Headwindhaters

Headwindhaters. A pedal powered adventure to the Western Isles. - Travel slow. Put down your phone. Take in your surroundings. Smell the wind. Taste the rain. Feel the sun that escapes the clouds. That was the plan. The Crew. Kepa Acero: An experienced Basque traveler with a taste for far flung places, think Gabon, Alaska and Antartica. Lee-Ann Curran: An oyster loving, guitar playing musician and surfer hailing from SW France. Style in spades, a very last minute and welcome addition to the crew. Mike Lay: A quick footed and quick witted longboarder, hailing from Sennen who in the sake of packing light had to leave the regular ride, a long board at home. Colin Macleod: We met Colin as we supped beers on a gas station forecourt, he took us in, bought us croissants, lent Mike a longboard and caught us a fish. We rode around 400kms and rode up some bloody big hills, probably not Tour du France big but when towing your lives, boards and supplies behind you in a trailer they were bloody big, and bloody painful. We took in our surroundings and tasted the peat, we felt more aware, we rode around spiders crossing the road, we watched as butterflies fluttered beside us and everyone we passed said hello even the sheep. In Stornaway someone told me ‘There are no happy cyclists on Lewis’ well, even as we cycled into 50mph headwinds which turned into brisk offshores propelling us to the waves, we all had big smiles behind the grimaces. - Film and Photography by Chris McClean.