Day Nine - Irvine to Crianlarich

It was a 7am breakfast today - we needed to get ahead of the two coach parties who checked in just after us last night. This strategy paid off and we set off in glorious sunshine at around 8.30am.

Today was going to be a day of two halves with a very easy cycle along the coast road this morning, catching the lunchtime ferry to cross the estuary for the afternoon climb.

As luck would have it it was perfect weather for a bike ride along the coast - glorious sunshine with a gentle breeze which of course meant we had to stop for an ice cream at the Italian Gelato in Largs. Today was starting to feel a bit like a holiday!!

We cycled 39 miles to reach the ferry - just over the half way mark in mileage terms but nowhere near halfway in terms of effort expended. We were certainly going to have to up our game for the second half with over 4,000 feet of climbing to do.

The first climb after lunch wasn't too bad but it was swiftly followed by a second with a 15% gradient for half a mile. I took a sharp intake of breath as we began. Max has been brilliant at gauging the magnitude of each situation and setting the right pace. His calm can-do attitude has got me through every challenging moment so far and today was no exception. He was feeling tired though and was keen to draught as much as possible to save his legs for the rest of the climbing on offer today. Since our crash on day four the group generally seem quite wary of us cycling behind them but thankfully we did manage to tuck in behind one of the stronger riders for a long stretch.

The good weather continued all day and the views around Loch Lomond were breathtaking taking our minds off tired legs and sore bums!

We finally made it to our resting place for tonight, Crianlarich, at about 5.30pm. We're staying in a very pretty B&B with a pub serving fabulous home cooked food for tonight. Meat and two veg for me and curry for Max!!

As the challenge mounts we're drawing on all our available reserves and supplies - the Epsom salts this evening (thanks Pauline) and the Kendal Mint Cake (thanks Rosie) will be coming out with us tomorrow.

We were warned that the midges would descend on us as soon as we arrived this evening but so far we've escaped. Perhaps they'll be waiting for us first thing tomorrow morning!!