Today's route was the A82 all the way to Ballachulish. It was a bit hairy scary coming out of Glasgow as it was quite a busy dual-carriageway for a while but hey, head down keep pedalling and eventually you will get to a better road.
Cycled alongside Loch Lomond for a while which was great - nice views and an off-road cycle path (hurrah!) to follow for a while. Stopped for a drink and break at Inveruglas before rocking along nicely to Crialarich. Stopped at the railway station tea house for lunch - saw the train heading towards Fort William and was briefly tempted....
Managed to take a wrong turn coming out of the station carpark which saw me heading off towards the general direction of Crieff: it's a lovely place and I might cycle via there on the way back but it wasn't my route for today. Luckily I only got about half a mile before a helpful distance sign showed me the error of my navigating so I doubled back. Onwards towards Tyndrum where a helpful lady in the Tourist information phoned the B&B I was due to be staying at so I could give them an ETA. Now I told them 5pm, and I probably would have made it but for hitting a nasty stretch of road which ended in my old favourite, a large pothole. Unfortunately there was a bit of a numpty of a car driver next to me who was just cruising along rather than overtaking so I couldn't avoid the pothole. Shook up lightning a bit (never good when you hit a pothole so hard it makes the bell ring on your bike) but I quickly felt a burning pain all along my left shoulder down to my left wrist. Oops. Kept going but it's a tad tricky to ride a bike when you only really have the full use of one arm. Heck, who needs to change gear anyway.
There was some stunning countryside along Rannoch Moor and the kindly road designers made sure the hill climbs were never too steep so as I couldn't manage them in the granny gear (that's the lowest gear to those of you who aren't cyclists!!). The ride through the pass of Glencoe was stunning - a word overused but justly deserved by Glencoe. The weather was clear and warm, the road was pretty good and the freewheel down into Glencoe was a joy.
Rocked up to Ballachulish at about 5:30 (not bad going all considered). My ankle had started throbbing on the way through Glencoe. Have realised that there are very different kinds of pain that you experience whilst cycling long distance but it is never a good idea to ignore it completely. There is the pain where your body is just alerting you that you need to adjust something in some way (may not even be pain so much as some kind of discomfort in a joint or muscle or even just a feeling that something is not 'right') - this is the signal to adjust, even if it is just wiggling about in the saddle until you find a more comfortable position, or checking whether you are using the ball of your foot to drive the pedal correctly. Then there is the pain which you shouldn't ignore but just have to live with - my legs were starting to feel a bit lead-like towards the end of the day but that is to be expected. The pain you don't want is if a muscle has just been strained or a tendon is over-stretched. Not a great deal you can do about it and you just have to keep going. My shoulders now start out they day by shouting at me a bit, especially if I get to stand up on steep hills where the muscle gives an almighty shriek (usually accompanied by me involuntarily yelping as well), then periodically reminding me they are there before going a bit numb/heavy. The legs are not too bad, although they do occasionally remind me that they wouldn't mind a sit down with a slice of cake if you don't mind. All in all I am still in fairly good shape but I need to keep listening for the signals and try to avoid the overload point for muscles and joints.
Had a very good dinner at the pub in Ballachulish before heading off for a hot chocolate, chat to my very good friend Daxa, and then SLEEP!!!
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