Day 1 - Gears fixed by Gears

From outside Glasgow University to Abington

First of all, a massive thanks to all who came down to see us off on Thursday morning especially Chris' Nana. The team trip to Ashton Lane the night before for leaving drinks quickly escalated into a leaving night out in Viper for Charlotte. Post Viper packing of the bags was dodgy at best but most essential items found their way into the bags!

 After a solid start we soon realised that our bikes wouldn't get us to the end of Kelvin Way, never mind the sandy stuff; all our chains had stretched under the weight of the bags! Que a trip to Gears of Glasgow for some top notch service. A couple new chains later and we were back on the road...2 hours late.

After this setback we managed to pull it together and get back on track, saying goodbye to rainy Glasgow as we raced towards midge-infested Abington (the highest village in Scotland). We set up camp in a field just off the main cycle route where we were quickly set upon by the local midge population. A cold sleep after 48.5 miles in the afternoon wasn't ideal but day 1 complete.

Lowest point of the day for Donnie...getting both bumcheeks zapped by the electric fence around the field (rookie, cityboy error). Coincidently, this was the highest point of the day for Chris and Char!

(For background info on our journey check out http://www.cycle-to-sahara.co.uk/)