Cycling

I have been doing a fair bit of cycling in recent times, particularly as the weather is very nice just now. Today, I went to the Pentland Road, as far as the turn-off for Achmore, some 4½ miles west of Stornoway, then returned along a rough track that is access to local windfarms.



The Pentland Road is an easy ride. The road was designed to be a railway (in the 19th century), so is mostly level, with only very gentle inclines. Getting there is a different matter. The road lies at an average altitude of 80 metres above sealevel (270 feet), so there is an ascent to overcome. I did that in the Castle Grounds, and local readers will be familiar with the steep road up to the Castle, and the even steeper brae besides the College. On the way back, it is plain sailing down the Lochs Road, where I clocked 20 mph on the slope between Marybank and the Caberfeidh Hotel. Traffic on the roads through the town was light this Sunday, but is much busier on weekdays. The return from the Pentland Road takes me past the council dump, which I would not take on weekdays; there is a steady stream of binlorries and other heavy vehicles on a single-track road with very few passing places, not to mention that blind corner into Bennadrove. As a cyclist, you need to have eyes and ears everywhere; on the single track routes I actively listen out for cars coming up from behind and scan for passing places. A signal is appreciated and usually acknowledged. The traffic roundabouts in town need to be negotiated with care, signalling clearly to motorvehicles coming up from behind, when entering and leaving the roundabout.

17.3 km (10.8 miles) is not a vast distance; I have been known to cycle nearly 25 miles in one day. However, I'm not going to participate in the Tour de France, so 14 kph (9 mph) is fast enough for me.

Black Lives Matter

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” George Orwell '1984' (with thanks to Sal Hemingway for unearthing this quote)

I dislike sanitising history. Tearing down statues on the back of populist sentiments is denying the past. From my perspective, the slave trade was odious, but at the time of Colston et al, it was an acceptable trade. People benefited from it. And those that shout the loudest against it now seek to deny their own history.

I always say:

Look at history through the eyes of the time (in the past). 

Photo diary

As you all know, I take inordinate numbers of photographs. The total is about 88,000 since February 2006, roughly 6,200 per annum or 17 per day. Usually taken through a window, but also when I'm out and about. I have them logged on Flickr.com, and categorised in (I think) 800 albums. These are my diary, reminding me of days, events and people. Checking back, for instance, the album for Lochmaddy (North Uist) reminds me of my first visit there, back in 1996. Stayed in a perilous youth hostel. Eight years later, I ended up there again, now in the even more perilous Uist Outdoor Centre, where I survived for 5 nights whilst exploring the Uists. Another 9 years later, and I was traipsing the village in the company of a lady. In 2014, I passed through in appalling weather with different company. Lochmaddy is a non-descript little place, except for the surrounding scenery and the Taigh Chearsabhagh arts centre. It holds many memories for me.



This is the link to the Flickr-album https://www.flickr.com/photos/adb41/albums/72157633721153632