After an excellent night's sleep, we woke to brilliantly sunny conditions. By the time we'd had breakfast, loaded up the bike and paid the bill, it had clouded over a little. The first 11 miles were the toughest of the day, featuring the south Loch Carron road - road which as assumed mythic proportions in hour collective mind. It is, if truth be told, quite a hard road for the loaded tourer. Within a mile of leaving the hotel, we were grinding up a 15% gradient, with several climbs following, including a hugely long climb that takes one past the famous "Stromeferry (no ferry)" sign. We paused for a snack when that was done, then began a fast descent to the main road to the Skye bridge.There was a huge volume of traffic heading for Skye - I wondered whether the island would be big enough to absorb them all - and this, together with pretty atrocious road surfaces made the ride to the bridge rather a hassle, particularly as our mobile phone rang at that point! The Skye Bridge is surprisingly steep, but not difficult to negotiate, and once over, we made good progress despite several photo stops. Eventually we turned off towards Armadale. The road initially takes one over some bare moorland, despite this we decided we had time for a stop for a snack and a cuppa.Remounting, we hastened on to catch the 15:20 ferry. The road to Armadale is rather varied - one minute one's riding through bare hillside, the next through attractive woodland; one moment grinding up a surprisingly steep bit of road, the next roaring along at a fine lick.We reached the ferry terminal in good time: I bought a pair of Island Hopscotch tickets to cover the remaining ferry crossings. The guy at the desk alerted us to roadworks and consequent road closures on the road between Glenuig and Acharacle. This caused us a bit of concern, but when we reached the B&B we did a spot of Googling and found that the roadworks wouldn't be happening tomorrow as it was a Scottish bank holiday (prior to the additional Jubilee bank holiday on Tuesday).After arriving at the Western Isles B&B and cleaning up, we wandered into town and had dinner - cullen skink followed by crab wrapped in lemon sole (Carol) and scallops with cauliflower bhajis (me). After dinner we wandered about, were nosey-parkered at by a couple of seals in the harbour, then returned to the B&B.So all looks well for our penultimate day in the saddle tomorrow. That sees us cycling from  Mallaig to Strontian. According to my iPad weather app, we may see our first rain of the trip tomorrow, though I'm hopeful that we can avoid it.

This was to be the longest day's mileage - around 68 miles. I'd phoned the previous evening to book a double at the Strathcarron Hotel, so at least we knew we had somewhere to stay. After breakfast, we set off out of Ullapool, along a whole series of tough old climbs. Actually, the road didn't get at all easy until we'd reached Loch Glascarnoch (very depleted of water after a long dry period). I was concerned about my sore neck, so we stopped every ten or twelve miles to stretch and eat snacks. This section of the day's cycling was pretty bleak, with no obvious wildlife to be seen bar a few red deer carcases on the road side. Mid-way between Loch Glascarnoch and Gorstan, we stopped at a hotel with tearoom for tea and scones. Rather exorbitant, however!From Gorstan, we were on the road to Achnasheen, where we planned to stop for refreshments. The cycling was pretty easy, as we'd picked up a tailwind. The countryside became barer as we proceeded towards Achnasheen, with very little in the way of accommodation, so we were pleased to have planned ahead.There's a gift shop and tea room by the rail station at Achnasheen, where we stopped for a  (very nice) capuccino. We also admired some motorcycles being refurbished ouside! Actually, from past experience, they do a rather nice smoked venison salad. But we didn't linger, and set out on the final 21 mile leg to Strathcarron.From Achnasheen, the road rises through bare landscape, then descends to more wooded countryside as it approaches Loch Carron. At times we were exceeding 30 mph, though the road reverts to singletrack. We arrived at the Strathcarron Hotel at about 4.30, to a warm welcome. After cleaning up a bit, we had a beer (Red Cuillin), before retiring to our room to plan the last two nights' accommodation in Mallaig and Stontian. After that, a rather good dinner in the bar - monkfish and salmon kebab washed down with McEwans 80/-, followed by crannachan.

This was a pretty easy day, fortunately, with only 15 miles or so to the Stornoway ferry terminal. Reaching the ferry terminal, we left the bike, and went to investigate Stornoway. We picked up some bananas and fruit and nut mix from the Co-op (along with a couple of bottles of chocomilk). A visit to the Library cafe dealt with lunch (toasties and apple pie with capuccinos). After wandering around, we returned to the ferry terminal and waited for the ferry.The man loading the ferry was keen to get us on the ferry before the cars, which was good, as it meant we could get good seats on the observation deck. On the crossing, which is about 2h45, we actually saw some dolphins and gannets going after a shoal of fish. Despite the sunny conditions, it was getting a bit cool, even in the ferry. It was quite a relief to get off the ferry - the bloke organising the unloading was very helpful, and got us off before the majority of motor vehicles.Once off the boat, we circulated, looking for a B&B - the one we settled on was a little 'eccentric', and not en suite.  But we both slept well enough. For evening meal, we went to the Ferry Boat Inn. Carol had cajun monkfish, which was great, while I had a mountain of grilled langoustines. For dessert we both had Ecclefechan tart.And so to bed.

This turned out to be a day of two halves - and both suffered from strong head winds.We completed our stay at the Lochedge B&B with an excellent breakfast, and selected our packed lunch. This armed, we set out for the next arranged B&B - up on the west coast of Lewis. First, however, we had to scale the absurdly steep road from Maraig to the road across Clisham. We accomplished this with some style, and set off on the main cycling out of Harris and into Lewis. The weather at this point was rather overcast and cool.We quickly realised this was not going to be easy cycling, as we had a nagging head wind. After about 20 miles, we made a left turn to Garynahine. For eight miles we had anice tail wind! We paused to eat our packed lunches (ham and mustard & salmon and cucumber sandwiches) in the sunshine - by now, the sunny spells were longer and more frequent. Unfortunately, from Garynahine, things got a lot harder as the head wind ad begun to swing and become more northerly. We cycled past the famous Callanish stone circle (and Callanish III, a secondary circle nearby) and pressed on to Carloway.At Carloway, there's a great view of the famous broch from the road. Once again we decided not to stop, since we'd visited the broch before. A little further on, we made a short detour to the Gearannon black house museum, but only because we knew they had a good tearoom, and by this time we desperately needed a pit stop. Tea and scones fortified us as we rejoined battle against the wind, with 15 miles or so to go before reaching the B&B. The cycling remained really tough as the head wind strengthened, and we were getting a bit fractious in the last few miles.Once in the B&B we showered, and pretty much collapsed! Plans to go out for a walk fell by the wayside as we decided to just take it easy.Fortunately, tomorrow should be an easy day - according to Google, we will have a mere 15.1 miles to cycle, and this should have a stiff tail wind. The ferry to Ullapool leaves in the early afternoon. We still need to plan how we return to Oban in detail.

This was to be a slightly shorter mileage today, estimated at around 40 miles, plus the ferry from Berneray to Leverburgh. our destination was a Bed and Breakfast at Maraig, on the shore of Loch Seaforth in Harris.It was quite chilly as we started (though it was another brilliantly sunnydays and quite hot later), and we were a little later leaving than intended (mostly due to chatting to the B&B lady!), so we had a bit of a dash to make it to the ferry - which we did with about 10 minutes to spare. Once again, there were quite a few cyclists. The crossing takes about an hour as it zig zags around various obstacles. Once in Leverburgh, the cyclists dispersed along the road. We didn't ride for much more than half an hour before stopping by a fabulous beach to make a coffee and eat a snack lunch.Our progress to Maraig was quite leisurely due to frequent photo stops, and two major climbs. The first of these was before Tarbert, and features a climb from the golden sands up through the weird rocky landscape that Harris is renowned for. We didn't stop in Tarbert, but did (for a drink)  just below the second big climb of the day, over Clisham. We have memories of this climb from earlier tours, and it was just as hard to get a tandem over as we remembered! At the top, we stopped to stretch, as my neck was feeling a bit stiff. Just over he crest of the hill is the turn off to Maraig. We met Richard (the owner of the B&B) coming up the steep road to meet us, as he'd heard the tandemists he was expecting were looking a bit lost!Lochedge B&B is in a spectacular location. It's also the most lavishly set up B&B I think I've stayed in (more on this when I do the final write up of the tour).  Dinner was excellent (vegetable soup; local mackerel; gin and tonic sorbet). Very good company from other guests, and from Richard. Highly recommended accommodation.Nature points: a seal seen basking, a variety of wading birds, more geese with goslings, loads of dragonflies whizzing about. And at one stop, many sundews.

We woke to brilliant sunshine flooding the room. At breakfast, we looked out onto the bay, complete with swans and cygnets. We rolled off at 8.15 am, to catch the 9.25am Barra-Eriskay ferry. This was the second time we've ridden this dash to the ferry, and this time was no different - a lengthy and steep climb out of Castlebay, followed by a rather undulating road out to the Ardmor ferry terminal, during which the skies clouded over. We arrived with about ten minutes to go, to find quite few cyclists queued up ahead of us. No problems getting a space on board. While  waiting to depart, I spotted what I thought was a sea otter. On the way over to Eriskay, we saw a bunch of seals basking on a small rock.Once on Eriskay, there's a bit of a climb away from the ferry jetty, but once over that, we zoomed down to the causeway over to South Uist. From there, it's an ever-changing landscape, from the dispersed houses of South Uist to the very wet Benbecula, to the more rugged landscape of North Uist. We only paused for photographs, to heat up some lunch (chili con carne), to visit a craft shop and to buy some supplies at a Co-op.By the time we exited Benbecula, it had become very sunny again, though with a stiff breeze that was a direct headwind between Clachan and Lochmaddy. But the scenery delighted, with deep blue lochans amid heather clad hillside. Eventually Lochmaddy came into view, with the Tigh Dearg Hotel plainly visible - resplendent in red.We rolled up to the Rushlea B&B, and cleaned up a bit. We popped out to the Tigh Dearg for some beer (the Tigh Dearg, brewed by the Skye brewery) and food (excellent baked hake for both of us, followed by rhubarb creme brulee for me and cheesecake for my stoker). Then it was back to Rushlea after a brief stroll.Nature points: Sea otter, geese plus goslings, swans plus cygnets, curlews, an owl (of unknown species).   Road kill points: a hedghog (which is good, these were recently introduced and are playing havoc with ground nesting birds).

After the previous evening's appalling discovery of my failure to properly plan the opening destination of our tour, we were left with a more relaxing start to the day, having been relieved of the urgency of delivering the car to the garage and getting to the ferry terminal for an early departure. Instead, we sorted out our luggage, discarding the cycling clothes brought in case the weather was particularly cold, and took the car to the garage (Hazelbank Motors). From there, we rode down to the CalMac terminal to buy ferry tickets. Boarding wasn't until 3pm, so we set off south from Oban on a little jaunt to the island of Seil, connected to the mainland by the impressively named Atlantic Bridge.Leaving Oban involved cycling up a pretty steep hill which, even in the morning sunshine, had us sprinkling copious sweat. Well, actually, my lady stoker (being a lady) merely glowed. Once over the top, it was a speedy descent to Loch Feochan and a pleasant ride alongside the water. Near the mouth of the sea loch, we turned off towards Seil, along a rather nice 'B' road. This was quite challenging at times, featuring a 15% gradient at one point.We entered Seil by crossing the Atlantic Bridge. This turned out to be a delightful (but very steep) stone bridge spanning a few metres of the Atlantic. A few miles further on saw our first Magnum stop at a small shop, after which we headed back to Oban. At the CalMac terminal, we chatted with a bloke touring on a Brompton. He recommended the nearby seafood stall, where excellent crab and smoked salmon sandwiches were to be had. We bought one of each to eat on the ferry.There was a queue of over dozen bikes, including another tandem. The ferry was really quite empty, and the trip uneventful (except for he drama of a passenger who took a nasty fall, requiring the assistance of a couple of nurses). Indeed, the sea was particularly smooth, and the skies astonishingly sunny. It was even warm out on deck.Time passed quite quickly, lubricated as it was by sampling a pint each of Clansman and Islander beers from the Hebridean brewery. We eventually arrived at Castlebay, and disembarked as a gang of about 20 bikes (so my original estimate must have been supplemented by late arrivals). Many of the cyclists seems to be headed for a hostel close to the ferry, but some others pedalled off into the distance. We made for the Ravenscroft B&B, where we'd stayed a couple of nights  a few years ago. Castlebay was looking lovely as it was lit by the low sun, and we went for a brief walk, taking a few snaps along the way. You can just see Kisimul castle from the bedroom window, though it's rather dwarfed by the ferry we'd arrived on!Tomorrow we head for Lochmaddy, so quite a lengthy day in the saddle. Today we did around 32 miles all told.Nature points - geese, herons, hoodie crows, cuckoos (heard not seen, on Seil and on Barra), corncrake (heard and not seen on Barra).As we passed through the Sound of Mull, sight of the Fishnish to the Lochaline ferry suggested an alternative route from Strontian, which would avoid returning to Oban by the A85 trunk road. From Strontian, we'd cross Morvern to Lochaline, cross to Fishnish, then cycle to Craignure to catch the ferry back to Oban.

At last we had some properly seasonal weather after a pretty unpleasant spring.  Treated to some sunny and hot conditions, we reckoned on some good times (though actually, the humidity did seem to affect some riders). The event was the North Bucks Road Club 10 mile Championship event, so for the NBRC members, there was something to aim at. Well, if truth be told, this would be for Silver behind Tony...Lining up behind riders, I was acutely conscious that I'd marked the hottest evening of the club event season by neglecting to bring a bottle. Not that I ever plan to drink in a '10', but it's nice to drink before and after the event. And there's the generally belief that the aero bottle improves the aero characteristics of the frame.Anyhow, off I went at the allotted time. I found the opening sections not too bad - it was a pretty still night, so no assistance (or hindrance) due to wind. I had no trouble with traffic at any point during the event, which made a nice change. I always take the first roundabout carefully, as it's very heavily potholed and falling off in the first mile would be somewhat embarrassing.  I whisked up the hill pretty briskly, then embarked on the dual carriageway section, for which there isn't too much to report.  Coming off the dual carriageway, I hoped to to crank out some speed.  And I did for a while, but the final mile or so is pretty hard, even on a nice evening, as the road surface is pretty rough and while it looks level, I think it's actually a slight incline.  I finished in 22:47, one of my faster times on this course, and enough for silver behind Tony, I think.

Another weekend, another '10'! This time on the Leighton Buzzard course (F12/10). This is a course that I always feel ought to be quicker than I find it - unfortunately it suffers from a heavy surface, is exposed and has a roundabout to cross  twice, where one often gets held up by traffic. But, hey, it's another race...The weather was a moderate but blustery wind, and it was reasonably warm (but still cool for an afternoon in late May).  I arrived at the start line with a few minutes to spare. While being held by the pusher-off, I observed that there was an ominous road kill alongside - fortunately I don't think there were any accidents out there! The timekeeper seemed to take some pleasure in teasing me about my recent spate of punctures (of which, more later).I started in reasonably good style, but pretty much straightaway got stopped by a line of traffic at the Billington roundabout (you can see the drop in speed on the Garmin trace). Despite dropping down a gear, it still took a big effort to get back up to speed again. This was a bit tough, as the outward leg was pretty heavy going, with a nagging cross wind. Reaching the turn, I once again got stalled by traffic at the roundabout, before I set off on the return leg.The return was mostly considerably faster than the outward leg - but despite this wind assistance, there were some real hard sections. I reached the Billington roundabout dreading a further holdup, but passed through smoothly. So, all in all a pretty uneventful event, no problems with traffic (other than at the roundabouts). I would generally expect to do around 23:15 or so, so my 23:29 was about what I expected!Oh, and to return to the subject of punctures. This time it was Tony who was afflicted: just as he neared the start, his front tub punctured.  He dashed back for the spare wheel, but unfortunately he'd forgotten the track pump so he rode the event on a slightly soft tyre. Didn't seem to affect him too much - he beat me by just over a minute! 

I recently signed the Sense about Science petition in favour of their GM wheat trials. I have just received the following email which suggests that the Take the Flour Back pressure group are afraid to discuss the issues around this GM work in a public forum.  I can only conclude that they realise their opinions of this work are without merit compared with the efforts that the Rothamsted scientists have made in engaging with the public and explaining the nature of their work.The research is legal, and has passed all regulatory hurdles. The actions of Take the Flour Back are to be deplored. I urge all to read the information at the website and sign the petition.

Dear Petition SignatoryYou supported the appeal by Rothamsted scientists against plans by a group to take direct action against their research into whether GM wheat can warn off aphids.The Take the Flour Back group is pursuing this action but had agreed with the researchers’ proposal to debate their concerns before 27th May.  The researchers organised a neutral venue and chair for a debate. Unfortunately Take the Flour Back has announced they will not take part. There is a timeline of the exchange between Professor John Pickett and Take the Flour Back at http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/Content.php?Section=AphidWheat&Page=ProtestThere’s lots of other discussion going on. Professor Pickett will be on Newsnight on BBC2 at 10.30 tonight. Many of you left comments on the petition asking about aspects of the research and we have received many questions and points by email and twitter. The scientists at Rothamsted, and colleagues at institutions doing related work, have been responding to many of them; some of this is now up on http://www.senseaboutscience.org/pages/rothamsted-appeal.htmlPlease send the message far and wide: forward the scientists' appeal to your friends and colleagues, share the petition on Facebook and use Twitter hashtag #dontdestroyresearch.http://www.senseaboutscience.org/petition.phpBest regardsSíle Lane