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

Eathies Easy ........................

Wednesday 11th of May

Avoch-Rosemarkie-Eathie-Cromarty-Mount Eagle-Killen-Mount High- Avoch -35 miles

Another lovely ride but very very windy. Before i set out i tried to judge which way the wind was blowing but every five minutes it looked like it had changed direction. So nothing else for it ..... i had to 'man up', stop looking for the easy option and just get on my bike and ride.

I headed along to Rosemarkie then climbed up the hill to Eathie, i did this hill on my second ever ride and remember feeling like i'd climbed Kilimanjaro. With a lot more ease and a much better pace i happily got to the top, however i did have one problem, the flies .....i'm wondering right now if i can still call myself a vegetarian, if they're not smacking me in the face they're finding their way into my mouth ....spitting is totally not cool but what else can i do ???

Moving on..... i rode up and down the Black Isle hills sometimes into the wind which was 'refreshing' and sometimes with it behind me, taking in the lovely country scenery and getting high on the smell of manure .....dont you just love country living ??

So i think thats it till Applecross this weekend.... cant wait ;-)

Midweek meanders ....

Tuesdays 10th May

Ardendrain-Beauly-Muir Of Ord-Connon Bridge-Maryburgh- Culbokie-Avoch =28miles

A pleasant ride out in the sunshine, luckily the wind was behind me all the way, it was kind of planned that way if I'm being totally honest...I cycled down to Beauly to get my partner in crime and we went for a lovely wee ride. At the Culbokie turning we went our separate ways and i climbed the hill to Mnt High. From the top of the hill you can see for miles. It was picture perfect, beautiful sunshine, and all the fields looked even greener than normal, stunning ;-)

So there i was on my lonesome at the top of this hill looking at the descent like a kid in a sweet shop, feeling all competitive i decide to switch on my virtual partner (such a geek) and have a bit of a race.. guess what i won !! no great achievement i have to add ... its wasn't hard, he/she was worse than useless ....

Date of the Summer ............Tickets available now !!

Follow this link for all you need to know about the fundraising ceilidh on Friday the 12th of August ..............a night of whisky swigging, kilts a swishing and willows stripping ;-)


www.kidsofkolkata.co.uk

Bring on Bealach Beag .....

Round it or Over it ??? ................... do you even have to ask ??


Cant wait for the weekend, we're all heading to Applecross for a bit of a bike challenge. It's pretty simple really, we just have to cycle 43 miles, the easy bit.... then climb up Bealach-na-Ba (Pass of the Cattle) the UK’s biggest road climb, It rises from sea level to 626m altitude in 10km, the challenge !!!

Speedy Sunday .....

Ardendrain- Cannich - Drumnadrochit - Inverness- Ardendrain - 59 miles 3hrs and 40 mins

No rest for the wicked ................

Just incase you were beginning to think i was getting slack .......hold that thought !!! in fact its quite the opposite...i've been so busy pedalling away that i've hardly had a spare minute to update my blog. In brief, since my lost post, i've had 6 outings, totalling  230 miles, not bad for 10 days. Most of the rides have been local however we did venture up north to Dunrobin as i had the small matter of a charity abseil down the side of the castle to attend to !!  No rest for the wicked ;-)) it was actually really good fun but a little windy.....

get this !!!guess what we saw when we were on our way to Dunrobin ??? an addder no less.....i nearly had a fit, i'm such a girl ........yuk .....you dont see them every day do you ??

Overall the cycling is coming along nicely, my average speed has increased by a couple of miles per hour, the fundraising is well under way, my thighs are growing by the week which i'm not hugely happy about but hey i guess it was inevitable and i've developed a terrible sweet tooth and a soft spot for snickers !! What else to report ..... i've been getting sports massages from the Inverness Therapy Clinic which are helping enormously and making my legs feel so much stronger so all in all everything is tickety boo. We've booked our support van and started booking our accomodation and refreshment stops so it's all feeling very real now. I'm so excited i can hardly wait ;-))))

Hmmm one last thing ....... i've entered a wee race on june 4th http://www.handsonevents.co.uk/Events/Cairngorm/cairngorm.htm

ok must dash, things to do, bikes to clean, accomodation to book bla bla bla bla