For All the Times I Never Said Thank You

My Dad always took the photos of the rest of the family. So it’s rare to see one with just me and him in it. What were we chatting about? A conversation lost in time. We clearly had no idea mum had, for once, the camera in her hand.

When I was young, I went on many walking holidays with my Mum and Dad. Whether it be locally, in say the New Forest or more far a-field like the Camargue in the south of France or as here somewhere in Greece.

I spent so much time with dad, later working together for 25 years. I owe my moral compass and the lifestyle I can live to him, but looking back did I ever tell him how much I appreciated it or did I ever say thank you?

However not all of his advice sunk in. Many times, while at the start of a long walk, I would run off the route to jump up or over an obstacle or checking out a section I deemed exciting.

He would regularly have to say to me; ‘’Stop dicking about early on, if you have any energy left towards the end, then you can dick about’’ He said this because invariably he’d have to give me a piggy back on the second half when I had run out of energy. Including when he carried me on his back all the way down Snowdon from the very top back to the camp site: a man of such unassuming strength and endurance.

You would have thought by now that I’d learnt that lesson, but last Friday early on the 4th stage of a mountain bike trip across Scotland, I was ‘dicking about’ early on - adding an extra super tough climb, trying to bunny hop some log, diverting off route to ride a dodgy old bridge and trying to ride through thick sand when we passed by a beach. All of which took their toll a few hours later towards the end of the day, when with many miles still to cover, I was exhausted. Sorry Dad.

But I’m a dad now, and this exhausted state coincides with another bout of homesickness.
I’m on a dream trip, experiencing an unusually super-hot, spectacular Scotland but my mind is elsewhere……It’s wondering what my daughter is having for her tea and how her day had been. 

I not really conveying much about this Scotland trip am I. Should I be listing all the ride details and terrain we traversed? I've never been one for stats and figures. I regularly zone out if the conversation turns to normalised watts or the like. Look my Strava page for that, or for more resourceful content on bike-packing from my chum on this trip see www.sirguylitespeed.com.

 This blog is just notes jotted down at the end of one of the stages, after the toughest one actually, which was the stage with the shortest overall mileage but it included the horrendously arduous Corrieyairack Pass amongst other climbs. But I ride with emotion and easily block out any discomfort with memories and thoughts of home. Hence, I write this at the end of that day when I probably should be getting to sleep, as tomorrow is another hard day. This route is from John O’Groats to Glasgow and Scotland has lived up to the high expectations I had. We named the route ‘The Long Badger’ as it was an extension of ‘The Badger Divide’ which runs from Inverness to Glasgow.

It’s off road and very remote. We had not a drop rain during the six full days of riding (I guess that's more or less a first for Scotland). I had strapped a rain jacket to my bike, but it was never unrolled. Also, despite riding for 468 miles over rocky terrain in six days there was not one puncture in the group. The route is a constant barrage of wow moments and chatting with friends within these backdrops is a blessing. 

Scotland photos are by Guy Townsend but full praise and thanks to Jenny Townsend for the organisation and logistics. 

We do, of course get through this leg ok, shattered but full of beans. We have a fairly rundown old pub for accommodation tonight. (The only digs available, it is so remote in this part of Scotland) And initial impressions are interesting as the instant we arrive we are instructed that dinner is in 5 minutes with no choice of what we are given. But it turns out to be absolutely (relatively) perfect. You don't need 5 stars (this was barely one I think!) when the food is good and plentiful, the showers are hot and the Wi-Fi is fast. In a few hours we'd be back on our bikes. What emotions will tomorrow evoke?

Just a couple more days to go, Scotland you are so beautiful but I must get home, I have Dad things to do. Sport can make you selfish and narrow minded. I endeavour to minimise these traits. My ambitions are now having to be condensed into small pockets of time, and quite rightly so, I need to be home to entertain the little one and pass on the valuable experiences that I learnt from my parents. Even if I don’t always remember them myself!

But of course, I get it now, Alina never has to say thank you to me, but she floors me, every time she does.