TRAVEL FEATURE - SCOTLAND
GORDON STUART
GREAT SCOT !
I
flicked up my visor to allow the cool Scottish air to blast into my face , refocusing my senses on the task ahead . Just moments before my heart was in my mouth when , reflecting from my headlights , were the eyes of an animal , most likely a deer , at the side of the road looking startled . It darted in one direction , then another , and passed within inches of my bike .
The clock had ticked passed midnight and I was just over 12 hours into a 24-hour endurance ride between the 4 corners of mainland Scotland , a route some 1200 kilometres long with little motorway . I was tired , aching , and in desperate need of some rest but still had another hour ’ s worth of riding before I was due to reach my next checkpoint at Dunnet Head , the most Northerly point in mainland Scotland .
I ’ d started my journey at midday at the Mull of Galloway , a picturesque lighthouse at the Southern tip of Scotland , deep in the Southwest of this glorious country . The lighthouse sits up on a high plateau . Cast at the top of a clear blue sky , the sun beat down on my head and back as I prepped the bike ready for take-off . As I looked out from the lighthouse to one side I could see the peaks of the mountains of England ’ s Lake District , to the other the tip of Northern Ireland , the weather seemed almost perfect .
To ensure I would start my challenge on time , I ’ d arrived at the lighthouse an hour before my departure time of 1200 . After a few photos and a quick look around , I soon got chatting to a few other bikers and travellers who were taking in the sights . When I shared with them , I was planning to ride between the 4 compass points in mainland Scotland in just 24 hours I was first met with laughter and then a “ What , you ’ re being serious
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