Travel Reference
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'Yes, that'snot a problem to heat upyourmeals,' he said. 'Youboth look like youcould
do with a hot chocolate, too.'
It really was the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted; thick, overly sweet hot chocolate,
topped with cream, marshmallows and a flake. I think you probably need to spend hours
walking in the wind and rain, dressed only in a pair of shorts and a bin bag to fully appre-
ciate it, but it's definitely worth sampling, if you are ever in the area.
The Londis microwaveable spaghetti Bolognese wasn't too bad either. Again, I think
our enjoyment of this was partly due to the circumstances.
'Idon'tthinkI'veeverfeltasmiserableasIdidhalfanhourago,'saidBenafterawhile.
'Yes, it was pretty grim,' I said. 'At least we're dry now and it's not far to go today.'
'That's the problem, though. Today isn't the end of the bike ride. We've still got hun-
dreds of miles to go until John O'Groats and I just want it to be over.'
'Are you not enjoying it at all?'
'No.It'shorrendous.IkeepthinkinghowIcouldbeathomesittingonthesofa,drinking
tea whenever I like, going to the cinema, going to the pub. The only thing getting me
through this is knowing that each day means we're another day closer to finishing.'
'Just imagine the sense of achievement we'll feel when we've finished.'
'Iusedtothinkthat,butnowIdon'tseethepoint.Imeanisitreallyworthalltheeffort?'
'I'mhavinggreatfun.OfcourseI'mlookingforwardtofinishing,too,butI'mreallyen-
joyingeachday.Todayhasbeenhorrible,admittedly,butmostofithasbeengood.Besides,
we've been to the cinema and pub, and drank plenty of tea since we've been on the road.'
Ben gave a huge sigh. He had shown moments of frustration before, but this was the
first true sign of dejection. I hoped that it was nothing that a place to sleep and a change of
weather couldn't fix.
Westayedinthecaféforaslongaswecould,butPauleventuallyencouragedustoleave
as he was closing up. We spent a few minutes trying to dry our clothes under the hand-dry-
ers in the toilet, and then braved it back outside.
It was still raining outside, but the fog was clearing and the sun was fighting to break
through the clouds. Ben looked thoroughly depressed as he pulled the already wet bin liner
over his head and climbed aboard The Horse. Out of context, that last sentence would
sound very strange.
'Cheer up, mate. It's downhill all the way to Glencoe,' I said.
'Yeah right. I've heard that one before.'
'It is, I promise you. It's only a couple of miles.'
'Is that where we're going to stay tonight?'
'It's up to you. We can try and find somewhere there, or it's another 15 miles along the
banks of a loch to Fort William, which is much bigger. It'll be flat all the way.'
'We'll see. I'll let you know when we get to Glencoe.'
Ben pedalled like a man possessed, and we reached Glencoe in no time.
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