12: Islands Onward

The Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research has worked with children from five countries and the progress is being applied to adult cancers as well!

People say I tell great stories, now this is the story I am choosing to tell. In the posts covering my cycling journey, I will include information provided by Ben Towne Foundation (BTF), including some great videos, so we can learn the realities of childhood cancer and the progress happening through BTF. By the end, you will have learned much to see how important the current research is to changing the reality of cancer for children. This story is more important than mine, so please take the time to read these parts and consider being a part of the change!

Did you know: Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among children in the United States. 

Jeff and Carin Towne started Ben Towne Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation in memory of their oldest son Ben, a fiercely determined, passionate and loving boy, who died of neuroblastoma at the age of three. Their experience is not unique. Through this video you will meet several other families who have also lost children to cancer: 

Ben Towne Foundation's mission is to change the way childhood cancers are treated and cured. To that end, BTF partners exclusively with the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research at Seattle Children's Research Institute, where 100% of contributions are invested.

Friends, together we can be a part of the change, so let’s make it happen ‘sooner than later.’ 

Please consider donating on the Fundraising Page. Thank you to those who have already donated!

Sunday, May 10, 2015

On the Island of Yell, at 4:40am, it is already quite bright out. I know this because it woke me up this morning. After breakfast, at 9:16am I leave on my bike. The weather is so nice, better than I would have expected from what I have heard, and so I start off in just my cycling shorts and a short sleeve cycling jersey. At 10:00am, after cycling 6.4 miles (10.3 km) south, I arrive at the ferry terminal, having cycled a pace of 8.73 mph (14.05 km/h).

A view from my morning ride to the ferry terminal on the southern side of the Island of Unst.

At 10:30am the ferry departs for Mainland Shetland.

On the ferry crossing over from the Island of Yell to Mainland Shetland.

Once across and after finishing the coffee I purchased on the ferry, I depart the ferry terminal at 10:54am. I arrive at Frankie’s Fish n Chips in Brae after cycling 9.8 miles (15.8 km) south at a pace of 8.28 mph (13.33 km/h). This is the most northerly fish n chips in the UK.

As I sit in the restaurant after finishing, still having a few chips periodically, I reflect on how amazing it is that I have the opportunity to being doing this when I am young and able. It feels good.

I'm cycling slow, intentionally because I can't wear myself out when I have more cycling ahead. I coast on the downhill, to take a break, whereas at home I would change to the high gear and go as fast as I can. As I sit thinking, I envision that I'm going to destroy the miles in the days ahead, every last one of them.

I leave lunch just after 1:00pm and minutes later I have to make a stop to add some layers as during lunch the temperature dropped. The shorts and short sleeve are no longer going to do and I put on a long sleeve and my beloved leggings.

Not too long after that, I have to make another stop to put on my windbreaker and gloves.

I am heading downhill when it starts to become quite windy and it makes it so I can no longer coast. This day’s weather sure changed fast and now with the wind against me, I am pedaling downhill on what I could otherwise coast! The winds have a speed of around 20 mph (32 km/h) most of the time, sometimes a little heavier. When the wind speed changes, I clearly notice it as I slow down while I am pedaling downhill!

Lovely little village or not, I’m still pedaling downhill because of the wind.

The winds are canceling out the gravity that I want to take me downhill. When I stop pedaling, the winds nearly bring me to a stop. The only reason they don’t is because I start pedaling so I do not fall over. Then there is a hill I have to go up! Panniers. Hill. Wind. Not an easy climb!

Then there is more into-the-wind-downhill pedaling and no-coast hills. Wind has become my anti-gravity, but I want nothing to do with it!

It becomes colder. I stop to put on my waterproof shoe covers to help stop the wind from chilling my feet. And I put on the waterproof pants too.

Less than 20 minutes later, it starts to rain. As I am coming to a stop, I have my left shoe unclipped but resting on the pedal. I go to put my left shoe down to the ground and it clips back into the pedal. With my motion barely moving forward, yet my body already leaning towards the left, I fall straight over with both shoes clipped in. Now with the weight of the panniers helping hold my bike down with my leg underneath, I have a nice task to unclip both feet. I manage.

Now that I’m upright, I take off my windbreaker and lightweight gloves and trade them for my waterproof shell jacket and thick waterproof gloves. Onward!

The wind hasn’t stopped, it is raining, and the downhill pedaling keeps coming: this isn't the experience I started with this morning in the beautiful sunshine!

I take a break to eat in the pouring rain, because there is no option to get out of it. After I leave my stop, I see a man running in this awful weather and I think to myself, ‘what an idiot.’

Now there is a massive hill. It is the hill I have heard about. It is raining. It is windy. I can't do this. But I don't walk hills. I can't remember ever having taken a break on a hill. I generally love the challenge of hills. I take three or four stops on this hill, each time resting for just a few minutes and then continuing. I shall not walk!

Cycling up hills into the wind while it rains. All smiles here.

After arriving at the top, I do get some free miles coasting down on the other side.

Then there is another hill! No one mentioned a series of hills. I take even more breaks on this, each just being a few minutes, enough so that my muscles don't start to burn. This is a different game plan, this isn't simply about today, but the days ahead. High cadence, no burn.

Finally, at 4:45pm, I arrive at Mark’s home in Lerwick, since lunch having cycled 22.8 miles (36.7 km) at a pace of 6.13 mph (9.97 km/h).

Photo Gallery – Shetland Islands: Cycling Days 1 & 2 (new photos added)

For dinner Mark, Mairi, and I have scallops and then go to two pubs.

Daily cycling stats: 

Distance: 39.0 miles (62.8 km)

Moving average: 6.92 mph (11.14 km/h)

Monday, May 11, 2015

I make croissant breakfast sandwiches for the three of us. This comes with great skepticism from the Scots as neither Mark or Mairi had ever heard of such a thing!

At about 4:10pm it starts to pour rain, which is not encouraging to Mairi and I. At 4:20pm we leave Mark’s home on our bicycles and after 1.3 miles (2.1 km) we are at the ferry terminal and soaked. What a great farewell from Lerwick!

At 5:30pm, we depart on the ferry MV Hjaltland. The ferry heads south, 103 nautical miles south, and arrives into Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands at 11:00pm.

From the ferry terminal, we cycle 1.6 miles (2.6 km) to the hostel we have booked for the night. The hostel is very nice and in the shared kitchen we sit down and review options for the upcoming days and make some decisions.

Daily cycling stats:

Distance:  2.9 miles (4.7 km)

Moving average: (not tracked)

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

After buying our food for the day at a grocery store, we cycle 6.8 miles (10.9 km) east and arrive at Sheila Fleet Jewelry. This is a famous jewelry maker and Mother’s Day in the U.S. was a few days ago, so I buy some earrings and have the shop mail them to my mom.

Cycling route heading east from Kirkwall.

From the jewelry shop, we head south. We come to a road across a narrow causeway that is our route. On either side is the ocean, with waves crashing into the rocks forming the causeway. Before we cross, we can see the ocean spray occasionally come up onto the roadway. When we cross we feel a bit of the spray.

Shortly after crossing the causeway, at 2:10pm we arrive at the Italian Chapel, having cycled 7.4 miles (11.9 km) from the jewelry shop. The Italian Chapel has its name from the men who built it starting in 1943, while prisoners on Orkney, at what was then Camp 60. Within the prison camp they built it and today it is all that remains of that camp.

Interior of the Italian Chapel on Orkney.

After a stop at a nearby wine shop, and eating lunch outside in the mild wind, we head north. We cross back over the causeway. There is more of the water from the waves coming onto the roadway, much more. As I cross, a wave hits me, I can’t see at all for some moments, and I taste the saltwater. Mairi, behind me, experienced some wave action too. You aren’t supposed to be coated in saltwater from the ocean while cycling!

At 4:30pm we arrive back into Kirkwall at St. Magnus Cathedral, having cycled 7.8 miles (12.6 km) from the Italian Chapel.

Cycling route heading north from the Italian Chapel.

St. Magnus Cathedral is the most northerly cathedral in the UK and its construction began in 1137.

Interior of St. Magnus Cathedral in Lerwick.

Not far from the cathedral, we have burgers at a restaurant. After enjoying a nice break, we leave dinner at 6:50pm and head southwest in the rain.

The rain does not stop during the 10.4 miles (16.7 km) we cycle to the B&B in Houton where we arrive at 8:35pm. It is directly adjacent to the ferry terminal, the access literally crossing through the waiting line area.

Photo Gallery – East Mainland Orkney: Cycling Day 3

Daily cycling stats:

Distance: 32.4 miles (52.1 km)

Moving average: 6.44 mph (10.36 km/h)

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

We wake up at 6:45am, have breakfast, and depart on a ferry at 8:00am heading south.

After the ferry makes a stop on the Island of Cava to drop off some workers in the oil industry, it arrives at 9:00am in Lyness on the Island of Hoy.

Right across from the ferry terminal is the Scapa Flow Visitor Centre and Museum, which is not open. However, there is lots to see outside and there is a hangar style building with a lot of old boats that is open. We see canons, anti-torpedo netting that was used under water to protect ships, a massive boat shaft and prop recovered from the bottom of the ocean, a lifeboat designed to be dropped from the air, a boat that was a mobile bank, and many other boats.

Anti-torpedo netting that had been installed in Scapa Flow in 1938.

We leave the museum at 9:30am and after cycling west just 0.9 miles (1.4 km) arrive at the Lyness Royal Navy Cemetery.

Lyness Royal Navy Cemetery on the Island of Hoy.

We leave the cemetery just after 10:00am and cycle west 9.1 miles (14.6 km) to a café where we have lunch. There is a fire going, so I take off my socks and shoes to dry them and warm them up.

Taking in the beautiful cycling route on the Island of Hoy.

From the café, we cycle southwest 5.5 miles (8.9 km) and arrive at a trailhead near Rackwick. We set off at 1:51pm and do have some time constraints. At a quick pace, we head up the trail, enjoying the sun that is out, and the views, and taking too many stops to take photos of the beautiful views.

Looking down on Rackwick Bay and the township of the same name.

The hiking trail.

At 2:42pm, we reach our destination, the Old Man of Hoy, a red stone sea stack that is 449 feet (137 meters) tall. It has been created over, well, basically forever.

Old Man of Hoy.

The cliffs along the coast near Old Man of Hoy.

We made really good time on the ascent, so enjoyed some time at the top where we ate some food. We leave the old man behind, and head down at 3:10pm. Back at our bikes, I have to change back into my cycling shoes and pack my lightweight backpack and valuables, which I took with, back into the panniers. Mairi went ahead, and at 4:15pm I am on the way too.

I catch up with Mairi. Before arriving at the ferry terminal, we were confused where it was since where we thought it was per our map, we could not see any structure. So we cycled along a small road paralleling the coast and figured we would ask the first person we saw. This ends up being a small boy on a tricycle. He confirms the ferry was indeed where we thought it should be. So we turn around to head back the way from where we came. I challenge the young man to a race. He accepts. For several minutes, we ride along side-by-side. He riding as fast as he can pedal that tricycle, and I matching his pace, acting like I am also riding my hardest.

The ferry terminal ends up being very close to the café we had eaten at earlier, and brought us 5.8 miles (9.3 km) from the trailhead.

This ferry is a passenger only ferry, so did not have a proper place for our bikes. They were loaded into the bow of the boat. It doesn’t matter, whatever takes us and our bikes to where we need to be! From Linksness on the Island of Hoy, we cross over to Stromness on West Mainland Orkney.

The passenger ferry on which we departed the Island of Hoy.

Tonight we are staying at a place in Stromness that we booked through AirBNB. Neil meets us at the ferry terminal on foot. We walk back to his home that is not far, but the route does include a series of stairs. This isn’t the most exciting part of the day, to carry my bike with panniers up flights of stone stairs in my cycling shoes. His home is located amongst other homes and does not have a driveway to it, why he met us at the ferry terminal since we might have struggled to find it.

We meet Neil’s partner, Jenny, and have a tour of their home. It is a split-level design, having a total of six levels, with a height of about a three-and-a-half story house, which Neil designed! The home is heated from the earth, with a geothermal loop that goes hundreds of feet down to extract heat from underground. Of their three daughters, one is still at home, so they have recently decided to rent the other two rooms. We are in fact their first guests!

After dinner we enjoy some glasses of wine in the living room at the top story, with a view of the water. Later we go out to a pub and have some pints.

View from the living room story of our host’s home.

Photo Gallery – Island of Hoy: Cycling Day 4

Daily cycling stats:

Distance: 21.3 miles (34.3 km)

Moving average: 5.86 mph (9.43 km/h)

Thursday, May 14, 2015

After visiting a museum in town and buying food for the day, we head northeast. After cycling 6.6 miles (10.6 km), we are at the Standing Stones of Stenness. Put upright 5,000 years ago, this is one of the earliest stone circles in Britain, potentially older than the well-known Stonehenge. The site would have had ceremonial uses and had a hearth in the center for fires.

Some of the Standing Stones of Stenness.

Next up, just 0.9 miles (1.4 km) away, is the Ring of Brodgar, another circle of standing stones in a larger diameter layout. There is one that was shattered by lightning in 1980, just some 4,000 years after it was put up.

Stones of the Ring of Brodgar.

From there, we cycle west 5.4 miles (8.7 km) to arrive at another site.

Cycling west from the Ring of Brodgar.

Skara Brae is a 5,000 year old farming village, the oldest known village in Europe. Besides farming, evidence shows the community also fished and hunted. A winter storm in 1850 ripped grass and sand away from a high dune, uncovering the site of ruins. From carbon dating, it is known that it was inhabited for a period of 600 years.

Ruins of the 5,000 year old village of Skara Brae.

As we depart from Skara Brae just after 5:00pm, it is sunny and there is no wind. The wind turbines aren't moving and that is great for us. We cycle north, parallel to the coast but a ways from it, but with views of it at times. We arrive at our hotel in Barony after cycling 7.3 miles (11.2 km).

Cycling north between Skara Brae and our hotel.

The hotel overlooks a lake by the name Loch of Boardhouse. Today is the first day of cycling that we are not laying out clothing to dry!

After dinner, at about 9:30pm, Mairi and I leave the hotel on our bikes. We cycle 1.8 miles (2.9 km) to the water’s edge. We are here now because of the time of the tide, it is going out. Across the water is the small island called Brough of Birsay. At 9:45pm we are walking across the rocks and concrete pathway revealed at low tide. It is like a secret passageway, hidden most of the day, and also limits ones visit to the island if they don’t want to be wet on the return. Out on the island are the ruins of buildings from a Norse settlement, the buildings from different periods between the 9th to 12th centuries. There are also puffins, rabbits, and an operational lighthouse.

The path at low tide across to Brough of Birsay.

Photo Gallery – West Mainland Orkney: Cycling Day 5

Daily cycling stats:

Distance: 20.2 miles (32.5 km)

Moving average: 6.97 mph (11.21 km/h)

Friday, May 15, 2015

After breakfast, we start cycling southeast, then northeast, cycling 12.1 miles (19.5 km) before ending up at Broch of Gurness at 11:20am.

Cyling route from the hotel to Broch of Gurness.

The Broch of Gurness is the central building in the ruins of a 2,000 year old farming village. It was discovered accidentally in 1929 when an artist was sitting on a stool on top of a mound and one of the stool legs sank into a hole. He then dug and found a staircase.

Broch of Gurness.

I rushed through the site in less than half an hour and then was off, heading south in a hurry. This is where my cycling journey parts ways with Mairi’s. After cycling 12.2 miles (19.6 km) south, I arrive at Maeshowe for a booked tour. (Pronounced “mays how.”)

Maeshowe is a building located beneath a mound that is a chambered tomb built 5,000 years ago. It is incredibly well preserved, other than there no longer being any human bones. The long entry corridor, in which you must crouch to pass through, aligns with the space between two peaks across on the Island of Hoy, where we were two days ago. The space between the peaks coincidentally aligns with the setting sun on the winter solstice. On the winter solstice, the setting sun aligns perfectly with the entry. As the sun sets, its light slowly enters the entry and into the tomb until it is at its brightest. For three weeks on either side of the solstice this occurs. There is also a lone standing stone on Orkney that is between here and Hoy that aligns perfectly with the setting sun on the winter solstice. The standing stone is in the middle of what is now a farmer’s field. In the 12th century, Vikings broke into Maeshowe through the roof during a storm. They left 24 sets of carvings, and how their time there is exactly known.

At 3:00pm I leave Maeshowe heading south. The weather has worsened from earlier today and my 3.1 layering system now reaches 4 when I add my rain jacket on top of my windbreaker. The rain doesn’t stay, so I stop and take off my rain jacket. Minutes after leaving from that stop, it starts raining, so I stop again. After cycling 5.6 miles (9.0 km) south, I arrive at the ferry terminal in Stromness at 3:35pm.

Cycling south from Maeshowe to the ferry terminal in Stromness.

Despite the generally awful weather, I am loving the cycling and carrying everything with me on my bike.

At 4:45pm I depart on the MV Hamnavoe heading south. Farewell to you Orkney!!

This day to be continued.

Photo Gallery – West Mainland Orkney: Cycling Day 6

Daily cycling stats:

Distance: 29.9 miles (48.1 km)

Moving average: 8.08 mph (13.01 km/h)

Accumulative cycling stats:

Distance: 170.0 miles (268.9 km)

Moving average: 7.01 mph (11.08 km/h)

Please consider donating to Ben Towne Foundation on the Fundraising Page. Thank you to those who have already donated!

Map of cycling route on the Shetland and Orkney Islands:

Click on the map to go to the interactive version.

Maps for all countries are now up on the Map page.

“Feeling my way through the darkness, guided by a beating heart, I can't tell where the journey will end, but I know where to start. They tell me I'm too young to understand, they say I'm caught up in a dream. … So wake me up when it's all over, when I'm wiser and I'm older.”

Lyrics from the song Wake Me Up by Avicii.

11: Cycling South

Flash forward:

Saturday, May 9, 2015

At 11:20am I start cycling south from the most northern place in the United Kingdom.

This would probably be the right time to announce that as I cycle south in the coming weeks that I am raising funds for childhood cancer research through Ben Towne Foundation (BTF). Donations are necessary to continue monumental progress in FDA approved clinical tests that are demonstrating huge success. We are going to need your help!

In 2008, my friends Jeff and Carin Towne lost their son Ben to a cancer called neuroblastoma when he was three years old. Their tragedy became a catalyst because they would not accept that the loss of their boy and the grief could end up being a reality for others, and so BTF began. Today, at Seattle Children's stands the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research.

In April 2015, one of several FDA approved trials resulted in complete remission in 20 out of 22 patients. Reality is changing! These results would not have occurred for these patients without the research and movement started through BTF. And 100% of donations go directly to research. You read that right: every penny of every dollar!

My goal, your goal, our goal: $20,000.

“Wow,” you just said.

“Yeah, we can do this,” I just said.

I’ve just started us off with a donation of $100, which is $50 on behalf of each my niece and nephew. I’ve also made an additional pledge for every mile coming. Below are some ideas for donating.

• Donate $25 or $50 for each of your children, grandchildren, nieces, or nephews.
• Donate $5 or $10 for every child whose name you can write down in five minutes.
• Pledge to donate $0.10, $0.25, or $0.50 for each mile I cycle.
• Pledge to donate $5 or $10 for each day I cycle.
• Donate any amount for any reason.
• Go for a double play, and select more than one of the above.

Every dollar you donate counts, because every child counts. Mile for mile, dollar for dollar, let's kick cancer's butt!

You are totally going to help kick this off, right!? You can do so by visiting the Fundraising Page.

To read more about the research, take a trip to the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research website.

I’m heading south, with some detours. Let’s see where this journey goes and how many miles are ahead!

And now, the last six days, because you are probably wondering:

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Continued from last post.

… From there I head to the train station and after waiting a short while, board a train.

By train, I travel the same route in reverse that I just took two days ago, ending back in Liverpool at Mairi’s flat.

After dinner, I start feeling a bit strange.

We head out to visit several pubs as part of a music festival. At the first pub, feeling strange transitions to feeling ill and I don’t even want to drink the beer in front of me. We don’t stay at the first location long and by the time we are leaving I feel like I might throw up. Outside the second pub, I decide that the only good idea is to go home and so I take a taxi back.

By the time I am in the flat, I am starting to have the chills. I turn on a heater in the room I am staying in. I take a hot shower and crawl into bed. By 1:00am I still have not managed to fall asleep due to stomach pains and a headache that has come on. At 3:00am my whole body aches and I throw up, which provides some relief. I have been in and out of sleep and at 5:00am my stomach hurts so bad it feels like it could rupture.

I have never had stomach pains like this before and the only other time I have gone so quickly from feeling normal to approaching death is when I had malaria in 2008.

Monday, May 4, 2015

I am in and out of sleep with delirious thoughts all day, not being able to have any accurate guess of how much time has passed from when I thought I might have been awake last. At 7:00pm, I leave my room for the first time today.

I sit in the living room while Mairi’s flat mates watch TV. I eat a small bowl of ice cream. That is it all day.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

At 9:30am I eat a bowl of cereal. Other than the small amount of ice cream last night, it is all I have eaten since 8:00pm Sunday. And I don’t even feel hungry; I just know I need to eat. I’m not feeling bad any more. What on earth just happened in the last 36 hours!?

At 5:30pm Mairi and I load our bags into her car and our bikes onto a hitch-mounted bike rack on the back. As we are finishing loading the bikes, it begins to rain. We head off driving north.

Mairi works for Guinness as a Team Leader in bottling and packaging. Guinness is owned by Diageo, which is a multinational company that is the largest producer of spirits (hard alcohol) and also a major producer of beer and wine. Her next step is to move into the bottling and packaging of spirits so is studying for an exam only offered once a year. All that said, we are studying during the drive, I reading her notes to her and she reciting the material as well.

During the car ride, my stomach starts hurting again and it isn’t like motion sickness. I don’t feel nauseous like that, just pain in my stomach that is so distracting it becomes debilitating.

At 9:00pm we arrive in Lochmaben, Scotland, 152 miles (245 kilometers) north of Liverpool. This is where Mairi is from and we are staying at her parent’s home tonight. Welcome to Scotland!

I am not feeling well enough to eat dinner. I feel like if I put anything into my stomach that it will make it hurt worse.

In the room upstairs that I am staying in, there are several packages from Amazon.co.uk that I sent here. (People, did you really think I wouldn’t have an Amazon account in the UK!) I open each of them and find the items I have ordered for our cycling trip, I am pretty stoked about some new gear. Then it hits me that there is one item that is not here. The legwarmers, which I am dearly going to need for the cold and wind that lies ahead, have not arrived!

Before crawling into bed, I am not feeling so great about the gear situation and that I am feeling ill and have quite the task ahead. I head downstairs and find the leftover dessert from tonight in the fridge: I am now feeling well enough for tiramisu.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

I’ll admit, my attitude is lacking color this morning.

While I am sitting in the kitchen, there is a knock on the front door at 9:25am. Is it!? My legwarmers arrive! As it is happening, I recognize it is a bit strange, but I am incredibly happy over these cycling legwarmers. Men aren’t supposed to own legwarmers, a fact I know, unless they are for cycling, right? Well I think there are a couple reasons why they are making me unusually happy: the dreadful wind and cold of northern Scotland I have been hearing about (it just isn’t what I had been imagining), I haven’t been feeling so bright and a small item is making a big difference, and it is my birthday today and per the previous two reason this makes a great gift!

If you forgot to send me a gift for my birthday, do not worry about it, as I’d be happy enough if you instead made a donation to Ben Towne Foundation.

Still not feeling physically swell, for breakfast all I have is two cups of tea, which basically is not breakfast at all. In the corner of the kitchen a fire is going in the stove. I am finding that I really enjoy the coal or peat burning stoves happening in the morning.

We are on the road heading north just after 11:00am, just one-and-a-half hours after my legwarmers arrived. On the road we spend more time in review for Mairi’s exam. At 1:15pm we arrive at the testing location in Edinburgh, 74 miles (119 kilometers) north of Lochmaben. Mairi has scheduled her exam here instead of in Liverpool due to our travel plans. I feel like I now know at least half of the material. I head to the cafeteria while Mairi heads to her exam. Wish her luck!

Mairi finishes ahead of the allowed time and just after 3:00pm we are heading to a bike shop for a few items. Then we are on the road north out of Edinburgh. You know it's going to be windy when there are wind turbines in the countryside!! As we drive north, eventually we have a view east out over the North Sea.

Once in Aberdeen, 126 miles (203 kilometers) north of Edinburgh, we make a stop to buy a used trunk-mounted bike rack that is lightweight in comparison to the hitch-mounted rack we are currently using. We bought it through Gumtree, which is the equivalent of Craigslist. After that we meet up with Mairi's friend Kulsum. We have dinner at a pub and I have a meat pie with lamb and mint, which ended up being really good despite my skepticism of the pairing. We head back to Kulsum’s flat for the night.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

As I sit on the couch drinking a cup of tea, I look at the clothing and gear in front of me. The items I need to take another pass through and make final decisions on what is needed, what will be nice, the balance of weight versus necessity, and ultimately what will be going and what will not. What is going has to fit into two panniers that will be on either side of my rear wheel.

I am quite content sitting here, drinking my tea, and not going through this gear. I'd be okay not going. I am in fact nervous. And that doesn't happen often. What lies ahead is uncharted for my experience. And yet I know that how I feel means that ahead there is growth. I know that if I succeed it will be something I will never forget. And I know if I don't succeed, it still will be the same.

This bike will soon be my transportation, suitcase, and my home during the day, rain or shine.

By car, Mairi and I leave Kulsum’s flat at about 1:30pm and head to one more bike shop. Yeah, neither of us have cycled in the weather ahead before and we keep deciding to buy more gear, I buying an extra set of gloves since I now know the pairs I have are going to become wet. Next we head to the ferry terminal and drop off our new, used, lightweight bike rack (with one damaged strap).

Next we park Mairi’s car in the parking lot next to where another one of her friends lives. We walk back to Kulsum’s flat and have one last chance to decide on what we are or are not taking.  We leave on our bicycles and arrive at the ferry terminal just after 4:00pm.

At 4:45pm, on the MV Hrossey, we depart Aberdeen, heading north, having left port 15 minutes before the scheduled sailing. I hope we didn’t leave anyone behind! This ferry is huge and nice inside just like the one I took from Belfast to Liverpool, but there are a lot more passenger cabins with beds due to the length of the sailing. I did not see them, but Mairi spotted dolphins swimming!

After dinner, we head to our respective cabins for the night, four-berth cabins shared with others, because it was the lowest rate. I awake at 3:15am during a change in seas causing motion for the ship.

Friday, May 8, 2015

At 6:30am I awake and take a shower, 7:05am I am eating breakfast, and at 7:35am depart the ferry with Mairi. The overnight ferry journey has taken us 193 nautical miles north. Mairi’s friend Mark meets us at the ferry terminal to pick up the bike rack, which we purchased for his car. Mairi and I cycle from the ferry terminal to Mark’s flat, which is just more than one mile. Welcome to Lerwick in the Shetland Islands!

After having a cup of tea at Mark’s flat, we put the bike rack on his car, adding a sponge for padding, and some bungee cords to really make sure the bikes aren’t going anywhere. It is a little windy and I can’t believe how cold my hands become. With Mark driving, we head north 28 miles (45 kilometers) and take the Toft-Ulsta ferry from Mainland Shetland to the Island of Yell. It is the smallest ferry I have ever been on, capable of holding 10 to 12 cars depending on their lengths. After the 20-minute ferry crossing taking us 2.8 miles, we continue driving north.

Crossing from Mainland Shetland to the Island of Yell on a small ferry.

After driving the 18 miles (29 kilometers) of Yell, we arrive at the Gutcher-Belmont ferry terminal. While we are waiting for the ferry to arrive, I walk back up the road and look at some Highland Cattle, which have a lot of hair and you wonder how they can even see. The ferry is the same size as the previous one. After the 10-minute ferry crossing taking us 1.1 miles, we are on the Island of Unst and continue driving north. Unst has a population of 700 people.

A Highland Cattle struggling to see through all his hair.

Once on Unst, we spot Shetland Ponies. The Shetland Pony is small and hairy because that is what naturally could survive in the harsh, cold winters when there was also little to eat. They are still known to eat seaweed along the shore. Archaeological discoveries suggest they were used domestically as far back as the Bronze Age. To some people, they are a cute novelty due to their small size and the reality is that they are that way because that is what was nature’s finest.

The Shetland Pony: small, cute and the Shetland Islands’ finest.

We visit the ruins of Muness Castle, climbing the stairs and checking out all the upper rooms and lower rooms as well. The castle was built starting in 1598 by a petty tyrant who abused his position. In 1577, Laurence Bruce was found guilty of replacing elected officials with his own men and extracting excessive taxes. He was relieved of his post and ordered to withdraw south and never to cross certain boundaries. Well, he did, and in 1598 started to build this castle.

Muness Castle.

From the castle we go on a hike that starts through sheep pastures, which is the actual route, with a step system to go over the fences that can not be used by sheep. We reach a beach with remarkably clear water. From there we continue along the coast, spotting a few seals, and then coming into view of another beach before heading back to the car.

Did not expect water this beautiful and clear in Scotland!

From there we went to a viewpoint and parked the car to have lunch. As it was a bit windy with nowhere to sit outside either, we had lunch in the car, passing food items between the back and front seat.

We see the ruins of a broch from 2,000 years ago, the ruins now simply being a mound completely grown over with grass. A broch was a round structure built of stone and what they were used for is debated. They may have been used as a defensive structure or homes for more important people in the society.

Not far from the mound that had once been a building, we visit the remains of a Viking Longhouse from the 11th century, also not much to see with just the outline of the building at ground level still evident. Although there is not much remaining to see, it is still pretty cool that there is anything and that it tells of such a long ago story.

Next we visit St Olaf’s Kirk (church) from the 12th century and the surrounding graveyard. There are in fact graves within the walls remaining from the church.

St Olaf’s Kirk.

From the church, we walk down to the beach and see some more seals. On the drive back up the hill we had come down to the church, we see more ponies. And after that we stop to see a standing stone.

A standing stone!

Island of Unst Photo Gallery

At the end of the afternoon, we head to the Hermaness Wildlife Reserve on the north side of the island and go on a hike. There are birds and rabbits as we cross the slightly rolling marsh area, on a boardwalk at times. We eventually leave the last boardwalk and end up at some extremely high, nearly vertical cliffs dropping down into the ocean. We couldn’t figure out why, with all the grass a sheep could ever want being above on the flats, that there would be sheep on the extremely steep cliffs just eating away as if the terrain was no different to them than the nice flat areas above. We hike along the coast heading north. There are hundreds and hundreds of birds out on some of the rocks. We continue along and soon see a lighthouse out on one of the rocks: Muckle Flugga. We are now at the most northern point in the UK, the furthest north I have ever been as we stand at 60.85 degrees north.

The cliffs and water below on the north side of the Island of Unst.

Hermaness Wildlife Reserve and Muckle Flugga Lighthouse Photo Gallery

We hike back across the reserve and as we are approaching the car, it begins to rain and a rainbow appears. We head to our accommodation for the night at Saxa Vord Resort, which was originally domestic housing for the military base previously located here.

The rain brought with it a rainbow.

Saturday, May 9, 2015

We wake at 7:30am, have breakfast at 8:00am, it starts to hail at 8:45am, and at 9:10am we leave in Mark’s car. We drive to the highest point in Saxa Vord which still has an operational radar, controlled remotely, from the previous military base. From here we can again see out to the Muckle Flugga lighthouse, although we are much further away than yesterday.

Just a side note: be careful how fast you say ‘Muckle Flugga,’ apparently when spoken quickly it can sound like something else.

From the highest point, we head to Norwick Beach, on the way seeing more Shetland Ponies. The beach has something quite significant, as here you can see two of earth’s crusts where they collided, their different rock types being visible side-by-side where they extend above the sandy beach. The oceanic crust collided with the continental crust and pushed up and over it, bringing what was once below the ocean to be the land above. It isn’t just a small area on the beach either, but a huge portion of the Island of Unst is originally oceanic crust. This is estimated to have occurred 420 million years ago, a little bit older than some of the ruins we saw yesterday.

Visible on Norwick Beach is where the oceanic crust meets the continental crust.

At 11:20am I start cycling south from the most northern place in the United Kingdom. Mairi was going to join me starting today but has decided to head back to Lerwick with Mark.

I have never ridden more than two days in a row, I’ve never ridden with more than my own weight on a bike, but now have everything I will need in the coming weeks in pannier bags. I have not actually trained for this and haven’t ridden more than a mile in weeks, the last ride being in Zimbabwe a month ago.

My strategy is going to have to be to ride slow even when I can ride fast, because my muscles have to last for the following day. I’ll have to coast down hills rather than pedal, so I can rest. And the beginning will have to suffice as the training for what comes after.

Besides the weight, are the panniers also going to add wind drag?

Minutes after starting, it starts raining. I stop and put on my rain pants, rain jacket, and waterproof shoe covers. After 11.0 miles, I arrive at the Gutcher-Belmont ferry terminal, having ridden an average of 7.77 mph (12.50 km/h). I wait an hour for the next ferry, but fortunately there is a room to sit in to be out of the wind and rain, although it is not heated and still quite cold.

Once on the ferry, I go into the passenger area below deck, which is heated. I’ve barely begun my cycling journey and I’m cold! There are radiators so I put my gloves on one to heat them up and my bandana on another to dry it of the sweat it already has in it. There is no one else in the passenger area as they have stayed in their cars for the short crossing, so I even take off my socks and shoes and put them on other radiators to warm them up!

After departing the ferry, I cycle south 8.7 miles to Mid Yell at a pace of 7.07 mph (11.38 km/h). Yes, you’d be safe to assume that Mid Yell stands for ‘middle of Yell.’ I find that the most northern pub in Scotland is not open for business, and it is a Saturday. I head to the only shop in town that sells groceries. Yell has a population of 900 people.

The cycling route on the Island of Yell.

Since I normally only cycle one day at a time, I would normally ride hard and fast because I don't need to think ahead for the next day and about sore muscles and being tired. I normally go for the best workout I can have and ride aggressively. I can't do that now, as I won't last. My new program: high cadence, no burn.

I leave Mid Yell and head south, cycling 4.6 miles at a pace of 6.40 mph (10.30 km/h) to my accommodation for the night at a B&B. The sky is still not dark when I go to bed at 11:20pm.

Shetland Islands: Cycling Days 1 & 2 Photo Gallery

Daily cycling stats:

Distance: 24.3 miles (39.11 km)

Moving average: 7.26 mph (11.68 km/h)

Since you may be curious, I bought the bike new in Northern Ireland and brought it across on the ferry to Liverpool. On the way from Tandragee to Belfast: “…After a stop to pick up an item…” I never committed to telling you all the details as they happen!

Map of the route from Liverpool to the Most Northern Place in the United Kingdom:

Click on the map to go to the interactive version.

“Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.” – Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver

Founder of the Special Olympics, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. July 10, 1921 – August 11, 2009.  

10: Ferry Crossing, Train Ride, Snowdon

The posts are a bit delayed, but then I remember the last time that a reality TV show aired in real time. Guaranteed: the posts are still coming.

Monday, April 27, 2015

In the morning, George and I go and have breakfast with his friend Seamus and then we are on the road. After a stop to pick up an item, we continue on to Belfast. We go to a café for lunch where Derek and Helen join us, who I also originally know from 2005.

After lunch, we all head back to the home of Derek and Helen and then George heads off. Derek is a retired pastor, has three children, and in a few days seven grandchildren will become eight. After spending the afternoon at Derek and Helen’s home, they take me over to their friend’s home where I will be staying. (The new grandchild on the way put a bit much happening in a week to support family and host a guest.)

Peter and Linda are longtime friends of Derek and Helen. I originally didn’t think I had met them before, but then as we were talking and I was learning about them, I totally remembered that I had met them before and knew about them. I figure it must have been when I was here in 2007, either way it looks like we are actually meeting again.

Their friend Armond is there visiting for the day, and like me has traveled a good amount and volunteered overseas. He previously had lived with Peter and Linda and I learn that Peter loves cards and they would play for hours and hours. Good luck to me as we sit down to play a game new to me.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

We play some cards. I reseal their shower that has just recently started leaking down into the kitchen. I’m happy enough to help out with home repair projects in exchange for a bed!

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Derek comes over midmorning and we spend time talking and drinking tea. Before he leaves, he receives the official news of a new grandson.

Now that the new sealant in the shower has cured overnight, we give it a test. The shower still leaks and I’m not surprised, unfortunately. I was pretty sure that resealing it would not correct the problem, but considering it only cost a few dollars to try, it didn’t make any sense not to try it as a first step. Unfortunately the leak is occurring under the shower, not originating from within the shower, and to me it seems there must be a piping joint that has failed.

In the evening, I go to dinner at an Indian restaurant with Heather, Graham, and Joanne, who is another person I have known since 2005.

Thursday, April 30, 2015

In the morning, Peter drives me to the ferry terminal in Belfast. It’s a massive ferry, by far the largest I have been on. It is not just a passenger and vehicle ferry, but a commercial ferry for shipping. It has a length of 186.5 meters (612 feet) and has six decks. The ferry can hold 120 semi trailers, 85 cars, and 720 passengers. There are lifeboats large enough to hold 150 people each. The interior has finishes like a mall or hotel with a restaurant and multiple lounge areas. There is even a movie theater.

Turbines of a wind farm in the Irish Sea.

After 8 hours and 145 nautical miles, the ferry arrives at its destination. Welcome to Liverpool.

View of Liverpool, England as the ferry arrives from across the Irish Sea.

My friend Mairi picks me up in her car from the ferry terminal and we go back to her flat. I originally know Mairi from when she stayed with me in Seattle in 2012 as she was travelling down the west coast of the U.S. – a friend of a friend connection. She was traveling with three others and they were originally going to stay in my two-bedroom apartment for a weekend, which then expanded to nearly a week.

Later that night we go out to a pub with a few of her flat mates.

Friday, May 1, 2015

At 11:30am, I leave Mairi’s flat and walk 10 minutes to the closest train station.

Waiting for my train at St. Michaels Train Station in Liverpool.

The train takes me to Chester where I will transfer to another train. Due to a fatality on the tracks nearby, there are multi-hour delays for many routes.

The train routes begin to reopen and I’m on my way. I arrive into Llandudno just before 3:00pm and then take a bus south to Betws-y-Coed, arriving at 4:00pm. The next bus I am supposed to take, which is the last one of the day that will allow me to catch another bus after that, departed 10 minutes ago. The train delay in Chester has caught up. (Good luck pronouncing the names of those last two towns, you’ll probably be way off, like I was!)

One must travel by the methods available, here is my hitchhiking sign.

Jeff and Barbara see the sign I hold as I stand on the side of the road that exits the town in the direction I need to go. They stop in their SUV and say that they are heading that way so will take me part way to my destination, so I figure I’ll hitch another ride from that point. We start talking and they decide they will take me the whole way. After 20 minutes or so, they drop me off in Snowdonia National Park at the Bryn Gwynant Youth Hostel. Welcome to Wales!

The hostel doesn’t actually have a single youth in it tonight, making it like a retreat for adults. The building was originally a Victorian mansion and sits just above a lake. Since I am confused by names related to the hostel and area, I talk to a staff member at the hostel and they explain: Gwynant is the name of the area, Nant Gwynant is the name of the valley, Llyn Gwynant the name of the lake, and Bryn Gwynant is the name of the hill. Sorted.

I spend some of the evening with a group from Leeds, England who is here for the holiday weekend. Apparently Monday is a bank holiday due to May Day. I wish I had a day off for May Day. Okay, this year I sort of do.

At dinner, I sit with Dan who is a cyclist here for some mountain biking.

Saturday, May 2, 2015

When I wake up in the morning, it is raining. After breakfast, it is raining. When it is time to leave for the day, it is raining. Dan has decided not to mountain bike today but go spend some time at a coffee shop instead. I wish my schedule had the flexibility for me to make the same decision.

Dan offers to give me a ride so I can keep out of the rain for a few more minutes. Dan leaves me at the trailhead to the Watkin Path and I start off at 9:30am. Snowdonia is the home of Snowdon.

The trail starts out in the woods.

A series of bridges to cross several streams.

After not too long, the trail comes to some ruins as well as a waterfall. There is one building that is built right by the waterfall, which generally would seem a little unstable. There are also pastures that are ‘fenced’ with vertical stone slabs, which I have never seen before. There are sheep around on either side of the trail and I can see that there is some snow towards the peak. There are thick clouds so I can’t see the top or that much of the upper mountain.

Looking back on the trail after 1.5 hours of ascent.

Sometimes when it rains, rain turns to snow, and this happens at about 11:15am. The snow starts to accumulate on the trail and eventually the trail is covered. I admit it would be nice to have either boots or gators about now, but I made a decision to travel with only one pair of shoes so went with a pair of Gore-Tex hiking shoes. The minimalist approach is to have what will be sufficient, not what will be best, so sometimes it is less than ideal, but that is the balance of weight versus necessity.

It has just started to snow.

I reach a steep section where two other hikers are taking it slow. I take a break to give them time to pass through the steep section and then eventually pass them. It sure would be nice to have either trekking poles or an ice axe to offer some security against falling and to aid in balance. Eventually I come upon a group of ten hikers but they did not start out together, they have just all slowed and caught up to each other as the trail has become slippery and icy. I have no interest in trying to pass people on icy terrain, and making an unsafe situation even less safe for everyone. I hold at the back and watch how the others are taking their steps, learning where I am and am not going to place my feet. Then it becomes windy.

The snow begins to cover the Watkin Path.

Since some of the other hikers have been up here before, I decide to stay with the group. Visibility has worsened, the winds have increased, and it is becoming very cold. I take off my hat and bandana and put on my beanie: the body climate control game has changed from trying to cool down to now needing to stay warm.

We reach the top. There is actually a visitor center up here, but it is closed today, go figure. It is extremely windy and cold, and so we take shelter on one side of the visitor center where a partial height wall, where it meets the building, creates a slightly protected ‘alcove’ of an area. I eat my packed lunch from the hostel. The potato chips were a little problematic to eat with gloves on and with the winds still present in our ‘protected’ area. If I tried to shake them out of the bag and into my mouth, the chips were going to blow away. I improvised, completely crushing up the chips in the bag and then funneling them directly into my mouth with no chance to take the deliciousness away!

I put on another upper body layer and three layers of gloves before heading down with some of the others. I am actually colder at this moment then I remember being on a mountain in a long time and I’ve spent a lot of time in the mountains. I was not expecting these conditions, although I have brought the clothing for it. My fingers are the coldest and I wish I had put on all layers of my gloves before I ate. There are six main routes up Snowdon from different sides and I was planning on going down a different one than the one I came up. But with no visibility and never having been here before, I decide it is best to go down the same way I came up and with others who also came up that way.

Starting at about 12:30pm, we begin down, making it slowly through the steepest of the icy areas. There are people on their way up and I tell them there is free hot chocolate at the top. Then I ruin that dream for them when I tell them the truth: “Okay, no there’s not.” I thought it was hilarious, but one of the people I was with couldn’t believe I had said that to people. I told it to two groups of people. I think I would have actually been a jerk if I left them thinking there actually was and hadn’t corrected myself, and I was able to explain this to my new hiking partner and they came around to seeing that it was funny too. The hot tub at the top isn’t free though.

This is the area where people received a false hope that there was hot chocolate at the top.

As we continue to descend, the snow on the trail thins and there is less worry of slipping and less desire for trekking poles. The weather generally is improving as we drop in elevation, the wind dying down, and then the trail eventually becoming snow free. The temperature improves, as over some distance I remove one pair of gloves, then my beanie, and eventually don’t need gloves at all. It is still raining slightly for the remainder of the way back to the trailhead, reaching it just after 3:00pm. The lower mountain looks nothing like the upper.

The lower mountain is in quite the contrast to the snow and rocks of the top.

Snowdon Photo Gallery

The people I came down with are heading in the same direction that I am so fortunately I am able to catch a ride with them, saving me loads of time since I was going to need to take two buses and then a train. They drop me off in Prestatyn, a town northeast from Snowdonia that is on the coast of Wales.

I booked my accommodation in Prestatyn through the website AirBNB, which is a site to book a place to stay that can be anything from a spare room to an entire house, castle, or boat, literally. Michael greets me when I arrive and is very welcoming. He makes tea while I lay out all my wet clothes on multiple radiators in the house. And since I only have one pair of footwear, my shoes need to dry over night. (Recommendation: Always remove the laces from wet shoes for faster drying, always!)

I take a nice long, hot bath in a tub that is plenty big, and there is all the hot water available to fill it. From sitting in the bathtub, I can look out the bathroom window to the ocean, which is across the street from the house. My bedroom also has large windows that look out to the ocean. As it is still raining, I’ve been out in it all day, and my one pair of shoes are drying, I don’t feel the need to go and walk out on the beach.

Before dinner, Anne arrives home. It is actually her home and Michael is a friend of hers. I am their first AirBNB guest, and this is also the first AirBNB accommodation I have stayed at. Michael loves to cook so has made dinner, almost two dinners as there is a hearty soup and a really good Vietnamese dish.

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Before breakfast, I sit in the living room next to the warm fire while drinking tea.

A nice warm fire going in the morning.

After breakfast I head out the back gate, across a field (to save a few minutes), and once I reach the road, continue across town to attend the Presbyterian Church. From there I head to the train station and after waiting a short while, board a train.

This day to be continued.

Map of Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Wales:

Click on the map to go to the interactive version.

"When life gives you lemons, make hot chocolate, and leave the world wondering how you did it." – Kaira Tamura

Niece of a friend, age 12.