final day of our cycling journey in outer hebrides started with light rain and, good news, quieter wind.
we decided to loose no time and pack up before the weather changes.
also, despite little hopes for a decent breakfast in a cafe, we said goodbye to butt of lewis and cycled back to eoropaidh. only the day before local guy told us that there is a cafe in sport centre, open 9am-9pm. we had a bit of a problem what to make of the sportnis centre -it was a sport centre connected with a primary school, so cafe was actually used as a school canteen.. we got there early in the morning and inquired about the cafe (no luck!) but we were allowed to use the canteen to prepare our breakfast (luckily we still had some provisions!). it was really nice of the ladies in charge to let us in, provide with hot water for tea and instant porridge, it was greatly appreciated!
so we started a day at a school canteen, wished good luck to the kids (who were just leaving for a choir and music competition) and settled for the road.
wind eased a bit compared to previous day but we cycled right against it, with a bit of rain on and off. at one point we got totally soaked by a sudden torrential rain which lasted less than 5 mins but caught us on the road where we struggled to find shelter. oh, love you, isle of lewis :)
soon we reached Barvas, stopped for lunch (there is a cafe at the petrol station where we had BIG bacon rolls) and hit the road again, towards stornoway.
this bit of a road was difficult, and i dont only mean the terrain. the traffic was bad, very busy with impatient drivers who didnt really care to give cyclists enough space while overtaking. imagine, you're on a bit of road which is fairly straight, cars exceed speed limit. the problem is that the road is a bit hilly, so you're on bike and just passed the 'summit', the speeding car before the 'summit' cant see you. we found it stressful and dangerous. not to mention that from barvas we cycled up the hill, constantly up the hill till about 9km/6m before stornoway
but, hey-ho, we made it safely and really happy! checked in at the heb hostel and wandered for a pub grab and a pint to celebrate our achievement :)
we completed the hebridean way, circa 350km / 230m
it was far from leisurely ride but the sense of achievement was huge... and the pleasure of conquering our weakness, enjoying some of the Scotland's best scenery and wilderness made it all even more worthwhile
ask me and i'll do it again, anyday :)
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ostatni dzien naszej wycieczki rowerowej na hebrydy zewnetrzne zaczal sie pozytywnie -pomimo ze popadywal deszcz to wiatr sie nieco uspokoil w porownaniu z poprzednum dniem.
nie tracac czasu szybko zebralysmy manatki zanim rozpada sie na dobre, pozegnalysmy sie z butt of lewis i popedzilysmy do eoropaidh. dzien wczesniej powiedziano nam ze przy centrum sportowym jest kafejka wiec mimo ze nie mialysmy jakichs wielkich nadzieji ze bedzie otwarta topojechalysmy na zwiady. w sumie to nie wiemy dokladnie czy to jest centrum sportowe czy czesc szkoly podstawowej...? jako ze bylysmy wczesnie to pozwolono nam uzyc kantyny bysmy przygotowaly sobie sniadanie, mile panie nawet ugotowaly nam wode do naszej 'kampingowej' owsianki. bardzo docenilysmy ich goscinnosc :) bardzo :)
po cieplej owsiance bylysmy juz gotowe ruszac w droge, ostatni etap naszej rowerowej wycieczki, do stornoway. niestety jechalysmy pod wiatr, padal przelotny deszcz, w pewnej chwili rozpadalo sie naprawde konkretnie i mimo ze tylko na 5 minut to bylysmy przemoczone do suchej nitki (trudno bylo znajezc jakies schronienie). dzieki lewisie, tez cie kochamy :)
wreszcie dojechalysmy do rozjazdu w barvas, juz okolo pory lanczu, wciagnelysmy wielkie bulki z bekonem (mala kafejka przy stacji benzynowej) i ruszylysmy dalej
ten ostatni odcinek, od barvas do stornoway byl niezbyt mily. po pierwsze od samego barvas zaczela sie gorka, konsekwentnie pod gorke bez przerwy, no ale ok, to nie problem. gorzej ze ruch na drodze byl dosc duzy, droga prosta wiec sprzyja wiekszym predkoscia i dla rowerzystow to dosc niebezpieczne warunki-szczegolnie ze samochody niezbyt braly sobie do serca zasady wyprzedzania rowerzystow i zachowania odleglosci od nas....
jakies 9km przed stornoway w koncu osiagnelysmy najwyzszy punkt trasy i potem bylo juz w wiekszosci w dol :) no i udalo sie, dotarlysmy do stornoway cale i szczesliwe, zameldowalysmy sie w hostelu i ruszylysmy na jakis obiad i piwko -celebrowac nasze osiagniecie :)
skonczylysmy hebridean way, przejechalysmy okolo 350km
nie byla to bulka z maslem, ale tym wieksze bylo nasze poczucie dumy i zadowolenie. pieknie jest codziennie pokonywac swoje slabosci, przelamywac bariery i wszystko to w pieknych szkockich okolicznosciach przyrody -pieknych i niepowtarzalnych :)
jesli ktos by zapytal to owszem, zrobilabym to jeszcze raz. chocby zaraz :)
sportnis canteen breakfast. jeeezzz i look so tired..
kantyna w centrum sportowym, rany, wygladam na niezle zryta..
@ borve
stornoway traffic / wzmozony ruch nieopodal stornoway
@ stornoway
well deserved pint.. or two :)
zasluzone piwko :)
next day we took early ferry 7am to cross to ullapool. sea was calm, visibility fantastic, we enjoyed great views to assynt hills
nastepnego dnia wsiadlysmy na pierwszy prom i poplynelysmy do ullapool. widocznosc byla wspaniala i widoki swietne
journey back home involved 7am ferry, then taxi from ullapool to fort william and train to glasgow and edinburgh
podroz do domu byla bardzo urozmaicona - najpierw prom, potem taksowka do fort william i w koncu pociag do glasgow i edynburga
yeah, pretending to read rather than checking out the views outside
udajemy ze czytamy i wcale nie interesuja nas widoki za oknem pociagu
profile of last days route from butt of lewis to stornoway
46.34km / 30.9m
profil trasy z butt of lewis do stornoway
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