I was somewhat nervous as we proceeded and my nerves soon started to feel increasingly frayed. The boardwalks were high, winding, steep and fast. I struggled to confidently take them at the speed which was required in order to stay on and had a couple of close shaves followed by a pathetic stumbling fall. At first I wasn't sure whether I was enjoying things, but increasingly I became sure that I was enduring rather than enjoying.
Eventually the boardwalk gave way to rock gardens which were enjoyable if taken fairly slowly.
Before much further we came across a group of lads who had stopped. We'd seen them before setting off looking full of boisterous humour and bullishness. Now though one of them was curled up in pain and making various animal type noises. Some of the party looked quite concerned, others were just asking about our bikes etc. We phoned the centre to ask them to send help and carried on our way. Even Steve slowed down a bit now though.
The rest of the trail was increasingly enjoyable, but I still had to stop a lot and walk various sections.
We got something to eat at the cafe and then set off through Fort William for our second, hopefully more serene ride through the valleys around Buachaille Etive Beag.
The traffic through Fort William was horrific and knowing that Steve was on the clock I started to doubt that he'd be up for doing the second ride. As we turned into Glen Etive he flashed me from behind and it was obvious that I was going to be doing the second ride on my own. I decided to throw caution to the wind and carry on anyway. I parked up and took a look at the steep ascent to the col which was the entry to the north valley around Buachaille Etive Beag I walked the first bit and it was obvious that it wasn't going to be rideable, but I decided to give it a try anyway. I ended up pushing and carrying my bike up the ascent, just hoping that the next section would be rideable. It kind of was, but there were a lot of gaps in the path which required stopping - some I could jump over, but some I couldn't and they were every 30 or 40 metres. I was also worried that my back wheel was going to get a snake bite due to the low pressure of my tyres. I had a pump with me but I wasn't confident in how to use it so I decided that I'd try and avoid pumping up the tyres until I reached the road which was my half way point. That way if I flattened the tyre completely I could walk to the car and drive back to pick up the bike.
Then I had my first highlight - riding past a herd of deer and scaring them (unintentionally) with my squealing brakes.
The cloud had been hanging around quite a bit, but visibility was generally good and the sun was making pleasant appearances. I stopped at a stream for some lunch and to generally have a good laugh at myself. I was walking and hiking my bike more than I was riding it even on this section.
I eventually got to the road and decided to pump up my tyre. It went about as badly as I feared. Before long the tyre was completely flat. I very nearly decided to give up, leave the bike and walk back to the car, but eventually managed to wangle a way to get some air into the tyre. After about 40 minutes I was on my way again.
First of all it was a case of following the West Highland Way (a wide, dull track - kind of put me off walking the thing), but before long I turned into the souther valley I passed some walkers who looked in in awe and admiration - but I felt pretty foolish as I knew that before long they'd see me walking my bike along. I was right. The track was (again) very difficult to ride. I started toying with different and inventive ways to hike my bike along and wonder if anyone had invented a shoulder pad to hang your bike off to stop the frame digging into your shoulder.
Despite it all I was enjoying myself and the challenge, but I was still worried that I wouldn't be able to descend the final section into Glen Etive.
I stopped for a while to enjoy the views up to Buachaille Etive Mor. The valleys were as beautiful as I hoped - probably better than the views and scenery of many mountains. This path was decidedly less easy to ride than it had looked from up on high yesterday though.
Finally, I reached the last section - the descent to Glen Etive. It looked like it was going to be doable, but not rideable. The sun continued to make it's presence known and highlight 2 occurred - the view down into Glen Etive was truly spectacular. It looked like something from a renaissance painting. Utterly idyllic. A view that was far less obvious when in the Glen itself.
The route required great skill in descending with bike in hand. Occasionally a small section was rideable. The ground was also quite muddy. I knew that the very last bit was going to be tricky, but I now knew that I would make it no matter what.
I eventually made it back to the car. It had taken about 6 hours. Very enjoyable, but utterly ridiculous - my guess is that I rode about 10 - 15 percent. I think a more experienced ride probably would have ridden about another 10 or 20 percent, but that's it.
A quote from an email sent to Steve at the end of the day "I feel exhausted and elated now though - even though I had to carry my bike on my bike more than I actually rode it! I got through it by taking inspiration from that guy who did the great north run with a fridge on his back - I thought of myself not as being on a bike ride, but actually just being on a walk, but dressed as cyclist and carrying a bike to add to the challenge!"
I finished the day off with a steak from the Kings House Hotel. And then had a couple of whiskies from Clachaig Inn.
I was unsure about the following day - could I face another walk....?
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