Monika's Word

" What a challenge"! I'd forgotten how hard riding in adverse weather could be ! We had the lot - freezing bone drenching rain, hail, wind that made it difficult to stand up let alone ride and of course some sun just when you started feeling suicidal !

The sun when it was out though made Scotland come to life with its emerald colored fields, burnt yellow heather and sapphire blue skies ! There were also plentiful fields of bluebells and amazingly vibrant rhododendrons to provide for a kaleidescope of color !

My favorite place was on the Isle of Mull at Tobermory with its lovely scenery, brightly colored houses and magical harbour ! Next time though I intend to visit by car as the Isle also came with its fair share of damned steep climbs !

The Outer Hebrides brought about my lowest point on tour with its incessant gale force winds making cycling almost impossible - our learning point was to next time check a destination for its prevailing wind direction just like the other 99% of cyclists We'd seen had !

Despite the hard yards and the occasional grizzle I can say that I'm pretty chuffed to have completed the not too common double of a Scottish & UK end to end ride and I'm pretty proud of that !