After one of the worst night’s sleep ever (Matt’s snoring {more of which later} and it was COLD), this morning was slow and tetchy chez Hopson!
Fortunately, the cycling more than made up for the grotty start – it was just one stupendous view after another all day:
The cycle path continued along the old railway line – here we are passing through a station!
The A82 towards Fort William is a pretty crazy road – fortunately there is a cycle path (even that’s a bit hairy in places) until the Corran ferry – free to foot passengers and cyclists – hoorah!
And then the west/north shore turned out to be an absolute gem – a single track road with passing places, very little traffic and increasingly awe inspiring views as we approached Fort William with Ben Nevis looming over the town:
Opposite Fort William there is a little ferry stage at Camusnagaul with just a few ferries a day, the last one being at 16.35. We were there in good time and mulled over the next few days.
The plan was (obviously) to cycle on to Inverness but – to be honest – I/we is/are knackered. When we cycled Eurovelo 6 back in 2017, we had a rule of cycling 3-4 days and then having a break – we have now cycled 6 (some of them quite testing) with no break at all. In addition, what some of you know is that Matt has severe obstructive sleep apnoea and normally sleeps with a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine:
This has been a game changer – not only for his quality of sleep and quality of life generally (he now doesn’t sleep in the afternoon!) but also for me. I try to joke about his snoring but – again, as some of you reading this will testify – the volume of his snoring (without the machine) is LEGENDARY! Unfortunately, his machine is a) heavy and b) relies on an electric supply – neither of which is conducive to cycle touring with a tent!
Part of this journey was a bit of an experiment to see how we would get on without it. The answer – after 6 days – is not very well!
A little known face of sleep apnoea is that it also makes you wee a lot in the night – in Matt’s case this can be up to 7 times per night. When we have our REM sleep our body releases a hormone which slows down our urine production so we don’t have to wee. If you have sleep apnoea and, therefore, no REM sleep, this hormone isn’t produced. Last night Matt crashed in and out of the tent 3 times and by 5.30 this morning I couldn’t decide whether murder or suicide was the best option!
So, one of our jobs when we get home in a couple of weeks is to find a camping/travelling friendly CPAP machine – lightweight, battery operated but which still does the job.
The final ferry today turned out to be tiny, taking a maximum of 12 bikes. Fortunately, there were just 7 of us for the final crossing but all panniers had to be removed and this is an utter pain in the backside:
It made us realise that taking our bikes and kit on the train on Monday, with 2 changes (because bikes can’t go on Intercity trains {WTF??}) was going to be a sodding nightmare so tomorrow we have a complete change of plan.
Watch this space!
hopsons on tour 
Well done Jules for getting through the day! Really hope you’re going to get a better nights sleep tonight? Will Matt have his machine with him when you come here, as if not I’m assuming you want separate bedrooms 🤣😂. No seriously!! Looking forward to seeing your plans for the next few days. You should cut yourselves some slack and have some downtime. Xx
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😂 Jules, yes he will have the machine with him – it’s in the car! Xxx
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Both of my cpaps have a battery operated power supply as well as the 240V lead
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Thanks, Niall – that’s really good to know. 😴😴😴
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