{"id":5643,"date":"2015-08-15T21:39:31","date_gmt":"2015-08-16T03:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/evilmoose.me\/?p=5643"},"modified":"2015-12-13T13:36:16","modified_gmt":"2015-12-13T19:36:16","slug":"scotland-the-beginning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/?p=5643","title":{"rendered":"Scotland: The Beginning"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Players<\/strong>
\nMegan: Red hair, bloodshot eyes from nights of insomnia, sore left knee from injury
\nAlex: Beard, glasses, hairy legs that may be concealing a weapon
\nFinn: Nearly 5yo, batman tshirt, Salomon sneakers, cute glasses, lazy eye, watches cartoons and charms service people into giving him things<\/p>\n

The Flights<\/strong>
\nCalgary \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Halifax (~5 hours)
\nHalifax \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Glasgow (~5.5 hours)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Surprising no-one, we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get much sleep on the way over.<\/p>\n

On arrival, the immigration officer asks what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing. We explain. <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You keen cyclists then?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he asks. <\/p>\n

We concur.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You must be keen to come and ride over here!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Our plan had been to assemble bikes at the airport and then ride, like in the good old days. But we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re exhausted and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now a small child into the equation. After lengthy debate (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Should we just get a taxi?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Definitely!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) we get a taxi to our air bnb. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in Paisley. <\/p>\n

I remember the comedian Frankie Boyle having mentioned Paisley\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 oh yes, he was making fun of how useless the Labor party is: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 like getting lessons in empathy from someone living in Paisley.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Obviously a nice spot then.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We walk about to find some food, and avoid making eye contact with the Glaswegians who look like they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d glass us given the slightest provocation. Trying to talk to people, we struggle to adapt to the Glaswegian accent, and have to keep asking people to repeat themselves.<\/p>\n

We ask for lettuce on our hamburgers, and the proprietor questions, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not from round here then?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Grand plans lead to nothing, we spend most of the day and the following night sleeping. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good, we seem to have pushed through extreme sleep deprivation to avoid jetlag altogether.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The next morning we get on our bikes and start to ride off. Alex realises his handlebars are on backwards. I realise my fork has no air. My cables are rubbing. My seat is too low. Eventually we get everything sorted and break the magical 30-metres-away-from-the-house barrier.<\/p>\n

We’re headed into the city to catch the train: it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about 20km of cycle trail, some narrow, overgrown and covered with broken glass, but gradually looking better as we get close to downtown. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Finn has his first boat ride as we catch a tiny ferry across the river. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in tears, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too noisy. As we get closer to downtown Glasgow there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a tall ship in the river, the sound of bagpipes, men in kilts, and seagulls (that Finn keeps calling eagles). <\/p>\n

Getting bikes onto other forms of transport can be a challenge, and it had taken a bit of debate to let us book the ticket with our 2.5 bikes (“I know bike trailers aren’t allowed, but this isn’t a bike trailer, is a trail-a-bike… it’s a folding bike! It folds up, we promise!”). We approach the train station nervously, tickets in hand. A Scotrail man swoops down on us, and we cower and look apologetic \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but he is lovely and helpful, he just wants to know where we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re headed and help us get to exactly the right spot with the minimum of hassle. Brilliant. <\/p>\n

In the train carriage there’s a great little nook that fits the bikes nicely. The Streamliner gets folded up and poked into a stripy plastic bag and stowed with the normal luggage.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Finn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first train ride. He had been worried it would be too noisy, but instead thinks it is wonderful. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think this is a woosh train Mama\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6. Trains are even faster than planes. Or helicopters.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

We switch trains in Perth \u00e2\u20ac\u201c into a carriage that just has a narrow nook to poke the bikes into, which we manage to get to work\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 just. It’s not really designed for the ludicrously wide handlebars that come with 29\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or 29+\u00e2\u20ac\u009d tyres. After a couple more hours we arrive in Inverness, and are greeted with tourists, bagpipes and old buildings.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We pick our way out of town, uphill along the Great Glen Way, and it starts to rain. Then it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. Then it does again. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/center><\/p>\n

After a few hours of this, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re wet and tired when we start cycling past magical hand painted signs pointing us towards a Walkers Campground & Caf\u00c3\u00a9. They promise scrambled eggs. And then coffee. Alex begins to suspect that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a trap. <\/p>\n

We decide to risk it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re greeted by a happy Swedish man who points out a few flat spots that would work for our tent, then brings us tea, coffee and shortbread, and tells us about his recent kayaking trip along the west coast of Canada. He also warns us about the pigs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just wandering about the place, and will eat all our food if we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hang it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We cook dinner, assemble the tent, and hide from the midges. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve covered 39km today. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 8pm. Time for bed.<\/p>\n

Distance:<\/strong> 17km + 21km
\nElevation gain:<\/strong> 50m + 360m
\nLocation:<\/strong> Paisley to Glasgow Queen St Station + Inverness station to Abriachan Eco Campsite<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Players Megan: Red hair, bloodshot eyes from nights of insomnia, sore left knee from injury Alex: Beard, glasses, hairy legs that may be concealing a weapon Finn: Nearly 5yo, batman tshirt, Salomon sneakers, cute glasses, lazy eye, watches cartoons and charms service people into giving him things The Flights Calgary \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Halifax (~5 hours) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,1,1270,21,17],"tags":[1475,1539,1561],"class_list":["post-5643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bikes","category-general","category-moosling","category-travel","category-trip-reports","tag-bikepacking","tag-scotland","tag-scotland2015"],"author_meta":{"display_name":"megan","author_link":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/?author=1"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/images\/20150815-IMG_5995-X3.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["bikes<\/a>","general<\/a>","moosling<\/a>","travel<\/a>","trip reports<\/a>"],"unlinked":["bikes<\/span>","general<\/span>","moosling<\/span>","travel<\/span>","trip reports<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["bikepacking<\/a>","scotland<\/a>","scotland2015<\/a>"],"unlinked":["bikepacking<\/span>","scotland<\/span>","scotland2015<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"2","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 11 years ago","modified":"Updated 10 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 15.8.2015","modified":"Updated on 13.12.2015"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 15.8.2015 9:39 pm","modified":"Updated on 13.12.2015 1:36 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5643"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5694,"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5643\/revisions\/5694"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evilmoose.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}