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| Victoria Barracks, Ballater |
What a difference 24 hrs makes. Wet and miserable probably best describes it, and that was just Jay. The Scottish weather sold a perfect dummy early this morning by appearing to offer a ‘reasonable’, only to deliver a windy and thoroughly wet day of ‘rubbish’ – just the sort of conditions required for 6 hours in the saddle and a pile of hills to get over. Nice. Excellent work from 2(Dundee) Sig Sqn for delivering a suitably big breakfast for the team before the departure from Ballater, thanks to their RQMS. The route involved running back to Banchory before turning north-west for RAF Lossiemouth. The road to Banchory had a few lumps, made worse by several sets of tired legs from yesterday’s efforts and the weather decided to give us 
a proper soaking and rubbish headwind to boot as we left the Caingorms. Super Domestique on the front again tapping out the pace, with everyone in various states of wet-weather gear, some more bizarre than others. Out of Banchory and the long gradual climb to Lumphanan was a trying time, with the team tucking in and trying to make the best of it. Some nice thigh burners to complete the first 31 miles to the 1st feeding stn and we arrived in Lumphanan. We were using a pub carpark and the landlord looking at the weather and the state of the team happily opened the bar, turned the heating up 
and put the kettle on; excellent stuff Henry – we owe you!! Would have been nice to watch the Trooping of The Colour and have a few beers, but the next leg waited for no man (or Bianca, for that matter). A stroke of genius from the Support Team Manager sent the majority of the team out on the wrong road, with only a small group actually managing to find the correct road out of the village. The majority of the team did a quick replan and pressed on, using a route that would eventually join the planned one. This did serve up the twisting and often extremely steep hill over Lumphanan Forest.
a proper soaking and rubbish headwind to boot as we left the Caingorms. Super Domestique on the front again tapping out the pace, with everyone in various states of wet-weather gear, some more bizarre than others. Out of Banchory and the long gradual climb to Lumphanan was a trying time, with the team tucking in and trying to make the best of it. Some nice thigh burners to complete the first 31 miles to the 1st feeding stn and we arrived in Lumphanan. We were using a pub carpark and the landlord looking at the weather and the state of the team happily opened the bar, turned the heating up 
and put the kettle on; excellent stuff Henry – we owe you!! Would have been nice to watch the Trooping of The Colour and have a few beers, but the next leg waited for no man (or Bianca, for that matter). A stroke of genius from the Support Team Manager sent the majority of the team out on the wrong road, with only a small group actually managing to find the correct road out of the village. The majority of the team did a quick replan and pressed on, using a route that would eventually join the planned one. This did serve up the twisting and often extremely steep hill over Lumphanan Forest.  |
| Tats on the breakaway |
As the pitch steepened, Tats dropped the group and found himself at the top of the hill with a big gap; cue a successful bid for the day’s ‘Jack’ award, as he then made a spectacular solo 30 mile time trial breakaway to the next feeding stn, while the rest of the team worked hard in a solid group against the conditions to reach the 65 mile mark.
Big thanks to ASDA in Huntly for looking after us with hot soup and brews and the kind people of Huntly also donated a good amount to our fundraising. Lots of kit adjustment went on, with most riders opting for the ‘full wets’ option, although Scotty and Jay’s Heath-Robinson plastic bags for gortex sock contraption wasn’t sold on the rest of the team. Continually impressed by Bianca’s constant requirement for food, we watched as she consumed macaroni, rice and chips, before thieving Scotty’s soup, all the rolls and still kept on eating the rations from the support wagon. Small children and dogs were kept out of her reach until it was time to get on the road again. The weather worsened and the next leg started with a solid 7 mile climb up and along the A96. Knowing that Tats was again looking after the group, the 2 Scottys made their routine break for freedom, but without their usual solidarity, Scotty R put Scotty M to the sword after a couple of miles and cut him loose like a broken Boxing Day Toy on the first climb. Harsh rules in the Chuckle Brothers camp it seems! As the weather got worse and the rolling climbs continued, some manning up was required by the whole team, but as we finally rolled down the descent to Fochabars, the rain stopped and a quick pitstop and brew sorted out moral again. The Support Team even managed to do a spot of fundraising at the Garden Centre – nice one. The road out of Fochabars was busy and in shades of Guardbridge yesterday, there were some very angry people in cars. Unlucky.
A final push through Elgin and onto Lossiemouth was hard graft into the wind, but the whole team looked good as a unit and arrived at RAF Lossiemouth in style after another epic day in Scotland. Massive thanks to RAF Lossiemouth who have properly looked after us. A huge meal in the Officers’ Mess and I mean huge, where most of the team had both starters, all the main courses and several desserts, with Bianca again setting the record for the number of plates cleared in one sitting, much to the amusement of the Mess Staff. Can’t thank the Stn Adjt enough for squaring us away and it was nice to see a few old mates in the Mess too.
Some great team performances today and another day of hard graft for all. The Support Team did another excellent job today, looking after 9 very tired and wet riders for 97 miles across some difficult terrain – well done guys. Sadly we lose the services of Al tomorrow as he has to return to RAF Leeming in order to prepare the Unit for inspection, but we'll hopefully see him again for the last day on the ride. Thanks for you efforts and for keeping us all amused. Tats and Kev will 'look after' your Colnago for you!
Tomorrow is another challenging prospect, with the 106 mile smash down the Great Glen to Fort William, with the option of carrying on to Ballachulish for a nice round 126 miles – tasty. The weather forecast is more sympathetic, but you never know. The pounds keep mounting on our fundraising page, and we must say a big thankyou to the Stn Cdr and the Officers of RAF Leeming and RAF Linton-on-Ouse for their collection last night at joint Happy Hour – well done and thankyou. Over £8000 now and if we can keep the momentum of our fundraising (and pedals) we’ll hit our £10k target, so please keep cajoling people and get them to follow our epic challenge on the links below!
Half way through now, 5 days and 500 miles in the bag, although it seems a long time since we rolled out of the gate at RAF Leeming, a very long time ago!!
· Virgin Giving Team Site http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/RAFA1000
· Event Website http://www.riding4rafa.com/
· Blog http://rafa1000.blogspot.com
· Twitter www.twitter.com/Riding4RAFA
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