Day 7 - 01/05/15

This morning I woke up with brain freeze so I looked around to see if I had been eating ice-cream in my sleep. It was so cold and turning on the light I could see ice on the inside of the van. My sleeping bag has a +7 degree comfort rating so I slid off the bed, started the van heaters and put another layer on.

Today was bikey day. It was warm enough by 9am to think about going outside in shorts so I got my gear together and hit the trail, straight from the campsite. I started off with a few other people around which spurred me to go faster than I wanted to so that I wasn't holding anyone up. The trail wound up the side of a massive forested hill to a 600m peak where the shared blue, red and black trails split to leave only the black, which I was taking. Clearly the black is only for the brave because suddenly I was on my own as I pushed further into the forest. The others followed the red trail, which I had been told by the jolly fat shop guy, was closed across a few sections. He had instead given me a super-route which tackled the best bits of all three trails. Laughing at their naivety I sped on.

An hour later I was literally breathing out of my arse. I was not bike-fit and my huffing and puffing arse was raw from the saddle. I was wondering if I had bitten off more than I could chew and was imagining the other people laughing, with their middle fingers aloft, as they rode into the sunset. Luckily I reached the top and there was a shelter where I could catch my breath and stock up on some calories. With every climb though, there is a descent and, oh boy, was I ready for it. I felt the chill from the air as I accelerated downhill, swooping and jumping, forgetting that I was on my own and far from help if it all went awry. I got within sight of the finish and, being complacent I relaxed, just in time for a technical drop. I applied the brakes but it was too late. I went sailing over the handlebars, doing my best super-man impression, and landed like an A380 with no landing gear. I came to a stop about 10ft from my bike and lay there spitting the dirt out of my teeth. Lesson learnt? Nah! I inspected the damage to myself and the bike and head off back to the van to clean up.

And so today was my last day. I head home on Saturday, with a couple of stops to see family and friends. I was a little apprehensive about doing a driving holiday in the wilderness on my own. I envisaged I might get bored or lonely but none of that really materialised. I've had a blast and I've seen just snippet of Scotland's beautiful land and can see myself coming back again in the future for sure. Funnily enough the lowlands of Scotland take the same amount of time to get to as North Wales but in order to see Scotland properly you probably need at least a couple of weeks. I hope you feel inspired to take up your own adventure. It doesn't take much and it really is on your doorstep, in the grand scheme of things. Thanks for reading and I'll hopefully have more adventures to write about soon.
Oh, and if you haven't done so already, donate whatever you can to help the people in Nepal 😁

"Action Dan"

Day 6 - Thursday 30/04/15

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after a long sleep I realised that I was going to be leaving the highlands today. It was a sad thought because I had been surrounded by the mountains for the last 5 days and they had given me some spectacular viewing. My aim was to head to the lowlands so that I could scratch the mountain bike itch I had been nursing since Hertfordshire, but first I thought I would try and see what else Loch Lomond had to offer.

I pulled up at what I thought was a visitors centre, but as it turned out it was an office for the National Park. Pretending that I worked there, I smiled at the staff and sloped off back to find out where the real visitor centre was. I found it 5 miles further down the road and asked about any scenic walks. I wasn't really up for much following yesterday's hikes so I opted for a local nature trail walk.

After my last footpath exploits I made a point of walking on the trail from the carpark which was marked by two massive rocks. Low and behold after 100m the trail disappeared without a trace. There were no markers to speak of and the trail just faded into a carpet of unsprung bluebells. Looking around I noticed that, in the middle of this remote woodland, was a girl holding a ladder.
"Er hi. Do you know where the path goes?"
"Er, not really no. I just work here"
"You work here, in this nature trail, and you don't know where the path is?"
"No sorry. But if you follow the bird boxes you can kind of just walk around".
Clearly this was a DIY nature trail so I bid her my thanks and set off into the woodland. Popping out on the other side, up the hill, I got a beautiful view of Loch Lomond.

Putting it off ney more I set the satnav for the lowlands. It was only a couple of hours away and it was only just 11am so I was firmly on the lookout for things to do that didn't cost anything. About an hour into the drive I noticed this huge sculpture of two horses, made out of metal, off to the right of the motorway at Falkirk. I pulled over and walked along a canal to take a look. Apparently it was the Helix which is some kind of canal Gateway to the south, or north, depending which way you look at it. I learnt that the Falkirk Wheel, a rotating canal lock, was not far away so decided to take a look.

When I parked up I noticed a couple of emails from the brother of my friend Tom who was out in Nepal. The first was a bbc news article and him informing me that they landed at Stansted this morning at 4am and he had collected them. I then read his other email which featured Tom and Row who had been interviewed whilst in the British Embassy in Nepal. This is the article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/nepal/11571881/British-trekkers-describe-terror-at-perilous-descent-from-Himalayas-after-Nepal-earthquake.html

I rang Tom and he proceeded to tell me the story as I watched the Falkirk Wheel rotate with happy holidaymakers who were blissfully unaware of the events that were unfolding in my ear. I found it quite emotional. They were incredibly lucky and I cannot even begin to imagine or even relay what they had encountered. I was very happy that they were safe and was humbled by the people who had helped keep them alive. We are indebted to them. I had been following the stories on the news and most were of people in Kathmandu or Everest but Tom and Row's story is something that wouldn't be amiss in a Hollywood movie. I will be catching up with them this weekend to give them both a big hug!

Pulling myself together I got back on the road. My first stop, which was demanded by my bladder, was in Stirling. An impressive city with a big castle and a township on top of a cliff. Due to a lack of latrines I performed another McPiss and departed before I was chased by local townsfolk. My next stop was in Glentress mountain bike visitor's centre to do a bit of reconnaissance for tomorrow's big ride. The bike shop was open so I went in and asked if they could quickly look at my bike to sort out the gears. They obliged and whilst waiting I questioned the guy in the shop about which trails were best. I hadn't found a campsite yet and the guy in the shop recommended the Wigwam establishment which was just across from the centre. It didn't look like a campsite but I ventured over anyway to take a look. It was indeed a campsite so I managed to park myself pretty much in Glentress forest. Sorted for the night I headed to town to get supplies for the ride and a well earned curry. I returned for a good night's rest as apparently 50 Mancunians were arriving tomorrow night. Awesome!

Before bed I was introduced to a strange Scottish custom, showering in the dark. About half way through and fully soapy, the lights went out. It was darker than dark an I struggled to remember where everything was. I managed to finish washing and get dressed only to discover that the lights turn back on with movement. I was however quite proud of myself despite wearing everything inside-out and back-to-front. Not a very well thought out solution to saving electricity!