Day 1: Ben Nevis and cycle to Tyndrum, Glencoe

We set off from Newtonmore in true Blackshaw style – car packed to its absolute limits with something stuffed into every inch of space (including on top of us) and the bikes on the back. It was a freezing morning but we could tell it was going to be a beautiful day – great start to the trip!

Ben Nevis (up the Tourist route from Glen Nevis) was a bit of a slog without anything of much interest except the amazing number of people making their way up it! Saying that, the views were sensational – mountains spread out below you in every direction.

Ruthie and I formed the express team and having taken our photo at the top to prove we’d done it, we were back in the car park in 4 ½ hours with our legs feeling slightly less fresh … To give us the necessary boost of energy, we consumed (and this continued throughout the trip) handfuls of nut and raisin mixture. After much testing we have concluded that this mixture is definitely the best thing to keep energy levels high!

(Views; Ruthie and Elsie on top of Ben Nevis; Ruthie and Elsie setting off on bikes from Ben Nevis car-park)

The first bit of road out of Fort William along the A82 was pretty hairy as far as Ballachulish. Very narrow and windy and topped off by the MASSIVE lorries zooming past and overtaking on blind corners. Compared to my usual cycling haunt of London, however, it all felt rather relaxed but Ruthie, used to the quiet streets of Cambridge wasn’t so sure …

However, once we got over the Ballachulish bridge, there was a great cycle path to the village of Glencoe and after that the road was much quieter so all was good.

We started up our pattern of each leading 10 miles; having a wee break after 20 miles, and a proper one after 40 miles. Its amazing the difference (probably quite a lot of it psychological) that following someone makes. I certainly found it far less tiring and much more relaxing, although you have to trust entirely in your partner because your wheels are almost touching and you can’t really see what’s ahead of you!

The cycle through Glencoe was absolutely spectacular with the dramatic mountains surrounding us but the very slight, continuous uphill was pretty wearing and dropped our average speed significantly. I discovered that my perspective of up/down isn’t particularly accurate. My eyes were convinced that we were going ever so slightly downhill a lot of the time but my legs (and speedometer) disagreed and were positive that we were in fact going up a gentle incline – bizarre!

We arrived at our campsite in Tyndrum feeling pretty tired but pleased with our first day. The amazing showers (in a heated toilet block, painted pink, with radio 1 playing constantly) were extremely welcome!

The support team’s attempts at making our haute-cuisine pasta were slightly foiled by the fact that we hadn’t checked the gas canister which proved to be empty. Off we went to the pub – never a bad option!