So after a long wait filled with lists being written and checked, bags being packed and weighed and other getting ready to travel style tasks finally the first day of my cycling adventure to Scotland arrived.
With a short history of cycling related forgetfulness (and probably a lifetime of actual non-cycling related forgetfulness!!!) I was pretty confident that I had pulled together everything I needed for the journey ahead. Clothing for all weathers on the bike, clothes for the non-cycling getting food / seeing friends and family parts of the adventure, spare bike parts, tools, a pile of electrical stuff and a paper copy of the details I might require had made their way into my two cycle bags. One of these, the slightly heavier one, would go onto the plane as hold luggage, the other as hand luggage.......both accompanied by a large cardboard box into which I had successfully fitted the bike, Red.
Whilst fitting a bike into a bike sized box doesn't sound too complicated the task was made slightly harder because I had to let down the tyres, remove the pedals and ensure the handlebars were spun round so that there was less risk of bike damage in transit and / or damage to the baggage handlers at Heathrow airport.
A large amount of suitable sticky tape later and I think I was just about ready to go. Several weeks earlier I had contacted British Airways, with whom I had booked to travel from Heathrow to Inverness (tickets booked a long time ago, quite possibly in a sale......so these were Business class tickets!) to ensure they were aware that my bike would be part of my luggage, and with only a few days to go before flying I contacted BA again to double check that my previous request had been confirmed, which it had.
My beautiful and incredibly supportive wife Jan had agreed to give me, the oversized bike filled box and my bags a lift upto Heathrow, and with the car packed we set off with plenty of time to spare to ensure minimal stress at the airport for me, and minimal stress for Jan getting home.
Setting off just after lunch the sun was shining, and leaving our home the car kindly told us that the temperature was 28 degrees Celsius, slightly hotter than I was hoping to cycle in. As we got through the New Forest towards Southampton the temperature rose to a little over 30 degrees, and this increase in heat was accompanied with news via a large road side sign that the M3 motorway was closed.
Luckily we had given ourselves lots of time, so a slight detour via the A34 and the M4, where the temperature continued to rise to around 33 degrees, still gave us plenty of time to get to Heathrow. As we drove around the entrance to terminal 5 for the third time (as I might have missed the signs and missed turning into the drop off area.....three times!) we finally made it to the aforementioned drop off area.
A wonderful hug in the heat with Jan was followed by the loading of a airport trolley with my large cardboard box and bags. I waved Jan goodbye as she set off to try and get home avoiding the M3 closure and promptly struggled to get the trolley through the doors - the box on the trolley was too wide!
A quick subtle rearrangement of the box and bags later and I successfully got into Terminal 5, which is an incredibly big building full of travellers heading off all round the world. None appeared to have a bike in a box however, and I had no idea where I needed to be to check in my box / bike and bag.
Luckily a very helpful chap close to the entrance guided me to the oversized luggage check in desks where I set off towards. No obvious bikes in boxes but an abundance of bags full of golf clubs, a surf board, large push chairs / wheelchairs and other oversized luggage were heading in the same direction and I took comfort in this as I joined the queue.
Whilst I'm not nervous about flying I am a little nervous about the whole airport check in / security set up...... not because of any specific check in / security concerns but I have previously failed at this part of airport travel before in a self made situation where I was more worried about Jan (who doesn't like flying at all) and completely forgot to remove my keys / belt / boots as instructed and got taken to one side by the security people which in fairness did very little to help Jan and her pre-flight nerves!!!
At the desk, once I'd got to the front of the queue I successfully checked in my bag for the hold and got the bike box covered in a few stickers. I also got instructions to take the bike box to the large luggage check in section so off I went to find this desk back at the far side of the terminal building.
The two staff at this desk were super helpful managing an oversized thing (not a clue how to describe it) onto which I placed the bike box and off it trundled into the bowels of terminal 5. So far the process of checking in box / bag and myself seemed to be going well, although was now thinking that the whole adventure relied very heavily on the bike box successfully being loaded onto the correct plane and then making its way to the baggage collection area of Inverness airport....and if this didn't happen the cycling part of my cycling adventure would end very early!
Now all I had to do was successfully navigate the security element of the process. Previous mis-adventure in mind I then made my way to join a queue for security , my disinfectant hand gel in its own clear bag. Whilst I'm not a total technophobe the various elements of getting through security were a challenge for me - standing on the painted footprints on the floor, looking in a certain direction, scanning my boarding card are I imagine all simple tasks without any sense of nerves or pressure, but crickey these were very challenging for me.
With this all safely navigated I then was asked to remove belt / wallet etc and place them into a large plastic tray before being beckoned forward by the lovely security people to once again stand on painted footprints, face in a certain direction and hold my hands above my head......and after a little correction by the lovely security staff who probably suffer idiots like me all the time, I managed to be reunited with my belt / wallet etc and continue on into the large departure lounge.
The next hour or two was uneventful (food and a coffee consumed, a bit of time for people watching.....) and it wasn't too long before the departure gate information appeared on the boards and I walked to the correct gate. Less nervous than before I was starting to relax into the adventure, which soon met tannoy announcements which I struggled to understand about busy plane and some form of request for volunteers amongst the passengers to put bags in the hold........or something along these lines, as I said the announcement was a little unclear to me.
Then the advantages of having bought a Business Class ticket started to become clear. (I should say now this might sound a bit posh, but quite genuinely this ticket was great value given it allowed me 32 kg of luggage - easily enough for the bike, which would have cost more in additional luggage costs than the business class ticket did in the sale).
My fellow business class ticket holders and I were allowed onto our section of the plane before anyone else, and the middle seat in each group of three were blanked off.......giving us all more elbow space. I settled into my seat, watched the safety announcement and got ready for take off. Our steward handed out menus and welcomed us all individually, thanking us for flying once again with British Airways, giving me a bit of imposter syndrome!
Once in the air drinks and food (for me a vegan meal which was delicious) were handed out and before I knew it we were making our approach into Inverness, with quite beautiful views of the coastline and a stunning sunset reflecting off the sea. Safely on the ground it didn't take too long to make my way off the plane, down the stairs and onto the tarmac of Inverness airport following my fellow passengers to the baggage lounge to hopefully be reunited with my bag and bike box.
Baggage areas are a great way to observe how humans operate....everyone taking their positions before someone else needs to ask them to move, politely of course, to get their own luggage, and this flight into Inverness didn't disappoint. My one cycling bag was amongst the first to appear on the carousel meaning a polite request for access from the back of the crowd from me and I was soon the proud holder of about 66% of my luggage.
I was still slightly nervous about my bike box not arriving too, but a few minutes later I was really pleased to see a member of staff from the airport wheel my bike box into the baggage area on a trolley. Reunited with my bike I then found my way out of the building to start the minor task of getting the bike back together so I could set off to Inverness and my first bed and breakfast accommodation of the adventure.
Whilst the rebuilding of Red didn't take too long, I was about the last person still at the airport as I set up satnav and Buble to guide me the ten miles or so to the B & B. Whilst it was getting a little dark at this point, bike lights needed to ensure I was seen more than needed to enable me to actually see, with the post code of my destination in my phone I was given my first satnav instructions to escape the airport car park......and off I set.
Muggy or humid would best describe the conditions as I successfully escaped the airport car park taking the quietest route to Inverness. It was warm though !
Within seconds of starting the ride I realised I was being eyed up by the local midge population but I managed to avoid being too bitten over the course of the ride into the town / city centre. Within a couple of minutes of leaving the airport I was greeted with my first wildlife encounter as a large owl flew a matter of a few metres in front of me, silently flying across my path. Not a bad start from a wildlife point of view, and as I clocked up the first few miles it didn't take me long to make my way to my first overnight destination.
With key safe details from the B & B owner I managed to secure Red the bike in their garage for the night and access my room.....and within a few minutes I was getting ready for a good nights sleep, alarm set for an early breakfast to begin the first full day of cycling.
As I turned off the lights I realised that I was on my own and the heady mix of nerves and excitement meant it took a little while to calm down sufficiently to sleep, but sleep I did getting rested before my planned 100 mile cycle the next day.