Day 19

The ferry arrived in Aberdeen on time to a grey damp morning.
Getting the bike on trains can be tricky and booking spaces is unreliable. I was relieved to get the bike on the first train and in place but was then told it needed to be hung! The space was designed for bikes with smaller tyres and handlebars.
I was looking forward to seeing the sea on the way to Edinburgh but visibility is pretty poor today. It did clear up by the time I reached the Forth bridge.
At Edinburgh Haymarket I had 11 minutes to get up and down the lifts to the next train. I got there to be told they can't load bikes on the Avanti train there! The staff at Haymarket said the next train with spaces wasn't for 6 hours but check at Edinburgh Waverley. So back on the bike to cycle to Waverley station. The TrainPal app I use is generally good but appears to use 'bike reservation not required' as a euphemism for 'bike reservation not available' or in this case 'bike reservation impossible',  I need to check more carefully when booking. Before talking with staff at Waverley, I checked the TrainPal app and it let me reserve a bike space on the next train, only 2 hours later than planned. Reassuringly, I now have 22 pieces of card, 12 for the cycle reservation, 4 for seat allocation, 5 tickets for the parts of the journey and 1 receipt!
So far I'm the only cyclist on the train. I got to see the tunnel at Haymarket when the train stopped.
I think the ghostly hand is not some long buried cyclist but just a reflection of my hand!
After half an hour on the train, it ground to a halt at Carstairs due to points failure. Not good for a 10 minute connection at Crewe. The adventure continues ...
I did get to see Lowgill viaduct near Sedbergh.
I missed the connection at Crewe and the one an hour later. But I did just have time to nip out of the station for some fish and chips before the next train to Shrewsbury arrived.
With 40 minutes at Shrewsbury, I had time to go down in the lift, negotiate the barrier (first time anyone showed any interest in my 22 pieces of card), buy some tea, exit the station, and find the lift to platform 3 which is out on a limb.
The train to Machynlleth was on time. They are working on the track after that so it was my own private rail replacement service home, 4 hours later than expected. The train home was supposed to be the easy bit of the epic adventure!
I will try to post some maps and stats in the next day or so and a video in due course. Thanks again for all your support.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On The Train

Image
I'm now on my third train and will be getting to Edinburgh in half an hour! Many thanks to the Aberystwyth Samaritans who saw me off at the station this morning. You can sponsor me here: https://samaritanscommunity.enthuse.com/pf/alistair-thompson-e2o
Read more

Day 3

Image
After breakfast with a decent size mug of tea, I had two things in mind. First, to get to Arbroath for a Smokie. Second, to get to Edzell for a kilt! The trail to Arbroath followed a cycle way by the sea for 18 miles. It was flat and with a headwind. I like hills! I did pass Carnoustie golf course. The Smokie at Arbroath was delicious. A few miles out of Arbroath was St Vigeans, the site of a Pictish monastery around 700 AD. When I was a child visiting my grandmother in Aberdeen, we used to go on a day trip to Edzell so I recognised the arch. And I found the kilt shop that I remembered being taken to. Once inside I realised that I wouldn't be able to get a new kilt but I was just in time for tea and cake. The old measuring counter remained along with a wildcat from the original shop. I talked with the person running the shop who knew some of the history. Her mothe...
Read more

Day 2

Image
I was off by 6:30am to the sound of a cuckoo. My phone battery was almost out of charge as water had got in to the USB port and I couldn't risk trying to charge it. Within half a mile I got to a kissing gate which meant I had to unload the pannier bags that I'd only just put on! For once I was pleased to see some mobile masts and to be able to send a messages to my wife. That exhausted the battery but fortunately the USB port had sorted itself out. .  I then had a good downhill section with a max speed of 40mph. The rest of the day's ride was fairly uneventful. There was a gnarly tree I passed. I was relieved to get some water from a kind woman in her garden as I had forgotten to top up my water bottles and was running low. I then had enough for some pot noodles and stopped for a rest. The Tay bridges are nothing like as iconic as the Forth railway bridge. After checking in to the backpackers hostel, I headed up a steep hill t...
Read more