Well, thats the 5 ferries done.
And most enjoyable it was too. The weather was great for the 2 days and we had a good laugh all the way round. I dread to think of what state we might have been in if the weather was bad.
Overall, I thought the route was a lot easier than I expected - although some of them were ready to chuck it when we reached Kames and had Tighnabruaich to do first thing the next morning. Still, a couple of beers soon got their enthusiasm back. The first comment of "Oh fer f**ks sake" didn't take too long the next morning.
As others have said though, it really is a nice ride. I found the hills doable and actually enjoyed them, and mostly staying with someone and encouraging them along felt good. A few stops were done and I just cycled onto the next rider. I'm not sure my encouragement was welcome at some stages
The second days ride seemed much much easier and I sort of went and done my own thing for parts of the ride. Then waited and got some pictures and videos.
I really enjoyed it and there's talk of doing it in a one dayer early next year, or doing 3 Islands in 2 days (Bute, Arran and Cumbrae) which looks great.
Back to the usual commute to and from work today though
One thing I did learn was that sitting behind someone really really does make a big difference. A few of us had a couple of goes of it and the amount of effort saved seemed (to me anyway) huge. On the downhill bits I could sit behind one of the lads who was pedalling and (more or less) just freewheel. And usually having to feather the brakes. Same on the flat as well. First time I've ever ridden with others, and although I'd heard of it and seen it on the tv racing I had no idea it had such an effect. Bit scary sitting behind someone so close like.
I've downloaded the Kinross Sportive and am tempted to do that route this weekend. I don't think I'll be able to do The Braveheart Challenge the following weekend as I'll have my lad.
I got to wear my Heinz Beans top as well. A bit of a nice one for my lad who's the little one in the latest Beans ad (Charlie in the ad, and Charlie in real life). You can see the little diva here
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/video-watch-new-heinz-baked-2177302
