Film Friday is a weekly recommendation of one video to watch this weekend.
What is an adventure? Check out this video to see that an adventure is facing the unknown and doing something that scares you.
Alastair Humphreys demonstrates that this can be something as simple as learning to play a violin.
The postman’s path connects the small town of Tarbert with the even smaller town of Rhenigidale on the south-east edge of the Isle of Harris.
Until 1989, the only way for the outside world to reach Rhenigidale was by boat, or by this path. Goods and post were taken in and out via this route. WHich meant a very long walk for the postman. Thankfully Amazon did not exist back then or he’d never have been able to carry all the post over the hill.
The route can be done as a 13 mile circular path starting in Rhenigidale but I was a bit short for time so I did the spectacular first section as an out and back route.
There is parking in Rhengidale and the path is very obvious. Follow it until you reach the cairn.
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Spectacular Views on a nice day
Parking
There is a car park at the start of the run.
Facilities
None
Nearest cafe
Nothing nearby but there are a couple of places in Tarbert.
Run Surface
100% trail
Dog Friendly
Yes as long as your dog likes hills!
Elevation
500M of elevation.
I’ve always thought Loch Ard would be a great place for a triathlon. It is one of the best places to swim near Glasgow (https://twinbikerun.com/2020/08/26/outdoor-swim-review-loch-ard-iain/) and it is next to some great bike and run routes.
I’m not the only person who has thought this. There has been rumours race organisers have tried to set up events here, but nothing has ever come to fruition. My guess is that the remote location, the lack of parking and lack of facilities makes it logistically difficult to bring in a large number of competitors to the area.
Instead of waiting for an official race I decided to do my own event. A friend of mine created the route. It starts with a 1500m swim in Loch Ard, then a 50Kish bike ride around Loch Katrine and then a 9km run to a viewpoint overlooking Loch Ard.
Swim – 1500m
At 10AM on the 29th May 2001 Three triathletes entered the water to start the inaugural Loch Ard Triathlon. Only two of us would finish….
That sound quite ominous but it was because TwinBikeAndrew had to be back home by midday to have lunch and a walk with his baby daughter. He was only here to do the swim.
We decided to swim to an island. Stand on the island and then swim back. We thought this would be approximately 1500m. It was for two of us but TwinBikeAndrew took a scenic route – he did 2000m. He claims his googles were a bit foggy which prevented him from sighting properly. Its a massive island, how hard can it be to spot it?
Bike – 50K
At 11am on the 29th May 2001 three triathletes got on their bikes and began the bike leg of the inaugural Loch Ard Triathlon.
At 1101am on the 29th May 2001 three triathletes got off their bikes and stopped the bike leg of the inaugural Loch Ard Triathlon. As one of them couldn’t get their Garmin watch to start recording. And, as everyone knows, if it is not on Strava then it didn’t happen. Therefore we had to wait whilst he fixed it so he could have it on Strava later.
The route was busier than usual. There was a lot of cars on what is normally a very quiet road. I think people were out enjoying the freedom of travel after travel restrictions had eased the week before this.
We choose to first head to the only major climb on the route – the Dukes Pass. My friend had a new bike. I joked he’d need to get a personal record for the climb otherwise the new bike would have to be sent back as faulty!
Thankfully he PR’d.
It was a nice morning for a ride. We took it easy and even stopped (unsuccesfully) at a cafe at the far end of Loch Katrine. We couldn’t buy anything as the cafe had a sign saying “cash only.” We had no cash. We weren’t the only ones. In the five minutes I stood near the café many folk wandered up to the front door, read the sign and then shouted back to friends or family “I haven’t any cash. Has anyone got cash?” Not many did.
Run – 9K
At 1PM on the 29th May 2001 Three triathletes got off their bikes and began the run leg of the inaugural Loch Ard Triathlon. Only two finished….
I think triathlon runs are commonly quite boring. They tend to be loops or out and back runs to nowhere in particular. For the run we decided to run to a viewpoint overlooking the Loch. I thought it would be about 10KM.
On the way out I spotted this guy.
I think it was a snake not a worm. I poked it with a stick. It slithered off in a very snake like way.
One of my friends stopped before the viewpoint as she didn’t fancy running up hills. Two of us carried onto the top
It was very warm!
On the way back down to the start I spotted these weird creatures. It took a few looks before I realized they are naked Alpacas.
Which reminded me of the time I overheard two men looking at Alpacas.
Man 1 – Its a llama
Man 2 – Its an alpaca
Man 1 – NO. ITS A LLAMA
Man 2 – ITS A FUCKING ALPACA!
Man 1 – STICK YOUR APLACA UP YOUR ARSE!
I wish I cared about anything as much as those men cared about alpacas/llamas
When we got back to the the start we noticed it was only 8.9K. We run around in the car park until the distance said 9K. No-one likes finishing at .9 of a km.
OVERALL
Its been a year since my last Triathlon. That was the epic Toddman race https://twinbikerun.com/2020/06/19/toddman-2020-iain/ and nearly two years since my last official race https://twinbikerun.com/2019/07/29/hebridean-triathlon-iain/
I really enjoyed the chance to do combine the sports I love on a great course.
I thoroughly recommend you should not wait for a race to do a triathlon. Do your own!
The Clisham is the highest point in the Western Isles On a good day it will reward summiteers with a great view across to mainland Scotland. On a bad day you will be rewarded with a very boggy, very steep climb and nothing to see from the top!
I’ve climbed it a few times and its fair to say I’ve had more bad days than good.
The forecast was good so I hoped this time I’d see something from the top. You can check out the video to see whether I did.
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A bit of a slog but worth it for the view from the top.
Parking
There is a car park at the start of the run.
Facilities
None
Nearest cafe
Nothing nearby but there are a couple of places in Tarbert.
Run Surface
100% trail
Dog Friendly
Yes as long as your dog likes hills!
Elevation
647M of elevation.
Film Friday is a weekly recommendation of one video to watch this weekend.
There are a lot of videos on YouTube about people’s running achievements. There are far less videos about people’s failures. This is one of the best – or one of the worst failures. It’s hard to pick the correct adjective when describing failure.
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A nice short route with great views
Parking
There are not many parking spaces nearby. You might have to park further away and walk to the reservoir.
Facilities
None
Nearest cafe
Nothing nearby
Run Surface
100% trail
Dog Friendly
Yes it is a popular dog walking route
Elevation
115M of elevation.
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An interesting route but the road section might put people off doing it. If so you could start at the forest entrance instead
Parking
North Berwick can be very busy so get there early to find a spot.
Facilities
Plenty of cafes and shops on the route.
Nearest cafe
Plenty of cafes and shops on the route.
Run Surface
20% road, 50% path. 30% off road.
Dog Friendly
Yes it is possible but I wouldn’t recommend the distance for a dog. I would only take my dogs on a shorter stretch of the route.
Elevation
344M of elevation.
Sir James Matheson bought the Isle of Lewis for £190,000 in 1844. Yes – the whole island.
This was a lot of money back then. I wish I could say he earnt it legitimately but he earned his money through the sale of opium. He was a drug baron like Pablo Escobar but without all the murder and cocaine. Maybe not all drug barons are bad but I’ve seen a lot of Narco’s episodes on Netflix. It doesn’t paint drug barons in a good light.
Matheson did not immediately endear himself to locals. According to Stornoway Historical Society, the creation of the castle grounds involved the clearance of tenants and the re-routing of public roads. But over the next three decades, he spent a further £200,000 on island improvements such as roads, schools and harbours in an attempt to kickstart the island economy. So, maybe he wasn’t all bad.
The castle took six years to complete but the surrounding land took even longer. He imported trees to turn the area into extensive woodland. The area is now a great place for walking and running. The grounds are accessible to anyone courtesy of Lord Leverhulme. He bought the Isle of Lewis from Matheson. He had many ambitious plans, some of which were followed through, but most collapsed. He only owned the island for a few years before he gifted the Castle and grounds to the people of Stornoway.
The castle was closed for many years due to disrepair but in recent years it has been renovated and is now a popular hotel https://www.lews-castle.co.uk/
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I have to rate it highly. Its my home running/biking/walking place and full of wonderful memories and experiences.
Parking
There are a few entrances and car parks and I’ve never had any issues using them
Facilities
There is a Cafe in the castle and in the castle grounds. https://www.facebook.com/TheWoodlandsCafe/
Run Surface
100% fire track gravel roads
Dog Friendly
Yes
Elevation
100M of elevation.
Film Friday is a weekly (when I remember to do it) recommendation of one video to watch this weekend.
The Yeti Trail Runners are the self styled punks of trail and ultrarunning. They are irreverent, slow and have a devotion to community above competition.
This is a great advert for enjoying running and not taking events seriously. It shows how with the right attitude an event can treat the runner who comes last just as well as the one who comes first.
I do have one complaint about the video – it is a bit too long. Which is ironic as punk music is normally very short.
Film Friday is a weekly (when I remember to do it) recommendation of one video to watch this weekend.
I have no interest in camper vans. My idea of holiday hell would be two weeks in a camper van BUT I really enjoyed this video explaining how to build one.
Thoma Heaton normally does landscape photography videos (which are also great) but in this series he explains how he converted a van into a camper. He is really good at explaining the issues involved and how he resolved them.
