With all the excitement, I got up before my half 5 alarm! Good job really, as I decided to repack my panniers. I dumped a few items of clothing that I'm not likely to wear and got everything packed just so. I've got my packing down now - everything has its place and I know exactly where everything is. There's nothing worse than opening every bag in turn looking for something as you can guarantee it will be in the last place you look!

So with a decent breakfast inside me, I set off just after half 6. That would give me plenty of time to get to Euston for my half 10 train.

The ride was pretty straight forward and can be split into three parts. First you've got the regular country lanes. Then you've got the Range Rover driving gangsters and footballers wives of south west Essex, then you have London itself and all the chaos.

I made good progress in parts one and two, but London is always slow with all the stopping and starting and having to share the cycle lanes with zillions of other people.

Anyway, I got to Euston by around 10 and was boarding the train by 20 past. Nobody else had booked a bike on the train, so I didn't even have to take the bags off - it just hogged the entire bike section!

I got something to eat, then settled down for the journey. I probably dropped off for a bit and we were soon pulling in to Glasgow. The whole journey went really quickly.

As soon as I set off from the station, it started raining. Of course it did.... After a while, I stopped to put my jacket on. At that point the rain stopped!

The route I took out of Glasgow was really good. All cycle paths along the Clyde. It was a bit grotty and run down in places, but that's kind of to be expected. I stopped for some food at a petrol station as I was suddenly starving. The train grub wasn't exactly substantial. Refueled, I continued.

The route shifted north and I was following some other river / canal thing until it reached Balloch at the southern end of Loch Lomond. I was getting a bit tired and was conscious of time as I needed to be checked into the campsite by 8. It was slow going, but I soon realised I had plenty of time as the miles rolled by.

The last few miles were along the western shore of the loch and I was getting some great views. As I got close to the campsite, I realised it was exactly 12 hours since I set off which felt really weird considering how different my surroundings now were.

Eventually I arrived at the campsite and was shown to my pitch. It's a very nice site right next to the loch.

I got the tent up and felt like going straight to bed, but suddenly got a second wind and took a shower, cooked up a chilli and rice thing before making a coffee and smashing down some chocolate.

The midges had made their presence known on arrival, but soon seemed to lose interest. Then they came back with a vengeance and were extremely irritating. They seem to have disappeared again now.

So that's pretty much it for today. It's certainly been a long and varied one. I'll sleep well tonight for sure.

Time to settle down and read for a bit I think ...