Leg 6, Day 3: Lerwick - Aith - Lerwick

RNLI TOUR OF BRITAIN. Leg 6 - Day 3 & 4 from Rad Hart-George on Vimeo.

Day 3; Lerwick to Aith; Lerwick, Aith, Lerwick, Aberdeen

We were woken at 6.30am by an announcement from the Captain of the ferry that we would be arriving in Lerwick (capital of the Shetland Islands) in one hour. 

A full Scottish Breakfast on the ferry (courtesy of the very kind staff on the North Link Ferry), hit the spot before getting underway. Today was something of a rest day with only 70km to cover, crossing the main Island to Aith and then back to Lerwick again.

Lerwick RNLI station itself was a beautiful old building set on the waterfront within the old town, just off the picturesque high steet. A quick photo outside the station and were on the road. 

The ride across the island was hilly, but we were blessed with good weather again and the summits gave some stunning views across the isles. The Shetlands had a very different feel to them from other Scottish islands we have visited, with a strong Scandinavian influence. Most notably a scattering of very colourful Scandinavia style houses (intermingled with the inevitable Pebbledash everywhere in Scotland...)

Having taken the advice of a local who told us about a short cut (saw us coming!!) we slogged our way up and down several hills, only to find out later that it was anything but a short - more like a long way around (c. 3-4x further than our planned route!) I suspect the local lad who gave us the advice may have had an aversion to Rad's new traveller hair style!!! 

None the less, we eventually reached Aith- a small village on the north eastern side of the island, in a beautiful position on the waterfront, where we were given a warm welcome by a few of the crew and a fantastic cuppa. Tales of a rescue missions in the winter through 75ft waves, were more than enough to make us realise what these lads go through in this isolated and exposed environment. 

A number of islanders commented about the weather today, describing it as 'the best day of the year yet'. Being 10th August- 18 degrees with sunny intervals and 15 mph southerly wind- it was hardly something we would write home about down south, so this gave us a pretty good idea of what the weather must be like up here most of the time....

We cycled back across the hilly terrain in good time, taking in the views, and then spending some time in Lerwick for a late lunch, before boarding the ferry for our return night time passage. 

As we didn't have a cabin booked, we were very quick boarding the boat to bag a good spot in the front bar, and put our roll matts for the night! A rather rougher start to the journey (physically impossible to walk in a straight line) prompted us to ask one of the staff how this rated from 1-10, with 1 being calm and 10 being the worst atorm hey have encountered on a crossing. The response was 1-2, which put us firmly in our place, and gave us some idea how horrendous the weather (and ferry journeys) must get in winter.

We quickly made the upper deck look like a Chinese laundry to dry all of our hand washed kit. Following a beer and dinner on the ferry (again, courtesy of the very kind North Link ferry staff) we settled in for the night crossing.

Leg 6, Day 2; Macduff to Aberdeen

RNLI TOUR OF BRITAIN. LEG 6 - DAY 2 from Rad Hart-George on Vimeo.

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We woke after a somewhat broken night's sleep in Macduff lifeboat station- it's going to take a few days / complete exhaustion to sleep well again on our camping mats!  Following a quick cuppa, we got kit on and bags packed, and we're back on the open road by 7.30am. 

Having been advised by Chassey the night before that the coastal road (which we were due to take), was very hilly and that we should consider, instead, the main A road, we in something of a dilemma. One one hand the A road would be flatter and faster but less scenic and probably more dangerous. The coastal road would be much hillier, more tiring, and slower but more scenic. We ended up opting for the latter, and Chassey wasn't wrong... It was certainly fairly hilly, but also absolutely beautiful. The Aberdeenshire countryside in sunshine was spectacular and well worth the effort, and we made good progress, as we crossed the rolling countryside. 

We made Fraserburgh, about 35km into our day's ride, in time for a late breakfast on the harbour front, overlooking the Lifeboat and impressive and sizeable fishing fleet. The trawlers were far larger than we had expected -huge great modern steel ships which we estimated to be about 150 ft long. The sort of boats which would look at home mid Atlantic.

We were soon back on the road heading further east.  By Mid morning we had 'turned the corner' and started heading south. This was quite a milestone in the trip, but it also had the slight tarnish, of being straight into a 20mph headwind for the rest of the afternoon! With Rad and my fitness levels not being quite what they were in years gone by, this proved more of a challenge than the hills we had hit in the morning. The only way I can describe it, would be cycling with very tired legs, and your breaks half on for three hours...!

Progress was slow and very hard work, but at least the sun was out and we passed through yet more beautiful countryside. 

We made it to Peterhead by 12noon- another very active fishing port with an even more impressive fleet of fishing boats.... a quick photo and stretch at the RNLI station, a baked potato with beans and cheese at a local cafe and we were off again.

With our last remaining 'critical' (Rad's organisation) timing deadline of the entire trip being the return ferry to Aberdeen, we were under some pressure to make Aberdeen in good time for our 5pm departure for our overnight crossing to the Shetland Islands. The relentless headwind and a few hills made this two of the harder hours of cycling R and I can remember, and we were totally exhausted by the time we made Aberdeen. This said, the sun continued to shine which was a real treat following our 2014 expedition.... 

After a shower and supper onboard we set out our camp beds in the bar of the ferry.

Leg 6, Day 1; Inverness to Macduff

RNLI Tour of Britain - Leg 6 - Day 1: Inverness - Macduff from Rad Hart-George on Vimeo.

How we are already in our 6th year of this rather mad and slightly odd challenge, we have no idea.  Today we set off on the penultimate leg of our RNLI Tour of Britain. Time has flown, and rather a lot has changed since we set off from London, in 2010! 

Most notably, we now both have wives and two young children! Any father out there will appreciate that leaving a wife and two young children at home, whilst going for a boys trip for a week is an extremely big ask, and we are both incredibly grateful to our amazing wives for letting us do this year after year. As Rad rightly says, this is perhaps the most generous 'donation' to our cause yet! This post is dedicated to these to our fab gals, and their incredible parents who are helping with the little ones in our absence. 

And so, another year has passed and I find myself on in the fantastic and exceptionally organised Macduff RNLI station (our home for the night) reflecting on the past 24 hours....

Following Rad's nightmare train journey yesterday afternoon from Salcombe, involving a taxi from Reading to London (due to signal failure- good old National Rail!) we met at Euston with 10 minutes to spare to board the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness. 

Something of an old relic, the train which had been in service since 1968 was starting to show it's age! This was most notable to us in the fact that the air cooling system in our carriage was broken, making our 'cosy bunk cabin' hotter than the sun!! Literally... If anyone is keen on a 12 hour Bikram Yoga session in a very confined space, bunk room 22 in carriage P of the Caledonian Express, comes highly recommended! We ended up eating our baguette supper on the floor in the corridor, next to the only window we could open before enduring a night in the tropics.

Following a night of  somewhat broken sleep, we arrived in Inverness at 8.30am.

Ready to go, or so I thought... an hour and a half of faffing by Rad including visiting two Bike shops, emptying his panniers several times looking for various objects and tending to his new hair style (see above), finally we were underway.

Our route took us eastward from Inverness via Nairn and Elgin, crossing several stunning river estuaries including the Findhorn and the Spey, and passing numerous distilleries. 

At last, a day of dry, sunny intervals and a cross/tail wind. Things were looking up. 

Our first stop was at Buckie RNLI, where the crew welcomed us and very kindly gave us a cuppa whilst we rested our legs momentarily. Then on, eastward..

Our chief orienteerer (Rad) who has done a phenomenal job of route planning over the years, did take us on some rather interesting off road routes along the way, but we took in some beautiful scenery with it...

Eventually, having cycled through Banff, we arrived in Macduff. 

We were given an extremely warm welcome by the crew, and inparticular by Chassey and his wife who gave us a tour of the station and got us settled in, before giving us a lift down to the Banff Springs Restaurant. A huge thank you to Chassey and the team for their amazing hospitality and incredible generosity. 

Following a delicious dinner, we made a few last minute repairs to the bikes, alongside the phenomenally clean and well maintained Macduff Lifeboat (the best we've seen yet, before bed.