"Take me to the river. Wash me in the water..."

After a splendid night's sleep at Loch Awe House ( thank-you for your kind donation to H4H) and a good breakfast I head off to the end of the Loch where the kayak leg will commence. A very bumpy ride later along the twisty turny loch side track and we all arrive in Ford for launching. This sheltered cove at the end of Loch Awe is a beautiful point from which to set off on the 26 plus mile journey to the finishing point by the Castle......just 6 or 7 hours away!!! Final preparations and Joanne and Marjorie sre off. The promised gale force winds have failed to turn up...so far, and they beat a course out on to the Loch and out of sight, disappearing into the mist and drizzle.....surely you didn't think the conditions had improved that much!!! A quick shower, change out of cycling gear and check out of the accommodation and I'm back at the loch side with John, searching for two needles in a very fuzzy haystack. After about two and a half hours we finally make contact: the conditions had deteriorated considerably with an increasing wind whipping up a tidy swell and chop on the water. Rain! The intrepid pair manage to stick to their schedule, stopping to feed and stretch out every hour and a half or so. Our final point of contact is with about 6 miles to go: a six mile stretch, during which visibility is down to about 150 yes so the end is never in sight. If you've ever been stuck out in near "white out" conditions you'll know what it does to perspective. Scale is lost and tufts resemble distant copses. It was a fairly desolate last few miles. We spot them from the Caste and rush to make sure they head for a suitable exit point. Out they leap.......well, stagger by then. Joanne unsure that her arms will ever recover, let alone in time for a Windermere swim in two days. Marjorie declares that that distance is just about her limit!! A good bit further than a channel crossing ( especially hugging the bank rather than straight lines)....if you're going to have a limit it may as well be a proper one!! Top effort. My turn again and after a false start....I heade off with the car keys in my pocket....I climb from the Loch, over the top and descend to Loch Lomond. Rain! Pretty foul for cycling as well but decent time is made and just under three hours later I arrive at our overnight stop in Dumbarton. The pub over the road is beckoning, so we put the showers on hold in search of food.....we'd had one of those adventure dried meals the night before.... The good news, they serve food until 9:30..we're in! Bad news...they've run out. Then more good news.....beer @ under £2:50 a pint. So, a swift half(ish) and we're raiding the M and S food store at the adjacent garage. Fed, bathed, alarm set......bed. The delights of Glasgow await first thing in the morning.

"...we're on the road to paradise; here we go, here we go " .

Rested, Joanne and I head off up to Glen Feshie, where John came down on day one for me to start the cycle to the Nevis range 4's. a little watery sunshine lulls us into a false sense of warmth. Throughout our stay in the highlands and down through Glasgow on to the borders the temperature never gets above a somewhat chilly 12 degrees. In fact, as I write, at 9:30 pm just under the Pennines, it is still warmer than the warmest warm moment during our sojourne in Scotland. My ride to the Aonach Mor ski station is quiet, except for the flotilla of Contractor van ferrying people to work. But they give plenty of room and despite rain and a sharp headwind I cover he 60 miles in under 3 hrs and hand over to John who sets off on what turns out to be another memorable adventure. In the mean time I get a massage, which eases my left knee a bit and at 11 in the morning satisfy a craving for mashed potatoes......plus sausages and beans. Ready for the climb up through glen Coe. John returns.....delayed once more by filming and some terrible conditions. July 1st and he has to resort to his hat again as snow falls on Ben Nevis. Once finished, I crank my way out of Fort William into a raging headwind, dreading the 80+ miles ahead.Headwind unremitting until I reach North Balaculish where I pick up a taily to the top of the climb.......result! Always a price to pay as the headwind and broken road surface almost breaks me out of Glen Orchy and into Loch Awe. John's Nevis range run was a 5.5 hr undertaking. My 80 miles to our most excellent B and B.....with a bath!! taking 4.25 hrs. Food, bathing bed and ready to tackle Loch Awe in the morning. A little apprehension as the forecast is for rain and up to 50 mph winds. A good night's sleep not necessarily guaranteed.

" Letting the days go by: letting the water hold me up"

And there's been plenty of water during our few days in Scotland! When Linda ( our accordion playing Scottish correspondent) assured us that the weather was looking a lot more settled for the start of our epic, we presumed she meant " settled" in a warm and pleasant fashion. Instead it was settled in a cold, wet, windy and even snowy fashion. However, before you become too concerned at our northern plight I can report that Joanne and I partook of a couple of alcoholic beverages last night (I know this will be hard to believe to most of you) and it cost £4:96 for two pints of Stella 4 so there is a silver/gold lining to even the blackest cloud. Unfortunately we had a 4:45 alarm set for this morning so could not really take appropriate advantage of our good fortune. Apologies for the lack of blogging.....not caused by extreme fatigue but rather technological malaise. Back at John and Marjorie's for this evening so a chance to bring things up to date. The "epic" started early......it was so cold and windy when we assembled in John O'Groats that we had a quick vote and decided to crack on; a decision that was vindicated over the following hours as the "sliding roon" came in handy in the face of a solid 25 mph headwind with considerably speedier gusts! It barely got dark. The cycling was as tough as you'd imagine under the circumstances but the privilege of rolling through the penumbra in emptiness was more than adequate compensation. The highlight: probably the two hundred yards or so when a Barn Owl accompanied me, flying a metre or so off my left shoulder. Huge thanks to Joanne and Roger for their support during the night and for singing Happy Birthday at midnight. My cycling time for the 167 miles was nine and a half hours but with plenty of stops to keep morale high and food intake up we took nearly 11 hours to reach the ski station on Cairngorm. In the dark, without a computer it's almost impossible to keep track of pace: energy is wasted climbing......because you can't see the gradient. All challenging but all fun......once I'd finished. Longest ever ride: 4 hrs and 60 miles further than ever before.....even when I was fit! Did I mention the headwind? The headwind was not about to let up any time soon. John headed off up Cairngorm to tackle the Cairngorm 4's into the teeth of a gale which was blowing at well over 50 mph on the tops. Add a little drizzle and you can imagine the scale of the challenge. It was cold enough for him to don his hat......a rare Chadwick occurrence. The route is long and remote so we wouldn't see him again until his descent into Glen Feshie. While we waited for him we were entertained by the Golden Eagles soaring overhead.....a stunning location. John duly returned, some 8 hrs or so later, which was maybe ( like my cycle) an hour longer than he would have hoped for but not unexpected in the conditions. Time for a pizza, bed and preparation for day two! Only nine to go......can that be right? Stay tuned for day twoness.......it gets colder and wetter !

" and you may ask yourself...." How did I get here?"

The journey from John and Marjorie's up to Aviemore passed without any delays yesterday. We arrived to sunshine and the opportunity to stretch our legs: Joanne set off up through the beautiful Rothiemurchus Estate woodlands for a run and I recce'd the climb up to Cairngorm ski station. TT bike will be fine tomorrow so no need for a bike change. 10 miles or so of climbing which will, doubtless, take me more than yesterday's 35 mins as I'll already have biked 150 miles by the time I do it next time. J and M arrived a bit after us and after a very pleasant meal we went to bed and waited for it to get dark.....and waited.......and waited. Still a glow in the sky at 11 and already light at whatever time the pubs kicked out and the drunken dawn chorus awoke us from our deep sleeping. Tomorrow we'll know exactly what time that was as we'll already have some miles under our belt, having set off from John O'Groats at midnight. A strange way to spend the first 8-10 hrs of your 53 rd ??!!? birthday. For those of you who are worried about whether it's wise for Joanne to return to Aviemore, we're fairly certain that her misbehaviour here as a college student has all been forgiven.....if not forgotten. She did get some strange looks and comments as she ran through the centre of the village yesterday but we're putting that down to the misguided behaviour of a drunken minority. No- one has mentioned Cyril the Squirrel yet, anyway. Oops, the cat's out of the bag. Off for breakfast in a moment but will post before we head to J o'G with some more sensible thoughts on how things may go over the next hrs / days! Richard

Hey Ho.....Let's Go!

After illness and the stress of rushing around organising SwashBuckler and ForestMan it was nice to get back on my bike yesterday. Just did a few repeats up to Hartside from Melmerby, which is where Joanne's parents live, just east of the Lakes, right under the North Pennines. It's not steep, particularly, but a good 6 miles or so of " alpine" type climbing. Three ascents of that got me back in the saddle and I finished before the rain set in for the rest of the day The bikes were great.....thanks Alex and Primera, for the posh Zipps on the faithful old TT bike. Nice to see some spare sprockets behind me, which I'm sure these old and undertrained legs will put to good use in the hills. Actually, considering the lack of riding over the past month my legs felt reasonable. Lungs still shot to pieces after the virus but hey ho......let's go! Joanne and her folk headed to Ullswater to collect their kayaks....thank- you to Distant Horizons for your support! Roger Burlinson is bringing a kayak for Joanne. They took the opportunity for a trial swim and Joanne worked out the best guidance/ navigation strategy with her Mum, who will be supporting her on Windermere. She was in the water for nearly 2 hrs, which was a good work out and also good for confidence. Fairly comfortable conditions....thanks Mike for the lovely 2 X U wetsuits!!! So today we head off to our base in Aviemore, where we'll tie up with Roger and chat through some filming details. I will continue to try and consume as many calories as possible. All this being under the weather and race organising has left me somewhat "lean" at just under 10 stone! Slightly worrying as that was as low as my weight got by the end of 7 in 7. So it will come as no surprise that I've moved on to the " Guinness" diet, along with ice cream and chocolate milk......although only rarely at the same sitting ( usually when I've had too much of the former!!!) See you all in Bonny Scotland, where I predict .......mixed weather, I believe " dreach" is the word but I shall rely on our accordion-playing Borders correspondent to confirm !!

Heading Up North! The day has arrived - we are all packed up and headed northwards. 1st stop Penrith to meet up with John and Marjorie, collect the kayaks - kindly provided by Distant Horizons on Ullswater! Hoping to have a bit of a test swim Thursday and then we'll be off to Aviemore for the weekend.

Just when you think you're making progress!!

Our event season has kicked off over the past few weeks and the additional stress that comes with those was always going to challenge our training a bit. After the first event we managed to take the motorhome to Exmoor for a couple of days wher many illy miles of cycling were undertaken......despite a sore throat. Bad idea. The past 10 days have been exercise free whilst I try to shake off the virus. Add to that an infected finger and I've not been a happy bunny!! Joanne fared a little better, at least managing to get in a couple of longer kayak sessions (one a beautiful trip on the Hamble with Roger) and some open water swimming before she succumbed to the same lurgy. Despite our coughing and spluttering....and wondering at one stage who would have a voice to do the briefings.....SwashBuckler was a success. Great venue, lovely weather and a switched on crowd of athletes...... should ever be thus!!! So now it's gently gently back on to the bike for me with a few Exmoor days for next week when Joanne is intending to up the open water swimming. Meanwhile in the not so frozen North John and Marjory have been able to get out regularly in the kayaks, John has continued to recce the lakeland 3's route to try and shave a few minutes here and there. In view of the very low water temperatures I have taken the step of getting hold of a wetsuit myself, just in case we need to do a bit of a relay. This will be interesting as I haven't actually swum a stroke since early November when I first developed my neck/left arm problem. Thanks to Mike Martin at 2XU for the loan of a magic suit which will surely do all the work for me. Still, how difficult can it be? Speak soon Rich