A bike, a tent & a head net: Cycling Scotland

My journey cycling around mainland Scotland in July/August 2025.

My equipment breakdown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snrFivuw4xc

The Italy film will be my next project, the journey was a lot longer so it will need more time! Then the photobooks for both trips will follow that.

[Applause] This is my journey cycling around all of mainland Scotland solo. I’ll be starting at my aunt and uncles in Livingston where I’ll be heading out east, circling around the lowlands before shooting up the west coast all the way to the north of the highlands and then coming back down the east and finishing where I started. [Music] The journey will be around 2,000 km, but I can’t say for certain how long it will take, especially when I’ll be going back for the camera every time I want to get a shot like this. But I think it’ll be worth it. I hope. This is my bike. It’s a Cannondale Top Zone 3 with some hefty kit weighing around 40 kg all in. I’ve got what I need to be self-sufficient. Most of it in the back protected by the waterproof all the pania bags. everything from camping equipment, clothes, tools, toiletries to electronics, including my filming equipment, and two power banks. I got plenty of water, 5.4 liters, spread between the front forks and the center frame. And in the top tube bag, there’s snacks, suntan lotion, and midspray, which I’ll be using a lot. And then food is in the handlebar bag out the front. And if you didn’t know, fueling on the bike is extremely important, especially on a trip like this. and I’ll be aiming to do it as healthy as possible, but it is pretty difficult because I’ll just need to get the calories in to get the energy and to avoid the bonk. Otherwise, I’ll just be suffering. I’ll be getting most of my food at supermarkets, but then also cafes and restaurants that I pass. And I’ve got a little stove to boil water and a mockup pot to make coffee, which obviously isn’t essential. I’ll be camping almost every night, setting up where I finish today’s cycle, off and off trails and in fields and forests. And I’ll also be booking a room every now and then just to have a shower, charge electronics, and rest up. So, Scotland isn’t the most brutal of places, but it’s definitely not to be underestimated with it relentless winds and seemingly endless rain, even though it’s the summer. And then to top it off, there are these lovely small blood sucking flies called midgetes, which swarm in the thousands, even tens of thousands, located mainly in the highlands, but sometimes hanging around the lowlands as well. And that is why I wear this very fashionable headnet and occasionally I need to sleep in it. My name’s Richard, by the way, and I left my job at the back end of 2024 with plans to cycle around all of Italy and in Scotland. Italy is done and now here we are. So, put your feet up, grab some food, and just enjoy the adventure. [Music] I packed up my bags and headed off. My uncle accompanied me for the beginning of the trip and we parted ways once I got to the canal and I dug into a chicken sandwich that my aunt made me. I had a bit of a wobbly start on that canal path getting used to the way at the bike again, but I managed to make it to Edinburgh without falling in. I stopped by the castle briefly and cycled through the center on my way to get a coffee and just enjoy the sun. I’ve been to Edinburgh quite a few times and it is a really lovely city and I do recommend exploring it, but I just wanted to press out into the country. I headed out towards Arthur’s Seat which is actually an extinct volcano which you can hike around and there were a lot of people doing that today. There’s a lot of ducks there too. I brushed by the coast where it was also extremely busy because it was one of the very few sunny days up here in Scotland. And I had my peanut butter and banana sandwich and then just moved on. All right, so about 60 km done today and I’m not too far from Dumbar. Went through Edinburgh and I just came across this kind of walled garden here behind me. the grass around it is just cut so nicely and I don’t want to be walking through kind of tall grass because ticks could be sticking on me and you know sucking blood and that’s not good. So yeah, just going to make some food now and then probably camp up here later tonight which would be very nice. I think I’m probably just going to make some couscous and uh yeah, catch you when I’m doing that. I think I might have overcooked it bit too much. Uh water in there. That’s good enough. So, I had a nice stop in that cafe. Had a smoked salmon kish, a coffee. It just reminded me that this place isn’t as cheap as some areas of Italy. I came here around like £11. So, can’t be doing that every day. I made it into Dumbar. The rain started coming down and I just waited it out for a bit and then set off again. The second day was already proving far more challenging than the first, but this is more of what I expected this trip to be. The sunny start yesterday just gave me a bit of false hope. So, on the road again, left unbar in the rain and it kind of stopped, which is nice, but I think it’s going to come down stronger later. Just came from down there. Didn’t expect it to be this today. Yeah, the wind and the rain coming in strong. I started heading west inland away from the sea and I entered such thick fog where I could hear this whooing sound just getting louder and louder and this wind turbine eventually just came out of nowhere. I thought it couldn’t get much worse, but the skies opened up and it just started chucking it down. So, I headed to a cafe just as it was closing and I managed to get a coffee and then just sat out to try and dry off. I was just absolutely soaked. [Music] So, we’re here at Floors Castle. I left Kelso probably like an hour ago and it’s just kind of been non-stop light rain which is very annoying but it’s enough to get the camera out. Today I’ve done around 40 km and you know rainy start. I went to a place called Dun in the morning just to kind of have a coffee and you know dry off and this guy offered me a place to stay for the night but it was only like 10 o’clock in the morning and you know if I made some more distance and it was closer to the afternoon I may have taken him up on his offer but yeah I just want to make some progress since it’s the first couple days and I haven’t really got anywhere yet. But yeah, this is a great spot. I almost didn’t turn in. Might take some more photos and then press on west. The sky looks like it’s getting a bit brighter, which is good. But yeah, many more miles to do. [Music] So, it’s the night of day three. Just chilling in the tent now. And the rain just started pummeling it down. It rained pretty much the whole day and then went away around like 6:00. So, I set up camp. So, I was just very tired and it just absolutely chucks it down. It’s looking like it’s going to be rain pretty much every day. I think the next couple days will be okay. Let’s try and get some sleep. Just made a bit of porridge. So, we got some oats in there, like fine oats. And then we got some granola as well. some Skippy peanut butter, salt, of course. Have to have salt and then a bit of honey. And I just did it in water, no milk. The only other thing I’d really add to that is like banana, but I don’t really have any. And they keep getting squashed in my bag. But yeah, this will be good. So, enjoy that. It looks like the sun’s out. So, well, at least the rain’s not there. I made it into a lovely small town called Melrose and I stopped for probably one of the best coffees I’ve had in this trip so far in a cafe called 12 Triangles. And then once I chilled for a bit, I just headed out into the forest for some peaceful riding. [Music] [Music] [Music] It was a pretty damp morning, so when the sun came out, I didn’t know how long it was going to last, so I just made the most of it. just incredible behind me that view. This bit is like illuminated by the sun and it’s just got some cows and sheep I think grazing over there. But yeah, that is really cool. And just like the rolling hills so beautiful. And I smell terrible. A lot of sheep. And it looks like it’s shuring season as well. It is a bit warm to be fair, but I’m just happy that it’s not raining today. I’m looking forward to dinner tonight. Going to try to cook some tortillini. And this passage seems to just be through the country for like 4 hours, 5 hours. There’s not going to be any towns. Um, so I might need to knock on some doors for some water. So yeah. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Just had a quick stop for some food at the cafe. Just signposted there. The best scrambled eggs I’ve had in so long. Honestly, so delicious. And had a coffee and a carrot cake as well. And that’s probably going to keep me going till I get to Dumpries. I don’t know. There’s something just so funny to me just about like the way the sheep react. Just quietly sat there just chomping away. [Music] It is now day six and yeah, sleeping by the side of the road. Just waiting out some wind and rain and then going to head to Dumpries. set up in a cafe for a bit, chill, and then try and make the most of the dry weather, which is forecast for the rest of the day. And hopefully that’s true. So, just got to pack everything up. Hi guys. I was coming down the hill and my brakes are squeaking cuz after it rains and they get wet, they get a bit rusty. And all the cows just started like galloping from the back of the field to the to the fence. And now they’re just standing there watching me. I made it into Dumpries and the gray skies had finally given way to the sun. I headed straight to a coffee shop off the square just to dry off and just chill out. My right knee had started to really hurt and I just need to rest it up. But, you know, with the sun out, I just wanted to continue as well. That guy in the van must be absolutely shoeing. My knee brought me to an early stop in Doul Swinton, which was literally just two rows of houses and a lovely cafe. The ideal setup. The owner was very kind and gave me some pastries for the road and also filled my bottles with ice tap water. [Applause] [Applause] I stumbled upon Barog Tower, which is extremely quiet and beautiful. You know, just taking the chance to eat some food outside while waiting for the owner to come out and offer me the master bedroom. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and I just continued on at snail space. [Music] What a lovely place to have a house. Very quiet country road brought me to Pen Pon and I headed straight for the tea room and settled down to a cappuccino and a steak pie. This was the best day so far, albeit the knee, but it just meant I had to take things slower and sometimes that’s just exactly what you need to do. [Music] So, there’s a castle just north of here. I probably will go there tomorrow and find the perfect patch of grass that I could have just camped on. Um, but yeah, that is the plan. Take it very slow again. I think there’s going to be rain for the next two days, 2, three days. So, let the knee heal. It’s quite swollen and is just very painful to put any pressure down in the pedal. So, yeah, take it slow. And yeah, my knee felt even worse in the morning and I stumbled to Drumland Castle and I just posted up in the cafe as soon as it opened. The staff were very kind, just constantly giving me ice packs and I stayed there until it closed at 4:00 and I just crawled out to find a campsite. [Applause] It is day eight and we’re holed up in the hotel today. It’s raining pretty badly out there as you can see. But the reason I’m here is mainly because my knee, my right knee got some like kind of tendonitis, aggravated tendons, whatever, just from overloading it. Because I didn’t train properly. I didn’t condition it to work under the load. It currently is. So, I’m going to go on the bed and rest. So, after a full day of rest in the hotel and then the next morning as well, I set off to a sunny afternoon after these ducks safely cross the road. Of course, I honestly never felt pain like this in my knee before, but I didn’t want to give up. I’m pretty stubborn. So, I just continued on in a very snails pace. You know, whatever distance I can make was good enough as long as I didn’t quit. [Music] It is day 10 morning. It is a bit wet outside and it rained the whole night pretty much. So, yeah, everything’s very wet. I’m in no rush. My knee kind of hurts still. I’ve been seeing horse flies now for a while and they are just they’re huge and they don’t mess around. Like as soon as they land on you, they’re like they try and go straight for the puncture with the progoscus and it’s just uh just they’re just nasty things. Had a few of those last night and then had a small tick laming up my hand as well. So yeah, just don’t like seeing ticks to be honest because it’s so small and you know, you just wonder like if that is crawling on me. somewhere. I wouldn’t really know. Nice morning thoughts and nice night thoughts. So, let’s cook this porridge. We got oats, honey, peanut butter, banana, salt, and then some granola that had almonds and raisins in. That is the good stuff. The rain’s coming in strong now. Luckily, we’re fully waterproofed, or so it seems. And I guess we’ll find out when we start. Just box myself in this thing. But we’re going to do a little book swap. So I had uh it’s on the floor here. So I had Cormarmac McCarthy Outer Dark and I’m going to swap for Daphne the Moria Rebecca. been having a uh slow puncture for a while on the front tire, but it was always ridable. Now it seems to have uh gone down. You can see the little culprit to the puncture poking out there. I swapped over the road tire to a proper gravel one because I had a spare and the road one was quite worn and it was pretty old by this point. After putting it back together, I went on to Glasgow, avoiding the center and heading out west, stopping by Crow Road and grabbing a coffee. The Crow Road is a book by Ian Banks, and it’s a great read about, you know, growing up, seeing how the world is, and with a bit of mystery thrown in there. Fortunately, I was only heading down the Crow Road literally, as it is a Scottish metaphor for death. [Applause] Leaving Glasgow, heading west, getting that lovely evening sun and bit wind, so you probably can’t hear us. Nice. [Music] It was a pretty peaceful exit leaving Glasgow out northwest and I came to the bottom of Lock Lmond, which is the start of the Highland region. I traveled up the west side of Lach Lmond on the A82 road on their cycle path which is basically just a pavement and a pretty terrible one at that. And I made it to a beautiful village called Lust which was just full of tourists. But I stopped for a coffee, filled my water, and then just continued on deep into the highlands. All right, we got the water boiling. We got some spinach and ricotta tortillini here, which will probably taste amazing and be the fuel I need. I’m just heading to Glen Co and Fort William. So, the knee is doing better. It’s still sore. Not when I’m cycling. It’s Well, when I’m cycling, it’s okay. I’d say it’s like 70% better. So, it’s tolerable. When I stop and I leave it bent, that’s when it kind of seizes up and is painful to move back. If I leave it straight, it’s it tends to be okay. When I go to bed, it gets, you know, really cold and really stiff and yeah, it’s a bit of a struggle in the morning, but it’s it’s definitely on the mend. I’ve covered the lowlands and I’m, you know, into the highlands now. And it makes it seem like the journey is going to be a lot shorter than I thought it was going to be. And with weather like this, you know, it will be very enjoyable as well. There’s still some like light rain forecast and things which, you know, is inevitable, you know, in this part of the world, but it will be good, I think. So, we got the rain and the midgetes in the morning. This was officially the start of the highlands for me because the midgetes were getting stronger and the rain was getting more consistent. So I just continued on and made it to the start of the West Highland Way which is a lovely walking trail. So in total the West Highland Way is a 154 km walking trail from Lach Lman to Fort William. and this was just a small portion of it. Well, bear in mind walking is the key word here and it’s not really suitable for a 40 kg bike. So, I had to push it for a large portion of the way, which would turn out to be a bad idea in a couple days time. But for now, I was just enjoying the vascreen emptiness event. Just me and the bike and the rain and the midgetes of course. [Music] [Applause] There are a lot of midgetes. As soon as you stand still, my hands are the only things really exposed. And uh there’s probably there’s probably about 30 on there before I rub them. They uh good spot. But Mitches, what do you do? [Applause] Just in the tent now. Got this. Looks like a hairet. Um yeah, got quite a few midgetes in the tent, which isn’t ideal. Got to have some in sometimes. See, I got some couscous and tuna to go to. Now, I can’t I didn’t have couscous once when I cycled this way. I just completely forgot about it. I used to have it for lunch every day at work for like a a long period of time. I haven’t changed out my, you know, cycling clothes. I typically do that first, but with all the midgetes around, I didn’t want to like expose too much skin. Um, and then after that, you know, I just eat if I hadn’t done so already, wait like an hour, brush my teeth, and then set up for bed. And if there’s light out, I might read or I might just go on the phone. And I’ll try and edit videos, but I could find myself just kind of like endlessly scrolling and stuff. And um, that’s kind of when it’s better to have no signal sometimes and just, you know, force you to kind of, you know, do other things. But at a time like this, it’s not really feasible to stay outside and like, you know, watch the stars and things, which was um nice in uh Italy. But to be fair, it was more winter time when I uh when I did that. And you can do that in winter time here. It’s just pretty cold. But you know the is on about and Heat. Heat. Just leaving Fort William now. Pretty decent place, you know, a lot of outdoor shops, I guess, to kick yourself up for Ben Nevice. Um, but yeah, I just had a coffee, dried off, and now just heading north. Trying to wait for this camera to focus on this rainbow. And I’m just getting demolished by some flies, some midgetes, maybe some horse flies in there. And I’m just damp, you know, sweaty. Just damp. I need to dry out. But yeah, at least the sky is not looking too bad over here. Let’s hope it stays that way. We’re down under a tree currently. The heavens opened up and yeah, the rain just started chucking it down. Today it’s just been like on and off the whole day. You know, a tiny bit rain here, tiny bit there. But yeah, I mean, this is pretty much average for this trip so far. Had a maybe one or two, three sunny days, and the rest has just been like this. Just refilling the water. Hiding out again. It’s not looking, you know, too friendly out there. Yeah. It just kind of sits in the air and then the wind blows into you. It is maybe like 12:00, but can you hear that? That it’s just the wind and the rain just smashing into the tent. I’ve seen a lot of trees being ripped up and um you know from the ground completely and just fully toppled over. So hopefully none of these trees fall on me. Otherwise, that would be um pretty uh pathetic ending to the uh to the journey. But let me try and get some sleep. It’s so beautiful, but just so uncomfortable at the same time. I don’t actually feel too bad now. Maybe my hands are just a bit cold. Um, but being back on the bike, it just feels better than, you know, kind of packing up a campsite and things. But yeah, half an hour to the nearest town for a coffee shop and then should be 2 hours from there to the hostel for a bed and a shower. Looking forward to it. [Applause] I guess [Music] beautiful. So, a couple days after hiking the West Highland Way with the bike, I overdid it with my Achilles. And I found out when I was trying to leave the hostel at Log Ness, and the pain was just ridiculous. It wasn’t as bad as the knee, but it was just incredibly stiff and it just felt like my foot was stone. It was the left Achilles. And I set off around midday, but I just had to turn back. I rested for another hour, ate some lunch, and then just stretched for a bit and then set off again. And luckily, it was manageable. And the plus side, I guess, was that I couldn’t really feel my knee pain with this new injury. [Music] Pretty cool. And this steak pie is quite good as well. Oh, [Music] so we’re on day 17 just kind of east of Isle of Sky at the moment and was camping this morning just outside Lo Kuani. A tour bus pulled up when I was packing up and everyone was just watching me. It was kind of like I was just part of the tour like those um guys playing in the bag pipes. [Music] I passed Een Don Castle and made my way over to the aisle of sky and went to Broadford for a coffee and a food shop and just decided to turn back. You know, there’s plenty to explore on the aisle of sky, but it was extremely busy with just one road in, one road out. And I wasn’t going to be doing any of the hikes and I didn’t want to double all the way back because I wasn’t going to be taking the ferry at the other end. So I just press on north towards Toridan. [Music] Silence up here. The wind is so still as well. I feel a bit raining in the distance there on the uh on the hills. Yeah, I think I might set up the tent just there. There’s not too many midgetes either. I say that as you just see something fly across the screen. The problem is with the midgetes is they stick to your clothes and when I go to the toilet before sleeping, that’s when I just get them all in and then I have to wear the headmount when I sleep. But yeah, just going to lie back and read my book. The wind, the rain, it’s all coming. And my leg. Oh my god, my ankle. It’s not a good moment. And it’s uphill. Jesus. Just got to push through these moments. It was a ridiculously tough stretch this one. Everything seemed to be against me. My leg, the wind, the rain, the cars just driving by me. But the climb made good with a strong gradual descent. And it was towards one of the few cafes in the area which I just had to stop at. [Applause] country. [Music] That was a lovely cafe. And the uh the woman there gave me some scon which is nice. I was eating the storebought ones. My mouth just fullen dry and she gave me those. The mist has cleared but still on the mountain tops there. The rain just turned up a bit. Looks like we’ve also entered the North Coast 500. A lot of people in packs, you know, driving quite strange cars sometimes, you know, mostly 4x4s, but then you just saw that one there. What was that? A mini. But yeah, they do drive fast. Um, so that’s kind of annoying. up. Trying to take some pictures and the midgetes are getting to me here on the bench. It’s actually not too bad. And there’s a flat bit of grass there that I’m going to set the tent up on. Um, but I think I’ve disturbed them stepping in this uh wild grass here just to take these photos. But yeah, pretty knackered and it’s pretty much it’s just past 7:00, so may as well set up and then hit Teddan tomorrow. It’s not like I’m going to be swimming in the log and it’s uh bit too wet and a bit too cold. So yeah, Grace, that swarm is ridiculous. I can’t tell if it’s literally just outside the foyer of the tent or just everywhere. There’s so many It was a slow midfield morning heading towards Toridan, which is a small settlement at the base of a Monroe. A Monroe is like a Scottish mountain greater than 3,000 ft. And I recovered at the cafe in the town and just managed to have a shower in the public toilet block and then set off northeast towards Aleppool. Just stumbled upon what could be probably one of the best spots of the trip so far. Next to this big river. Going to set up the tent and hopefully the midgetes don’t kill me. Got the frogs on. Let’s do this. I guess it was great to have some flat ground again, but I still had a poor night’s sleep. I managed to find a cafe quite close, and the family next door had some great chickens here. And I continued the wildlife sightings with a beast of a Highland cow before making another stop for a coffee at the only cafe on the screen. I passed an ominous VW camper covered in police tape before arriving into Alipool where I spent the night in a tent just outside the village and then came back the next day for a sunny morning. [Music] [Music] It is day 21. Made it to Alipur. This place is a lot different than I expected. It is very nice. White houses kind of like lining the seafront here. And we got the day for it. This is probably the warmest day so far. I think it’s getting up to maybe 19° which is good. Um cuz the next couple days are going to be bad. It’s going to be a kind of a storm on Monday. You know, high winds, a lot of rain. Um so yeah, probably going to have to hunker down in the hostel for a bit. So just leaving the pool now. Admiring those cool kind of hill formations there. You can just see the layers kind of just sloping down. There was some interesting uh writing back there about the continents colliding. um England and Scotland forming a mountain range as like high as the Alps. But then over time that’s degraded down. Making the most of the good weather and with the prospect of a bed tonight in the hostel, I put my feet down almost too much and I almost dozed off in a cafe. And as I was leaving, I bumped into another bike packer I met a few days back and we cycled together to the hostel, but he continued on north towards Cape Graph at the very north of Scotland. He was hoping to get a ferry to a lighthouse before a storm hit and I’m not quite sure if he made it. So, in the hostel room now, showered, bit of a shave, and yeah, doing a lot better. I think I’ll set off tomorrow. Um, the weather’s actually not too bad. It’s going to rain tonight and then I think just trickle in the morning tomorrow and then be misty. So, head to Invenesse, head east with the wind hopefully. Yeah, probably spend the night there. So, Monday is going to be pretty bad weatherwise. A lot of rain, a lot of wind, and after I think Monday, it’s just going to be quite high winds heading east. So helping me for the first bit. I was thinking about spending three nights here, but there’s no point kind of hunkering down. My legs doing okay, so I can continue on, which is good. Bit of a rainy spell here. It said it was 18° and sunny in Invenesse. So hopefully last year cuz it ain’t here. Terrible weather in land. Terrible. Rain came down heavy and another cyclist came along me which is cool. We had a chat for around like 10 15 minutes. definitely easier riding with someone else just for pacing and then also, you know, the time goes more quickly when you’re just talking. Um, but yeah, you can see the blue sky behind me which is just ridiculous because that just came out of nowhere right now, blasting through the mist. So, just leaving T now. Still a nice sunny afternoon or evening. Little football pitch there. Going to head out, find a little campsite. Tomorrow is the stormy day. So, just very windy, lot of rain. So, I’m pretty much going to camp next to a small town next to a hotel and then in the morning head to the cafe, then to the hotel. Take the whole day off basically. [Music] [Music] Guys, the crazy weather has started. 50 to 60 mph winds and a lot of rain. The sea was just going crazy. So, luckily I’m inside the hotel that I’ll be staying at tonight and they just let me chill here in the the living room kind of space. Going to check in probably like in an hour and a half. Um, but yeah, do not want to be outside in that kind of wellup. Ied the storm in Inver Gordon and the rain came and went, the winds just hung around making it an absolute battle to get the Invenesse. I ended up on the bridge just almost being blown away if it wasn’t for the high guardrails. And once I got to Invenesse, I stopped for a coffee and a donut. And fortunately, after leaving Invenesse, I was heading east and the wind was assisting me for once. you know, 15 to 30 mph behind me, but it was going to be shortlived because it was soon to be against me again. [Music] The sun is in a terrible position for that shot. It’s literally just lighting up the sky behind it, which is not what you want. You kind of want the sun coming from here, light in the face, but what can you do? [Music] All right, guys. I hope you can hear this. I set up the mic. It’s literally on my nipple. It’s very cold. It’s got a magnet. But yeah, I’ve set up in this kind of forest. The storm was yesterday and a lot of trees have blown down. The winds are about half this night, so they’re like 20, I think, to 30 mph, which isn’t too bad. Um, I think they’re actually a bit lower, but I’m in a spot where I’ve kind of looked at where the wind’s going and looked at the trees around me, and I think I should be good. So, if I just give you a We got a path there. We got some pretty substantial trees like there, but they’re not really tall enough for the big branches to fall on me tent. And we got this big guy here, but he’s already pretty much fallen over that way. Um, and the wind is going in that direction. So, yeah. But look at how high the river is. This camera should be in the my dry bag and it should float, you know, if the river takes me away. So, these are the last words. No, I mean the words I just said, not words to come, but um so falling trees was very much on my mind in this trip, but now more than ever, just because the winds were so strong and seeing trees this big being pulled out of the ground was just ridiculous to be honest. Some of these hundred years old and the locals around there just saying they’ve never seen anything like it before. I continued on heading southeast towards Abedine, passing a lot of distilleries that formed around the river’s bay. I pass through Dufftown and the Glenfidish distillery which had a lot of American tourists and it’s overlooked by the goons of Balven Castle on the hill there. [Music] I am knackered. My hair is looking awesome. I’m just stopping here cuz uh these seed pods popping. I wonder what the noise was, but they’re just gradually popping as I come up. They they line the road all the way up. It’s very cool. And then whistling in the wind. There’s a nice sound as well. I don’t think you can hear it though. Just the car that’s coming. But yeah, still going to Abedine. Hot one today which is lovely. guys. I’m here with the chicken. No, I mean cows. I’ve never seen them this close before. It’s It’s just hilarious. They’re just kind of It’s just silence and then just constant munching. And that one’s coughing over there. I don’t know why. He seems all right. But yeah, um pretty much just leaving the Highlands now, I think, or going to be soon. Um so it was nice to get a shot up close of one of the Highland cows. [Music] Abedine chair. Here we are. Lot of fallen trees in this forest. [Music] [Music] [Music] So, I finally made it into Abedine, which is Scotland’s third largest city and a place of my heritage. age. I’ve been here a few times as a child, but I couldn’t really remember it that much and it was a lot different to what I expected. It was once big in the fishing trade and they moved on to oil and now gradually moving to renewables. It’s also known for being the gray city just because of the building materials they choose being extremely gray and then combined with an overcast sky most of the time, it’s just all gray to be honest. After about an hour or so in a coffee shop and a cycle around the city, I left Abodine, heading southwest along the coast for the final leg of the trip. Unfortunately, I was heading in the complete opposite direction to the strong winds that were still hanging about after the storm. Bit of a chill this morning. Going to head into uh Stone Haven just over there. Get a coffee and uh continue on the way to Dundy. But yeah, feeling quite quite battered this morning. It’s going to be a slog. So, leaving Stone Haven here with a beautiful view of the town on the hills and then heading towards Do Not Castle, which is quite a famous location. I think tracking all the way back to 400 AD to its beginnings and it’s been the set of quite a few films and I think Game of Thrones as well. The wind was absolutely killing me and I was just so tired and I stopped in this cafe and I just had a baked potato beans just a full shebang and I was just kind of dreading heading back out on the bike but I had to do it. The wind is relentless today. Disgusting. This wind is so dumb. And the winds were making this final leg of the trip quite miserable to be honest. Cycling into 30 mph headwinds just make it feel like you’re not going anywhere. Downhill portions may well have been uphill and all the while filling your ears with distortion and just weathering your face. If I didn’t have a final destination in mind, I probably would have sat a lot of it out. And this is an interesting topic to me. getting motivation from physical goals. I think it’s important to have some kind of direction to give you the drive to actually move forward and feel like you have a purpose. You know, aimless travel with complete freedom is enjoyable at first, but it does get old quite quickly. You know, we naturally want purpose and you can find yourself more lost than ever if you just endlessly wander around. I did the bare minimum for planning this adventure which gave me a huge amount of freedom but it also made it fulfilling because I had a bit of structure in terms of what I wanted to achieve and I made it challenging for myself by using no other forms of transport apart from the bicycle powered only by my legs. Now I’m not saying that you need to challenge yourself for travel to be worth it. You know you can do whatever you want but I can confirm that it does provide you with a stronger purpose and you will feel more satisfied when you complete that journey. After a few days of tough riding, the winds are finally dropping and I made it into Dundee over the bridge towards St. Andrews. [Applause] [Music] It was a beautiful evening as I stopped for a celebratory fish and chips and then merrily cycled into St. Andrews for a sunset of the famous green where many golf tourists were trying their luck. [Music] So, I had a beautiful sunset to finish off the final night of the trip, and I went just outside the town to camp. And later on, a load of fireworks started going off, but as soon as I got my camera out, they stopped, of course. Classic. So, the final day was quite nice. The sun was out and the wind had dropped and I went back into St. Andrews just to do a bit of sightseeing. Definitely worth a visit. Some beautiful cafes here as well and the old cathedral and ruins out the back [Music] and some people going down to the beach as well. It wasn’t that warm to be honest and the wind was still picking up. So, not for me today and I just continued on. I did what I learned best in Italy and stopped for a big bowl of spaghetti bolognz at a place run by two Sicilians. And I continued on. Even though the winds dropped, it was still quite tough. But when I made it to the fourth bridge, I knew I was pretty much almost over. And it was just an hour left to go. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] move. Got him.