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Sunday 23rd May 2010 Tyndrum to Spean Bridge I woke fairly early as usual but unlike usual there was a soft drumming of rain on the roof of the B&B room today. This didn’t sound too good and when I got round to peering out of the window half an hour later there was the sight of Scotch mist hanging low on the hills and a steady drizzle of light rain. The earlier forecast had been for hot and sunny but when I switched on the TV the BBC weather now showed a couple of rain blotches on the map roughly where I was. Fortunately, however, by the time I’d got up, had breakfast and got myself ready the rain had stopped and it subsequently turned out to be another nice day, albeit with some clouds amongst the sunny patches.
I knew there was a hill immediately in store for me north of Tyndrum but it turned out to be not so bad as I feared and rather surprisingly the second hill I was concerned about – the climb up to Rannoch Moor just after the iron bridge near Achallader Farm – was also do-able without pushing. The latter one was a bit harder though. Nevertheless I stuck the bike in bottom gear and wound my way up to the car park at the top where a piper in full dress rig was mangling the air to greet me – or maybe to punish the tourists till they paid him to stop. I had a pause to drink in the melodic strains and recover my breath then pressed on.
It was very easy going after that, across Rannoch Moor on a gently undulating road although the traffic can be a bit fast. Most drivers were ok though, gave enough clearance and slowed down when appropriate. As I approached Buchaille Etive Mor, the distinctive mountain at the head of Glencoe, I pulled into a layby behind a parked motor-home (a Transit-sized camper van) to get a picture. I asked the camper van owner to take one for me with me and the bike and the Buchaille in it and he, or rather his wife, obliged.
They were a retired couple from Somerset, Richard and Andrea, and they were very interested in my ride. Andrea asked me if I had a sponsorship website and got a pen and paper so I could write it down for her. Very generous. They then welcomed me into their van and gave me cake and coffee whilst chatting about their own trip and their son-in-law who also likes going on bike trips. In fact he was off to do an etape of the Tour de France this year, the same as my nephew Andrew had done last year. Richard and Andrea were heading for Skye but more immediately Oinich for the night or two. They were retired and had no fixed schedule, doing whatever they felt like for 3-4 weeks. This was their first major outing in the camper, since Richard had written off their caravan the previous year when it began yawing and spilling its contents all over the road.
I bade them goodbye and carried on, pausing for some soup at a café in Glencoe before making my way to Fort William. I passed straight through there and then had an easy ride along to Spean Bridge where I got accommodation for the night at Riverside Lodge Gardens. This was a very nice B&B (£40) run by Colin Findlay, Scots-born but brought up in Brighton, who had retired from the Fire Service 11 years earlier and then bought this place. We stored my bike in his garage and he told me there was no need to lock anything up there. That evening I had a phone call from Graham Hale, a friend from work, and it was nice to have a bit of support. Meal for the night was a mushroom and pepper suet pudding, chips and peas plus choc pud and ice cream at the local Little Chef. I didn’t bother going to the pub. Distance: 56.47 miles Average speed: 13.1 mph Max speed: 26 mph | |||||||
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