Incentives

There are all different flavours of incentives to get something done. On a long ride like this, there absolutely is the incentive to get to the end and say that you’ve done it, but I find that particular thought too big and distant to get me though a tough day. Instead, I tend to call on the great power of Little Incentives. Just get to the next stop… just get round that corner… just get past that tree… then the next…

Some gods rolling around in blankets. Or mountains of the Cairngorms, depending on your perspective.

The last two long, long days have needed and had all sorts of different incentives. On the journey from Ballater we journeyed through the mountains of the Cairngorms in weather clear enough to show them in all their magnificence. But to see these mountains does also require climbing some mountains. And climb we did, up roads that were as steep as walls, winding higher and higher… Here, each pedal push was an incentive and required enough concentration to keep upright with both wheels stuck to the road that the corners soon inched by. We all glowed with euphoria when we reached the top of the greatest climb of the whole journey (the Lecht).

Bike contemplating the next section of mountain ahead, after surviving some fearsome steepness that rivals even some of the hills in Cornwall.

But there was still a long way to go after the towering highs of the mountains . On this particular day I had an extra special incentive that had nothing to do with cycling achievements or beautiful views. I knew my brother was going to be somewhere up ahead. So on I cycled. On and on.

And lo! Over in the distance was a rather tall, non-lycra clad figure with his partner, filming me speed up to the food stop! I didn’t even get off my bike for a hug.

The incentive of the final part of the day was to get to Dingwall, where Stuart and Tara would be waiting, as quickly as possible for another cuddle. I rattled along at top speed!

A corner of Inverness with Ben Nevis in the background.

The incentives for the next day were very different. No mountains to conquer, no brother at the next food stop. Just a headwind for 50 miles, with a slight but very definite incline for most of it. It was soul-sapping, especially after the elations of the previous day. For most of this day, my incentives were ground down to a fine dust. I didn’t have the energy to hold on to any greater ideas. Each grain of incentive was the thought of not giving up. Thought Again. And again. Eventually the incentives trickled by, the hours of peddling passed, and the sea was finally seen!