Cyclist Beats Train On 170 Mile Trip After He Couldn't Fit Bike On Board

A couple from London had planned to take a train in Scotland but failed to mention they would be traveling with bikes when they booked their ticket. When James Owers and his girlfriend Deena Bardsley arrived at the train station in Edinburgh, they found that there was not enough room on the train for Owers bike. Virgin Trains was able to find space for Deena's bike and offered to box up Owers' bike and store in the guards' compartment. 

Instead of going through the hassle of boxing up his bike, Owers decided to ride his bike 170 miles to his final destination of Inverness, where the couple was supposed to meet Deena's father to train for an upcoming charity a bike ride. He had added incentive to arrive quickly after his girlfriend bet him a pizza she would get there before him.

Owers began his journey at 6:15 am and arrived 13 hours later at 7:30 pm, beating the train by 45 minutes. Owers made a few stops at distilleries and to grab lunch along the way. 

"The whole journey took about 13 and quarter hours and I was on the bike for about 12 hours of this."

At one point he showed up to a distillery that was closed but was directed to a nearby house to buy some booze. 

"So I knocked said house and was greeted by Gill from Tomatin and explained my situation and she popped inside. When she returned she produced a bottle and steadfastly refused to take my money.

"I think this shows strangers can be just fantastically kind, so long as you've done something utterly insane."

The train with his girlfriend left Edinburg at 4:30 pm and arrived at the station in Inverness at 8:15, ten minutes later than scheduled. When it pulled into the station, Owers was waiting on the platform for Deena. 

Photo: Twitter


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