Leg 6, Day 5; Arbroath to Kinghorn

RNLI TOUR OF BRITAIN. Leg 6 - Day 5 from Rad Hart-George on Vimeo.

We woke this morning after another slightly broken night's sleep, and are definitely starting to feel the accumulative fatigue of our legs after four days on the road. A coffee seemed to hit the spot however, and after a quick pack up, we were on the road by 7.15am. The forecast for the day was set fair again- we are certainly appreciating the weather this year, after last year's relentless rain and gale force head winds....

A view below of Arborath Lifeboat Station crew room at 6.30am, just before the alarm went off. 

Our first stop of the day was Broughty Ferry, just outside Dundee. The station was shut up, so a quick photo and bacon sarnie from a local bakery and we were under way again, crossing the Tay Bridge and heading further south....

Passing through the beautiful St Andrews about 20km later, we stopped for a 'brunch with a view' (at least a view during the short windows between the hoards of American and Chineese tourists walking past...!)

We pressed on, through the countryside, tackling a couple of more challenging hills... The sun was out though so no room for complaints, and only a short while later, we arrived at the picturesque, if not rather tourist filled, town of Anstruther...

Rad's navigation now becoming somewhat alternative, we soon found ourselves cycling down farm tracks and over grass again.... 

The numerous locked gates which we had to lift our fully laden (c 35kg) bikes over, made me question if these really were  'cycle paths' (as Rad was insisting!). After 5km of off road there was no turning back. 

As you can imagine, progress was not especially fast. This was further slowed by Rad, who within 2 minutes of cycling had to stop three times, firstly with cramp, secondly with a bee getting stuck in his traveller style hair and stinging him (see below) and thirdly for going into a large pot hole.

We eventually arrived at the wonderful Kinghorn Lifeboat station, which sits in a quiet sandy bay with a few houses, a church and a cafe, overlooking the Firth of Forth. This was to be our home for the night.

We received a very warm welcome from Alan, the Kinghorn LOM (Lifeboat Operations Manager), who showed us around the station, and settled us in. A short while later Alan dashed away, and returned soon after with the most incredible food package for us from his wife Ann. This included an incredible three course dinner! and an amazing breakfast for the following morning. We were extremely touched by their generosity and hospitality. 

The view from the crew room balcony was absolutely sensational. 

After chatting with various crew members who kindly dropped in to say hi, we were soon ready for bed, and rolled out our mats for another night on the floor....

Leg 6, Day 4: Aberdeen - Arbroath

Untitled from Rad Hart-George on Vimeo.

After another broken nights sleep on the ferry, involving a stop off at the Orkneys at 11.30pm (and accompanying announcements!) and few drunk lads playing games at 1am, we woke rather bleary eyed. 

Following a good breakfast on the ferry, (again, courtesy of the very kind North Link ferry crew), we were refuled and on the road by 7.30am. Cycling out of Aberdeen, there was a quick change from city to countryside as we headed south along the coast, and we were soon back in the countryside.

Yet again, the weather was firmly on our side- although we had a gentle head wind all day, the sun shone as we headed south along the coastal route and through beautiful undulating farmland.

The first station of the day at Stonehaven. A picturesque fishing village, with large sweeping bay beyond the harbour.

In Stonehaven, we came across a man, sorting through a basket of Chanterelle mushrooms on the waterfront.  A short chat, revealed that he was a French Chef who works out on the oil rigs, but was hartbroken, having recently returned from his 3 week shift at sea, to find that his wife had run off with another man. He had picked a basket full of Chanterelle's from a nearby wood, in 10 minutes and was off to cook them with some Mackerel he had just caught from the sea. 

We cycled on across yet more picturesque countryside, with a couple of slightly more challenging hill climbs until we reached our next station of the day- Montrose.

A quick photo, and refil of our water bottles and we were off again, churning our way thefoug mile upon mile of countryside.

With Rad opting to take the coastal route for a large chunk of the day, including some fairly rustic off road cycling paths, we were fairly knackered by the time we reached the final stop of the day- Arbroath. 

We arrived at Arbroath in good time, for the afternoon. A late seafood lunch on the harbourside of 'smokies' (locally smoked Hadock) gave us the bit of extra fuel we needed for the afternoon of washing kit, fixing broken phones, mending bikes, meeting crew, sorting photos and videos and getting bedding sorted. 

A pub supper down the road and a beer with the crew at the station topped off a great day, and we were certainly ready for bed by the time our heads hit the pillows.