down. This is what we had been dreading, looking on the bright side though there seemed to be little or no wind. According to the map the first day was to be the shortest of the four days but with the most climbing.

Anyway, into the bus and down into Inverness, catching the tail end of the morning rush hour traffic, we arrived near the Ness Bridge (start point) around 10:30hrs. The rain seemed to stop as we entered the Capital of the Scottish Highlands and that was the last we were to see of it over the next four days. Bikes sorted and on the way to Glasgow. Ahead of us was 234 miles of terrain that few of us had ever seen or were likely to see again!

The big climbs we were expecting through out the first day failed to show, instead it seemed mainly to be a barely noticeable incline. The route took us passed the famous Culloden Battlefield and twisted & turned as it followed nearby the A9 & the railway-heading south out of Inverness. The surface was mainly small back roads and I mean back roads, as we would go for miles without meeting any form of motor vehicle. We climbed on up through Moy, then Tomatin

And finally reaching Slochd Summit. For the first time after 26 miles we came across some decent down hills, which took us on through Carrbridge then turning left into Boat of Garten. At this point we were only a couple of miles from Loch Garten, famous for its breeding Ospreys. We were not to see anything of these birds as the route turned sharply to the right to head South and we once again started to climb steadily towards Aviemore. We finally made it back to Aviemore about 15:45hrs with a relatively incident free day, just two punctures and 46 miles behind us. A lot of the country side we’d passed through was very much like our own Lake District, the scenery was excellent, but with far less traffic to contend with.

Our first near miss came later in the evening while in a bar in Aviemore. After a few pints of the local brew, Howard decided to tell us about the historic 'Battle of Culloden', and how the Scottish lost vast amounts of men in the battle and the English only lost six. However, we did manage to remind Howard in the nick of time where on the map we were!

:: Day Three:
The second day riding, we were on the road about 09:30hrs. Again we were expecting a good 30 plus mile climb up to the Pass Of Drumochter summit (the highest point of the ride). According to the map we would have a number of miles to travel along the busy A9, but thanks to Sustran’s and the Scottish Office who have put in mile after mile of new cycle path we were spared that pleasure. The route climbed up through Kingussie, Newtonmore and on to Dalwhinnie where we called in to Dalwhinnie Distillery Visitors Centre. I’d like to thank the two kind ladies who work there for the free glass of whisky, which was much appreciated. Then it was back into the saddle and about a good five-mile climb to the Pass Of Drumochter summit. The scenery was excellent climbing steeply to our left were The Grampian Mountains one of Scotland’s most famous mountain ranges. The mountain range still supporting large amounts of snow in gills and over ridges. We now had some 25 miles plus of down hill and flat ahead of us as we descended down through Blair Atholl, Killiecrankie and finally into Pitlochry where we due to spend our Saturday night.

Early evening I thought my luck was in as we went into a bar and found the Speedway Grand Prix on the TV. Been a keen supporter of Workington KC Comets I thought I would be able to see how Carl Stonehewer got on, but sadly I was out voted and on we moved (sorry Stoney!). We shortly found another watering hole and stayed there for the duration of the evening. It was while we were in this bar that our T-shirts worked dividends as two kind Gentlemen came over to us. The first gave us a donation of £10 (his Granddaughter had died 12 months earlier from Meningitis) and the second bloke was still fighting the Big C, he gave us £20. We all shook the hands of these Gentlemen and bought them a pint each in return. Brilliant eh! Talking to them made this bike ride that bit more special. I’d like to give Mrs Irene Robinson a mention and a big THANK YOU as she designed and printed the T-shirts free of charge for every one of us.

:: Day Four:
Up ready and sorted just after 9 o’clock on the Sunday morning, this was to be our longest day (69 miles in total). Again we had been blessed with the weather, dry with high cloud perfect!

Another big thank you must go to Brian Stone & his wife (the Landlord & landlady of The Carra Beag guesthouse) for their excellent donation of £20.

Before leaving Pitlochry we called in at the Salmon pass, where we were to see 6 excellent fish at close quarters on their way through the pass.

On leaving Pitlochry we headed south for a couple of mile till we came to a small Village called Logierait, we then turned sharp right and crossed over one of Scotland’s most famous Salmon rivers, The River Tay. We now headed in a westerly direction for over thirty miles. First we passed through Strathtay, and then we had to take a half-mile (each way) detour off the route into Aberfeldy to get our maps stamped. On rejoining the route we headed towards the village of Kenmore at the East End of Loch Tay, where we crossed over to the south side of the loch and again headed west to we came to a place called Killin. I think most of us would agree this was one of the most tiring parts of the whole ride. It was 300 metres up 300 metres down for the full 17 miles of the loch. We decided to stop here in one of the local Pubs for a bite to eat and a pint.

On leaving Killin we turned South towards Glen Ogle Pass, climbing for some two to three miles and then on pasted Lockearnhead. About five miles after Lockearnhead we called at Balquhidder grave yard to see where the famous Rob Roy was buried (none of us were quite sure what he was famous for but we all knew of him and believed he was a bit of a dodgy character). The time was moving on as it was 17:30 hrs and we still had another ten miles to cover before reaching Callendar, where we were to spend the night. This day was the hardest and longest of the whole ride.

:: Day Five:
Monday morning, bright blue skies and in for a hot last day. On the road again (not before I’d had a puncture in the Hotel car park - this must be the fastest on record! This had now put me as firm favourite to win the 'Hazard Howard Trophy' from Mr Wilson, who won it last year while on the C2C) just after 9am, heading south west passed Loch Venacharm, then through the Invertrossachs. This part of the ride was all paths and forestry roads. The scenery again was excellent as the route twisted and turned its way up through woodland and around Loch Drunkie. Then we had an excellent down hill as we dropped down into Aberfoyle. From there we headed through Gartmore before hitting the severest climb of the whole ride, up and up for nearly two miles. Then another decent down into a town called Drymen, where we stopped for a bite to eat. From here onwards the going was mostly level all the way to Glasgow. We finally reached The Ness Bridge (thee end!) about 16:30hrs, where we took a few photos just for proof. I would advise any one whom may wish to do this cycle ride in future that an ideal place to finish would be the boat marine in Balloch. The last 20 miles from Balloch to the Ness Bridge in Glasgow were all urban, cycle way signs were snapped off, turned around, painted over, there was broken glass all over the cycle path

On the whole the ride was brilliant, well thought out and with improvements on going all the time it can only get better, but forget the last 20 miles!