As we set off from the hostel early and were climbing the first hill, Michael had a major problem with his bike. The derailleur dropout had been buckled inwards by Alasdair's impact on Raasay, and now it was breaking away so that the derailleur was not working at all. While Julian waited patiently at the top of the hill with the rest of the group Tao and Michael turned the bike upside down to ascertain what options were open to us in this remote location. To our surprise a man came out of his home just opposite to ask if we needed any help. It turned out his garage was equipped as a full engineering workshop with every possibly tool at his disposal. Tao sent Julian on with the others while the kind engineer straightened and welded the dropout so that the derailleur would work. The frame would need a proper repair from Mercian after our return, but the temporary repair made it possible for Michael to continue the tour so we were very grateful for the help.

Today we were travelling from the east coast to the west coast, but the weather was not too promising as we left. The route was mainly on main roads so was not too arduous. As we travelled we could see the mountains of the west gradually transform into the rolling hills of the east. Michael and Tao caught the rest of the group within 10 miles or so of Achmelvich.

We used the Altnacealgach Inn, on the banks of Loch Borralan, for a welcome rest and refreshments - the only establishment in the area - but then the final leg to the hostel was mainly downhill and very enjoyable.

Carbisdale Castle youth hostel is the most spectacular of all Scottish hostels. It boasts a tower, a library, a gallery of marble statues, ghosts and secret passages. We had a lot of fun at the hostel tonight, exploring all the rooms and secret passages and making a general nuisance of ourselves. There were two enormous Members' Kitchens on the ground floor so we could spread ourselves out and enjoy cooking our meals.

To make our stay even more enjoyable the wardens had booked us into the Spook Room, the room which used to be the children's nursery and the place where the ghost of the nanny is reported to appear on a regular basis. Along one side of the room was a raised area with a wooden railing, like an internal balcony, where the ghostly nanny has apparently been seen on numerous occasions rocking in her rocking chair. Our members were understandably anxious about sleeping anywhere near the balcony - they didn't even want to sleep with their backs to it!

Tao has a story to tell about this. Earlier he had been taking the mick out of some small children who were walking around the hostel hallways with coats or blankets over their heads: they had heard the story of a ghost that reputedly haunts the hallways, and believed that if the ghost touched them on the shoulder they would die the next day!

In our dorm there were only just enough beds for everyone, so somebody had to sleep in the bunk next to the haunted balcony. Tao decided he wasn't scared of ghosts that he felt sure didn't exist, so when nobody else would take the bunk next to the balcony, Tao happily volunteered. His views changed during the course of the evening however. The room had an outside balcony that could only be accessed by climbing through the window, so when everyone else was in other parts of the hostel Tao, being Tao, did just that along with Eliot and another member. While they were out there they heard a noise in the room. They looked back into the dorm and saw something move quite quickly - almost flying - across the room. They put their heads through the window to find out who was there, but the room was empty and the door was not only closed but had clearly not been opened any time recently. They were all convinced they had just seen the ghost and were worrying about it for the rest of the evening.

This was all quite awkward for Tao who had landed himself with the bunk next to the haunted balcony. Unsurprisingly nobody wanted to swap. He ended up spending the night huddled up in a ball towards the top of the bed, as far away from the ghost as possible. His genuine anxiety meant that it was a long time before he got to sleep.

When bedtime came Michael told everyone his favourite ghost story about the hostel, which of course just made things worse for some worried individuals.

It was just after lights out that Craig started to complain about stomach pains. Michael hoped so much that it would get better by itself, but it just got worse and Craig was convinced it was appendicitis. This was absolutely the last thing Michael needed near the end of a tiring tour: the hostel was in the middle of nowhere and he had no idea how hard it would be to get medical help.

Michael took Craig to the warden who kindly took both of them the few miles down to the doctor's surgery at Culrain. The doctor came out specially to meet us there, but even after examination he could not rule out the possibility of appendicitis. Craig would have to be checked out at Inverness hospital, 42 miles away, just to be sure! He arranged for the ambulance that serves the area to come and collect both Michael and Craig and take them on the long and bumpy journey to the hospital.

On arrival Craig was inspected but no conclusion could be reached at that time of night. After a considerable wait Michael was told that Craig would be staying overnight and Michael was free to go! Well he had got there by ambulance and that particular mode of transport was no longer available to him. He found a public phone in the hospital and rang a taxi service: the chap wanted £40 to take him back to Carbisdale Castle at that time of night. Well Michael had to get back to the group by morning and wanted as much sleep as he could get, so he agreed to the deal.

The taxi driver was fast and furious, but as we neared Culrain the quiet lanes became alive with .. Rabbits. They were everywhere, and the taxi driver just kept driving fast even though he was running over several of the poor creatures. With every bump Michael couldn't help feeling that he was personally responsible for all those deaths!

Arriving back at the hostel at around 4am Michael now had a new problem to contend with: how to get back in. The main entrance was locked, the wardens had gone to sleep in a different part of the castle and nobody was answering the doorbell or Michael's knock. There was no guarantee the doorbell was even connected to anything. Midges started to swarm around Michael, biting him mercilessly, so in desperation he went around to the other side of the castle, tried to ascertain which was our dorm (on one of the upper floors) and tried a few techniques to attract attention. But nothing worked, our whole group remained steadfastly asleep and poor Michael had no choice but to settle down on the midge-infested porch in the hope that someone would see him and open the door. It was the most ridiculous situation he had ever found himself in. He had to pace around all the time to keep the midges off, so there was zero chance of getting any sleep.

It was around 7am when someone finally opened the door and let him in. He went to his dorm and slipped into his bed for a final hour of sleep - everyone else was still fast asleep! What a night.

You can see a full video of this route, including both hostels, in the report for 15 August 1993.

(No notes were written for today's ride at the time, so this report was written from memory in 2014. Please let Michael know if you remember any other details from the ride)