It has become a bit of a tradition that every summer I pack my tent, camping gear and a few other useful things into my panniers and I spend a week cycling in the Western Isles, by far my favourite place in the world.
There is not many things that make me happier than cycling through the spectacular Hebridean landscapes, getting soaked by the rain, almost knocked over by the wind and defeated by particularly steep climbs.
This year I cycled 200 miles through Skye, North Uist, Bernaray, Harris and Lewis. The weather was spectacularly bad even for the Hebrides and I would get completely soaked by the rain twice or three times a day. I've developed an affinity for automatic hand driers in public bathrooms and I could write an essay on different types of hand driers and which are best for drying what type of clothes.
But I don't really mind a bit of rain if I can spend a week cycling through the most beautiful landscapes, watch the seals swimming in the Sound of Harris without even having to leave my tent, meet lots of interesting and friendly people and drink whisky in a pub in Stornoway.
Here is a few drawings I made. For some reason they are particularly dark this year - I will have to bring more colours next year!
