Aye Nessie

Hi again,

Yesterday (Wednesday) was our first full day in Fort William. Once again the weather was fantastic all day, sunrise is about 4:20am and sunset is just before 11pm so we get plenty of daylight to play in.

We took the Renault Trafic van for a burst up the road to Fort Augustus. It goes really well the bikes fit in the back plus we get a great view.

Our first stop off was at the commando memorial then on to Fort Augustus were we got the bikes out for a quick pedal. Then we carried on to Urquart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness but no sign of Nessie. From there we went up to Dun... can't say it let alone spell it but its were the Lochness Visitors centre is. We had a look at the shops but the Nessie museum was closed by the time we arrived.

Then it was a quick trip back to catch up with Martin MacDonald and up to Ben Nevis for a bike around the race course. The course was awesome, fearsome and then some. Technically its the hardest riding I've done and same for Nicki. The start is pretty standard with a bit of a bash along a muddy track, then a climb up the forestry road. The course then heads to the man-made tracks which feature loads of single track with rocks, drops, boardwalk, twist and turns like I've never seen before. I could ride just about all of it with a bit of coaching from Martin and Nicki did a great job. The course looks fairly intimating but the bikes we have soak up the rocks and make the downhill easier.

Better get on my bike as my time is running out. Off to ride Netunes Staircase soon. Should be a nice ride.

Bye and love to P & A.

David