Our crude but effective living quarters for the event!
Posing confidently(?) before the start...
The tracks so rough at bits you have to stop to take in the views like this.
This view takes your breath away, and no rain either!!
If someone ordered the weather for the Tour De Ben Nevis they couldn't have made a better job! The morning started with a sharp frost and mist on the mountains but cleared by about 8.30 am. by which time we were in Fort William looking for breakfast. Unfortunately so were another 300 or so mountain bikers so the cooked breakfast was substituted by sandwiches and coffee/tea. After being piped along the High Street of Fort William by the local pipe band it was all systems go and the climbing started almost at once. It's amazing how many folk start near the front of these events and get off to push at some of the first hills they encounter. The route along to Kinlochleven takes in the West Highland Way and the scenery is breathtaking though the track is so rough that you have to keep your eyes on it the whole way. The actual final descent to Kinlochleven is manic, with drop offs, water drainage crossings and every conceivable thing to induce punctures the whole way down, but somehow the three of us, Baz, Mark and myself made it without one between us, the strategy of tyres at high pressure paid off! The last photo shows the view back down from the climb back up the leg killer from Kinlochleven, just about makes it worthwhile!
More another day!!
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