As reported over the last few days (Cyclist Alejandro Valverde banned two years for doping - USATODAY.com; Valverde suspended for two years world-wide, keeps results - Cyclingnews.com), Alejandro Valverde, aka Valv. (Piti) has been banned for two years effective 1/1/10 over the Operacion Puerto blood doping affair.  Not before time.  As I've said before, the ridiculous length of time it's taken to deal with the fallout of the Fuentes blood-doping ring has been bad for justice, not just for those who have been punished, and for those accused (mistakenly or otherwise) but for the non-dopers whose careers will have been affected by those who've doped.Of course, the Valverde supporters are now out.  Valverde's team mate Guitierrez has written an open letter (see Gutiérrez responds to Valverde ban - Cyclingnews.com) in which it would seem he takes the usual head in the sand approach to doping issues.  Let's not forget, there's DNA evidence that the blood bags labelled Valv. (Piti) did contain Valverde's blood.The bigger injustice is that the remaining cyclists involved in the Fuentes blood doping ring have not so far been punished.  And that other sports seem to have gone silent.

22 milesAn easy day, as we cycled down to the Craignure ferry terminal to return to Oban. We had shelved plans to cycle round the north of Mull, spending a second night in Tobermory partly because of the difficulty in finding accommodation, and partly because of the weather forecast. In the event, this was probably a good decision, as the cloud was very low, and for much of the morning we h drizzly showers.The first half of the day's cycling, as far as Salen, was quite tough with many climbs on singletrack road, made harder by vying with motor traffic while avoiding potholes. After Salen, the road's wider and flatter. Not much to report, with the only notable nature points being a pair of seals who took a great deal of interest watching us watching them watch us watch them...The ferry crossing to Oban is quite quick, taking only 45 minutes. Then we had to tackle the hurlyburly of Oban traffic (a bit of a shock after the last few days of relatively quiet roads) as we returned to pick up the car.
View 2010 Tour Day 9 Tobermory to Oban in a larger map

32 miles (but the hardest miles of the trip!)Today was the best weather of the trip so far, and we spent the cycling the length of Ardnamurchan. The eastern part of Ardnaurchan has some of the most glorious native broadleaf woodland - and is pretty tough cycling as the road rises and dips repeatedly from the shores of Loch Sunart. We stopped to talk to a couple of girls packing up camp to head back to Glasgow (train from Fort William), then carried on, to stop at a tearoom/wildlife centre with an RSPB person - tea and icecream, enlivened by the aerobatic antics of swallows.Shortly after, the landscape becomes quite bare, and the road climbs up - a long but steady climb that eventually descends to Kilchoan. In this section we saw numerous red deer.From Kilchoan we rode onwards to visit Ardnamurchan Point, which is the westernmost place on the mainland. This was 6 of the toughest miles of the trip, and we still had to ride back to Kilchoan! After walking up to the lighthouse, we rode back down the road a short distance and stopped to heat up some lunch. Checking our watches, we wondered whether we'd make the 15.15 ferry from Kilchoan to Tobermory. In the event the ferry men saw us whizzing down to the ferry and waited for us! The crossing was terrific, warm enough to sit outdoors.Once in Tobermory, we finally found a B&B - most had no vacancies (something of a pattern on this trip). This involved cycling the loaded tandem up some of the steepest streets we've ever ridden up. After a hot shower, we wandered around Tobermory, stopping for scallops and chips and then a beer.
View 2010 Tour Day 8 - Salen to Tobermory in a larger map

40 milesAt last we woke to no rain! As we ate breakfast at the Western Isles guest house, we could look over the harbour and saw various boats and ferries. It was Sunday morning, so not much activity - though the CalMac ferry sneaked out for Armadale while we were loading up the bike. We rolled out of Mallaig along the recently upgraded Fort William road. This set the tone for much of the rest of the day, with a succession of uphill and downhill sections, but as with all new roads is a bit soulless with wide and bare verges. Accordingly, we waited until we were on the banks of Loch Ailort before we stopped for a teabreak. This part of the west coast is rather pleasant, in no small part due to the broadleaf woodland. However there's abundant house building along the lochside.A long climb took us over to Loch Moidart. We stopped for lunch on the shore of Loch Moidart, watching herons fly by, and sea kayaks in the distance.Another succession of climbs and descents took us to Acharacle, where the shop was unfortunately shut, this being Sunday! A few more miles saw us reach our destination, the Salen Hotel, on the edge of the Ardnamurchan peninsula, tomorrow's route. After a very welcome hot shower, we wandered down to the bar for a beer and to make a reservation for dinner. Then a brief wander around Salen before returning to the hotel for dinner - warm goat's cheese salad with aubergine chutney, followed by roast venison with a rather good fruity sauce. Dessert was Dutch apple crumble.
View 2010 Tour Day 7 - Mallaig to Salen in a larger map

45 milesThis was a second wet day, but not seriously so until the afternoon.  We set out from Portree shortly after 9 am, and pretty quickly got fed up with the traffic on the main road south from Portree - this road isn't very nice (except for the splendid scenery wreathed in  misty cloud) and seems to be a succession of long drags and descents, perhaps the most notable being that to the Sligachan Hotel and campsite.At Sconser we decided to evade the traffic by turning left at the golf club and quarry, taking a rickety little road round Moll.  No traffic, no rain so we stopped for a drum up.  This brought out our first midgies!  A little further on we rejoined the main road for Broadford.  The rain started up again, and about the only thing that kept us going was the sight of the prolific bluebells.  In Broadford we stopped for tea and scones, and met three mountain bikers who we'd last seen on Barra.  Also a couple planning to camp, and who seemed to have an optimistic weather forecast.On to the Coop, where we bough bananas, banana flavoured milk (at last!) and a huge bar of chocolate.  Shortly after leaving Broadford, the rain came on with a vengeance, making the 17 miles to Armadale very soggy.  Still, while parts of the new road to Armadale are a bit dull, this is made up for by the woodland in Sleat, with many many bluebells (and wild garlic).We arrived a the ferry terminal with an hour to go, and found it packed.  It turned out to be pasengers awaiting the Waverley paddles steamer, and once that had departed the waiting room was ours, along with a large number of motorcyclists dripping everywhere.We found the B&B with little difficulty, and quickly unpacked.  A hot shower and we were ready to explore Mallaig!Dinner was very good - excellent moules mariniere followed by hake with a mixed shellfish sauce and braised fennel. C had no starter and had scallops on lentils.
View 2010 Tour Day 6 - Portree to Mallaig in a larger map

A day of short mileage mostly due to the ferry times. When I woke it was still sunny, but by the time we loaded up and trundled down to the ferry terminal, it was raining quite significantly.The rain persisted on and off all day. At the start we still hoped to ride over the Quiraing, but the low cloud and rain dissuaded us.So on through the rain to Portree, along a regular double track road, which after a few days in the Outer Hebrides seemed vast and busy. Most of the B&Bs we passed seemed to have rooms available, so it came as something of a shock to find most of the B&Bs in Portree full. We did find one at last, then strolled down to the Tourist Information office to book accommodation in Mallaig for Saturday.Then to a bar for a beer or two before going to a restaurant in the harbour. We both had cullen skink for starter; I had scallops on lightly spiced lentils while C had cod mornay.Then back to the B&B.
View 2010 Tour Day 5 - Lochmaddy to Portree in a larger map

37.3 milesAfter seeing the weather forecast for today, we weren't optimistic, but after overnight rain, we awoke to another very sunny morning. After a vast and excellent breakfast, we set out to ride round North Uist anticlockwise. The biggest climbs were between Lochmaddy and the Berneray road, and even these weren't particularly tough. However, we decided after looking at the map that we wouldn't investigate Berneray, and we continued towards Solas. After a bit, vast sandy beaches came into view, and it was with some chagrin that we discovered that the batteries in the camera had run down.However, as we approached Solas we could see the familiar Coop green and sure enough there was a rather good Coop in Solas. Not only did we buy batteries, but we got a couple of bottles of chocolate milk as a substitute for banana milk.Pressing on, we paused for a drink as we eased round to the western coast of North Uist. Here B&Bs become more plentiful. It also got very much sunnier, and we were able to see St Kilda in the distance.We took a detour up the C83 Solas road to look for a standing stone indicated on our tourist map. As usual this was not signposted, but was visible from the road. Retracing back to the main road, we paused at an excellent tearoom for a cup of tea and a slice of cake (lunch still out of the question as we were still full of breakfast).At Clachan we turned towards Lochmaddy, pausing only to stop at the ruins of a chambered cairn. Once back at the hotel, we changed and popped out to buy a paper and stroll about. A highlight was a visit to an art installation in the form of a camera obscura buily inside a cairn. Then back to the hotel for beers and dinner.We are apprehensive about tomorrow's weather, and may not ride over the Quirang as originally planned. Still, we'll make it to either Portree or Broadford.
View 2010 Tour Day 4 - North Uist in a largermap

57.1 miles
Another glorious start, though we did see some rain. We left the B&B in what we felt was good time to catch the 9.25 ferry crossing from Ardmhor to Eriskay. Ofcourse, we hadn't figured on the stonking climb out of Castlebay, which had us huffing and puffing like Ivor the Engine. But not before we'd had to stop to persuade the front derailleur to shift the chain onto the small ring. Then to add further insult, the chain dropped up a gear when we were on the steepest part of the climb - I suggest this as one of the unwritten rules of cycling.
Still, we made it to the ferry with time to spare (though we did worry, and my usually cautious stoker exhorted me to not only go as fast as possible downhill, but to face down oncoming motorists on the singletrack!). The ferry crossing was very smooth, and we saw a variety ofseabirds and quite a few seals lying on rocks. Eriskay's a small island, with another beach. It's mostly famous for the wreck of the SS Politician, which was the basis of the film Whisky Galore. Apparently the wreck can still be seen at low tide. Eriskay's now connected to South Uist by a causeway.
South Uist doesn't offer much in the way of hilly roads, which was rather fortunate, as we were facing a rather stiff northwesterly wind. At around noon, we stopped to cook up some food (chili con carne and rice) on the trusty Trangia, and shortly after this, we encountered a light shower that lasted for about half an hour. This wasn't a major problem - we soon dried off!
By the time we reached Benbecula I'd acquired an irrational need for banana-flavoured milk. At Clachan (where the road to Lochmaddy splits off), there's a shop - but unfortunately no banana milk!
We rode on over a changed landscape. Rather than riding between small lochans and over causeways, we rode up over peat moors, with small lochans shining deep blue under the sunny blue skies, Finally we arrived at Lochmaddy, where we'd booked two nights in the Tigh Dearg Hotel.Lo and behold, the (very smart) room had a bath, and sfter getting cleaned up, we retired to the bar for a couple of pints and a bar meal. I had fish cakes for starters and baked langoustines on egg noodles for main course. C had fish pie, Desserts were Eton mess for me and sticky toffee pudding for C. Then to bed after watching the rather alarming weather forecasat for Thursday.It looked as though we'd be stuck indoors watching heavy rain...
View 2010 Tour Day 3 - Castlebay to Lochmaddy in alarger map

35.6 milesWe woke to beautiful sunny morning. The breakfast room looked out twards Kisimul Castle in the bay. We got set up, planning to spend the day exploring Barra and Vatersay - we took the Trangia and the bits'n'bobs for a drum up and lunch. Fortunately we also packed some extra clothing, as the temperature dropped steadily through the morning, as the cloud grew ominously (consistent with the last weather forecast we'd seen which was for light rain). We'd hoped to have a brewup on the beach at Vatersay, but contented ourselves with a stroll - something repeated during the other beach visits today!The beaches on Barra and Vatersay are nothing short of splendid, as are the dunes behind, with displays of primroses and many other flowers, though the yellow flag irises had yet to bloom.From Vatersay we retraced our path back to the B&B, then on to the main circular road round Barra. This proved delightful, if still quite cold and windy - the clouds seemed to be breaking up. We stopped occasionally to admire views and beaches, but still felt too cold for lunch. At the north of this loop, weturned north, investigating where the Ardmhor ferry terminal was, then on to the Barra airport - the landing strip is thehuge Cockle Strand beach - where we stopped for soup and tea. This was most welcome as we were pretty cold by then.Further north to Eoligarry, where we walked onto arocky beach with terrific rock pools. From there we retraced to the circular road and headed back to Castlebay, pausing occasionally to admire the views. The Cuillins in Skye were clearly visible.Back in Castlebay, we changed, had a cup of tea, then wanered into Castlebay. We photographed Kisimul Castle from a number of vantage points (apparently Castelbay was the model for Kiltoch and Kisimul for the Black Island in Tintin and the Black Island). A fabulous pint of McEwans 80/- in the Castlebay Hotel bar was followed by dinner at the Cafe Kisimul, which specialises in Indian, Italian and seafood. I had scallop pakora and spaghetti marinara (combining all the specialities, I thought) washed down with a bottle ofHebridean Breweries' Islander ale. Carol had the same starter and followed with Jaipuri prawns.Then back to the B&B.We saw loads of birds, including many we couldn't identify - skylarks, herons, hooded crows. Many starlings. Heard a cuckoo.
View 2010 Tour Day 2 - Barra in a larger map

After a staged journey via Leeds and two nights in Edinburgh (and along the way buying and replacing the tandem's chainset, we departed first thing in the morning for Oban. As per usual, we transported then tandem by car on the roof rack. The journey was pretty easy, with no delays and rather pleasant and sunny weather (but a little cooler than over the last few days).
We arrived in Oban about 3.5h before the ferry was due to depart - even after leaving the car in the tender care of Hazelbank Motors, buying tickets (Island Hopscotch tickets 15 and 21), and having coffee we ended up hanging around. Despite the brilliant sunshine, the temperature was falling by the time we queued up with a surprising number of cyclists to board the ferry. On this occasion, cyclists were boarded first.The ferry departed on schedule, and after a voyage of 4:50 that took us along the Sound of Mull (Tobermory clearly seen in the afternoon sunshine) and beyond. We arrived in Castlebay on schedule. We were a bit surprised by how cold it was as we rolled off to find our B&B (Ravenscroft).
From our window, we had a great view across the bay, with Kisimul Castle lit by rays of sunshine.
Pretty soon, though, we turned in - looking forward to exploring Barra tomorrow. But not optimistic about the weather!