Days nine and ten

Double update because I fell asleep writing day nine, and we don't have any reception at our day ten hotel.

Day nine...

Yuck.

Much of today's events already covered. This morning was awful, simply not safe. We were heading west and the wind was coming up from the south, straight off the Irish Sea, where ferry crossings had been cancelled. So, it was hitting us perpendicularly. My neck was aching from forcing it to my left, just to keep my head upright. I felt like I was turning a hard left the whole time just to keep in a straight line. Every now and then the wind would just pick you up and dump you in the middle of the road. With the rain as well it was just a stupid time to be out on a bike. Just wind or just rain, and it would have been manageable, but both at the same time, to that extreme, was not good.

When we stopped I was all for plan B, a train to Ayr. But some bright spark, who happened to be celebrating his birthday, devised plan C...

We wanted to wait for the rain to stop, so this allowed for a quick bike shop visit. Tom and I went and whilst we were there I overheard Tom chatting to the guy about how to get to the new destination. All I really heard was "highest village in Scotland" and "category one climb" (cat one being the second hardest type of climb you find in a pro cycling race). These words concerned me slightly, but fortunately they never materialised. I guess he was telling us which routes to avoid.

The route here was actually really quiet... running parallel to a motorway. A never ending road with dull grey concrete stretched out in from of office, traffic was light, almost non existent. There wasn't much to do except get the head down and pedal hard. The wind was fierce, but often when its behind you it's not noticeable. At one point, I was a couple of hundred metres ahead of the pack, and approaching a roundabout. Thought I would do some laps to let the others catch up (you can often find me racing round and round in circles). As I got halfway round, I was at 90 degrees to the wind and just could not turn anymore. The invisible power of the wind was immense. I had to straighten up and just carry on...

Day ten takes us through Glasgow and up to Loch Lomond. Hopefully with the wind behind us...

Day ten...

A really tough day.

As I was thrashing Bianca down the main road on the west side of Loch Lomond, I couldn't help but laugh to myself. I was chasing the bunch after a navigation error. I'd spent the whole day either driving hard into the wind, chasing people at flat out speed, or chasing people at flat out speed, whilst cycling directly into the wind! My legs were feeling it, my thighs seem to be ripping themselves apart with every turn.

An extra 30 minutes in a Glasgow bike shop had already left Yorky and I with plenty of ground to make up. We rode hard on the main road west out of Glasgow, along the Clyde to catch the other guys. Frustrated by the amount of traffic lights. We knew the rest would be slower through the traffic... eventually we caught them before the Erskine Bridge, which is where tbe road starts to turn a wind friendly North up towards the Loch.

The morning was equally tough. We left our truckers hotel, continuing on the same quiet road that brought us there. Up hills and straight into the wind, our speed was sub 10mph. The road took us into the suburbs of Glasgow... a couple of punctures delaying us further.

In other news:

James is now winning the race to take the most painkillers. A change of strategy by Tom has put him on 'long lasting effect' tablets, whereas James is still eating them like Wine Gums.

Yorky managed two days without going shopping.

The cake count is sky high (i just had one for breakfast)

The weather is not looking good for the rest of the week, and a couple of heads are dropping as a result. I am insisting on wearing my shorts which almost certainly guarantees sunshine. And James is defiant. "we can do this guys, F### the weather!" he proclaimed at breakfast... turning a few heads from the other diners.

Today takes us to Fort William... according to all the guides, one of the most picturesque days of cycling...

700 miles down, 300 to go.