2000km and Buns of Steel

We made it! 21 days of cycling, 2000km and only 2 days biking in the rain. We got to 8000km and have done over 500 hours of riding since leaving home. England was pretty, with its rural life and stone villages, but Scotland, well Scotland is where its at.

After Edinburgh we headed west to Loch Lomond which (despite the presence of millions of midges) was beautiful. Then it was through the highlands, where the scenery was highly reminiscent of parts of the South Island, and a welcome change from the rolling paddocks of England. The comparatively small mountains (highest in UK is Ben Nevis at 1300 odd meters, cf Mt Cook at 3800 ish) did a fine job of showing off some steep granite flanks and giving a general impression of grandeur, surrounded by tussock covered moors and the odd tarn, which of course here they call a Loch. On that, we have discovered that to the Scots, any body of water is ripe for the moniker Loch. Loch Linnhie is an inlet, Loch Lomond is a lake, and Loch Ba is a small alpine lake which we call a tarn. This led to a predictable renaming of our drink bottles.

Our route took us past Ben Nevis and its northern face which is not only steep but steeped in mountaineering history as its ice filled gullies have been targeted by generations of climbers. It was then onto Loch Ness (a lake, just so you know), where we did the obligatory monster impressions - no real sightings to report unfortunately. Two more days plugging up the east coast from Inverness had us arriving at John O'Groats as we had left Land's End - in the pouring rain. Very satisfying to reach the end point after being cut down just short of our last goal.

We took a guided day trip to the Orkney Islands, and were treated to stories ranging from fascinating WW1 and WW2 history based around the Scapa Flow harbour that was often used to shelter the British fleet, to very small town gossip, such as the life history of a swan the bus happened to pass, and a slow drive by of a paddock so we could all admire a lone deer that was apparently pregnant. This was clearly a woman who loved her community and loved her job. One story told of a German U Boat that managed to sneak into the harbour through a small inlet and sink a British warship. This led to 1000 or so Italian troops being shipped in from North Africa and a sidestepping of the Geneva Convention in order to put them to work building barriers that now form the causeways that link the islands. We visited the last remnant of their camp, which was a small chapel they built complete with Madonna and Child fresco that the artists stayed on after the end of the war to finish. It seemed like a far cry from the emaciated and haunted looking images of Allied prisoners we are all accustomed to. The Orkneys were also the site of the first British citizen killed in WW2 by a stray bomb during an air raid in the harbour. This despite London et al already being the subject of raids.

There are also tons of archaeological sites on Orkney. We visited some stone block houses from 3100BC (earlier than the Pyramids of Giza) and a couple of random standing stone formations that the use of is still unclear. There is much more to be discovered here with a major dig currently underway, so for a tiny wee place there is much to keep the otherwise unengaged cycle tourist interested.

Now we are in London frantically preparing for our departure to the Continent tomorrow. Rome beckons initially but from there it is still completely vague except for ensuring our presence in the French Alps mid July for the passing of the preeminent cycle Tour.

Ciao in anticipation

C&D