The Wild West ...........

Ooops the Applecross training weekend didnt quite go as planned. Don't get me wrong, not because i didnt enjoy myself but quite the opposite, i was enjoying myself so much i kind of forgot why i was there. Saturday morning came and Speedy and Andy went of to ride the Applecross loop in horrid sleety weather and came back looking nothing but professional. So next up, Tilli and i were going to attempt it but in the opposite direction, i was feeling pretty ropey to say the least and to be quite honest the last thing i wanted to do was climb a 10k hill then cycle another 37 hilly miles, never the less i gave it a go. I think i got about 1/4 of a mile before i stopped first, this did not bode well ! Silly, silly girl ....2 hours sleep and one to many shandies left me completely physically drained no amount of kendal mint cake was going to help  ...slowly and i mean SLOWY with about five stops i got to the top, Tilli had already peaked and had come back down to find us, go Tilli, you were a soldier !! 

 Coming down the other side was almost as hard but in a different way, it was so steep at one point i just couldn't look anymore so i decided it would be a good idea to close my eyes !?!?! what !! i'm such an idiot, i wasn't on a roller coaster i was on a road ..... oh well lesson learnt .... the hard way. I tried to keep going but in my head i'd given up before i'd even started and wasn't in the right frame of mind so i bailed out just before Sheildeg. Six months of seriously healthy living and i put my party head on the night befor the big climb, it goes without saying i was super annoyed with myself.

a grumpy lou

Tilli kept riding and did fantastically well in the horrendous wind. A huge WELL done to Speedy, Tilli and Andy you all showed huge amounts of strength i was so proud of you all. Total champions ;-)

an even grumpier lou

Applecross junction to Garve - 45 Miles

Sunday - Although pretty miserable, Speedy, Andy and I decided to cycle some of the way home, the guys climbed the beallach again but i met them at the foot and we cycled 45 (ish) miles to Garve, i had just enough time for a warm up whilst i waited ;-)

The route itself was pretty easy and we had a lovely tail wind, normally what i would consider to be straight forward cycling, the challenge however was keeping up with two hugely fit men.

                                                                                                                                                                                           

The reward was a cup of coffee and some shortbread in the hotel that time had forgotten ........bizarre place but even more bizarre was the carpet ....... ;-)

Cheers Guys .....fab weekend  xxx