June 17 - Glasgow to Tulloch to Ft. William

This morning's challenge would be to get 11 people (many of whom you could *not* call "morning people") awake, fed, packed, and out the door at 7:45. It did work, though, and we made it to our train station by 8:00. We had to be quick on our feet, since the train would only be in the station for about 10 minutes. All trains are used as commuter trains before they are sent out to the countryside, so they can't sit there for an hour waiting for us sleepyheads to arrive.

Lovely ride up to Tulloch Station; alongside Loch Lomond and other lakes in southern Scotland. Tulloch Station was selected as the starting point for two reasons: it is remote, and therefore there is almost no traffic (so we can get used to riding on the left side of the road), and also because it is almost all downhill to Fort William. There's nothing like starting with a long downhill to get you in the mood for a week of bicycling! Anyway, we arrived at Tulloch Station around 11:15. It took about 45 minutes to get everyone's bikes adjusted and tuned for each rider,
then it was time for that downhill!

The Group, starting at Tulloch

Lynn, Paul, Beth R., Maureen, me, Carol, Libby (standing tall, as always!), Caroline, Beth G., Will, and Ken

As is fitting for members of the Carolina Tarwheels, our first order of business after starting the ride was to find lunch. There was a hotel in Roybridge, the first town, and it was open for lunch. So we stopped. I had traditional Fish and Chips, which were quite good. Entertainment was provided by the local dog, who knew how to sit on one of the barstools. Cute.

One of the Regulars at the Roybridge Hotel (picture courtesy of Will)

We shortly turned onto B8004, a secondary road running parallel to the main route to Fort William. This is a neat road! My first experience with the single-lane roads common throughout Scotland. These roads, sometimes dozens of miles long, are a single lane with wider passing areas at regular intervals. It works, but requires cooperation and patience amongst the drivers. Which is why such a system would never work in the U.S. Most of these roads were just wide enough for a car and bicycle to pass, so as a cyclist I usually didn't have to wait in the passing area when a car
overtook me.

Caroline riding alongside the Caledonian Canal

Later we followed the towpath of the Caledonian Canal, which runs the length of the Great Glen and uses Loch Ness to allow boats to cross Scotland at its mid-section. The towpath had nice scenery, but was pretty rough. I ended up riding with Caroline, who discovered at Roybridge that she had left her prescription sunglasses on the train. I stayed with her while she contacted Scotrail, and asked them to send the glasses back on the same train and she would meet the train at Fort

William. So we rode the rest of the way to Fort William together. The delay caused us to miss the last tour of the Ben Nevis distillery, so we decided to defer that side trip until the next morning. Instead, we headed downtown to the train station, and sure enough, on the next train back from Mallaig, they had her glasses!

Checked in at the Rhu Mhor guesthouse, found out that few of our companions were there, so we got cleaned up and took naps.

Later that night, we ate supper at a local restaurant (McTavish's) that included live singing and dancing as part of the "atmosphere". It was kinda kitschy, but fairly amusing. I decided to add a little adventure to the evening by trying Haggis for the first time. For those who don't know what Haggis is, here is Merriam-Webster dictionary's definition:

A traditionally Scottish dish that consists of the heart, liver, and lungs of a sheep or a calf minced with suet, onions, oatmeal, and seasonings boiled in the stomach of the animal.

Well, I think that says it all. It sounds disgusting, but it wasn't at all. I decided after a taste, that I would have it as my main course. It really was quite good! I'm sure if it isn't prepared properly, it could get nasty. But not this evening.