The start: Banchory - Inverkip

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After years of saving, months of planning, weeks of researching and buying the bikes and various new equipment and gear Erika reckons we needed, then trying to sell/give away/store all of our personal possessions, finishing work and sorting out all the red tape that somehow seems to be involved with becoming an unemployed vagrant, we are finally ready to start our journey! Many thanks to my folks for generously donating a large part of their attic to all the stuff we really couldn’t throw away or convince anyone to buy from us, and for putting up with us in the final few stressful days of preparations. Finally everything was set for our departure on the morning of Monday 11th April - true to form we fail and manage to start cycling away at 1pm in the afternoon, but at least we are finally on our way.
Now, anyone with a vague sense of geography can probably work out that Istanbul is roughly in a south-east direction from Banchory/Aberdeen, so we decided to head due west instead towards the Cairngorms - home to 5 of the 6 highest mountains in Britain. This was partly because it is the most scenic route towards our first ‘destination’ of Inverkip (where Erika’s folks live), and partly because we needed to visit a shop to get a replacement part for our brand new ‘unbreakable’ multi-fuel stove, which I managed to break whilst learning how (not) to use a few days earlier. Due to our late start the race was on to get to Braemar before the shop shut for the night, a task made no easier by strong headwinds the whole way, which only got stronger (or at least seemed to) the closer, and more tired, we got. This was not the slow, relaxed start we had imagined. Somewhere amongst all the planning, moving, finishing jobs and partying I had lost sight of the fact that cycling across a continent would actually involve some hard effort, and after 2 hours of cycling my legs had had enough and we were only just over half-way there. Unfortunately we could not afford more than a five minute break and so we pushed on into the wind for another 8-9 miles before, on the verge of sense-of-humour-failure, I convinced Erika to push on ahead and stop waiting for me to catch up. Revelling in the unusual circumstances of being constantly ahead she took off laughing and fortunately made it to Braemar and the shop just in time. With the pressure off I stopped for a tea break and an energy bar and things seemed much easier after that! Many thanks to the guys at Braemar Mountain Sports for going out of their way to help us. Not only did they keep the shop open longer than they should have, they gave us a free replacement stove part for the night and pointed us in the direction of a great camping spot. We pitched the tent in the growing gloom and a rain shower whilst being watched by a herd of red deer just up the hillside. I was forced to concede that the new tent was a definitely a good idea as there is loads of space in the porch for all our wet gear, and half of it even managed to dry itself during the night despite constant showers.
Fortunately the morning brought bright sunshine and an awesome view across the top of the Dee valley towards Ben Avon with a covering of snow and its distinctive granite ‘tors’ sticking up from the summit plateau. After a brief trip back into Braemar to fill up on water and sort the stove out back at the shop, we head south up Glen Clunie and over the pass of Glen Shee into Perthshire. A long and slow climb to the summit is again made harder by headwinds and the odd shower, but the sunshine in between makes up for it, as does the almost complete lack of traffic on what is in theory a major trunk road! We meet our first other cycle-tourer - Brian - who is on a much lighter titanium-framed bike and carrying less than half the gear we are but who, rather pleasingly for us at least, takes as long to get to the top as we do! Red grouse, curlew and lapwing all calling from the roadside heather and bogs also distracted us from the steep gradient, and we arrive at the 665m summit smiling in the sunshine during a snow shower! The next 12 miles or so flew by as they were all downhill through Glen Shee with no headwind and we gradually left the mountains behind as the valley widened and the hills on either side began to fade, before turning west again back into the headwinds and winding slowly back uphill and over another pass towards Pitlochry. This time it was Erika’s turn for a sense-of-humour failure/emotional turn as the final hill, wind and a violent hail shower all proved too much. Oh, and apparently something to do with me being too far ahead as well! The re-appearance of the sun, a fine view of some of the Glen Tilt hills and the promise of chips in Pitlochry cheered her up again and soon we were inside a greasy café stuffing down hot chips. We then found a nice flat spot to camp on in the woods on a back road out towards Loch Trummel, with fine views north towards the pass of Killiecrankie, and even managed to have our first (freezing cold) shower in the woods. Partly to warm up after this and partly to celebrate the fact we no longer needed two pages of our map we also had our first campfire (the map pages proved useful for getting it started….)
Some elderly walkers looked bemusingly at us whilst we saluted the sun during our warm-up yoga stretching the next morning, before we headed off west again along the south side of Loch Trummel and then up and over the eastern flank of Schiehallion before dropping down to Kenmore at the foot of Loch Tay for a late lunch. The only other traffic we encounter are a few ‘old fogies’ tour buses and the ever-present RAF jets that plague any part of Britain that you would normally regard as peaceful, tranquil countryside. In the afternoon we pushed on westward along the south side of Loch Tay in calm sunshine, admiring awesome views across the loch to the snow clad Ben Lawers massif and the Glen Lyon hills beyond. After a brief pit-stop in Killin, final resting place of the legendary giant Fingol, we headed out of town on back road up Glen Dochart and found a nice spot to camp by the river, with fine views west towards Ben More and Stob Binnean above Crianlarich. The farmer passed by and, spotting our laundry hanging in the bushes, evidently thought we were mad as he asked if we had been for a swim (the river is not only freezing but also full of white water!). When we explained we are cycling to Istanbul it clearly only confirmed his suspicions!
The next day found us on the main road in constant drizzle and so our gentle ambling along turned to serious, head down cycling for a bit, which combined with a decent road surface and our improving leg muscles, means we fly along to Crianlarich and then south to the shores of Loch Lomond in hardly any time. The weather improved as we cycled along the side of Loch Lomond allowing good views across to Ben Lomond, still with some final winter snow on the summit. From a quick time check we realise we can easily make Kilcreggan or Helensburgh for the last ferry across the Firth of Clyde and so we push on from Tarbert on Loch Lomond over to Arrochar on Loch Long - and meet the sea on the west coast! Although our start in Banchory was 16 miles inland from the North Sea, we revelled for a moment in the fact that we had gone almost coast-to coast.
An easy ride south along the sea loch brought us to an unexpected steep hill up and over to Garelochead, where we decided to turn right and head for the ferry from Kilcreggan, thus avoiding having to cycle past the evil and hideous Faslane naval base. This is home to the UK’s nuclear submarine fleet and, along with the nearby Coulport base, the Trident Nuclear Missile system. At any time, 24-7 and 365 days a year, the UK has nuclear powered subs cruising the world’s oceans with nuclear missiles armed and ready to fire at a moments command. I will avoid entering a full-on political rant in this issue however - for those who are interested there is loads of info out there on the web about Faslane and the UK government’s illegal activities. Our route does give an impressive view of this monstrosity from across the sea loch, however, and I estimate the whole complex takes up at least 2 miles of the shoreline. The downside is we don’t have a chance to stop at the (protest) peace-camp.
We arrive at Kilcreggan to discover the supposed vehicle ferry to Gourock is in fact a tiny little puffer boat for passengers only. After a bit of an effort we manage to get our bikes up the gangplank for an old-fashioned style crossing of the Firth of Clyde. Not so long ago small boats such as these (with engines fired by coal rather than diesel) were the main form of transport and communication between the then-isolated communities and towns spread around the Firth and it’s many sea lochs and islands. From Gourock harbour it was a short and easy ride around the headland to the south to Inverkip where a hot shower, massive feed and, amazingly, our first beers of the trip, awaited us.

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Photos

First Camp
Our first wild camp just outside Braemar - in the sun on our second morning.

View from our first camp
The view from our tent north towards Ben Avon in the Cairngorms

Highest Heights
At the top of the glenshee pass in the Cairngorms on day 2

Schiehallion
The "fairy hill of the caledonians" from the pass between Loch trummel and Loch tay, Perthshire.

Loch Tay
View along Loch Tay with a replica Crannog in the foreground and the Ben Lawers hills beyond.

Ben Vane
Ben vane in the 'Arrochar alps', from Inveruglas on the shores of Loch lomond

Ben Lomond
View across Loch Lomond

The Sea is reached!
On the shores of loch long with The Cobbler and Ben Narnain in the background

Gareloch
The nice view back up the Gareloch towards the Arrochar hills, with the nastiness of Faslane base on the left (only a small part of it mind...)