Hangers and other things

I've been waiting to blog for a while; employing the old maxim that if you don't have anything to say don't say anything! January and February didn't see much activity on the road but I did manage to get some early year training done in the gym. Much to the relief of my strength and conditioning guru who always wants more weights work. But like most cyclists I tend to think riding on the road is the only thing that counts. We did manage a couple of trips out on the tandem; including one on the 2nd of January. An impressive start but one that hasn't been followed up much so far.

March, however, has been a very diferent ketle of fish. The weather has improved slightly meaning that I've been able to get out more. Not only that but I've managed to get my first century for the year done. Much earlier this year than last when I only got one done. The ride itself was relatively straight forward with an ascent of the Lomond Hills road chucked in for good measure. I'd not been up that road since 2012 so I was apprehensive about it but, despite being in my granny gear a little earlier than I would have liked, I made it over without much fuss; an early success for the year.

The rest of the ride was completed easily enough although I do have to admit to feeling a bit sick on the way up to Hazelton Walls, about 75 miles in. And the hill up to Logie was tough but the legs kept the pedals turning over.



Two days later I was out again, this time meeting up with the afore mentioned S&C guru for some companionable riding. It didn't last long but not because we fell out. It was my bike that gave up the ghost. Changing gear near Bow of Fife my rear derailleur exploded into 3 bits.

It's not supposed to look like this.

Luckily The Stoker was at home and I was able to call for an emergency pick up. On further inspection the derailleur hanger was bent and also needed replacing. Thankfully I had a spare.

Once the work was done I went out again to test the new kit out. And very good it felt too. The wind made the riding hard but the bike felt great. On my return home I propped the bike up near the garage while I went to open the door. Sadly the wind then blew the bike over causing a scratch on the new derailleur. Annoying, but nothing I thought much about. After all, it wasn't the first time the bike had toppled over on the drive.



The next day dawned brightly and, although it was windy again, I decided it would be nice to get out. All was good, even with the early miles being slightly uphill and in to wind. It was only when I got to the Thai Teak climb that I found all was decidedly not well. Going into the granny gear for the first time I heard a clinking sound from the rear. Looking down I saw that I was already in the granny gear, although the lever thought there should be one more gear. And this meant that the attempt to change down was putting the derailleur cage into contact with the spokes. Never a good idea. I completed the climb and took a look.

The reason for the contact was that the new hanger was bent. It must have been damaged when the bike went over the day before. I adjusted the lower limit screw so it couldn't go into the wheel and decided I could ride on to Cupar before heading home. I was still cutting my planned route almost in half but I didn't want to take too many chances with a bike which wasn't quite behaving itself.

Lovely view. You can't see the wind!

Getting home I put the bike in the stand and checked it out. The new hanger is more bent than the old one. I'm glad a replacement is on its way. Will it arrive in time for my next planned long ride, later this week. I hope so. The moral of the story is even if the bike only takes a little knock, check it out.

Plans for 2014

In terms of cycling goals 2013 was a year of disappointments. In June I didn't manage to ride my 200 mile route and then at the end of the year the weather conspired against me in a push for 4000 miles for the year. So some of this year's targets aren't too hard to guess.
But I do have a couple of others so here, in order of importance, they are:

• 200 mile day - hopefully over the route set last year,
• Weekend trip on the tandem to Edinburgh, or similar (e.g. Pitlochry),
• 4000 road miles on the bikes (single and tandem). This does not include my little commutes,
• Taking part in a beginner's duathlon; that's right, I'm going to try running!

On the way I intend to ride the No Fuss sportive in Glencoe again and some some longer routes in general. Looking back on last year's attempt I think the failure might have been in part to not quite getting enough long days in. 

My duathlon desire is the slightly way out one requiring a change of activity.  In the first 1/2 of the year I'll try a little running to put my toe in the water so to speak, but I'm not intending anything too strenuous. But you might see a little bit about running here too.

In the meantime I've been getting out on the road when I can; here's the the latest.

It was a pleasant ride until the rain started in anger, about 15 miles from home. Then it became unpleasant. I deliberately picked a route with quite a few of the local hills in it, to see how my fitness was. And despite having to use the granny gear on more slopes than I would have liked I didn't feel out of control anywhere and that was fine as the first test of the year.

Since this ride I've been in consultation with my trainer and we have some plans for some gym work to improve my threshold ability. Hopefully this will improve my climbing and general speed. More on this in another post, I think. 

Embracing the darkness

For anyone who works Monday to Friday at this time of year it would be very easy to restrict the road cycling to the weekend. But if you do then I think you are missing out on an opportunity.

Riding in the dark does have its problems but they are overcome by decent planning and provision. I ride on rural A and B roads so a decent lighting set up is required. I have two Hope 1 lights on the front and and depending on the road conditions I have them set differently. The most difficult time is when the roads are wet and on days like that I have both on full power. If the roads are dry then I run one on full power and the other on a lower setting or even blinking. At the back I have a Cateye with two independent rows of LEDs and side lights along with a seat stay mounted Fibre Flare in blink mode which has to be one of the brightest things I've ever seen. I also have a smaller Cateye rear light on the middle pocket of my jersey. Loads of reflective strips on my clothing and two extra reflective bands on my legs make me pretty bright. I've had it on good authority that I'm well lit up and easy to see. Job done!

My other advice about riding in the dark is about routes. I stick to well known roads not too far from home. I don't think the hours of darkness is the time to be riding on roads I don't know well or a long way from home. You do have to guard against complacency though and be aware that road surfaces can change from day to day. I found myself too close for comfort to a fallen branch the other morning after a windy night. And you do run the risk of meeting the occasional wild animal. My most surprising encounter with animals though was a flock of sheep coming down a hill because they were being moved from one field to another. My other tip is to keep it relatively short. You probably don't want to be riding for more than an hour and a half or so. I would suggest a maximum of two hours.

But I don't want to put you off. Riding in the dark can be magical. I will always remember cycling along a ridge road with all the lights of the towns along both sides of the Forth spread out before me. I should say it was cold that evening but nothing UK cyclists shouldn't be able to cope with. Remember that at night the temperature is unlikely to rise so make sure you are warm when you set off. My preferred dark rides are done in the morning which often has the advantage that you ride into the light. The ride that led me to write this occured last week and while I was home before sunrise I had the fabulous experience of watching the black sky turn dark blue and ever lighter blue as I cycled home. Glorious!

If you don't have powerful lights or live in a bigger town don't think this is not for you. Go out early, ride around your local streets and watch the place get ready for the day. I once did 20 miles of little loops in town and it couldn't have been more interesting! I followed the progress of the bin lorry as they did their rounds. What they thought of me I have no idea.

Morning Ride

It just takes one

Today I had one of those experiences that is thankfully very rare. But the fact that they happen at all is the reason why cyclists can feel threatened on the road. I've ridden thousands of miles and encountered (I suspect) thousands of cars. I would say 90% are great, 5% a little close, 4% too close, 0.9% way too close and then the 0.1% just plain terrifying.
The point is it just takes one of these encounters to go a little wrong and I might not be here. Or I might be here but significantly altered. Neither scenario is a pleasant thought and I can see why some non-cyclists can't believe the risks we "roadies" take and why some "roadies" are very nervous.
This morning's incident was even worse for being in town; normally a slower speed environment and although towns have other dangers (car doors, dogs, pedestrians etc) they are usually safer in terms of life threatening incidents. Round here anyway.
The close call went like this. I was arriving at a roundabout with three roads, one to my left, mine and one to my right. I was turning right. British road regulations gives right of way to vehicles to the driver's (cyclist's) right. I checked the road on the right and it was clear. I checked the road on the left and it was also clear; I'm not stupid - car drivers are sometimes a little odd when it comes to bicycles. I checked the right road again and carried on as it was still clear. It was early in the ride and I was slightly dubious about the grip on the road (cold and slightly damp isn't a good combination) so I was taking it slowly. Perhaps this was lucky because the next thing I was aware of was a red car speeding through the gap between my front wheel and the pavement. It sped off up the hill. Looking back I realised I was aware of the engine noise from my left, of a car that wasn't slowing down. This tone is easily recognisable but is usually heard from directly behind. Experience has taught me that a car coming up behind me like that is not going to give me much room or respect but an overtaking manoeuvre is a very different thing from being hit from the side. Perhaps, just perhaps, I should have been more aware. But I think that misses the point. I had right of way and, from my position, this driving wasn't an error of judgement but a deliberate act of someone who didn't want to wait 50 yards until an overtake would have been safe and easy. It's nice to know that my life isn't even worth a few seconds from someone else's journey.
And then there's a second issue. This incident shook me up and left me feeling very vulnerable for a bit of my journey. I almost turned back and went home. I shouldn't have to do that, and I shouldn't be made to feel like that. I'll remind you of my comment above. It only takes one. Please make sure it's not you.

As to the ride itself, I don't really have much to say. Once I got past Crail and started to settle down the sun was out and the day was beautiful. Basically I pootled about in south east Fife on the flatter roads with two longer climbs in the midst of them. The views across the Forth and down to Kirkaldy were lovely and the camaraderie of the other cyclists I saw was lovely. I could have done more but by the time I got back to St. Andrews I was happy to call it a day. More miles towards the target, and a (mostly) lovely day out on the roads.

The Ride

The art of going out

"Are you really going to go out in this?" asked The Stoker as the wind battered on the window. I supposed I was but I have to admit to not feeling up to it. The beginnings of winter have hit Fife and I have yet grow accustomed to the idea. As much as anything it's the increase in paraphernalia required to go cycling; lights, extra top layers, longs, overshoes - it's a faff!
Last Sunday was particularly hard. I had an opportunity to ride for as long as I wanted without feeling guilty that we weren't out on the tandem. And at the moment that's useful because I've set myself a tough by-the-end-of-the-year mileage target that's only going to get harder to hit if the weather turns really bad. However the weather wasn't playing ball with a strong westerly wind that was going to make going anywhere hard. I know you should ride into the wind at the beginning of a ride and home with the wind at your back but it's tough if that's the only reasonable choice.
The wind was also making a mockery of my plans for the day. I had planned to ride over the Tay Bridge and into the hills between Dundee and Perth; a first foray into territory praised by one of my pals who happens to live that way. But if you've ever crossed the Tay Bridge on it's cycleway you'll know how narrow it is and I didn't fancy that with the wind. That left me riding my local roads and try as I might I just couldn't get excited about the prospect.
But targets are targets and I knew that if I didn't go out I would end up being disgusted with myself for wasting an opportunity. It wasn't as if the roads were flooded or icy or anything that would really make me pause before going out. So out I went, plan-less.
I'm not good going out without a plan. Leaving St. Andrews my inner monologue was going something like this;
"Cupar and back would be fine",
"Cupar and back, then Crail and back would be fine. I've always wanted to do those rides back to back" (there's some truth in that),
"Go at least to Craigrothie before turning for Cupar and home",
"What about Freuchie by Chance Inn. Home by the flat roads",
"I hate the road after Chance Inn",
"You need to get some miles in. After all 80 WAS the plan for today",
"Ok, I'll go to Freuchie".

On the way to Freuchie

I tell you now that getting to Freuchie in that wind was hard work. But it did the trick and by the time I got there I was prepared to ride on to Falkland and then on to Newburgh via Auchtermuchty before heading for home. Round 1 to the voice that wanted to get some miles in. On the way to Auchtermucty more persuasion came from the owner of that tricksy voice as I rode into Dunshalt.
"Not much of a challenge this, esepecially as we're not doing much in the way of miles today",
"It's fine. It'll be about 50. We can always tack some on to the end",
"Still not much of a challenge. How about going up the hill from Strathmiglo and over to Abernethy, then Newburgh and home",
"It's really fine",
"The road between here and there - not cycled that yet"
"Oh, alright...."
That new bit of road wasn't easy either. Back into the wind and an bit of an interesting surface made it more challenging than I would have liked. But it was ok and getting to its end left a little trip down the main road to Strathmiglo. As I was approaching the junction where I would join the busy A91 for 200 yards or so another cyclist popped out in front of me. A little bit ahead but tantalisingly close. I assumed they would be turning right and heading to Auchermuchty but, no, they went left. That meant one thing. They were headed up the same hill I was.
That was the best bit of luck I had all day. A target is a target and there's none better than another cyclist on a hill. Being a little too wide for my height, climbing is not something I excel at but I do derive some perverse pleasure climbing hills even during the activity; not just at the top. I determined that I wouldn't rush to catch my quarry but I would put the bike in the correct gear and spin my way up the hill. If I caught them so be it but I deemed it unlikely.
The road twists and turns so spotting the man in front was a game in itself but slowly and surely he hove into view. I knew I would catch him. And about halfway up I came up to his back wheel. He knew I was there. He couldn't have failed to know I was there; this hill makes me breathe! I came alongside and we exchanged pleasantries before I left him. I knew I was on for a good performance up this hill and I was determined to keep the pace (slow as I am) up. I ignored my heart rate, the legs felt good and I soon crested the top before enjoying the slam dunk of a descent to Abernethy. All really good fun. Thanks to whoever you were; I hope you enjoyed the rest of your ride.
From the bottom of the descent to Cupar my ride became tougher mentally because althoughI had the wind behind me my Garmin speed sensor started playing up causing me a few stops before I finally unpaired the sensor which left me blind to my cadence. I'm a ride by numbers kind of guy and I hate not being able to see what the various stats are. It's me, it's the way I ride, I make no apologies.
By Cupar though my mood had improved and I set myself the little challenge of getting up the hill to Pitscottie in the big ring. This also means a cassette sprocket with no more than than 21 teeth. I don't like cross-chaining. And again I worked hard. Then for the big encore I decided that I was going to go for a PB on the downhill stretch of road from Blebo to the edge of St. Andrews. I know it's sad but there's a Strava segment there and I have been hankering for a while to improve my time. Surely this wind would be favourable enough.
So I rested up from Pitscottie to the top of this stretch. You can't rest entirely; there's a couple of little ramps to get up but you can take it easy-ish. So I did. Then the work started. A good downhill start with the wind behind and I was soon over 30mph. Then the flatter section where I had to keep the speed up before a little rise. The wind wasn't perfect here. I could feel (and see on the Garmin) that the heart rate was rising.  I try to stay in control. Over the rise then another helpful slope to pick up speed on. Here it is very important to keep you wits about you here as there's a busy cross roads on this section. I was on the main road and had right of way but cars can't always judge just how fast bikes are going. They don't really expect one to be doing 35mph. I shook my head at a driver sitting at the crossroads and he took my meaning and stayed where he was. Thanks. A little bit more downhill and then the long painful finish which is flat. This is time trial territory. I told my legs to shut up, almost gave up, refused give and pedaled on. Then as I came around the last corner the winds came right onto my back and pushed me on to the speed limit sign and the end of the segment. In Scots parlance I was gubbed. All for 4 seconds off my best time as I discovered later. Great fun though. And very, very silly.
I rode home. And you know what? All told I had a good time. It really is all about the going out.

The Ride

Tandem riding on Skye - part two

Part two of the holiday riding. Much later than it should have been but that's life!


Skye has been quite kind to us on this holiday. Some glorious sunshine and little wind has made for a lovely visit. That's not to say that there hasn't been some bad weather. As I write this the rain is coming down out of clouds barely higher than the loch in the bay. That too has an upside; it keeps the midges away.

Central Loop

There aren't too many roads on Skye so it is quite hard to get lost. It also makes it hard to find meaningful new routes. This ride, however, takes a very natural loop right from the main road outside our cottage. And it avoids all single track roads making for much easier piloting (as the next ride's description will attest to). It does, of course, maintain the non-flat persona for rides around here.
This ride took place on a lovely sunny day with the promise of a south-east breeze to help us through the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the ride. It would mean riding the last 10 miles back into it, which isn't ideal, but was a better proposition than riding the last 10 miles with much up and down!
So with that in mind we set off towards the Sligachan hotel. The start of this ride followed the first few miles of our route to Portnalong but didn't take the turning to Carbost. This time we stayed on the main road and headed down the glen towards the towering shape of Glamaig. This proved to be a very tough section. That SE breeze nagged away and slowed us down; we even had to pedal down the hill to the hotel at Sligachan. How undignified!
And, as usual, what goes down on Skye must go up. The main road from the hotel leads north to Portree via a climb. Never particularly hard it isn't exactly a pushover either. However on this day we were blessed with the breeze behind us and we made short work (read - not much panting) of the hill. We then had a lovely, long descent towards Portree before the last mile or so of undulating road took us to the Aros Centre and their delightful cafe.
This was the first of two planned coffee stops. While we learn to ride together and given the nature of the terrain around Skye two stops in 55 miles seems ideal. We aren't fast and it is useful to get off the bike for a while. It all seems very decadent to me but this is companionable riding at it's most relaxing. With this blog in danger of descending into a review of cafes I can recommend this one too. A lovely mixture of food is available, all at a decent price.
There were some people sitting outside (the weather must have been good) and the tandem was much admired as we went to set off. Luckily we didn't disgrace ourselves and got away cleanly on the next step of our journey. This time the cafe at Dunvegan Castle was our target.
We were on a new piece of road for either of us in terms of cycling. Out of Portree on the main road to Uig. And it starts with a climb. I swear that all the natural routes on this island start with some going up. It just isn't fair. Luckily with cake and coffee (tea for the Stoker) fuelling us we made it up the steep section as we left Portree behind.
Then we had the all important section of downhill. And what a lovely section this was too. It felt like it went on for a very long time indeed. Long enough that I found a new position for my hands which definitely help the aero nature of our riding in times such as this. Skye roads always get the last laugh however and soon it was time to work on going up again. The road rolls in big waves around to Edinbane where it ramps up one last time before Dunvegan.
The word ramp doesn't do this hill justice. I'd cycled it before, training for the cross Scotland jaunt, and it nearly did for me that day. So on this fine day I was well prepared for it. We progressed smoothly up the first ramp and enjoyed the little bit of respite before the main event. According to Strava this hill is a lovely 1.7 miles long at an average gradient of 4.7%. Now, I know that isn't tough in the least for serious bike riders but for me and the Stoker it's hard enough. But because we knew it was coming we picked an easy to gear at the bottom and just got stuck into a rhythm, all the way to top. I was very, very impressed with the Stoker. Even more so on the way down the reward on the other side. Getting up to over 40mph near the bottom of the descent was reward for all our hard work.
One more tiny little incline and I thought we would be cruising into Dunvegan. I should know better. The localised wind was blowing from the south and west requiring us to pedal our way to the village before giving us a little help up to the cafe. It was well worth the effort though with lovely coffee (tea for the stoker) and a scones. Yum!
Then back onto the road for the flatter (slightly) road home. The wind wasn't helping on this section but we did well although I had an impression that the stoker's legs began to tire towards the end. I wasn't surprised as for us this was a combination of hills and miles that was pushing our boundaries a little. We enjoyed the downhill fast bits and suffered a little on hills but our cottage was soon reached. A lovely day out and a ride to be recommended.

The ride

Northern Loop

In a complete departure from the norm for us we decided to take the bike to Portree and ride from there. The forecast had looked good but when we got up there was low cloud (you have to go to Skye to appreciate how low it can get) and a little bit of drizzle around. Not much wind so that encouraged us to get going. This was much more traumatic than I would have liked. To put the bike on the car I had to strip some bits off, check the tyre pressures and sort the bike carrier out. All in the presence of Skye's greatest failing; the midge. Horrible tiny flying blood-suckers they are and by the time the bike was ready to go I was covered in fairly big lumps, one of which was right under my eye. Lovely. Time has taught me though that while I come up in great big lumps they tend to subside within 2 hours so I was confident that by the time we were cycling I'd be ok.

We drove to Portree and parked up. Then we reversed the process I'd done at the cottage. This all took time but eventually we were ready to go. By now though we had company in the form of a couple who were interested in the tandem. It's a talking point much more than the equivalent two single bikes. On this occasion I wished it wasn't. And then the Stoker realised that they vaguely knew the woman from the couple. More conversation. And I was getting bitten by midges again....

Finally we were off and up through Portree we went. Only to stop again after half a mile or so to put the lights on which I'd forgotten to do in amongst the chat in the car park. Off again, and straight into one of Skye's many, many hills. I had been hoping for encouraging views of the Storr on this section but the low cloud was still present and we just concentrated on getting the job done.

The Storr on a better day

When we got to the inevitable downhill before the next rise I realised that I'd probably chosen my clothes incorrectly for the ride ahead. Shorts and the athletic-fit top were not the best but at least I had my arm warmers. I kept telling myself we'd just have to pedal hard and fast. This is harder when you're on a tandem, at least if you want still want to be talking to your partner at the end of the day, that is.
After the Storr there's lots of ups and downs to keep the cyclist entertained. And all the more if you are on a tandem. We had more than we bargained for on the first descent. A big tour bus overtook us and then caused us to have to brake to slow down for it. Very, very annoying that; it killed our momentum.
As we headed to Lealt we had another descent but unfortunately a much steeper climb out. And the idiot pilot got the gear changes on the chainring horribly wrong and off popped the chain! Luckily I got my foot unclipped before we did a double comedy dismount right beside a car park. A little fiddling about saw us on our way with my fingers now slightly oily.
And all was well until just before Kilt Rock when one of the stays for the front mudguard lost its bolt and there was a horrible rattling. We found a parking space and I managed to improvise a fixing for it with a spare Garmin mount band. Incredibly useful they are. And again we were on our way but by this time I was beginning to feel that this ride was doomed and with the extra standing about I was definitely cold.
We were only a short distance to our first stop though and the Columba 1400 centre proved a good place for me to warm up a bit. The coffee and cake were lovely and we met a nice couple who have been coming to Skye for even longer than we have. They told us that on their first visit they had walked from Portree to Staffin just to see the Quirang. It's a fair distance on a bike, goodness knows what it was like to walk. I had wondered if my Stoker felt the same as I did about the ride and would want to chuck it in and head back to Portree. But I kept it to myself and determined that I would go on if they voiced no concerns. So onward we went.
The weather hadn't improved much and we were barely started before we had to stop again to switch the lights on. Doh! Then it was onward through Staffin and onto the single track road to take us around the northern end of the island to Uig. The more direct route to Uig is a steep climb past the Quirang which I have done but didn't think either the conditions or the Stoker were up for that. As we headed out of Staffin we got a wave from a couple sitting outside The Small and Cosy Teahouse which I have also heard good things about.
The single track road added to the challenge of the ride, involving making room for Skye's suicidal sheep and the cars and vans that were also wanting to use the road. The weather also began to deteriorate causing me the need to remove my sunglasses. It was odd being able to see better without my glasses than with. It wasn't so much that it was raining more like we were riding in a cloud. It made the roads wet and I was very circumspect both on the tarmac and the numerous cattle grids we encountered. One benefit of the tandem on cattle grids is the bike's length. It means that you spend less time with both wheels on the grid which I felt gave more stability to the experience.
As we came up to Duntulm the weather improved a little. The cloud rose and the road conditions became a little drier. Just in time for the big climb of the day. A long climb made up of several ramps with less steep parts in between. It was here that we survived some of the worst driving I've seen in a while. The climb had a good number of passing places on it and I was happy to use them to let vehicles past as long as we didn't have to stop. Around the middle of the climb we let a car make the most of such an opportunity and we started to move back into our usual position on the road. It was then that a white van decided to push past us as well which nearly ended up with us off the road. It took a lot of effort to keep us upright. I would have more sympathy with them if there hadn't been another passing place about 50 yards up the road. With hindsight maybe we could have been more accommodating but on these steep hills it's much easier if we can keep going. Still, we survived to tell the tale.
The road then rolled along and we saw a couple of golden eagles flying above us which was superb. I suspect this stretch of the road would have beautiful views on a sunny day, all the way out to the outer Hebrides. All we could see was grey sea, grey clouds and damp scenery. We climbed another long, but less steep hill and came out above Uig. From here the road is very steep and has a nasty hairpin in the middle of it. It was here that a voice came from behind me. "Oh, this hairpin!" I had reminded The Stoker before we left that we would have a hairpin to deal with on this ride but despite the number of times we have been on these roads they couldn't remember it. Until we were there that is.
We negotiated the hairpin and a little back road which brought us right down to our next cafe stop. This stop was made at Ella's Cafe, another delightful place for food and drink. I had a hot chocolate and Ecclefechan tart while The Stoker had some tea and a chocolate brownie. Great fuel. While we were relaxing I could see that a gentleman with three small children (one very much asleep on his shoulder) were admiring the tandem propped up on the wall outside. When they came in he was keen to mention how nice it was to see. The two children were much impressed as well; with the bottle holders! Not interested in the fact it was a tandem at all. Very funny.
We had cooled down a little as we sat enjoying our food and drink but we soon warmed up as we left Uig on another long climb. This climb isn't too steep but it does go on a bit. As we climbed the hill a car came up alongside us. It turned out to be French and the occupants gave us great encouragement before using their engine to pull away. The difference between the attitude of this car and the white van couldn't be further apart.
We were now back on two way road and, after the hill, probably the flattest part of the day. I think we also had a little breeze behind us for this section so and when we were back on the flat we were able to pick up a little speed. Apart from the mile or so of road where there was no road surface. A long term project to resurface the A87 has started and this part of the road has the whole surface removed. This left a very lumpy, bumpy under-surface to ride on. The tandem and its riders all managed to come out at the other end without anything falling off. Quite an achievement given the rattling around.
After that the road rolled along with long gentle ups and downs all the way to the brow of the hill above Portree. We then enjoyed the coasting and easy riding which took us into the town and back to the car. A great ride, somehow making the most of a pretty bad weather day.

The ride

Trumpan and back

On the last day of our holiday we got another lovely day and we decided to take the tandem out for one more ride. This time we though we would go from the cottages and not engage in the faff of carrying it on the car again. Thankfully I managed to get it all set up with bags etc without getting too many midge bites.
We didn't want to repeat our central loop ride so we needed to find something else to occupy us. There wasn't another obvious loop of the length we would have like so we went for a there and back route to Trumpan. This meant riding back up towards Dunvegan but as we had done all the little loops off this road the first time we had a new experience just riding the main road. It did mean that we had to ride all of the steep slope about halfway to Dunvegan where we had sneaked off the time before. But we made it and the turn off to the Dunvegan bypass came soon enough.
While we have driven this stretch of road I remembered it as flat. It isn't! It makes steady progress uphill towards the main road. Never steep we had no difficulty with the slope; it just seemed to go on. The sheep on both sides of the road provided the entertainment. I'm sure they play with vehicles and cyclists alike. Just for the fun of it they run from side to side with no discernible pattern or reason. We managed to get to the junction without running any of them down or coming to grief ourselves.
We had a little more uphill to go before a slight downhill to the turn off for Trumpan and the Fairy Bridge. A good place for a stop and a look at the map on the Tourist Information sign. It showed a road going up the peninsula with a little loop at the end of it. This was our road. And what a lovely stretch of tarmac it was too. Apart from one little steep incline near Skye Skyns it was probably the flattest piece of road we met the entire holiday.
Having waited on the loop for a stationary car picking up a passenger we proceeded to the church and car park at the head of the loop. Then I saw a tractor at the top of the rise. Luckily they saw us and let us come up. We got there and suddenly (to my way of thinking) the Stoker stopped pedalling. We came to a stop and had a "discussion". Of course, all things less than perfect on a tandem are the pilot's fault and this was no different. I had said as we came up the east side of the loop that the road went no further than the church and my compatriot had assumed we would be stopping and turning round. I had planned to go round the loop. Hence the confusion. All my fault.
Maybe we should have turned around, and I might recommend that course of action if you find yourself there, because once we headed off we found the sting in the loop. Firstly the road surface deteriorates considerably and drops alarmingly before turning a sharp corner to reveal a nasty little climb on a bit of road that has grass in the middle and gravel on the other bits. Fun. We ground it out in a higher gear than I would like to stop wheel spin and soon enough we were at the top.
The road surface improved and we retraced our steps to the Fairy Bridge enjoying the views over the bay and looking down to the Stein Inn. We didn't visit it on this occasion but I have spent a very pleasant night in there before drinking a little whisky and enjoying the chat. Worth a visit if you are in the area.
Back at the Fairy Bridge we decided we were good to keep going to the cafe at Dunvegan for refreshments. A little effort brought us to the top of the long slope into the village and we enjoyed getting the tandem up to speed. We had to work against the breeze here until we were on the little road up to the cafe. We were also racing against a rather nasty black cloud dropping rain on the MacLeod Tables. We didn't want to get wet! The refreshments were well worth the extra exertion. Not that we mind a bit of speed.
Once we were suitably fed and watered it was time to head back. As we came out of Dunvegan we had wet tarmac under our tyres. So the stop was well-timed and we followed the cloud south as we cycled back to the cottages. It had only just grazed our route and the roads turned dry again and the sun came out in time for our arrival in Struan. We didn't really want to stop so we decided to cycle round the bay and head up to the well used view point for some photos of our own. Once they were done we headed back to a lower car park where we took a few more pictures for our scrap book.

West from the view point

Pilot with the MacLeod Tables behind

The lower car park - our cottages are to the left of my head

The bay without me....

Then we had to head back and start the job of packing up. It's always sad to end our trips on Skye, but this time it was especially hard as we had had such a lovely time travelling the roads. Here's to coming back. It won't be long!

The ride

Tandem riding on Skye - part one

With a little bit of effort, a bent bar and the need to get a replacement along with a lot of encouragement from John and Ruth from J D Tandems I managed to get a BTS tandem carrier fitted to the top of the car. This meant the tandem could come on holiday with us to Skye.
For the first few days of the holiday I wondered why I'd bothered. Grey cloud down at around 200 feet made seeing across the bay from our holiday cottage almost impossible. And with the cloud, rain. I'm not per se a fair weather cyclist but I'm also not a complete nutcase wanting to go out in anything. And for the Stoker this would be the first time out on the roads in Skye, so we wanted to make it a good experience, not one to be avoided at all costs.

Portnalong

Finally a day came along where the weather was fine. And with the promise of a south westerly breeze we decided to ride to Portnalong which is just a view across the loch from the cottage. By road, however, it's about 14 miles. Such is the way with things on the north west coast of Scotland and its attendant islands. There's something else about the roads here. There's no way you could describe them as flat. There's no major alpine cols but I think in the 28 miles we did on this trip you'd be hard pressed to find a continuous mile (or even 1/2 mile) of flat tarmac. But with views like this you can't complain much.

Views of the Cuillin from the road south

I'd ridden the roads to Carbost before. In fact I've used the first hill in this ride as a training session, doing hill repeats on it. So I knew the first 10 miles or so and despite the up and down nature it went ok. We descended into Carbost and came upon the Talisker distillery right down by the loch side. Luckily, thanks to ridewithgps, I was prepared for what followed. A very steep, thankfully short, section of tarmac to put us on the road out to Portnalong. Despite the forecast for fine weather we endured a short shower on this rolling stretch of road before we dropped down to the road end. Here's a picture of me with the tandem. The Stoker is in their preferred position, behind the camera.

The road end at Portnalong

At this point we could see our holiday abode but we knew that the way back was to reverse our outward cycle. With all the up and down it wasn't the most pleasant of thoughts but after a drink and some oat-based bars we were off again.
After enjoying the "whee" down the hill after climbing out of Carbost we faced the long climb up and away from the Cuillin. This section felt long and I was pleased that we got up it in one go; tortoise style. The rest of the roads back were surprisingly ok and we enjoyed another fast run down the big hill we'd ground our way up on the way out.
For the Stoker this was by far and away their hilliest bike ride to date.  Of course, success on this route just means more hills to come!

The Ride

Cake at Dunvegan

On Skye you can't have a rest day if the weather is nice because you know it's never going to last that long. And in this case we had a forecast promising rain and wind for the next day so it was back on with the lycra and out with the bike. This time we remembered the pump (a good job we hadn't needed it the day before) and headed out.
After the hills of the day before a slightly less hilly route was desired. Unfortunately from the cottage you can only really go up so we picked the least horrible option and headed north to Dunvegan.
To make things more interesting we decided to cycle the little loops at Ullinish, Harlolsh and Orbost before sneaking up to the cafe at Dunvegan Castle. These back roads were great with lovely views and even better driving from the small number of cars we met. Most of the drivers seemed delighted to see a tandem. It's a reaction we are getting used to. And a far better reaction than the one I'm used to.
The main views on this run up the coast is of these hills. I'd like to point out that this picture (and the one of the Cuillin) was taken on another adventure but it shows the scenery you can have on Skye.

MacLeod Tables

Coffee and cake was well timed as we sat in the cafe watching a short sharp shower fall on the cars in the car park. Luckily we had parked the tandem under the shelter of some trees. As part of my promotion of Skye I can recommend the carrot cake, scones, hot chocolate and tea at the cafe. We also enjoy the garden there.
The straight ride back should have been uneventful but proved not to be. Coming through Dunvegan we ended up behind a car whose driver decided to stop and be nice to the traffic on the other side of the road and let them pass the parked car. This meant we needed to come to an unexpected and fairly abrupt stop. When we went to start up again there was a horrible grinding noise and then the Stoker informed me that the chain had come off.
The reason for this was that I'd forgotten that we were in a very high gear when we came to a stop. And we didn't star smoothly enough. Chain back on and onto the middle chainring we started off again. The Stoker had thought the big chainring was a bit "wobbly" but I hadn't seen it. However, when we went to change onto it again we had another horrible noise and the chain came off again. Looking at it again I could see a horrible bend in the big chainring. At least it wasn't the small one so we could ride on.
The one advantage of the mechanical disaster was that we needed to coast down all but the shortest and least steep inclines. The Stoker was happy with this. To be honest my legs weren't that unhappy either. And in this way the simple run for home went very smoothly. The views of the Cuillin were great again.

The Ride

Postscript

A little bit of faith (in Sheldon Brown and the internet), a large wrench and a tiny bit of persuasion brought the chainring straight enough to ride again so we will be able to build some speed again on some of the hills round here when we go out again.