Day 1 of GWC S3 Projects 2009
It was finally here! I had been training hard for the last few months and was super excited for the bike project this year!
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| On the train... ready! |
We all met at Waverly for the 9am train to Inverness. The kids were all super excited and so were the staff. There was great chat between myself, Pete, Jane and Lewis as we got the first round of coffees in before boarding the train north. Bryce and John were driving the bikes up to Inverness to meet us there. Apparently there isn't room for 16 bikes on the train... So we had 3 hours to chill out on the train before our first cycle. It was great getting the opportunity to head over the Forth Rail Bridge; something I had always wanted to do. It was rather a dull morning in Edinburgh but as we headed over the bridge, the sun decided to make a welcome appearance. I enjoyed the scenery and read my book as the kids amused themselves with a number of travel games and a pack of cards.
As we sped further and further north, the weather got even better - much to our delight. We were soon alighting at the platform in Inverness and attaching our panniers to our machines. Bryce and John had made good time and had only just beat the train to the station. We said our goodbyes to Bryce and we knew that the next time we would see him would be back here at the finish - 10 days and some 500 odd miles away!
We were about to head off until we had our first 'incident' of the trip. One of the boys (CF) had just announced to another lad that he was a bit worried about going down hill, as his back brake didn't work!?! Lewis went from zero to nuclear in exactly half a second. Obviously this was going to be a problem! After a cooling off period and a quick trip to the bike shop down the street, we were on our way and heading over the Kessock Bridge and taking in an amazing view into the Beauly Firth. There was only a slight headwind and the sun was blazing down. We swing left just over the bridge and down to the waterfront of North Kessock to eat our packed lunches. We looked hard, but we didn't spot the Dolphins - much to our disappointment. It was a lovely cycle along the small road hugging the coast to Milton before joining the main road to Muir of Ord.
A quick toilet stop and a chance to reflect on how things were shaping up with the group. Pete had been leading the way with Jane at the back and Lewis and I somewhere in the middle. John was following in the support van but managed to get a wee cycle along the coast between Kessock and Milton - so he was very pleased with himself about that. The kids were all doing well and all of them seemed to be enjoying the easy first day. A few miles later and we had reached the campsite at Contin. It was an excellent grassy campsite down by the river. It was now time to put our efficiency to the first test. The kids unloaded the van and started to pitch their tents. To be fair, they did a great job for their first time and we all knew that it was only going to get better, as this would be our routine for the next 10 days!
It was still only late afternoon so there was plenty of time to chill out and have a brew. The kids got rid of some of their energy by amusing themselves with a game of 'mob football' in the adjacent field. I told them to take it easy, as they had their first real test tomorrow...
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| Contin campsite |
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| My home for the night |
Distance for the day: 18 miles
Route for the day:
