I had this thought lingering in my mind since I saw a series of works by the danish photographerAdam Jeppesen,And since my move to study in Glasgow, I’ve been amongst people that inspired me more to go out in the big world on my bike. I talked to one of my class mates, now friend if he wanted to join me.Since we have never done anything like this before, we did not really know what to lookout or prepare for. We planned a route, bought some outdoor gear, borrow a lot of gear, bought canned food and set of from Glasgow by train to Gourock.
Day 1 & 2 (The virgin trip) – destination somewhere
We kind of set of quite late in the morning and we had a lot of technical issues with our bikes and gear, that we had to stop often, by midday we kind of knew that we would not get far. But it was good being out and that was all we had hoped for.
We biked about until 4 and got about 30mi found a hill that we could camp on, far from the road,
we hiked up the hill and took a harder path and tried to find a fitting camping ground. In the morning we found out that the easier path that we could have taken led to a bothy.
Weather : Rain 0.8mm Temp 18/12c°Wind 12mph*
Distance approx 33mi • Time on the bike 4 hours • Rest N/A • Highest climb N/A
Day 3 (A night at the hostel) – destination Fortwilliam
Weather : Rain 0.8mm Temp 18/12c°Wind 12mph*
Distance approx 33mi • Time on the bike 4 hours • Rest N/A • Highest climb N/A
Day 4 (Nostalgia ala Harry potter and Skye) – destination Armadale
Weather : Rain 0.8mm Temp 18/12c°Wind 12mph*
Distance approx 33mi • Time on the bike 4 hours • Rest N/A • Highest climb N/A
Day 5 (The split up and the old man part.1) – destination Portree
Weather : Rain 0.8mm Temp 18/12c°Wind 12mph*
Distance approx 33mi • Time on the bike 4 hours • Rest N/A • Highest climb N/A
Day 6 (The old man part.2 & the best of Scotland) – destination Kyle of lochalsh
Weather : Cloudy, sunshine, rain, lots of rain, cloudy, half cloud and light shower
Distance approx 33mi • Time on the bike 4 hours • Rest N/A • Highest climb N/A
Day 6 (Day of defeat) – destination Glasgow
Weather : Lots of rain
Distance approx 33mi • Time on the bike 4 hours • Rest N/A • Highest climb N/A
Soon after we had our breakfast and packed our gear, and was about to fold the tarp we discovered that we had been shearing grounds with, what had seem at that point 1000’s of tics. The bugs that we feared the most and already had our encounters with was trying to make a comeback.
While waiting for the bus we were unsure if we could bring our bikes with us on the bus. So what we did was to wrap them up in cling film and waited for the bus. The bus driver was not happy, but there we not many people taking the bus so he allowed it but it would only be for Fort William because the driver would change there.
Bike:
A 7 year old Specialized Sirrus with all standard equipment
Gear:
Dueter speed light 30 backpack • Platypus 3L hydration pack • Marmot Stormlight 2p(Borrowed) • Marmot sleeping bag(Borrowed) • 230g Propane fuel • HiGear Inferno Folding Gas Stove • two dry sacks(POD 30L & Lifeventure 70L) • Olympus OM 10 with 1 colour film • hasselblad 503cw with 80mm ziess lens • two Kodak portra 400 films
Clothes:
Mountain Chugach Jacket • Snugpak rain jacket • Three pairs of sucks • three pairs of underwear • The North Face Warm Long Sleeve • two pair of jeorts(jean-shorts) • Endura Thermolite Knee Warmers • two t-shirts
Food:
Mainly consist of Müsli bars x 3-4 per day • Canned food(baked beans, chili con carne and more baked beans) • Batchelors Super rice for dinner • Haribo candy • Pumpernickel bread • Lever paté • Peanut butter
Other gear:
3x specialized inner tube • Blackburn minipump • Puncture kit • Topeak Hexus II 16 Function Multi Tool • Front and rear lights
Navigation:
Iphone with Ordinace survey map and printed map description
Amorn a bicycle 