We all woke up this morning and just wanted to get on with it, except Steff who as per usual was still putting his makeup on and was running late again as his straighteners were not working properly.
We set off from the Best Western and headed up the A82 now at this point we looked around and noticed a considerable amount of white stuff on the mountains which was concerning considering its May.
We toddled off up the A82 with some of the most amazing scenery in the UK by far we headed of up the mountains utilising what must be the worst roads in the UK, my backside is in tatters from the pot holes and poor surfaces
We made our way up to Glencoe at amazing speed and was able to stop of at the top of the hill for respite, Now at this point all was going well until the hail started, you maybe thinking this isn't that bad but now consider we are wearing tight skin lycra which got slightly uncomfortable getting battered by the elements.
We motored on getting some speeds up to 40 mph down the hills and keeping all the motorist amused at our attempts to look like a Tour de France outfit when actually we must have looked like a bunch of escaped lunatics on some type of amphetamine.
We stopped for a well earned “T” stop at the brow of one of these Mountains in the Glencoe region and Iestyn propped his bike up and walked of, Slightly fragile I wandered over to the get my Mountain Fuel drinks ready for the next crazed section of the ride, when the said bike fell on me and landed on a particularly tender part of my leg, to which I screamed out “Oh my god that really really hurt” to which it was then pointed out it was that a coach load of American visitors spilt there coffees and biscuits in shock, Well I hope I wasn't the first brit they met !
Anyway we swiftly moved through the Glencoe range and headed out towards Fort William and stopped for a breather, Iestyn was still under the weather and utilising all the hedges and dock leaves up in the area.
We stopped at Spean Bridge at the Royal Marines memorial and paid respects to those who gave so much for their country, the sad thing is they have expanded the area to allow new plaques and pictures of the fallen to be laid.
We passed Ben Nevis and headed north towards Loch Ness up the A82 and was greeted by more stunning scenery and winding roads descending down towards the Loch Ness.
We got to Loch Ness and unfortunately “Nessie” didn't make an appearance, So we plodded on up the Hills and taking in the surroundings but we looked in hope until Ritchie then bored the whole team with the statistics of Loch Ness and the plankton that lives in there, you can imagine we were all interested in his outburst and handed him some energy drinks and hugged him to let him know we cared !
Tim, Blackie and Brian were consistent at the front with Pete trying keep the head wind off the pack, Pete was in giggling fits as he believes that a young man that joined us the day previous was wearing a thong under his lycra.
Obviously there was too much energy and Tim decided to start throwing jelly babies, Unfortunately I was given some and for those who know me it sent me into a Taz manian fit and I was off like a mad man up the hills, which seem to spark the rest of the group into a Mark Cavendish finish, Unfortunately we still had 5 miles left.
We made our way into Inverness with a spring in our step, 118 miles under our belts and the sad thought that this is nearly over with over 120 miles left to do with a great bunch of lads.
Again, A big shout out to Roger and Foxy our support team for their help and direction during this.