January 2008 Archives
I did the first part of the West Highland way on Saturday, riding from Milngavie to Ardlui. I can't find a decent map of the route online, so made a roughish one using the Gmaps Pedometer thing which you can see here.
I got the train from Argyll Street at 6.48, arrived in Milngavie at 7.24. As you can imagine it was pitch black so had to put my lights on as it's nearly all off road. 5 mins into the ride, my gears froze so if i wanted to shift gears i had to kick my rear mech. hoho.
Around 9am a mist came down and it was frickin BALTIC! I had to put 3 gloves on each hand and was wearing 4 layers up top and a woolly hat.
Riding from Milngavie to Drymen is pretty easy going (if you're ever wanting to take someone out on their first bike trip, it would be a good one cos it's a piece of piss and nearly all flat). But once in Drymen, the track leads up into the woods and from then on you're on singletrack paths for the majority of the run which is 'ace'.
Going over the hill i passed through the cloud and had to walk the bike a good part of the way cos the ice was crazy mental. I got a nice photo from the top of Ben Lommond etc all poking out of the mist. The descent was amazing and a bit scary cos of all the ice. It would be amazing to ride in dryer/warmer weather cos there's some very rocky/tech bits. Coming into Balmahar (11.10am) my gears finally defrosted and i even found a tap with drinking water so i was able to refill my waterbottle (although i should have poured all the slushy ice out first - idiot).
By about 12pm (4 and a half hours in) i was getting a bit tired. By 13.00 i was knackered and had to face up to missing the 13.50 train from Ardlui, which meant i was going to have to get the 19.50 - pisser. I stopped for the first real time and had a half hour rest whilst trying to force as much tuna pasta down my throat as i could. i tried to light a fire for fun/warmth cos i'd brought my firelighting kit with me, but my hands were too cold and i didn't have it in me. Can't remember the last time that happened!
I rode on till i got to Inversnaid Hotel which is hideous and only accessable via the West Highland Way or boat. I got another water bottle refill and then set out onto the part of the trail known as 'piece of shit'. This is because, it was 5km of totally unrideable trail and i had to carry the bike with my bottom lip so far out i nearly tripped over it. It took me about an hour and a half - to give you an idea as to how hard the terrain was, i can normally run (never mind ride!) that distance in about 20 mins. frickin hell it was pish.
Anyhoo, as soon as you get to the end of the loch, there's some more ace singletrack and a great descent but it was getting dark and i was a bit scared but then i happened accross this weird hippie hamlet thing and that's where the bridge over the river was, which allowed me to get onto the west side of the loch, ergo THE TARMAC ROAD!! oh joy. I was singing very loud a version of an Everton cup-run song which normally goes:
Tell me maaa, me maaa
We don't want no teeeeaaa, no teeeaaa
We're going to Wem Berrr LEEEEEEE
Tell me maaaa, me maaaaaa
(I substituted Wemberly for 'Ardlui'. Amazing, i know)
I got into the Ardlui Hotel at 16.55 to find out that Everton had beaten City (yos!) and that although i was going to have to wait 3 hours for a train, i was comforted with beer and lamb casserole and a full change of clothes which i had brought with me (perfect planning etc). my riding clothes were so mingin, they made a 'slap' when i dropped them onto the floor in the toilet. haha.
It was so frickin hard but also so good. i would definatelly reccommend it as a bike route but probably as a two-dayer. I even think it'd be good to take three days cos then you could have a day going up Ben Lommond in the middle - some kind of 'Monroe Sandwich'...pfnar!
Anyway, the next mission is to get the train up to Fort William and ride back to Glasgow, again on the West Highland Way track. This way I'd also get to ride The Devil's Staircase, which sounds grand. I might try to camp it up but if i can't wait for my savings to reach 'buying a tent' state, then i reckon i could use bothys. I've never slept in one, so that could be a fun adventure.
You should all do it - it's a blast. Although Kell would hate it 'cos there's too much pedalling.
Distance travelled - 40 something miles
Time taken - about nine and a half hours
Photos to follow (i was shooting on a new roll of black and white film, so i need to finish it off before processing it. Screw digital!)
REEEEEEEEEEEEET!
I got the train from Argyll Street at 6.48, arrived in Milngavie at 7.24. As you can imagine it was pitch black so had to put my lights on as it's nearly all off road. 5 mins into the ride, my gears froze so if i wanted to shift gears i had to kick my rear mech. hoho.
Around 9am a mist came down and it was frickin BALTIC! I had to put 3 gloves on each hand and was wearing 4 layers up top and a woolly hat.
Riding from Milngavie to Drymen is pretty easy going (if you're ever wanting to take someone out on their first bike trip, it would be a good one cos it's a piece of piss and nearly all flat). But once in Drymen, the track leads up into the woods and from then on you're on singletrack paths for the majority of the run which is 'ace'.
Going over the hill i passed through the cloud and had to walk the bike a good part of the way cos the ice was crazy mental. I got a nice photo from the top of Ben Lommond etc all poking out of the mist. The descent was amazing and a bit scary cos of all the ice. It would be amazing to ride in dryer/warmer weather cos there's some very rocky/tech bits. Coming into Balmahar (11.10am) my gears finally defrosted and i even found a tap with drinking water so i was able to refill my waterbottle (although i should have poured all the slushy ice out first - idiot).
By about 12pm (4 and a half hours in) i was getting a bit tired. By 13.00 i was knackered and had to face up to missing the 13.50 train from Ardlui, which meant i was going to have to get the 19.50 - pisser. I stopped for the first real time and had a half hour rest whilst trying to force as much tuna pasta down my throat as i could. i tried to light a fire for fun/warmth cos i'd brought my firelighting kit with me, but my hands were too cold and i didn't have it in me. Can't remember the last time that happened!
I rode on till i got to Inversnaid Hotel which is hideous and only accessable via the West Highland Way or boat. I got another water bottle refill and then set out onto the part of the trail known as 'piece of shit'. This is because, it was 5km of totally unrideable trail and i had to carry the bike with my bottom lip so far out i nearly tripped over it. It took me about an hour and a half - to give you an idea as to how hard the terrain was, i can normally run (never mind ride!) that distance in about 20 mins. frickin hell it was pish.
Anyhoo, as soon as you get to the end of the loch, there's some more ace singletrack and a great descent but it was getting dark and i was a bit scared but then i happened accross this weird hippie hamlet thing and that's where the bridge over the river was, which allowed me to get onto the west side of the loch, ergo THE TARMAC ROAD!! oh joy. I was singing very loud a version of an Everton cup-run song which normally goes:
Tell me maaa, me maaa
We don't want no teeeeaaa, no teeeaaa
We're going to Wem Berrr LEEEEEEE
Tell me maaaa, me maaaaaa
(I substituted Wemberly for 'Ardlui'. Amazing, i know)
I got into the Ardlui Hotel at 16.55 to find out that Everton had beaten City (yos!) and that although i was going to have to wait 3 hours for a train, i was comforted with beer and lamb casserole and a full change of clothes which i had brought with me (perfect planning etc). my riding clothes were so mingin, they made a 'slap' when i dropped them onto the floor in the toilet. haha.
It was so frickin hard but also so good. i would definatelly reccommend it as a bike route but probably as a two-dayer. I even think it'd be good to take three days cos then you could have a day going up Ben Lommond in the middle - some kind of 'Monroe Sandwich'...pfnar!
Anyway, the next mission is to get the train up to Fort William and ride back to Glasgow, again on the West Highland Way track. This way I'd also get to ride The Devil's Staircase, which sounds grand. I might try to camp it up but if i can't wait for my savings to reach 'buying a tent' state, then i reckon i could use bothys. I've never slept in one, so that could be a fun adventure.
You should all do it - it's a blast. Although Kell would hate it 'cos there's too much pedalling.
Distance travelled - 40 something miles
Time taken - about nine and a half hours
Photos to follow (i was shooting on a new roll of black and white film, so i need to finish it off before processing it. Screw digital!)
REEEEEEEEEEEEET!
