One tandem bicycle. One overloaded bike trailer, two Inflatable kayaks (one with a puncture) and two idiots. The plan? Cycle between the three longest Lochs in Scotland and at each paddle the length of them- bike and gear in one kayak and then towed by us in the other!
Gavin Callander and I were forced to change our plans right at the start as the wind was howling down Loch Lomond so we shifted focus and started our challenge on Loch Awe at around 8pm. It was a little surreal paddling off with an untested setup late at night in the middle of knowhere with just Gavins wife Caroline waving us off! But we were away and managed a few a hours paddling in the rain before setting up camp on the banks of the Loch for a fitful sleep. The next day we finished the 25 mile paddle in a total of around 9 hours, waited for the rain to pass and sorted all our gear ready for the bike! The first few miles were an introduction to the hills and eventually we made it to Tyndrum at around 10pm and sunuck into a midgie infested campsite. The next day we rapidly repacked the tent while being abused by swarms of midgies and set off to cycle to the bottom of the now calm Loch Lomond. It was a hilly ride... down hill which sucked as we knew we'd have to climb these exact same hills again! At the start of Lomond at Balloch, we did some emergency shopping (my rain jacket was grossly inadequate!) and started the paddle north. Lomond is a stunning Loch and the paddle through the islands was breathtaking - we could have been anywhere in the world! That night we camped on the shores of Lomond and everything was serene although we knew the weather was going to beat on us again the next day.
We started the paddle in the rain and finished it, exhausted and cold, in the rain. We stumbled into a caravan site toilet and found the two most powerful and hot showers weary adventurers could wish for! Re-energised we packed the bike up, grabbed some grub and set off for what we thought was a harsh long climb back to Tyndrum. We we wrong! It was shorter than we had calculated and we arrived with loads of time in hand! This time we paid for the campsite and made the most of the drying room(!!) and go ta proper feed in us at ghe local diner.
Day four was a going to be a tough one with 77 miles on the bike planned with over three thousand feet of climbs involved. On a tandem. With an overloaded trailer. We started well, blazing up the hills but by mid afternoon we were flagging. The bikes gears were giving up and energy lervels were low. Factor in that we now knew that Fort Augustus wasn't to be the final stop on the bike. We pulled it together and had dinner on a bench in Fort Augustus, mentally prepping ourselves for the extra 27 miles because of the damned wind again. The wind was once again blowing the wrong way so we needed to start from the top of Loch Ness. We made 18 of the 27 miles before the bike gave up. We were doewn to one brake, one gear and we had snapped 7 spokes on the rear wheel. Jeanie the tandem was done!
We pushed the poor bike two miles to a village called Drumnadrochit. Here we set up our tent behind a hedge outside the local retained fire station (not that they knew about it!). The next morning we caught the bus to Loch End and set up the kayaks Kate and Lewis for the last time and paddled out for the 21 mile slog. Eight and a half weary hours later we arrived back in Fort Augustus to the welcome of Caroline once again. We had done it and were bone shakingly cold! A beer and massive fish and chips soon sorted that out!
Total miles cycled; 161 Total miles paddled; 70
Total paddle strokes per man; 55,000
Total raised for the firefighters charity; £2857