H Crash Lands on Approach to Kilross Airport !

The man that has left the best part of his hip in Wales, most of his elbow in Slovenia and his stomach contents in Santander added to his impressive list by donating a few of his ribs to the Scottish cause riding today to Findhorn. In doing so H became one of only a handful of people ever to crash land on approach to an airport without actually being inside of a plane !

We left our luxury b&b near Alness on full stomachs courtesy of our wonderful hosts Gunta and Alec and set about cycling the 40plus kms to Inverness on an overcast and cool day.

Taking flattish and quiet back roads to Dingwall had us both believing we were living in a dream until we took on a 200 metre climb mirroring the A9 along country lanes on the Black Isle.

Entry to Inverness was by courtesy of the Inverness main bridge where an easy 3km cycle followed to the train station where we were just over a week ago !

My plan was to bypass the exit from Inverness and give H an easy day but the look of the ticketing attendant had me worried. "I'm glad you guys are only going to Forres" he said - if you'd wanted any other train heading south you'd have to wait a week or more as Scotrail only provides access for 2 bikes per train !

We gladly paid our $20 equivalent for a 45 minute train journey ( trains are incredibly expensive in the UK) and sat back enjoying the views over the terrain that we would have cycled

Getting off at Forres we had only 10 kms to go to our accommodation at Findhorn by way of Kinloss.

It was at this point while passing the airports runway and talking about the old giant hangars in place that H failed to notice the 10 foot high partially dismantled traffic light obviously in use once upon a time to stop cars while a plane was landing.

From our best forensic recreation it appears that H hit the protective bollard at speed cannoned into the traffic light and then crashed on to the crash verge impressing both the Russian judges and a good natured young lass who stopped her car to see if H was ok !

Thankfully the damage was limited to Kev's pride although H reckoned a few cuts and bruised ribs warranted hero status as he continued riding on to Findhorn.

With our basic accommodation found we had just enough time to watch the conclusion of the opening stage of the Tour de France (their crashes weren't as impressive!)

A late afternoon walk around the shore of this holiday town gave us just enough time to relax before dinner and for H to check whether any permanent damage to self or bike had been done !!!