Film Friday is a weekly recommendation of one video to watch this weekend.
Can I run a half marathon holding a camera? Watch this to find out…
Celtman Solo Point Five (Andrew)
This Saturday I’ll be getting up at 3am to take part in the Celtman Solo Point Five race around the Applecross penisula on the west coast of Scotland.
It is meant to be a triathlon. But, with the 3am start, as bags have to be dropped off with organisers by 4am, it should have an extra leg of “Getting Up In The Middle of Night” alongside the traditional swim, bike and run.
I say “getting up in the middle of the night” but as the race takes place two days after the shortest day of the year, it’s likely to still be light at 3am. No wonder the organisers haven’t included a head torch as mandatory kit for the run, it won’t even be needed at midnight.
Celtman Solo Point Five is a middle distance extreme triathlon with a sea swim in Shieldag, a challenging 56 mile cycle around the peninsula (and up the Bealach na Ba) and a trail run along part of the Celtman run course and around Ben Eighe.
The race has come after a spell of illness and injury including six weeks of not being able to do anything, so it’s very much a case of turn up and see how far I can get round. It will be slow. There are cut offs to watch out for – and I need to make sure I don’t injure myself again.
The forecast is looking decent, with some rain forecast, but a tail wind for most of the bike course, which would be much appreciated by this injured competitor.
Two days to go, can’t wait.
Find our more about the race here: Celtman Solo Point Five
The Sound of Football: Doncaster Rovers(Andrew)
Every fortnight we cover the best and worst football songs from every club in the UK from our book ‘The Sound Of Football: Every Club, Every Song’. You can buy it here
Doncaster Rovers
Nickname: The Rovers
Ground: Keepmoat Stadium
Stadium Capacity: 15,231
Song: Walking Out Of The Darkness
In 1991/92, FA Women’s Premier League side Doncaster Rovers Belles won the Women’s FA Cup and the national woman’s league without losing a single game. The men’s side (who should really be Doncaster Rovers Beaus) cannot boast of similar success – it’s never won the top division, the FA Cup, or remained unbeaten throughout an entire season.
While this has meant that the men’s side has never had the opportunity to release an FA Cup final song, the Belles did, recording ‘Northern Pride’, the first ever female FA Cup song in 1992.
‘Northern Pride’ is not the only musical achievement from Doncaster. In August 2013, former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson fulfilled a childhood dream by ‘signing’ for the team as a non-contract player. However, having US number one hit singles doesn’t guarantee Rovers will play any of One Direction’s song. The team already had a fan with an American number one song. Rovers fan John Parr is better known as a singer songwriter whose greatest hit was the 1985 US number one single ‘St Elmos Fire (Man in Motion)’.
The song ‘St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)’ appeared on the soundtrack of the film of the same name. But it was not inspired by the film, instead the song tells the story of Canadian athlete Rick Hansen.
Rick was 15 when he was paralysed from the waist down. After he was injured he excelled at wheelchair sports, especially long distance races, winning 19 international wheelchair marathons. To raise money for spinal injury research Rick set out to circle the world in his wheelchair. It was a journey of 26-months and 40,000 km through 34 countries and he successfully raised $26 million. The lyrics in the song reflect his journey.
Despite the success of the song, it never appeared on a John Parr album, only on the official film soundtrack. Another song which doesn’t feature on any of his official albums is ‘Walking Out Of Darkness’, which he recorded especially for Doncaster Rovers. Unlike ‘St Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)’, ‘Walking Out Of Darkness’ has never been number one in the US charts.
John was inspired to write the song when Doncaster Rovers reached the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in 2007. He wanted to tell the story of the club and how it had transformed itself. Only a few years earlier, Doncaster Rovers had almost been relegated from the conference league but had now reached a final and built a brand new stadium. It too has walked out of the darkness…
The B-side to the song is called ‘Dream On’ and is a tribute to Doncaster Rover’s greatest player – Alick Jeffrey.
Alick was a young player who was described by Jackie Milburn, the former Newcastle United and England forward, as: “This boy has everything. He is by far the best youngster I have ever seen“. Unfortunately, a bad leg break in an England international game when he was 17 curtailed his talent. He went onto play for Rovers but never reached the heights of the game that he should have. The street next to the stadium is named in his honour – Alick Jeffrey Way.
‘Walking Out Of The Darkness’ is played at every home game when the team walks out. Ironically, the tunnel is very well lit.
Buy the Sound of Football from Amazon.
Film Friday – Ben Vane – Scotlands Smallest Munro (Iain)
Film Friday is a weekly recommendation of one video to watch this weekend.
What is Scotland’s smallest munro? Watch this and find out…
Bag and Bin it (Andrew)
Travelling with a baby and a dog requires careful planning as neither will tell you when they need to go to the toilet. You need to plan ahead and work out places to stop to give the dog a chance to do his business and the baby a chance to check a nappy and change it, if required.
We were driving to Ullapool and planned to stop at the Kessock Bridge in Inverness. There’s a toilet block there, so it was a good place to stop, as we thought it was bound to have a baby changing room. We were wrong. It didn’t. It also didn’t have any bins outside. So, when Barney the Schnauzer did his business in the car park, we picked it up, bagged it and had to carry it with us as we looked for somewhere to change Infant TwinBikeRun.
It was sunny and we decided we’d change her on a mat on the grass at the side of the car park. As Mrs TwinBikeRun started setting everything up I said, “There’s bound to be a bin in the toilet. I’ll take Barney’s bag and drop it in there.”
I was wrong.
There were no bins in the toilet just as there were no nearby bins in the car park. So, I did what any man does when he goes to the toilet. I went to the toilet. It’s impossible to stand in a loo without thinking you need to go to to the loo too. I went into a cubicle. I went to the toilet. I came out of the toilet and I bumped into a man who’d just walked in.
He looked at me.
I looked at him.
He looked at my bag. Barney’s bag, which I was carrying in front of me like a waiter presenting a bottle of wine to the table.
And all I could think, as I carried a bag of poo out of a toilet, just as a man walked in on me carrying a bag of poo out of the toilet, was to try and offer some sort of explanation that would show him that I’m not a weirdo who went fishing in toilet bowls and carried his poo back home like a goldfish won at the fair.
I looked at him.
He looked at me.
And what I said, made it a whole worse. Because what’s worse than walking into a toilet and coming face to face with a man carrying his own poo out of a toilet.
All I could say was “It’s not mine!!!”
The Alternative Hebridean Way – 2023 (Iain)
The Isle of Lewis is renowned for three things – Harris Tweed, Gaelic and having the oldest group of rocks in the UK. The rock is called Lewisian gneiss. The second oldest rock group in the UK is The Rolling Stones.
In Summer 2016 I met a cyclist at Stornoway ferry terminal. I asked him where he’d been cycling on the island. He said: “I did the Hebridean way. A 185 miles route from Barra to Lewis.” I asked if he’d enjoyed it. He said: “I’ve cycled in the arctic circle in Norway. I’ve biked the far north of Canada but I’ve never been as cold and miserable as cycling here!”
I gave gave him some words of encouragement “If you think this is cold you should try it in winter!”
The Hebrides is the best place in the world on a nice day but on a bad day….
After speaking to him I looked at the route of the Hebridean way. I was disappointed. It missed out lots of great places and bike routes. So here is my improved version based on my own experience doing the route and my local knowledge of my home islands of Lewis and Harris
BARRA
The ferry from Oban arrives early evening into Castlebay. The official route recommends starting your trip the next day in Vatersay before heading north to catch a ferry to Uist.
DON’T DO THAT! Stay in Barra for two nights so you have a full day to explore the island before leaving.
Day 1: Head to Vatersay to see the official start. Make sure you have walking shoes with you as there’s a nice beach to explore here. From the start head clockwise around the island aiming to get to the airport for lunch time. They have a great onsite cafe. Check the plane timetable so you can watch the plane take off and land from the beach.
On the way to the airport stop at Barra golf club so you can see how a sheep field has been converted into a sports venue.
There’s only one hill of note which is towards the end of the route. Anyone of moderate fitness can bike up it. Park your bike at the top of the hill so you can walk up the hill to the statue overlooking Castlebay. Finish off the day with a fast downhill ride into Castlebay.
Day 2: Catch the ferry to Uist….or its day 1 if you ignored my suggestion 🙂
Personally, I’d do Uist in one day and then catch the ferry to Harris the next day. If you do have time then take two days to do it.
Get the first ferry to Uist. There is a nice cafe at the ferry terminal. Or there was the last time I was there (pre covid)
The ferry journey is short. Keep an eye out as you might spot Dolphins.
Eriskay has one of the most unusual football pitches you’ll ever see. you can read about it here https://www.fifa.com/news/fighting-for-football-s-future-on-bumpy-beautiful-eriskay
Check out the wild Eriskay pony’s. You can spot them near the Am Politican pub. Which takes its name from the stricken vessel S.S Politician which ran aground off Eriskay in 1941. This was the inspiration for the film Whisky Galore. https://www.visitouterhebrides.co.uk/food-and-drink/eat-drink-hebrides-am-politician-p562251
I wouldn’t stop for long in Eriskay. I rode on and got lunch in South Uist at the Borrodale hotel. https://www.isleshotelgroup.co.uk/borrodale-hotel
Uist is pretty flat but there is a nice climb up to the radar station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRH_Benbecula on a clear day you will see St Kilda from here.
North Uist is nice. I had dinner in the loch bosidale hotel https://www.lochboisdale.com/
I stayed in Berenary. Definitely check out the beaches here. The view across to Harris is stunning.
HARRIS
Day 3:
https://www.strava.com/routes/3102336666901000518
This is a controversial choice but I’d argue not to go the official way up the west coast but instead take the east coast. Heading south first means you can visit Rodel church. This is ancient church has one of earliest known representation of a man in kilt. Now a day there’s lots of men in kilts here. Its a very popular place to get married.
Next to the church is small pier which is the southernmost point you can cycle to on the Harris.
The west coast has some great beaches but the landscape of the east coast is unique to the island. A barren landscape of ancient rock and heather. The windy undulating single track road is great fun to ride.
Once you get off the east coast head for Luskentyre beach. The official route passes a bit of it but the best view can only be seen by heading along to it. If you want a challenge try running up the sand dunes. It’s hard work!
The island across from the beach is where the BBC filmed Castaway.
Finish the day by heading to Tarbert. There’s a long climb from the beach towards tarbert but once you get to the top its all downhill into the town.
http://www.hotel-hebrides.com/ does great food. There is also a good seafood shack in Scalpay (a scenic 10km away)
DAY 4 – (WARNING: Contains hills!)
https://www.strava.com/routes/3102337248141221666
Note: You can choose to miss out the one way road to Huishnish if the weather is bad.
Unfortunately Tarbert is at sea level and at the base of a hill (The Clisham), so today is going to be hilly no matter which way you go. I’ve added in some diversions off the official way.
Start by heading to Husinish Bech. At one point Madonna was going to purchase it, until she discovered the public are allowed to walk right by the windows. Robert Plant from Led Zepplin was also interested. He went for a pint in the local pub but the beer must have been bad as he never came back with a bid.
The road out to the castle packs in allot of interesting sights. There’s the ruins of an old whaling station, there’s stunning views of the harris hills and there’s the world’s most useless tennis court! It’s exposed to the wind and wild weather of the Atlantic.
From the castle you can walk up to one of the UK’s biggest cliff faces. The 600-foot cliff face of Sron Ulladale, There is an easier walk (or gravel bike path) to the eagles observatory if you want to try and see Golden Eagles.
I’ve not marked this on Strava but the re is another one way road thats realy scenic. From the top of the Clisham you can had to Rèinigeadal . Rèinigeadal had no road access until 1990; the only route in was along a hill path, or by boat. There’s a postman’s marked path from the village back to Tarbert. Imagine doing it carrying a load of Amazon parcels. It’s worth walking a bit of it as it has some spectacular views. There is a hostel at the end of the road.
Afterwards head as far north as you can but there’s a convenient stop at http://www.locherisortinn.co.uk/
Day 5:
https://www.strava.com/routes/3102338228899562118
The most spectacular bit of Lewis is Uig. It is more expensive to buy a house here than anywhere else on the island. So that shows you how good it is! 🙂
Its a one way road but worth heading there to stay the night. Try to stay near reef beach or Timsgearraidh
https://www.strava.com/routes/3102338228899562118
Check out mangersta. Check out the sea stacks and the best bothy in Scotland
Day 6:
https://www.strava.com/routes/3102338613796397382
Head back up the west coast. You will pass by the callanish stones and Carloway Broch.
Watch out for a sign that says Dail Mor beach. Its one my favorites especially if the weather is bad as it gets hit by the full force of the Atlantic.
You could head to Ness to finish the route but the road to Ness is one of the most boring drives on the island. Vast empty moor as far as the eye can see. Instead head to Stornoway as there’s much better routes that you can do from there.
If you do want to know what the end of the route looks like then check this out. I was there on a very stormy day.
Give yourself at least a couple of days in Stornoway. From here you can do some great routes.
Tour De Point – https://www.strava.com/activities/1102079723
A flat out and back route to a lighthouse. From here you can watch whales pass by. On the way back a small detour will take you to a 15% hill climb! It’s short but hard. I needed a quick rest at the top!
Castle Grounds Mountain Bike trail –https://www.strava.com/activities/1100545590
If you tire of road biking then a recently completed mountain bike trial has been constructed in the Castle Grounds. An area of forestry next to Stornoway. I hadn’t tried it before and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. There’s no major hills but lots of undulating tracks. It was a great way to pass a few hours.
Tour De Tolsta: If you only do one route from Stornoway then do this one! The beaches along here are some of the best on the island. One of them even has its own waterfall
Originally the road to Tolsta was supposed to go all the way to Ness but it was never completed. Supposedly a local sightseer had predicted that if the road was complete then the “The day will come when the Isle of Lewis will sink beneath the waves.”
Which seems unlikely as how can a whole island sink? But, in 1995, the ferry to Ullapool was named the “Isle of Lewis”… There was no calls to complete the road whilst that ferry was operational!
There’s some great swimming spots along the route. Coll beach is very popular with the Hebrides open water swimmers.
Places to eat
https://www.caladhinn.co.uk/elevenrestaurant.html is the best food. It’s a buffet but good value and it’s all good quality. I don’t bother eating anywhere else as the other places are all a bit of a rip off!
https://www.facebook.com/blackhousebakery/ – good bakers. The cheese and mustard sausage roll is great.
Go to the Co-op and buy a “Stag Bakery’s Stornoway Biscuit” It’s like a more solid version of a scone. Delicious with butter. I buy loads when I’m at home as you can’t get them anywhere else
Photo – April/May (Andrew)
The Sound of Football: Derby County (Andrew)
Every fortnight we cover the best and worst football songs from every club in the UK from our book ‘The Sound Of Football: Every Club, Every Song’. You can buy it here
Derby County
Nickname: The Rams
Ground: Pride Park Stadium
Stadium Capacity: 33,502
Song: The Derby Ram (also known as When I Go To Derby)
The world series of baseball is misnamed. It’s the championship of the major-league baseball teams in the United States and Canada only. The rest of the world doesn’t get a look in despite the sport’s popularity in Japan, Latin America and Cuba.
Although baseball’s a minority sport in the UK there was, for a short period of time, a British Baseball League. In the 1890’s a Derbyshire businessman, Sir Francis Ley, wanted healthier and more productive workers and he constructed a baseball pitch at his factory in Derby.
Sir Francis organised a team to enter the British league, a four-team professional circuit, which he would have won but the other teams complained about his lack of sportsmanship – he’d bought American players to bolster his squad. Even in the nineteenth century, money could buy sporting success.
Although the league was short-lived it did leave one legacy. Sir Francis Ley’s baseball ground became the Baseball Ground, the second (of three) stadiums for Derby County.
Derby County’s one of the original twelve founding members of the Football League and one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season. It also holds a number of other records, most of which are unwanted. During the 2007-08 Premier League campaign it equalled the league record of just one win in a season; it had the least home wins and the least away wins; the most defeats; the least number of goals and the worst goal difference.
Perhaps Derby is cursed? When the club moved to the Baseball Ground in 1895 there was a story that a group of gypsies was forced to move their camp to make way for the Baseball Ground. Legend has it that they put a curse on the ground preventing Derby County winning the FA Cup. It wasn’t a very good curse – Derby won the FA Cup in 1946.
Derby has one record that’s unlikely to be matched. It’s the only club to have had three home grounds host full England internationals. Once at Derby’s original ground The Racecourse Ground in 1895, secondly at the Baseball Ground in 1911 and lastly at the current home, Pride Park, in 2001.
The club also had the first ever club mascot – a ram named Rammie. Rammie is a full-time employee of the club and works to maintain the club’s links with fans through charity and community work.
The club has a ram as its symbol to represent it’s link to the First Regiment of Derby Militia. The militia took a ram as its mascot and used the song, The Derby Ram as its regimental song.
“As I was going to Derby,
All on the market day,
I spied the finest ram, sir,
That ever was fed on hay,
And indeed me lads,
It’s true me lads,
I never was known to lie,
If you’d have been to Derby,
You’d have seen the same as I“
(Source: trad)
No one knows the song’s exact origin. It has been around for at least 200 years with reports that in 1796 the first US president, George Washington even sang The Derby Ram to a friend’s children.
In 1855 the first Regiment of Derbyshire Militia adopted a ram as its regimental mascot, a tradition which continues to this day through the Mercian Regiment of the British Army. Lance-corporal Derby, as the current mascot is known as presented to the Mercians by the Duke of Devonshire. Derby is paid £3.75 a day, draws his own rations, and, as the Derby Telegraph reports, he even has to have his leave card with him when he takes his annual holiday on the Duke’s Chatsworth estate.
American country and western star Merle Travis once recorded a version entitled Darby’s Ram. Identical twins the Kossoy Sisters recorded a version titled The Darby Ram on their 1956 album Bowling Green. And in 1963 the New Christy Minstrels released Down to Darby, an adaptation of the Derby Ram on their album The New Christy Minstrels Tell Tall Tales.
Buy the Sound of Football from Amazon.
Beware The Boot Button (Andrew)
At the weekend, I discovered that if you press the ‘boot’ button on the key fob for my car, it will open the boot (which I already knew) but, if you then close the boot, the car will lock itself completely. The ‘boot’ button doesn’t leave the doors open.
I wouldn’t have minded learning this fascinating fact but the key fob was still in the boot when the car locked…
And I was in a layby near Kinlochard…
In the middle of nowhere…
In shorts and tshirt, after running up Ben Venue…
With no mobile reception…
And my spare key was also in the car…
And my spare spare key was 50 miles away in Larbert…
How was your weekend? 😊
Medically Certified (Andrew)
I have a big nose. My dad had a big nose. Iain TwinBikeRun has a bike nose. You could say that, wait for it, here it comes, big noses run in the family! Boom! Boom!
I thought a big nose would give me an advantage when it came to getting a throat scan last month. I had an appointment with an ENT consultant and he asked if it was okay if he could check my throat by sticking a camera down my nose. I didn’t rush to say “yes” so he tried to reassure me.
“It’s okay,” he said, “I’ve tried it on myself.”
That didn’t sound good. Or reassuring. Or within acceptable medical guidelines.
He made it worse: “I had a go when the kids were out. I thought why not see what it’s like so I just stuck it down and had a quick look at my tonsils”.
While the kids were out? Unless his kids worked as nurses or doctors, he must have done this at home. It’s not reassuring to think that your doctor is conducting self-experiments at home. And it’s really not reassuring to hear that he waited until his kids were out. If it was so are and normal, why did he wait until he was alone?!?!? Could he not have done it during the evening meal. Hello, darling. Hello, children. Don’t mind me, just like an Instagram influencer, I’m just taking a video of my meal – except I’m doing it from the inside!!!
He then undermined all his comforting words by adding “it may hurt a bit as it goes in”.
I said “I’ll be okay, I’ve got a big nose, there’s plenty of room in there”.
He didn’t;t contradict me. He didn’t say “oh, you shouldn’t say that, you’ve got a petite hooter.” he just laughed and then tried to stuff a an optical cable down my nostril.
“Damn”, he said, “it’s very narrow, it’ll be a tight squeeze so let’s try the other nostril.”
“Damn,” he said again. This nostril is also narrow.”
I was scared of what he might say next. “Oh well,” he’ll say, “if we can’t stick it in your schnoz then we’ll just need to stick it up your bum. But don’t worry. I had a go when the kids were out!”
But he didn’t say that. He didn’t offer a self assessed bum probe, he just said: “You know, medically, you have a small nose.”
And he just pushed harder. But I didn’t mind, through the pain, all I could hear was that I now have a medical opinion that I have a petite conk, a small hooter, a normal nose.
Twin brothers swimming, cycling and running in Scotland 