Cycling to John O'Groats-7
25/04/17
"60 miles? No big deal. I've done much much more before!" I say to myself as I gear up early in the morning.
This place doesn't offer free breakfast so I leave on a coffee.
As I pick my bike upstairs I realise that the front tyre has deflated. I load the bike and then pump the tyre and make it ready-to-leave before dropping off the keys. I have no idea what's the time but it's freezing and windy.
At 10:15 a.m. I'm 17-20 miles into the ride in the wrong direction. Why? Well, that couple I was talking to while checking directions...they were quite interesting, so we talked and talked and I didn't ask them where they were headed to. Turns out the cross-winds were telling me that it wasn't the right direction for the whole time. No regrets, they were quite cool!
Today's winds or weather have no mercy on this 18 year old kid. My eyes are watering profusely and no, I'm not crying, for the 127th time! Today's weather forecast: Everything! I am only cycling up and down endless steep hills and then over the time, mountains. Seeing hairpin bends excites the hell outta me because I love hairpin bends. Let's not talk about whether the weather is suitable to love them. After finding the right way from where I left Pete and Stace-that couple, I vow not to stop until I have reached my favourite point of every journey-the 3/4th way point. This doesn't get better. I can see infinite hills in all directions and winds are killing the fun part of the journey. I'm swaying to the mid and right edges of the road. My bike skid twice due to heavy gusts of wind already leaving me unhurt because I had seen it coming and unclipped my left cleat. I'm only hoping for no fast vehicle to approach from the rear side because everytime it does I'm in a smash zone between winds from all directions and cold water splashes. The music is on full volume and I can only hear the music without vocals. So to find my way out of this I'm singing to the music- louder than the headphones and louder than the wind. I can barely spot people on the road. Well, nobody wants to get out in this weather. But every pass and every hill top is beautiful. I can see hills expanding to infinity and farms spread out where there are no hills. It's a beautiful sight making every effort worth it. The downhills aren't fun today though for obvious reasons. There's a mountain past which I think there's a city or something where I can spare a bit to eat. But basically I'm on an endless climb here which gets to steeper gradients eventually. It's timber forest on both sides at some distance from the road. Had the distance been lesser from roads, I wouldn't have been so exposed to the strong winds. Never mind. People driving cars won't know the winds. I'm lost in my own thoughts for most of the duration.
..
If you think life is easy, you've never cycled to Perth. This place is crazy and I exactly know why this 60 mile patch I covered today attracts no cyclists. When I find the guest house and find my room there, I make myself some coffee and remove the socks to see my feet which are in quite a state after getting the chilblains. Numb doesn't feel as bad until something like chilblains appear.
..
Today's day was an ultimate test of everything. I wanted a day like this to see how far I can go. Reaching Perth one piece felt just as satisfying as, what I imagine, reaching John O'Groats would feel. I ate a large pizza in record time from a proper Italian restaurant and I realised that this challenge is changing me in many ways.
I experienced everything- strong wind, rain, hails and even snow for a brief period of time. Can't complain, it was more like I asked for it. Basically I knew the forecast but was too stubborn to cut off the distance and cycle a lesser distance. Buuuuut, it was fun
26/04/17
Running a high fever from yesterday's (mis)adventure, I feel glad that I haven't got more than 35 miles to cover today.
Beans and toast make pretty much of my daily breakfast but today three toast slices and beans are a hard deal to get into myself. I just gulp them telling myself, 'no food, no ride' and follow that up with a paracetamol. Paracetamols never seem to work on me. Neither do ibuprofens. With a puffed face and eyes, I cover my upper body up with four layers and leave my legs bare. I just can't ride with all the full length trousers these days. I'd rather go numb. It's 3 degrees when I leave, it's sunny and there's headwind. Not so strong, but certainly, consistent. Music seems to be trying to cheer me up but I'm too numb to react to anything.
Trust me, rolling hills is one thing but what's on this route is rolling mountains! Nice and steep gradients and not-so-nice downhills. Not-so-nice because the road is too uneven and wind is too cold to speed up. The views at the top are pretty nice. I can see the river deep down the mountain and that's a way to know what I managed to climb, there are trees on a side and bare mountains on another, somewhere in between the trees there's a house or two. That's pretty much what I see from every top then on- although the trees seem to reduce now.
..
I'm climbing with all my might and my phone's ringing, shutting the music off. Oh, how I hate this! I press the button and bark a 'Hello' and it seems the guy on the line is crying or something. This concerns me and I stop.
"Is this Viedu?"
Who the hell even knows my nick name?
"Yes, who's this?"
"I'm Gary, we met at the bar at Innerleithen? Molly's boyfriend! There's a news and I don't know, but you two seem to be really good friends by now, so thought I should inform."
"Oh Hi Gary. I'm on bike, sorry! yes, tell me, what's up?"
He breaks down on phone and tells me that Molly's been into an accident and is critical.
"Oh dear! where are you? which hospital is she in? how serious is the 'critical'? "
He doesn't answer. He can't speak anymore. I can't speak anymore. I go into a complete shock-state.
For quite a while after that I ride without senses. No music. No route guidance. I'm just riding the bike. Thinking about nothing....until the phone rings again, sending shivers down the spine and it's Gary again. He's only crying.
I'm shattered. Molly's dead? How? I refuse to accept this. My body and mind and everything refuses to agree. I drop the bike onto the grass and sit by it. I am crying. A car stops by. It's a family. They own the Scottish Deli somewhere down the street I'm on. The next thing I know when I've regained my senses and am not in a shock anymore that I'm in the Deli with a cappuccino, tea, panini and my bike. I ask them how I got there. They tell me that I rode to the Deli and I don't know when and how and if that's the same family who stopped by. I don't know happened in between. All I know is these angels calmed me down and fed me. I ask them how much it cost and they take my contact details and give me theirs.
"The cost is to inform us when you reach Pitlochry. You're good 25 miles away because it seems you lost your way or something. Be strong. You've got here. You'll get to your destination. Please inform us."
I leave the place not crying anymore but still feverish and mind messed up. Gary's words keep repeating themselves in my head and I can't help it. I turn the music on full volume and I still can remember the exact conversation we had a while ago and the exact conversation me and Molly had three days ago before, during and after biking. It's like she's alive in my head all over again. How the hell does someone so inspiring and cheerful and fearless die? Why would something like this happen to someone so nice? Why did half a day of knowing someone so well have such a huge impact on my mindset? How could half a day of knowing her feel like knowing her half my life? How could she manage to sound so familiar, like a lost elder sister, in matter of minutes? A day ago I was roaring, 'I can' in my head over and over again and now all I think is 'I can't'. A part of me wants to cycle back to Innerleithen and hope this blonde angel shows up somehow and tells me it was a dirty prank to get me do the SpookyWood descent again. A part of me thinks this didn't happen at all.
I reach Pitlochry and find my bed for the night. I call up the family and inform them that I've reached. I inform everyone I'm supposed to that I reached.
I open Molly's message from yesterday.
"Fuckin stay indoors, this weather's crazy. Tell me you've already screwed up and I'll fuckin kick yo ass"
I had just replied with "haha I'm fine. I reached and yes, I did screw up"
I stare at that for eternity until I get a call.
..
There's one thing I can decide which would make me gear up with a fresh attitude tomorrow. I'll be a Molly to someone some day. As fearless as her. As motivating as her. As cheerful as her. As inspiring as her. If someone can have such a huge impact in matter of hours on me then that's the kind of virtue I'd like to have too.
"60 miles? No big deal. I've done much much more before!" I say to myself as I gear up early in the morning.
This place doesn't offer free breakfast so I leave on a coffee.
As I pick my bike upstairs I realise that the front tyre has deflated. I load the bike and then pump the tyre and make it ready-to-leave before dropping off the keys. I have no idea what's the time but it's freezing and windy.
At 10:15 a.m. I'm 17-20 miles into the ride in the wrong direction. Why? Well, that couple I was talking to while checking directions...they were quite interesting, so we talked and talked and I didn't ask them where they were headed to. Turns out the cross-winds were telling me that it wasn't the right direction for the whole time. No regrets, they were quite cool!
Today's winds or weather have no mercy on this 18 year old kid. My eyes are watering profusely and no, I'm not crying, for the 127th time! Today's weather forecast: Everything! I am only cycling up and down endless steep hills and then over the time, mountains. Seeing hairpin bends excites the hell outta me because I love hairpin bends. Let's not talk about whether the weather is suitable to love them. After finding the right way from where I left Pete and Stace-that couple, I vow not to stop until I have reached my favourite point of every journey-the 3/4th way point. This doesn't get better. I can see infinite hills in all directions and winds are killing the fun part of the journey. I'm swaying to the mid and right edges of the road. My bike skid twice due to heavy gusts of wind already leaving me unhurt because I had seen it coming and unclipped my left cleat. I'm only hoping for no fast vehicle to approach from the rear side because everytime it does I'm in a smash zone between winds from all directions and cold water splashes. The music is on full volume and I can only hear the music without vocals. So to find my way out of this I'm singing to the music- louder than the headphones and louder than the wind. I can barely spot people on the road. Well, nobody wants to get out in this weather. But every pass and every hill top is beautiful. I can see hills expanding to infinity and farms spread out where there are no hills. It's a beautiful sight making every effort worth it. The downhills aren't fun today though for obvious reasons. There's a mountain past which I think there's a city or something where I can spare a bit to eat. But basically I'm on an endless climb here which gets to steeper gradients eventually. It's timber forest on both sides at some distance from the road. Had the distance been lesser from roads, I wouldn't have been so exposed to the strong winds. Never mind. People driving cars won't know the winds. I'm lost in my own thoughts for most of the duration.
..
If you think life is easy, you've never cycled to Perth. This place is crazy and I exactly know why this 60 mile patch I covered today attracts no cyclists. When I find the guest house and find my room there, I make myself some coffee and remove the socks to see my feet which are in quite a state after getting the chilblains. Numb doesn't feel as bad until something like chilblains appear.
..
Today's day was an ultimate test of everything. I wanted a day like this to see how far I can go. Reaching Perth one piece felt just as satisfying as, what I imagine, reaching John O'Groats would feel. I ate a large pizza in record time from a proper Italian restaurant and I realised that this challenge is changing me in many ways.
I experienced everything- strong wind, rain, hails and even snow for a brief period of time. Can't complain, it was more like I asked for it. Basically I knew the forecast but was too stubborn to cut off the distance and cycle a lesser distance. Buuuuut, it was fun
26/04/17
Running a high fever from yesterday's (mis)adventure, I feel glad that I haven't got more than 35 miles to cover today.
Beans and toast make pretty much of my daily breakfast but today three toast slices and beans are a hard deal to get into myself. I just gulp them telling myself, 'no food, no ride' and follow that up with a paracetamol. Paracetamols never seem to work on me. Neither do ibuprofens. With a puffed face and eyes, I cover my upper body up with four layers and leave my legs bare. I just can't ride with all the full length trousers these days. I'd rather go numb. It's 3 degrees when I leave, it's sunny and there's headwind. Not so strong, but certainly, consistent. Music seems to be trying to cheer me up but I'm too numb to react to anything.
Trust me, rolling hills is one thing but what's on this route is rolling mountains! Nice and steep gradients and not-so-nice downhills. Not-so-nice because the road is too uneven and wind is too cold to speed up. The views at the top are pretty nice. I can see the river deep down the mountain and that's a way to know what I managed to climb, there are trees on a side and bare mountains on another, somewhere in between the trees there's a house or two. That's pretty much what I see from every top then on- although the trees seem to reduce now.
..
I'm climbing with all my might and my phone's ringing, shutting the music off. Oh, how I hate this! I press the button and bark a 'Hello' and it seems the guy on the line is crying or something. This concerns me and I stop.
"Is this Viedu?"
Who the hell even knows my nick name?
"Yes, who's this?"
"I'm Gary, we met at the bar at Innerleithen? Molly's boyfriend! There's a news and I don't know, but you two seem to be really good friends by now, so thought I should inform."
"Oh Hi Gary. I'm on bike, sorry! yes, tell me, what's up?"
He breaks down on phone and tells me that Molly's been into an accident and is critical.
"Oh dear! where are you? which hospital is she in? how serious is the 'critical'? "
He doesn't answer. He can't speak anymore. I can't speak anymore. I go into a complete shock-state.
For quite a while after that I ride without senses. No music. No route guidance. I'm just riding the bike. Thinking about nothing....until the phone rings again, sending shivers down the spine and it's Gary again. He's only crying.
I'm shattered. Molly's dead? How? I refuse to accept this. My body and mind and everything refuses to agree. I drop the bike onto the grass and sit by it. I am crying. A car stops by. It's a family. They own the Scottish Deli somewhere down the street I'm on. The next thing I know when I've regained my senses and am not in a shock anymore that I'm in the Deli with a cappuccino, tea, panini and my bike. I ask them how I got there. They tell me that I rode to the Deli and I don't know when and how and if that's the same family who stopped by. I don't know happened in between. All I know is these angels calmed me down and fed me. I ask them how much it cost and they take my contact details and give me theirs.
"The cost is to inform us when you reach Pitlochry. You're good 25 miles away because it seems you lost your way or something. Be strong. You've got here. You'll get to your destination. Please inform us."
I leave the place not crying anymore but still feverish and mind messed up. Gary's words keep repeating themselves in my head and I can't help it. I turn the music on full volume and I still can remember the exact conversation we had a while ago and the exact conversation me and Molly had three days ago before, during and after biking. It's like she's alive in my head all over again. How the hell does someone so inspiring and cheerful and fearless die? Why would something like this happen to someone so nice? Why did half a day of knowing someone so well have such a huge impact on my mindset? How could half a day of knowing her feel like knowing her half my life? How could she manage to sound so familiar, like a lost elder sister, in matter of minutes? A day ago I was roaring, 'I can' in my head over and over again and now all I think is 'I can't'. A part of me wants to cycle back to Innerleithen and hope this blonde angel shows up somehow and tells me it was a dirty prank to get me do the SpookyWood descent again. A part of me thinks this didn't happen at all.
I reach Pitlochry and find my bed for the night. I call up the family and inform them that I've reached. I inform everyone I'm supposed to that I reached.
I open Molly's message from yesterday.
"Fuckin stay indoors, this weather's crazy. Tell me you've already screwed up and I'll fuckin kick yo ass"
I had just replied with "haha I'm fine. I reached and yes, I did screw up"
I stare at that for eternity until I get a call.
..
There's one thing I can decide which would make me gear up with a fresh attitude tomorrow. I'll be a Molly to someone some day. As fearless as her. As motivating as her. As cheerful as her. As inspiring as her. If someone can have such a huge impact in matter of hours on me then that's the kind of virtue I'd like to have too.
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