Day 4: The hardest one yet

Nobody told me it was all uphill from Inverness! Boy what a tough morning. The headwinds kept coming – I keep talking about them because they half my speed and drain my energy and make me cry inside – and the roads were busy and rough. The views, once I got to the top, were incredible. Back down to the city, over the bridge and beyond, this is a big place and I can’t quite believe I’ve skated it.

The tourist map that was given to us by a news agency in Brora a couple of days ago told us that a cycle path followed alongside the A9, so I parted company from the van with the thinking that we’d meet up half an hour later.

Two and a half hours later I hadn’t found the van, had been out of water for almost 2 hours and was delirious. The roads were straight. Straight uphill. I knew I was heading I the right direction but going was slow and my head was spinning. The wind gusted into my face.

I stopped for a toilet break. No one around so I pushed the board onto the verge, an effort in itself, and prepared myself. Two minutes or so later I realise I was still undoing my fly, I was facing back down the road and a car was crawling towards me. If it had been the police I would have been done for indecent exposure. I needed the van, bad.

45 minutes later I found the first downhill for miles. The wind was in my head but I was rolling without pushing. The road was crap but wow I felt good. I felt tired. I felt like a schizophrenic. Whipped the camera out to record my feelings and seconds later the van was in sight. I started screaming. We were still 9 or 10 miles away from Aviemore and that looked like a ridiculous ask today. I was resigned to being way behind schedule but was too exhausted to care.

Lay back in the van, Holly massaged my feet. It started to rain. Dimitri said it wasn’t raining. It was raining hard. No choice but to stay in the warm for a bit.

Finally, one last push. “I’m getting out and skating at half five” I told Holly. “Tell me when it’s half six and we’ll call it a day”. I’d forgotten about Elsa and she’d been out in the rain, poor girl. A skate will do her bearings good. So back on the road….and almost immediately a dude in a car stopped me and asked if I was the one skating Britain. Nice chap, lives in Exeter and longboards! Hopefully I’ll see him later this month.
The roads were glorious, the cars had started to respond to the radio coverage and honked and waved and threw raised thumbs at me. I felt good, the roads turned smooth. They started to aim downhill. By half six I was in Aviemore. We’re on target! YES YES YES!