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Re:

Seeing Epicyclo’s idea of a road ride reminds me never to turn up to an off road ride he’s organised!
 
Re: Re:

clubby":19aozjol said:
Seeing Epicyclo’s idea of a road ride reminds me never to turn up to an off road ride he’s organised!
Oh it's not that bad.

Road ride




MTB ride



Did manage to lose Jamie once in head high grass though...
 
Out this afternoon on the Big Dummy to take the camp stove and tea, coffee, hot chocolate etc over to Heather and Caleb who were busy working to get a field and stable ready to move a friends horses into.
It was damp and cold when I left as winter has returned, then just as I was about to head back home in the rain that hadn't stopped since just before my arrival, it started sleeting and hailing, coming down hard and fast. Instantly soaked and felt like I was back at the Strathpuffer 24h only moving a lot slower, hands and toes were instantly numb. Water was flowing down the roads like streams and the dirt shortcut, well, not one of my better ideas ;) Still any ride is better than no ride. That's what I have to tell myself so I keep pedalling anyway :)
It could have been worse as yesterday Brian and I postponed our ride out to Altnabreac as the weather was meant to close in with some rain, snow and 'near' gale force winds. I think my forecast said about 50mph or so. Brian text me midday or so and said lucky we did postpone as he spotted a report that said Dunnet head had reported gusts of 82mph in the morning!
Hope it was a bit drier and calmer with the rest of the macretro clan :)

Jamie

IMG_0603 (2) by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

IMG_0608 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

DSCN5703 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
 
Evening Macretro land
I needed to use up a couple of days holiday before the end of the month and with Brian and I having tickets for Jenny Grahams talk at Dingwall Academy about her round the world ride for Wednesday evening, it seemed like the perfect time to use them. This sounds last minute but it wasn't as we had planned it a while back, though the spanner in the works is that we were down to a 1 car house the last few weeks so a new plan was hatched to get the train down on the weds and attend the talk, Thursday have a ride before getting the train back up home. Train times etc weren't wanting to play ball with the early train from Thurso not being available, it was either cancelled or fully booked, though I am pretty sure it was cancelled due to a signal failure south of Inverness. Anyway I packed my Carradice with a change of clothes and boots, and after battling a 35 mph headwind for the full 22klm ride into Thurso, I got the next train at 1 pm but unfortunately that didn't get me in to Dingwall until just after 4pm so after meeting Brian at the station we grabbed a coffee and the rode back to Brians for bike talk and dinner with the family. Jennys talk was fully booked out and for good reason, a great talk, such an inspiration really, this word is often overused, but in this case it’s beyond justified. She laughs and jokes and thinks she is just one of us but she is really pretty unique. If you ever get the chance to attend one of her talks then definitely go, you won't regret it. She was averaging something like 160 to 180 miles a day for 120 odd days with no days off, fully solo and on her own with no support or back up. for Jenny Graham’s talk about her round the world ride.
Had a lovely stay with Brian and Sheena, thanks again, before getting up and out early for a ride this morning with Brian along the shore and then inland and upwards to a café we know but unfortunately we were too early! You don't hear that too often :) So it was back towards Dingwall then back around the shore to a tea room next to the station where we filled on coffee and cake before getting the train back north at 11. Once off the train a short 20klm or so and home. Great midweek break.
I must also say I enjoyed the train journey. I don't get the train very often if ever, I think the last time was when I went down to Brians to start the Audax ride back up home. The price with our local highland rail card is pretty reasonable, cheaper than what it costs in petrol, at this time of year and being midday then there was next to nobody on the train, though you have to book a seat to be able to book the bike, though it doesn't cost anything. There is space for two bikes in each carriage but there are only two carriages so once the season kicks off it is hard to book. The train was comfortable with free wifi and usb plugs for each seat and while it is a three hour trip it is through some pretty quiet and remote parts of the highlands and scenery is pretty special from start to finish. So a thumbs up for Scotrail.
Back to work tomorrow, but hey, it's nearly the weekend!

Jamie

IMG_0645 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

IMG_0646 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

IMG_0648 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

IMG_0654 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

IMG_0661 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Excuse the dirty windows on the train :)
IMG_0671 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

IMG_0672 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
 
epicyclo":4ygc90mw said:
Strange day. Wind didn't stop.

Wind here hasn’t dropped all month. Bloody jetstream is just hovering in the wrong place.
Sounds like a great few days Jamie, kind of thing that’s only a pipe dream for me at the moment.
Would like to see the Jenny Graham talk. Saw the Lee Craigie “Divided” film and talk at the Bespoked show last year and it was incredible. The spirit and resolve of these riders is amazing.
 

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