Blood Sweat and Tears(almost) ....

Ardendrain to Skye - 75 Miles

4am on Saturday. The rain is banging on the window so loudly, i find it impossible to get back to sleep. After a couple of hours lying there wishing the rain to stop, i give up trying to sleep and get ready for our ride. I have to get in to a positive state of mind but its hard when you know you have a long long ride in front of you and it looks like you are going to be soaking wet from the second you turn the pedal.

About 20 mins before Speedy arrives the rain cleared and blue skies appeared .... instantly my mood lifts and i'm lured into a false sense of security. By the time we left the rain had started again.....away we went.

As we approached Culnakirk 6 miles from Ardendrain we had our first of many soakings, the heavy pea sized droplets soaking us to the skin, why do none of my waterproofs seem to work that well, is there an on button somewhere  i just don't know about ? i just don't get it,....anyway,  by the time we reached Drumnadrochit the rain had stopped again. This was pretty much the order of the day, torrential rain, vicious wind with the odd dry spell, just long enough to let my leggings dry before the next drenching.

Saturday's ride was by far the hardest ride for me, it really tested me both physically and mentally and pushed me to a different place ............ a place that's dark, a place that's lonely, a place I've never been before ........i think they call it hell !! ok maybe a little dramatic ;-)

In a nutshell we were blown around like rag dolls, we were soaked through half a dozen times, i don't mean the kind of wet you get when your caught in the rain without your brolly, i mean the kind of wet you are when you go swimming but with all your clothes on. The force of the 48mph winds and the rain in our eyes was so harsh, on three occasion's visibility was at zero and we could do nothing but stop pedalling and get rained on at the side of the road. The motorists must have thought we had lost the plot being out in those conditions ..........maybe we had  ??

My first low point started 3 miles from the Clunie Inn where we had one of the heaviest showers. It really took its toll, my clothes were wet through, my trainers and socks needed ringing out, my fingers numb and white with the cold. We took shelter at the Inn, i didn't even want to sit down at first, i was paranoid that i was going to leave water marks all over the upholstery, i dread to think what i must have looked like, or sounded like.
I'm sitting here laughing now as i think about it but i really was squelching like a big noisy squelchy thing...............its just so totally unglamorous.

Souped and coffee'd up it was time to hit the road....i really didn't want to, so i delayed the inevitable by a further five minutes by hiding in the ladies with my hands under the hand dryers to try and get a wee bit warmer and psych myself up. I just wished i could be magiced home to my living room chilling in front of a roaring fire watching the Goonies with Heidi, but with only 28 miles to Skye there was no way i was giving up this time, no matter how hard this ride was becoming. Little did i know the next 28 miles were going to take me over three hours to cycle, I'd hoped the wind would drop a bit and I'd be done in half of that.

Five miles after we started again my body just started to freeze, my cycling jacket was soaking and it was giving me the shakes, i was starting to feel a bit wobbly, i had to get these clothes of if i was going to carry on. So there i was at the side of the road getting changed in the pouring rain and then off we went again. The next two ish hours was just hard hard cycling we should have had the most beautiful descent for miles as you approach Skye but due to the winds we had to pedal down the hills. It would have been such a joy to cycle under better conditions.

Finally, we came to a sign that says Kyle three miles, these last three miles felt like thirty miles they went on and on and on and on, my legs were weak, my feet were like ice bricks, inside i was crying and almost on the outside as well. I had run out of steam, i could see the Skye Bridge all i had to do now was get over it and then i would stop.

On the approach to the bridge i manage to muster up enough energy to have a conversation with Speedy, then i remember him saying ' you'll be head into the wind round this corner but its just over the bridge and you're there ' and as always he was right, we turned round the corner on the cycle path to climb the bridge and the wind was like a brick wall.

Where do you go in your mind when you feel like you have nothing left ? ..... I was swearing at the wind in my head, just wishing it would give me some relief for the last half a mile .....  I had to get over this bridge so what did i do ? the only thing that came into my head, i started to count ..... 1 to 10 over and over again till i got to the top.... and slowly i got there.....i did it !!!!.... now, i could make my way down the other side and finally get off ,get warm and re fuel.
I was delighted i made it and didn't give up, then 100 yards in front of me a dog walker was taking up the whole cycle path, i manage to say  "excuse me", by all accounts it wasn't very loud, she didn't move, i tried a bit louder, she had her earphones on, she didn't move, i was getting close this time i shouted "EXCUSE ME" ,  i was about 2 ft away and the dog saw me and must have thought i was making a bee line for his owner and went for me.

Can you imagine it, I'm exhausted to the point I'm about to fall of my bike and i get attacked by a dog !! It was just so not what i needed. Anyway, i was fine i just got more of a fright............

Richard went on to take his ride up to 100 miles then called it a day. An incredible achievement in such wild conditions. On the subject of Speedy I don't think i could have done it without him yesterday, the best training  partner i could ask for. Go Speedy !!

Woo Hoo tonight was cause for a celebration, away we went to Portree to meet up with some friends who had travelled up from Lesmahagow. The Plan =  Dance the night away at a Ceilidh in the village hall. Davey you rocked in your kilt ........ but i think we need to have a chat about the shoes ;-)