Vic's coast to coast

Last weekend we drove north for the annual Scotland coast to coast, a beasting from Nairn to Glencoe via Fort Augustus, travelling by bike, foot and kayak.

The 'experts' did it in a oner on the Saturday (although reviewing some of the pics, a lot of them looked far from expert!) and the 'challengers' took two days with a camp stop overnight in Fort Augustus.

The distances and terrain are what I would call manageable, not ridiculous, they are most definitely a hard physical challenge but what really set the race apart was the weather on day two. Compare and contrast:

Day 1

 

Day 2

Howling winds (gusting to 60mph) and mingin squally rain characterised day 2, and the last kayak stage had to be cancelled for safety reasons, but fair play, Vic, Jenny and Rachel all completed.  There was a lot of very tired, wet and battered competitors crossing the finishing line with a fair few DNF's, no doubt due to the conditions. Vic finished 18th women (80 finished) and in the top 40% of all the competitors, although apparently she wasn't 'competing' (really? as soon as the results were released she was on it!)

Overall a tough but challenging event made all the harder by the weather, who know's next year we might even go for the mixed pairs event.....maybe.