Welcome to a Tale of Two Firths, where we deal with two of Scotland's largest rivers in our bid to make it to that fabled land known as the Highlands.
It has to be said that 2008's cycling calendar didn't begin in the most encouraging way – I was less than enthused to note the several inches of snow covering my garden on the day before our departure for Edinburgh, and the snow was still falling the next morning as Steve and I headed over to Stevenage at an ungodly hour in order to catch our cheap train up to Scotland.
Our weather forecast for the week was not good either, with sleet, hail and near-freezing temperatures forecast for the next few days. But we weren't about to be put off – discounting a brief trip up to Aberdeen as a lad, Edinburgh had been the northern limit of my Scottish experience as an adult, and the prospect of finally breaking out into the uncharted Far North was as beguiling as it was foolhardy to attempt at this early stage in the year.
So never mind the weather – let the adventure begin!