Inverness-based rider Paul Greaves braved Scotland’s notorious summer clouds of biting midges on his Three Glens 200km DIY Audax, but was rewarded with fine weather and glorious Highland vistas. Here’s his report:…
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Arrivée152Summer2021
IN THE SUMMER of 2020, during those heady days of being able to cycle wherever you wanted, I took advantage of some glorious weather in the Scottish Highlands to do a 200km solo advisory DIY Audax from home, taking in three target glens and a circuit of the Beauly Firth. A successful completion would restart my RRTY after
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Paul Greaves by Loch Beannacharan after entering into Glen Strathfarrar
the enforced pandemic lockdown break. The sun was rising into a cloudless sky, and the moon was still up when I set off at 5.30am. Heading up Glenurquhart there wasn’t a breath of wind. Patches of mist caught the sunlight as it peeped over the hills. I stopped momentarily by one of the fields to watch three deer as they browsed. Fewer than four kilometres done. As I neared the entrance to the first of my target glens it became apparent that midges were present on an epic scale. I was having to keep my mouth firmly closed. Many were meeting their demise in my beard where condensation caught them. Any stops for photos were pretty brief. There were lots of people camping by the road side, close to their vehicles. They were going to be in for a torrid time when they emerged from their tents. Having started the ride with a cloudless sky and no wind I was surprised at how quickly cloud cover became dominant. On reaching the car park at the end I took a quick photo, used the
