£9 for Miltonhaven campsite
£3.95 for Scotch pancake, pot of tea, and 'tablet' of fudge from Waterfront cafe, Stonehaven
As I was getting ready in the morning, Vaughan and Liz put their wetsuits on and walked across the beach for a swim in the sea. The tide was out and it looked romantic as they walked hand in hand across the sun kissed sand. When they returned however, they said it was quicksand and every time they stopped moving they started to feel their feet getting sucked down. Not so romantic after all.
It was a bit of a wrench leaving the campsite as it was such an idyllic setting and the weather was dry with little wind, but I knew I couldn't afford another rest day if I was to get to O'Groats in time for Vaughan and Liz needing to drive back to Bristol. I'd woken up with a headache, from the whisky I assumed, and I wasn't looking forward to the effect physical exertion would have on that. I also knew my day's ride started with a stiff climb up onto the main road, so I was putting that off.
I'd decided to start the day on the main road rather than the Sustrans off road track as it was a Saturday morning and therefore the traffic would be light. I'd noticed how much the off-road sections slowed me down so wanted to start trying a combination of Sustrans routes with light traffic roads to see if it made my days shorter and speeds faster. I wasn't convinced I'd finish the whole LEJOG ride if I insisted on sticking to the Sustrans routes at all times.
At Inverbervie I passed four guys on mountain bikes who were stocking up at the local shop and I shouted out hello. My weekend rides were always different to the weekdays as I saw more cyclists out and it made me feel more part of a clan than the lone cyclist that I was.
The four guys and I kept leapfrogging each other as we stopped for breaks or to consult maps. We eventually caught up with each other at Dunnotter Castle where we'd all turned off the cycle route to take some photos. They were cycling Edinburgh to Aberdeen, having completed Newcastle to Edinburgh on a previous trip. We compared our thoughts on Sustrans routes and I said I'd mention them in the blog. So, hello to the "four mad Yorkshiremen"!
I got to Maryculter, where we'd decided that night's campsite would be, by lunchtime. I don't think any of us had quite realised what a short day's riding I'd planned for the day. I phoned Vaughan and Liz to find out where the campsite was. They were still at the beach side campsite back in St Cyrus, enjoying pottering around and looking at the view!
I didn't fancy sitting around in my sweaty cycling clothes whilst waiting for them, so said I'd book us in to a B&B. It was my fiftieth birthday tomorrow, so waking up in a proper bed would be a treat. Besides, I was standing in front of a sign advertising 'Lewisville' B&B and it amused me to think that we could stay there as our surname is Lewis.
The Lewisville B&B was full. I did think I was being optimistic about accommodation as it was a Saturday. As I rode away from Lewisville, I passed the entrance to a country house hotel, thought "what the hell" and cycled up the long driveway.
I fully expected a snooty rebuff when I walked in, but the receptionist warmly welcomed me and gave me a room upgrade when I told her I was 50 tomorrow and didn't fancy another night in a campsite. They had a wedding ceremony and function that day, but it was a small party and I was assured it wouldn't ruin our stay. The wedding photographer started to worry when I was asking where to securely lock my bicycle (every part of the hotel was used for photos, it would seem, even the drainpipe behind a large conifer at the side of the entrance), but the manager sorted it all out, telling her that wedding parties now used a new entrance to keep usual hotel guests separate.
As I didn't have any of my non cycling clothes or bits and pieces like iPad, all I could do whilst waiting for Vaughan and Liz to arrive was have room service lunch, soak in the bath, and see what was on the telly whilst luxuriating in the hotel bathrobe. I still had a headache, so an hour or so relaxing was just what I needed. As a special bonus, the live coverage of the day's Tour of Britain racing had just started when I settled down so I watched that in between snoozing and drinking as many cups of tea and glasses of water as I could get inside me.
We all got dressed up for dinner in the hotel restaurant that night. The hotel was traditional Scottish, with suits of armour in the grand hall of the residents lounge, stags heads on the wall of reception, and tartan cushions and curtains everywhere. We were a bit overdressed for dinner, compared to the other guests, but I was treating it as my birthday dinner so didn't care. I stuck to lime cordial and sparkling water however, as I decided that alcohol and long distance cycling probably aren't a good combination.
Climbing into the enormous bed with crisp bed linen, looking at my birthday cards arranged on the dresser, and wondering how the next 50 years would be different to the last, I drifted off to dream of head winds, high speed cornering technique, and my beautiful pea-green Roberts bicycle.
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