Where camping is fun for disabled and able-bodied together

Have just updated day 10 as for once I wasn't up at 2am when Craig sent the blog - so you might want to go back and read it CLICK HERE.

And seen as half my family including my wife Sarah read this every day I would like to wish her a happy third wedding anniversary. She sometimes wonders if I am married to the computer! for this shameless plug I will make another donation! James

I looked down at my rain sodden bike shoes and whilst contemplating my cold feet, wondered why I hadn't put my waterproof booties on this morning. That was at 11 am and the temperature was still only 7 degrees but it was the rain that was really helping the cold to penetrate. I'd put on a thermal base layer today but still spent much of my time on the bike freezing cold.

After my 2am blog I managed to get a good night sleep but still felt a bit out of it over breakfast. Once we got cycling I felt a bit better and the stunning scenery certainly made up for the lack of moral, brought on by sickness and the weather. We rode along the side of Loch Eck, one of the few freshwater Lochs that we saw today and the tree covered mountains reflected in its mill pond surface. Not for the last time today we could have sworn that we were cycling up hill but the ever present Loch confirmed we were basically on the flat.

Later in the morning we reached Loch Fyne of the seafood restaurant fame but mine and Bens stomachs were still too tender for us to seriously consider a dozen oysters! We had to traverse about 20 miles of the shoreline to reach a point about 2 miles as the crow flies from where we started. Mind you it was well worth it and I promised myself that I would revisit this part of the world when not under the time pressures of a challenge bike ride.

We stopped at Inverary for lunch, once again provided by our very capable support crew of Matt and Alison. Myself and Ben still felt tired and cold so hid in the front of the van before we inevitably had to venture out into the weather again. The climb out of the town was gentle despite the alarmingly steep first section and we were eventually rewarded with a fast descent on the other side.

After a brief hot chocolate stop in the afternoon we dropped down onto Loch Etive and started heading north again towards our campsite. For the first time today we were treated to a strong tailwind which propelled us along with little effort.

We got the tents up quickly then had long hot showers in an attempt to thaw our aching extremities. By this time the rain was coming down in stair rods so while Alison soldiered on with cooking under a hastily erected tarp at the back of the van, myself and Matt managed to set up the gazebo without the aid of any instructions! Dinner was a subdued if friendly affair with us all huddled under the gazebo which very quickly sprang leaks in a number of strategic locations. By the time puddings had been wolfed down the general consensus was that being cosy in a tent was a better option so we pack up our make shift shelters and headed for bed.

As I lie here writing this the rain is drumming hard on the tent fly just a few inches above my face and I can here the water trickling past the door. If the tent is as good as its supposed to be I should get a dry night. If not, Mr Macpac (the tent make) will be getting a sternly worded email at around 4am written from the floor of the toilet block where I have already planned to retreat to should things get really bad!

The forecast is bleak for the rest of our ride (3 days to go) so it might be that we look for proper accommodation which will at least allow us to be warm and dry when not on the bikes. Whatever the weather brings we have 3 eighty+ mile days so it's heads down arses up until the finish!

Tomorrow we head up to Fort William then strike out towards Inverness via Lock Ness. At least we might get that allusive tailwind now even though it will probably be raining...

Craig