The Fool (s) On The Hill

Last night the bar of the Locharron Hotel was full of locals willing Switzerland to stick it to the sassenachs.  It was good to spend time with like-minded people.

OK....confession time.  A few weeks ago I had a mild bout of Covid which has left me with some of the symptoms of Long Covid: I am permanently tired and quickly get short of breath when exerting.  As a consequence I need to avoid the big climbs and high mileages that some days entail.  This is all a bit embarrassing, and my co-riders are quite rightly teasing me (it's actually more like bullying  #metoo) about the smallness of my testicles and general lack of moral fibre.

Today starts with an enormous hill, so enormous that it genuinely features in a book of the UK's toughest climbs.  I went round it.  By cutting across the base of the lump of land that runs out to Applecross I was able to shave 3500ft and many miles off the day.  So, while everyone else did the big hill, my ride was a solo 51 miles, across scenery for which the word 'stunning' isn't really big enough.  Astonishingly the sun even came out.

I am in Gairloch, basking in the sun with a tasty fermented beverage, while the fools still have 35 lumpy miles to do.  My testicles may be small but they will be clean long before the others get here.