Nick, a colleague from MSRC, and I decided to attempt a ride from Inverness down to Spean Bridge. As it turns out, we only made it 2/3 of the way before Nick’s chain snapped! However, we did get to have lunch at scenic Loch Ness. Anyway, on to the ride!
GPS Log via MotionBased: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=830171
Nick and I started the day at Inverness, after a 3.5 hour train ride up. Initially we were worried that we wouldn’t be able to get the bikes on the train, as the guy at the ticket counter said the racks were all full. But there was no problem… we just arrived early, got our bikes on, and nobody came to boot ‘em off!

We took a bit of a scenic route out of Inverness, but eventually found B862, the Loch Ness Loop. We got drenched in Inverness, but then the sun came out and dried us off. It was quite scenic, although we were sure the loch was “just over there” and couldn’t wait to see it. We did however see a number of covs, who all stopped to look at us.

Trucking down a bit, we came to the town of Dores, and there it was - Loch Ness! And you can see how big it is… or rather, you can’t! It’s narrow and just goes into the distance. It’s actually about the size of Lake Washington — only about 20 or so miles long. Just with some cooler scenery and a monster.

There’s a nice stop for lunch right at the top of the loch at Dores, the Dores Inn. It has a nice outdoor patio for eating, and we decided to chance it as the sun was out. Here’s Nick and I posing at the loch:

Here’s another shot of me a little later at a scenic view… we’re a few miles down the loch, and still can’t see the end from the mist and rain… mostly rain, as we were about to find out!

The road leaves the side of Loch Ness about the town of Foyers, and sadly that was the last we saw of it. However, we did see the Falls of Foyers, which I thought were quite spectacular!

We then started to go up a fairly steep uphill section… and saw some gorgeous scenery. Something which doesn’t come out as well in the picture were the silver rocks — the sun had come out and was reflecting on several wet rocks on the other side of the glen. But it’s still a pretty picture.

For example, some more falls. I’m still trying to figure out where the water is coming from — there’s a lot of it, and there doesn’t seem to be any snowpack left on the mountain!

There’s also a scenic guide to the area we came at… this was at the 20 mile point or so.

We proceeded cash out our uphill and bombed downhill… halfway down, we found Loch Tariff, which was looking quite scenic in the sun.

We’ll now stop the photo journal and dive into the bit of catastrophe. At Fort Augustus, as we were determining whether to take the A82 to Spean Bridge to ensure we made the train, Nick’s chain snapped. Bad luck… especially as he had already had a flat. Now, while Peter at Cycle Scotland had furnished us with a spare tube, we didn’t have a chain tool… d’oh! So we ended up at this Gulf petrol station to try and figure out what to do. Plan A was to take a bus, and the woman at the station was sure that the coach could store bikes in the luggage compartments under the seats. Turns out they don’t carry bikes. D’oh! Now we’re getting panicked, as it’s 6:30 and we need to get 20 miles to Spean Bridge in an hour and a half. We eventually get a hold of a cab in Fort William, about 40 minutes away. They’ll come and get us, and hopefully we can make it to the train in time. Along the way we also talked to Peter, who told us to lock the bikes up somewhere safe and make an issue of them — that was at least generous of him. So the gas station manager agreed to store the bikes in her propane storage area, which is a locked area behind the station. The cab arrived at 7:55… no way we were going to make the 8:00 train. So, we called ScotRail to find out what times other trains were leaving for Edinburgh… and since it was Sunday tomorrow, what times the Sunday trains ride.
Well, to make a long story short, we weren’t going to get in to Edinburgh before 1:30 if we took a train. And we were pretty sure our flights to Cambridge were right around there. So, we ended up taking the cab down to Edinburgh, for 200 quid with a 40 tip for the guy who was going to have to head on back on the 3 hour drive. Oof… a bit more expensive of a bike ride than we had thought!
But hey, at least we did get to see Loch Ness! And I did burn 3900 calories in doing it… so a pound gone isn’t bad, especially considering what I’d been eating and drinking during the week!

A number of us went looking for food yesterday evening after a food-less reception at the Edinburgh Castle. My friend Sophie had recommended Bellini Restaurant, saying it was the best Italian in Edinburgh. Well, I haven’t tried all the other Italian restaurants in Edinburgh, but at this point I’m not inclined to as Chef Angelo Cimini is just a masterful chef! And his wife Gina did a wonderful job as a hostess, showing off some of the specials, including the basket of wild mushrooms that Chef Angelo would be sauteing!

I’ll see about posting a picture later on, but I did want to give Gina a huge shout out. I and another colleague forgot our camera bags at the restaurant… oops! I called quickly after we realized this, and Gina politely told us not to bother coming back, she’d just drop them off at the Balmoral, where we were staying. Sure enough, when Amit and I arrived back at the Balmoral, our cameras were there! Now that’s just classy.

Hmmm… still have two nights here… wonder if I can’t make it over there again! Yum!

Bellini Restaurant and Cookery (wow would I like to hang out for a few months and learn to cook!) is located on 8b Abercromby St., Edinburgh, Scotland, UK EH3 6LB. Phone +44 (131) 476-2602. Map.

Well, after a good night’s rest, it was time to get up, load up on some fruit and whole grains, and head off again! I got off to a bit later of a start than I wanted, but as I didn’t have anywhere to be that evening aside from making one of the later trains, all was good.

Day 2, Fearnan by Aberfeldy to Pitlochry via Glen Lyon and Loch Tay, 75.80 miles.

GPS log via MotionBased:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=805786

Day 2 began with a scenic ride through the center of Glen Lyon, up to the eastern side of Loch Lyon. I was getting worried, as I knew I was turning south at some point and the mountains to the south didn’t seem to have a natural break. They were quite spectacular, however.

Towards the end of the glen, I spotted a few local deer… they had scampered off a reasonable distance by the time I got my camera out, but proceeded to display for me so i could get a good shot in! I also saw a couple herds of yaks about, although certainly it was predominantly sheep with some cattle mixed in.

The route turns south at Loch Lyon, and while there was a traverse, it was still fairly steep — 1700 feet at the summit! Fortunately, I was already at about 900 feet, so it wasn’t that horrible, but still a healthy climb. Along the way I noticed some ruins of an old Scottish stone house… there were a number of these scattered throughout the ride. For some reason, when I saw this one I just couldn’t help but wonder who had lived there and what finally caused the last person to abandon the house. It’s a marvelous location for a house, with a great view and ample access to fields for ranching.

I then bombed down the hill to Glen Lochay, which wasn’t nearly as fun as it should have been. I was on a narrow access road, and while it was paved, there was only room for one vehicle — car or bike. And it was windy with blind turns and summits… so I couldn’t go very fast as I never knew if a car would be coming up. Used those brakes pretty well though! At the bottom, I had a great view of Glen Lochay and then up through Loch Tay — some gorgeous scenery of local farms and homes.

After an hour or so, I came to Loch Tay and rode along the southern edge… I ended up on Cycle Route 7, which is just a normal back road that is labeled on maps as good for cyclists. I actually prefer B-* routes, which are bi-directional secondary routes. On the single-lane roads, every time a car passed in either direction, I had to slow down to pass carefully. On the B roads, I could actually get some momentum and cruise between 17-20mph.

Past Loch Tay, I passed by Castle Menzies, a small Scottish castle nestled against a hill. Quite a sight, and the view on the other side was also rather impressive. It turns out that “castle” doesn’t necessarily imply huge walls and moats… but a 5-story stone mansion isn’t shabby!

The sun came out towards the end of the ride near Pitlochry. Along the way I passed by this house overlooking a field filled with sheep and pheasants. I can only imagine the view from the house on the valley, which I took from my level. But I have to say, it wouldn’t be that bad to live in this countryside with such gorgeous scenery all around. I suspect the winter months might be where you pay for it, as it was still chilly in May, but still, gorgeous scenery.

I finally arrived at Pitlochry about 7:40, about 40 minutes from the next train. I plopped down on the bench, took off my helmet and gloves, and ate my last bit of food — an orange! There weren’t great places to stop for lunch around lunch time on the route, an issue with my timing I suspect, so I ended up snarfing down string cheese and PureFit bars — 3 PureFits and 4 string cheeses per day! Was reasonable enough to get me through lunch.

Anyway, the train ride home was uneventful and quiet, and finally got back to the Balmoral around 10:30 at night. I did some quick analysis… over 10,000 calories burned over 130 miles, with some 12,000 feet of elevation gain over the hills and occasional peak. Huh… maybe RAMROD isn’t so out of reach as I thought!

As I’ve mentioned, I and a number of colleagues are busy training for STP, a 204 mile bike ride from Seattle to Portland. Not wanting to skip training for the 3 weekends I’ll be away at WWW 2006 in Edinburgh, I located a nice local bike rental shop (or cycle hire, as it’s called here in Britain) to rent a bike and do some distance rides. I find Cycle Scotland, run by Peter Butterworth, a very engaging fellow who in addition to renting bikes also plans scenic tours of Scotland.

I arrived on Saturday afternoon, and Peter had a 59cm red 1997 Dawes Galaxy touring bike ready for me to go. This is a reasonable drop-handle road bike; the geometry sits me more upright than on my Bianchi Eros frame. The one thing to notice, even on the 2006 model linked, is that Dawes uses lever shifters on the end of the handlebars… which is surprising, considering both Shimano and Campy have been making break shifters for some time (at least since 1996, as that’s what was on my Eros!). But Britain is a country of tradition. One nice thing is that the bike did come with the back rack, which turned out to be the perfect size for my camera bag.

Peter and I sketched out a two-day ride that would take me all around the Pitlochry area, through some scenic glens and lochs. I took the bike back up to the hotel (the Balmoral, quite close to Peter’s shop on Blackfriars Street), had the concierge store it in their luggage room, and went to bed for an early morning rise and hop on the 9:25 train to Pitlochry. One note: in summertime, you should have a reservation to take your bike on the train, but during rainier months (like May), there aren’t too many. I was the only bike on the train both directions.

Day 1, Pitlochry to Fearnan by Aberfeldy via Loch Rannoch, 61.23 miles.

GPS log via MotionBased:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=805794

The day started uneventfully with a 2-hour train ride up to Pitlochry. The biggest challenge was getting into the Edinburgh Waverly train station… there’s an entrance right next to the Balmoral, but it was closed for construction, so I ended up wandering around the block trying to get in. As you can see in the photo, the train just has a metal bar where you rest the bikes… it looks like it might hold 6 packed tightly, but more like 4 reasonably well.

I then started cycling from Pitlochry to Tummel Bridge, passing by River Tummel on some quieter backroads. Along the way, there were several green fields filled with herds of cattle and sheep.

The early route was quite flat and very scenic; for example, I was frequently on the side of the water as I toured west. Along the way, I passed by the lovely Loch Rannoch Hotel, seen here after I had circled Loch Rannoch. Looks like it’d make a lovely place for a holiday! Along the loch were plenty of small powerboats, sailboats, and kayaks… looks like quite the spot!

After Loch Rannoch I began a rather steep climb (up to about 1200 feet). Along the way I saw this amazingly green tree… not sure what its genus is, but it was the most brilliant green and quite striking.

Once I had made the summit and was cycling along a plateau, I came across one of many long rock walls. This one extended from the top of one hill to the top of the other, with the road I was on smack in the middle. I assume that the wall extended out on both sides as well. Apparently, as I found out later, over years the local shepherds and farmers would clear the land of rock, and built the walls as they needed to put the rocks somewhere out of the way. Plus, it helped pen in the sheep, which is always a plus.

Right before the final stop I stopped in Fortingall, home of the Fortingall Yew. This is a 5,000-year old yew tree, reputed to be the oldest in Britain (if not the world). It’s nothing too spectacular, but pretty cool nonetheless. Apparently the tree is in great health, so it should keep going for some time.

I then arrived in Fearnan, a few miles down the road from Fortingall, and stopped at Culdees Bunkhouse. Peter had made a reservation for me the day before. It’s an eco-friendly place that serves vegetarian breakfasts and dinner. It was a bit full, so I was in the 4-bed bunkroom. I ended up sharing it with two retired gentlemen named Dave and George, who were out to do a few Munros. A Munro is a particular type of peak, named after Sir Hugh Munro who surveyed them, that is at least 3,000 feet high and has at least a 500 foot dip between it and the nearest peak. There are currently 284 Munros in Scotland, and Dave and George had done over half, and were looking to bag another 5 or so the next day. We had a lovely time chatting about this over a pint at a local pub in Kenmore, another local village close to Fearnan.

We’ll be time shifting blog posts for a bit, as I’m heading on a plane in a couple hours to scenic Edinburgh, UK, site of WWW2006! This should be a great conference, and looks like we’ll have a number of Microsoft people there. I suspect there will also be a decent number of Yahoo and Google people, so things should be fun.

Anyway, on the off chance that you, dear reader, are actually somewhere near Edinburgh or Cambridge (where I’ll be week after next), and would like to meet up for whatever reason, feel free to give me a ring on my cell:

+44 (792) 842-7225

(or from the UK: 0792 842 7225)

Catch you in Scotland!

Last year, we at MSN Search in concert with Microsoft Research Asia sponsored a contest for a number of interns at MSRA last summer. We thought a great prize for the contest would be to fly the winners of the contest out to Redmond to come see the US and meet some of the people on the MSN Search team. I was on point to coordinate this.

Silly me.

So, most of us in the US don’t think twice about visiting most countries… usually the biggest hassle is getting a passport the first time. And typically, the biggest hassle of getting a passport is finding your birth or naturalization certificate and getting some photos taken. If you’re going somewhere exotic, you might need to get a visa… which involves getting yet more passport photos and sending in an application, photo, some money, and your passport (it’s scary the first time, but afterwards it’s fine).

Now, let’s talk about what it takes to bring three Chinese students here to the US for a week.

First off, as it turns out if you’re a starving student in China, chances are you haven’t had need to go out of the country, and thus need to get a passport. Getting a passport is a bit more of a hassle… you have to demonstrate some need to go abroad, as opposed to just wanting to go for vacation. And it takes a couple months to process. OK.

Then, there’s the US visa. It’s not just sending in an application, photo, and some cash — $100, which is rather steep for someone from China. The applicant has to then go to the embassy for an interview… presumably so that some consul can ensure the person isn’t coming to the US to work. And then, assuming all goes well, a visa is issued. And this too takes a couple of months.

OK, so the prize is delayed gratification. But that’s all, right? And we’ll ignore the US-VISIT program where they get their picture taken and thumbs fingerprinted. Well, turns out there are a couple other things I never considered when we came up with a trip to Redmond being the grand prize for some students. For example:

• How do we get them some US dollars in case they need something? As Chinese students don’t have credit cards (turns out, most people in China don’t use credit cards).
• How do we get them to their hotel? Turns out, students in China typically don’t know how to drive, so you can’t just get them a rental car. Getting a driver’s license in China is actually quite expensive
• Where do you take them for dinner? Remember the first time you used chopsticks? Chances are, it was a huge pain, and you may have asked for a fork to help eat. Well, when you’ve used chopsticks for 20 years, turns out using a knife and fork is every bit of a pain as using chopsticks for the first time.
• How do they call home? I’m sure there are cheap pre-paid cards for China or other places from the US, but I’d never investigated them. BTW, turns out that direct dial from a downtown hotel to China is rather pricey.

There’s a bunch of others, but this should give you the idea. Certainly an experience. I wonder if there’s a site in Chinese that helps explain these problems… or hey, perhaps a global site with tips in all languages for visiting. I suspect so, but all I could find was basic sites that didn’t provide any real information. Perhaps an opportunity for someone?

I’m borrowing my brother’s eTrex Vista C, which is a hand-held Garmin GPS unit. I bought a bike handlebar mount for it to use as a trip computer. Today, my friend Julie and I rode a hair under 60 miles on Whidbey Island, from Clinton to Ft. Casey. Normally, I’ve just had the stats from my Polar S720i, which produces screenshots like what I have below. Red with white background is my heart rate, blue is speed, and the red with gray background is altitude. Now, I also have the info on a map. Took me a bit to upload the data to MotionBased (used the agent, as uploading a .txt file that Garmin MapSource created kept getting an error).

You’re welcome to check out the ride: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=763575

There are some cool features about it… the simulation using Adobe SVG is pretty nice.

The thing I’m not sure if MB has is a great community to share routes… seems they’re trying with TrailNetwork, but I didn’t find anything useful. Perhaps it just hasn’t hit critical mass yet.

The above is a screenshot of my Polar heart rate monitor (HRM) data from today’s ride around Lake Washington. Many years ago, my pal Marc and I rode around Lake Washington — it was my second distance road ride ever. I haven’t done that ride again until today. Some stats:

Data                    Value Unit
Duration              8:09:00
Sampling Rate               5 s

Energy Expenditure       3549 cal
Number of Heart Beats   57222 beats
Recovery                  -23 beats
Minimum Heart Rate         73 bpm
Average Heart Rate        117 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate        163 bpm
Standard Deviation       18.9 bpm

Minimum Speed             0.1 mph
Average Speed            10.7 mph
Maximum Speed            31.4 mph
Distance                 57.5 miles
Odometer                  308 miles

Minimum Altitude          100 ft
Average Altitude          184 ft
Maximum Altitude          475 ft
Ascent                   1340 ft
Descent                  1460 ft
Slopes                      2

See that Energy Expenditure number? 3549? Well, a pound of fat is 3500 calories… so today, I burned a pound. Sweet!

Just a quick update… on the ride I and some friends did around Vashon Island Sunday, I had a problem with my Chariot Cougar I. Turns out one of the wheels had a bit of rust on the inner axel that controls the quick release… so it took me quite a lot of time to get the wheel to come off the trailer for transport (first time I had loaded it in my car) and then it took me some time to get it to lock back in… I had to keep slamming it into the slot to have the spring click and catch. Finally did, but not before the wheel almost came off while riding — I hadn’t noticed the wheel hadn’t locked, and rode down about a quarter of a mile from Lincoln Park to the Fauntleroy ferry dock. Yikes!
So, score one for the Burley design for wheels… no weird catch means that they aren’t going to have weather or rust problems. Now to REI to get a replacement….

**Update**

REI lubed the wheel, and now all appears good… we’ll check ‘er out tomorrow!

So, the cat is finally out of the bag. With A9’s former CEO Udi Manber moving to Google, Amazon has decided to go with Windows Live Search instead of Google for it’s A9 product. What does this mean?

First off, loyalists like me can now not feel guilty when I use A9, which I still think has a number of cool features for searching that haven’t made it in the mainstream yet.

Second, it’s a step towards more collaboration between Amazon and Microsoft. It’s painfully clear to everyone that the power of Google AdWords and AdSense are on a collision course for Amazon and eBay — the question is who gets to answer a customer’s shopping query first, Amazon / eBay or Google. If it’s Google, then they can cut Amazon and eBay out of the loop entirely. Think about eBay for a moment… lots of other companies have tried to do auctions, but failed, as there wasn’t the critical mass of buyers and sellers. Now, imagine Google doing auctions, but leveraging their huge distribution for AdWords on their search page… that’s millions in free ad inventory they can just throw at getting critical mass. It’d be tough to unseat eBay, but they could well do it. Same thing goes for Amazon… if you can leverage meta-search for shopping and provide some kind of trust guarantee or payment system (say Google Visa), then you can suddenly leverage the web for shopping instead of Amazon… which is a huge threat to Amazon’s business.

Things are starting to move… keep watching everyone!