Episode 5 The Adventure Show

Lovely day for a ride!

Hello and a very warm welcome to The Adventure Show.

This month, we're at the UK's highest sportive,

the 3 Pistes,

and as the name suggests,

it takes riders through three of the most iconic ski resorts

in the country - Glenshee, The Lecht

and then, the sting in the tail,

finishing right here in the Cairngorms.

Hello, guys!

It's a total of 102 miles

or 165km long and takes in

the two highest road passes in Scotland.

There's just about the same amount of climb as three Munros,

which will be a lot.

There's over 2,000m of ascent

and eight long, unremitting climbs.

-It's a bit of a shocker, this one!

-LAUGHTER

Technically, this is a sportive, not a race,

with no prize money at the end,

but be rest assured, these Lycra-clad heroes

are absolutely out for the best time.

You'd be lying if you said you didn't want a good time.

Everyone wants an amazing time.

I always try and focus on the cyclist ahead

and try and catch up with him and then concentrate on the next one.

Also in this month's Adventure Show,

we have an exclusive report from Nepal

after the devastating earthquakes earlier in the year.

We follow Fife man James Lamb

as he returns to the hill village of Phortse

and discovers that five months later,

no outside aid has reached these mountain communities.

There's an elderly guy who's living in a tent on his own

and he can barely, barely walk.

Winter's not that far away.

But first, to the 3 Pistes Sportive.

This is the final climb of the event up into Cairngorm.

I've done this a couple of times before and it is a monster,

so, no, I couldn't be persuaded to take part in the event.

Deziree Wilson, however, will be the Adventure Show guinea pig

and she'll be tackling the gruelling ascent into Glenshee

and we'll see how she gets on later in the programme.

Right now, though, there are some pretty nervous bikers

way back at the start in Pitlochry.

The biggest fear for them

is actually at The Lecht, going up the big, steep wall,

because if that's wet and they stop,

they're not going to get started again.

It is going to be walking up the hill.

Are you ready for a good bike ride, lads?

-Absolutely.

-There we go.

LAUGHTER

Over 900 people have signed up

for what's one of Britain's most prestigious sportives

and, as usual for this kind of event, it's a staggered start.

Cyclists can set off any time between 7 and 9am.

Good luck, boys!

As ever, tactics are vital.

Some of the faster riders are playing a waiting game.

Why? Because later, the weather's forecast to get better.

Right now, it's raining down here in Pitlochry

and it's much, much colder higher up.

This is what Scotland is about.

LAUGHTER

I hope we'll be able to see the actual Lecht path.

You know, the bit where it goes, like, "Whoo! 20%!"

I camped last night in a tent so I'm absolutely knackered.

Anything that you're feeling a bit nervous about?

Yeah, snow, ice - things like that.

It looks like upwards of maybe 100 riders

looking for the earliest slot possible.

-ANNOUNCER:

-Five, four, three, two, one -

have a brilliant ride folks, we'll see you at Cairngorm.

Enjoy the mountains, enjoy the rain!

And they're off.

It looks like a fairly sedate start.

Because it's such a long ride,

folks are starting off really quite slowly, actually.

But make no mistake -

although this is not supposed to be a race,

there are some extremely serious riders

who'll be going flat-out for the best times.

The event starts here in Pitlochry

with a 40km ride to the Spittal of Glenshee,

just to get everyone in the mood.

Then things get serious,

with over 600m of climbing to the top of the pass

at the highest point of the course.

There's a speedy whizz down to Braemar

followed by a lung-breaking ascent

up to The Lecht.

The bikers then wind their way round to Aviemore

before that final, brutal climb to the Cairngorm Ski Centre.

It will take careful pacing, as well as strength and endurance,

to make it round this course,

and for slower riders,

there's the added pressure of the broom wagon,

sweeping up cyclists who don't make it before the cut-off times.

So, back to an unseasonable May Saturday

and the 2015 3 Pistes Sportive.

There's no warm-up, straight out of the village

up this very, very long and very cold climb this morning.

And the other factor is that it's forecast to be very, very windy.

We're down to about maybe five degrees, rainy and windy.

A true Scottish cycling challenge today.

It nearly always snows, rains

or there's hail in the weather.

Hail in the wind hurts. It stings your face.

If it snows...it makes it all the more fun(!)

How are you getting on?

-Are you loving the weather?

-Oh, grand(!)

I did it last year

so I know what I signed up for.

I think it's the greatest sportive

in Scotland and, well...it's not easy.

And some people seem to be making it even harder.

Tim Downie has decided to tackle the route on an ElliptiGO -

a bike that's like a cross trainer on wheels, and one with no saddle.

Not going fast but we're getting there.

-Good, you're doing well.

-Thank you.

A day before the event, he gave us a demonstration of its finer points.

You never get a sore bottom.

I'm the one who's always comfortable,

I can still walk afterwards,

cos you don't get those kind of wobbly legs when you step off

cos it's more like a running motion,

you step off and you just carry on walking normally.

And in terms of speed and things like that?

Downhill, I can go quite quickly, but on the flat,

I'm lucky if I hit about 15mph.

The aerodynamics are not good. You're standing straight upright.

I'll be grinding away in bottom gear quite a lot, I should imagine,

but, yeah, it...it'll be interesting.

Tim's not the only person tackling this event in a different way.

Sean Stone and his partner Laura Anderson

are doing it on a tandem.

So, the big question is, how many times do they argue?

-LAUGHTER

-Erm, oh...lots!

Last weekend I did say to Sean, "Slow down a bit."

He said, "What's up, what's up?"

I said, "Nothing, I'm just scared!"

LAUGHTER

The tandem is very fast on downhills,

significantly quicker than ordinary bikes.

You've got a lot less wind resistance, too.

It can get past 60mph on downhill. I'll be watching the speed,

I've got a speedo on the bar so I'll make sure I don't break the speed limit

going down the far side of The Lecht.

Obviously you have to trust each other.

I have to trust Sean more because he has gears and brakes.

It is quite scary at times.

-Cheers, guys, see you later.

-See you, bye.

-Enjoy.

Well, after a staggered start this morning,

the riders are now really quite spread out

and the journey so far has been quite undulating,

lots of lumpy, bumpy roads,

but we're now at the start of the first really big climb

up to the top of Glenshee.

We're nearly at the top.

I'm not too scared, coming from Switzerland.

On the other hand, I must say that the way the roads look

on the images and on the maps I've seen is a little intimidating.

You know that in Switzerland, we usually go uphill in switchbacks.

Seems like the Scottish do it differently,

they just go straight over the hills,

so I'm not sure how this is going to work out.

SHE YELLS AND LAUGHS

So this is a big moment for a lot of these riders

and they have a good road and the wind's just dropped a little bit.

As this is a sportive and not a massed start race,

there's quite a lot of tactics about when to start.

Do you want to get it over quickly

or do you wait until the weather clears up?

-Morning, gentlemen.

-Morning. Gorgeous day for it(!)

LAUGHTER

Some happy faces on the climbs.

Hopefully they'll be like that in another few hours in Aviemore.

I'm just loving this hill.

LAUGHTER

-You have to get out of the saddle for the camera.

-Oh, yeah...(!)

We're about an hour and 40 minutes into the event

and you're beginning to work out yourself

whether you've got enough fuel in the tank to finish it

and you can see it's cold.

A cold breath there

and as we're up coming up towards Glenshee,

it must be about two or three degrees.

Whose idea was this?

Good. First big climb's almost over.

I'm now at the feed station at Glenshee

and some people are taking quite a long break here,

having a lot to eat and drink,

and others are just literally in and out in a few seconds.

I've got a mouthful of pretzels,

which are the best things you can ever have in a sportive,

apart from cheese sandwiches.

First sportive, so I'm definitely going to finish it

but, yeah, yeah, I need to keep the hands moving.

How are you going to warm up before you sit down?

Well, I just do lots of arm movement, you know -

I look like a giant flappy bird.

I'm hoping that the broom wagon is still a distant nightmare.

Hasn't caught up yet, so I'm happy.

Not quite singing, but I'm getting there.

So after the grind of the uphill,

this is where the riders can really let go.

Some of them will touch 60kmph or 60mph going down here,

with only two small pieces of rubber between them and the road.

It just makes you feel alive, really.

It just...the hairs...

You feel the speed

and I think it's probably the one thing I always check

on my Strava is, like, "Oh, how fast did I go when I went downhill?"

Now the leading riders have made it over that herculean first climb

whilst others are still struggling on the way up.

Yesterday, Deziree "volunteered" to see what all the fuss was about.

Let's see how she got on, shall we?

Being a spectator is all well and good,

but I usually find that I'm itching to actually just give things

a bit of a go myself.

I'm quite keen to see what's involved

in tackling one of the bigger ascents on this route

and I'm going to do it for real,

so I'm going to get timed from the Spittal of Glenshee

up to the summit and I'm going to see how long it takes me.

So, give us a countdown, Mark.

OK, are you ready? Three, two, one.

-OK.

-Go!

-Here goes nothing.

-And good luck.

Just a few wee potholes around

that I need to try and make sure that I'm avoiding

with these skinny tyres.

The bike does feel super-lovely to ride,

it's just really light.

I'm just struggling to try and remember how to work these gears.

Now, I have to confess, I was quite nervous about this

because I've only ridden a road bike once before,

so before setting off,

I thought I'd better get some handy hints and tips.

-So, Kevin what do I need to know?

-The main thing you'll notice

is that the tyres are a lot skinnier and the terrain you're riding on

is road, not off-road,

so the gearing on the bikes are different

cos you've obviously got a lot more traction

than on a mountain bike.

You'll find yourself standing up on a road bike quite a lot more

and brake-wise, brakes on road bikes

are a lot less powerful than mountain bikes,

cos they're not discs, so when you pull that brake on,

it's a bit different to mountain biking.

The time that I did try a road bike, I just found it really uncomfortable

and I don't know whether that's because of the saddle

or the positioning of it,

so am I going to feel that way again?

Everyone, we size them up, we don't just plonk them on the bike.

It's one of the biggest mistakes that people can make,

so I know the frame size right for you.

I'll adjust the seat height and then I've actually put

the stem quite high for you because you're new to road biking.

Let's keep it fair, let's not go too racy too quick,

and I'm confident we can get you sorted on this in a way that is...

You're going to be off to the best start of the day.

'Well, that's me sorted.

'Now I just have to get up this hill.'

It'd be good to get a reasonably good time

so that I don't feel completely useless.

It's absolutely beautiful round here, I have to say,

as long as you can remember to keep looking up from your bike

and from the road.

Oh...

Oh, it's still ages away.

Come on, Deziree.

I'm cycling right into a headwind.

It's amazingly deceptive

how steep this hill actually is to ride up

because it doesn't look it at all.

Oh, starting to feel like quite hard work now.

Oh...out the saddle.

That feels better.

I don't think I'm going to be winning any prizes

for fastest time any time soon.

Come on, summit, where are you?

Looks like it's about to get really steep.

I'm hoping that that's a call up there.

Oh, great - a nice, stiff headwind. Excellent(!)

At least it's cooling my face down a bit.

Is this the top, yeah?

Oh...

Nae bother. Oh...

-33 minutes.

-Oh, no, really?

I said to myself if I could do it in under half an hour,

I'd be really pleased.

33 minutes, dammit.

-I wanted to do it in less than half an hour.

-I know.

-Go and try again!

-LAUGHTER

From the challenge of the 3 Pistes,

we're heading east to the Himalayas and Nepal.

Earlier this year, we followed James Lamb from Fife

who was campaigning for better conditions for Sherpas

in the mountain village of Phortse.

He'd formed a charity, the Little Sherpa Foundation,

with a local monk, Tashi Lama,

but at the very end of our visit,

the first of two devastating earthquakes struck the country.

Five months later, he discovers that none of the aid sent to Nepal

has reached the people of the Everest National Park.

Cameron McNeish takes up the story.

When James Lamb was here in April,

no-one could have known what was about to happen.

The two earthquakes made major headlines around the world.

Since then, Nepal's faded from the news,

but for the people here, the problems still continue.

James has now returned to the Himalayas.

The day of the second earthquake

I received numerous e-mails, messages, texts.

Worst of all was phone calls from Tashi Lama.

Everyone telling me how devastating it was.

and I can remember Tashi's message to me was,

"All of our people are running,

"crying - all they do is run and cry."

I remember not sleeping,

I remember lots of e-mails and messages, all bad.

It's an emotional return for James

and a 30-minute flight from Kathmandu to Lukla

reunites him with his two great friends,

Tashi Lama and Pemba Rita.

How are you? It's so good to see you.

Those who experienced the horrendous earthquakes

will never forget them.

I was in Lukla.

There was the biggest one

and all the phone line is cut.

We're very shocked, we're very worried,

very afraid because my family, my wife's in the village,

all my kids in Kathmandu, so we don't know what's happened.

And all night, we couldn't sleep,

and the next day, there's another big one coming,

around one o'clock, so all the...

there's rock falling everywhere.

It's two-day trek from Lukla to Namche Bazaar,

the gateway to the high mountains.

And every step of the way,

the devastation caused by the earthquakes is obvious.

I suppose I had anticipated to see some houses...slightly damaged.

I think that's what I was expecting,

and yet the very first house that we came to was demolished.

It just slipped down into the valley.

In this area, of course, insurance is just an alien concept,

they simply can't afford it,

so they just have to dust themselves down and rebuild,

which is amazing mental resilience that they have.

Using basic hand tools, these houses in the Khumbu

are being rebuilt literally stone by stone,

but this isn't the only problem facing the people here.

The economy is heavily dependent on tourism

and the usual crowds of trekkers are nowhere to be seen.

If there hadn't been an earthquake, this would've been

just masses of people, masses of porters

but the numbers are quite devastating,

of how few people that there are.

It's like a completely different area for me.

So the financial implications are vast for the people in this area.

I don't know because the media tell about the disaster in Khumbu,

in Nepal, so we don't have much groups coming in

so we're sad, because we have no business.

It's a big problem now.

When we were here in April,

you had to dodge people, you had to dodge animals.

I mean, it's fun, it's part of being in Namche

and when we went there today, it was just me.

There was nobody else to avoid and when we came to a shop

that I was thinking about buying goods at in April,

it had all shut down.

It had just gone, just the sign.

One sign saying, "Sale, 50% off," the other sign saying, "Shut".

It's not quite a ghost town, but it kind of is.

Namche Bazaar, it's the richest village in...

I mean, it's the centre,

it's the capital of the whole of the Khumbu

so if they're feeling it as drastic as it is...

..I'm a bit anxious about what I'm going to see

when I go further up into Phortse itself.

The trek from Namche Bazaar to Phortse

is as fine as any in the Himalayas

and when he arrives in the village,

the local people are delighted to see him again.

There's a simple reason for this -

Phortse is a village that's been forgotten.

There have been no film crews here, no reporters, no photographers

and crucially, no outside aid has got here.

Predictably, there's been widespread damage,

but less predictable has been the fortitude and resilience

of the Sherpa people.

And that's nowhere more evident

than with Tashi's 88-year-old grandmother.

She tells him how she's survived since the earthquakes.

SHE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

You slept down there?

Did you just have this over?

She said three months, she's spent under this tent,

this is the yak wool blanket.

She made this little shelter for herself,

she makes a little shelter there.

-So she was outside completely for three months?

-Three months.

-Shows the resilience of the Sherpa people, doesn't she?

-Yeah.

What I'd like to do is to give to your gran a jumper,

so she's just about to try on

my wife's traditional Scottish jumper.

Ooh - like a tiny baby.

LAUGHTER

SHE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

Oh, it's going to be warm.

She said keep really warm.

She's looking forward to winter.

LAUGHTER

Is she just keeping it on? Oh wonderful, wonderful.

Later in the programme, we'll be back in Phortse

to see how the generosity and support

of folk throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK

will help local people survive the harsh Himalayan winter.

Hopefully it's all going to be worthwhile

and the next week, hopefully, will be one of the best weeks

of my whole entire life.

Walk in the park.

Welcome back to the 3 Pistes Sportive.

Now, the riders are getting well and truly stuck into this event

and Duncan McCallum's out on the course

right in the heart of the action.

Morning.

One of the secrets about riding such a very, very long race

is keeping yourself fuelled, get the energy levels level

for as much of the day as you can,

so you might be eating every 30 or 40 minutes,

taking gels, small bars.

It's always hard to eat when you're on the move,

but you have to do that over this 102 miles, nearly 2,000m.

I've decided this time I'm just going to stop at every opportunity,

at every feed station there is

and just take time and not push myself too hard

and just take it easy, stop every time I can

for at least 10 to 15 minutes.

When I first started cycling, I just had the water,

but my dad's a big cyclist.

He was, you know, "Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition."

And I just... Every half an hour, I eat something -

gels, bananas, bars, chocolate, whatever -

and it really, really helps.

You know, it's all down to fuelling, for sure, definitely.

And Siobhan Prise from Aberdeen is having a great day.

Everyone knows this is not a race, but each rider's time is monitored

and a results list at the end reflects who is fastest.

Right now, Siobhan is the quickest woman on the course.

There's a group of us, Sunday Kintore Cycles.

You know, cycling with a bunch of guys

really, really helps with strength and pulling you along

so my strength is getting a bit better,

but it never gets any easier, it's so tough.

Currently in second place is Shana Young.

Originally from Michigan in the States,

Shana's lived in Scotland for the last 14 years

and says the cycling here is fantastic.

In America, especially where I'm from,

everything's flat and it's a grid,

you know - you go left, right, straight, nice road.

Here, every hill is kind of an unexpected turn

and gorgeous scenery.

You start exploring all these roads,

these different passageways to different places

and you keep thinking, "Well, which way does this one take me?

"Which way does that one go?"

And all of you sudden,

your 20-mile cycle turns into 40,

turns into 60, turns into 80,

turns into 100 and you end up signing up

for challenges like the 3 Pistes.

The 3 Pistes is not only the highest sportive in Britain -

it must be the most spectacular.

You just get lost in the scenery,

you just get lost in what you're doing.

Quite often, you can forget 20 miles,

often you've reached a point, you wonder what you've been doing

for the last 20 miles when it's like that.

I mean, I've done one into Edinburgh

and the scenery down south doesn't...

Nowhere comes close to up here. It's spectacular,

it's absolutely spectacular, especially this one.

It focuses you, to a certain extent.

Takes your mind off the... certainly off the pain.

That makes it worthwhile.

The hardest climb now lies ahead -

the notorious, unremitting grind up The Lecht.

Well done, guys, how's it going?

Some riders will be tempted to fuel up before then

and fortunately, there's a convenient cafe and feed station at Corgarff.

There was a sort of nasty sign further back

-saying, "You're not even halfway yet," so...

-Oh, that's cruel!

But I think maybe as you passed that sign, that was you at halfway

so it's maybe a bit...someone's sense of humour,

but no, it's all good fun.

It's going really well, it's nice that the rain's stopped, obviously,

and I've had one puncture,

but Alistair here, my new friend, from...we just met cycling away,

very kindly stopped to help as well, so that was nice.

I'm tired.

It's a lot of hills, but I've got somebody to keep me company,

so yeah, it's nice.

Have you done much training for this?

Eh, clearly not enough!

LAUGHTER

-Do you guys know this circuit anyway?

-No, no, no.

I've done part of it but not... I've never been up The Lecht.

For good reason!

It's going to be an experience.

So we are 105km into the sportive

and this is the second big climb, by far the steepest of the route.

Alan Dobbie, number 613, has pushed out in front.

It's a fine effort and much, much, much more difficult to cycle

this sort of thing on your own.

You get a 15-20% drafting effect

if you're cycling with a group of people,

but if you're on your own, it's harder.

Alan was in the first group to set off this morning

and joined by our cycling cameraman,

he's reached The Lecht summit in great time.

In fact, he's arrived before the feed station is properly open.

I was after some more High5 or something to put in my water.

I need some.

Are you worried about cramp?

Yeah, I had really debilitating cramp last time.

Uh..and I couldn't do anything about it -

outside, front, sides of thighs, calves.

It was much hotter last year. Anyway, cheers.

As Alan Dobbie from Edinburgh heads down the other side

and onwards towards Cairngorm,

others are still pushing up this seemingly endless hill.

Once you crest that first hill after the switchback

and then you've got a small downhill

and you can just see the hill in front of you,

that's always quite punishing.

It's pretty full-on in the best weather

but just trying to get through

before the wind picks up from the west

and that'll be pretty grim in the last bit of the day.

I enjoy going up the hills - once you've got an end in sight and you can just kind of plug away,

and get to the top, there's a bit of achievement.

Sometimes the flats are the harder bits for me

cos you're just, you know, there's nothing so much to aim for.

I suppose I quite enjoy the climbing.

You cannot sit on the seat - you need to stand on the pedals

and when you do that, you've got the feeling

that you can touch the road with your hand,

just when you put it forward, it's so steep.

You need to just squeeze your teeth and that's it,

but the best solution is to squeeze your teeth

and just think of things you like and forget that it's so steep.

Several people have told me

that my cassette at the back is just not suited for...

Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'd get up it anyway,

but I just don't know.

I pass guys on hills who are spinning.

You can see now the difference of gear choice here.

Some people running compact cassettes.

That means that the gearing on your front ring is much, much smaller.

It means your feet and legs rotate far quicker.

It's far more efficient on the climbs

but it's a lot less efficient on the flats,

so, yeah, you want a small ring on this and a compact cassette.

It makes all the difference to good, efficient climbing.

The gearing has moved on massively, even in the last probably ten years.

I feel I've cheated in a way.

It used to be it was the hard man thing,

you'd use a 23, 24 in the back, but luckily those days are gone.

The pros started using them - I probably shouldn't say...

I had 32 teeth in the back

and it just makes a huge difference, you know?

You're sitting in a saddle and just out for short bursts.

It's out the saddle that destroys you.

This event's staggered start

means the fastest riders are not necessarily the first up this hill.

Lindsay McCrae from Inverness was one of the late starters,

but he's been eating up the miles

and currently, we estimate he's the quickest man on the course.

The field is reasonably competitive

cos it's one of the bigger sportives.

You could be starting half an hour before

or half an hour after the other people

who are going to be fast also,

so you have no idea on the road

where you are in terms of the overall field.

So you're constantly catching people and passing people

but not knowing if they set off half an hour, or an hour, before you

or two minutes before you.

So psychologically, it's quite difficult in some ways.

In other ways, if you start off possibly in the latter half,

you've always got people ahead of you so you can chase them down

and it's almost motivation to get the next one and then keep going.

See who the next one is.

Ultimately, you may have started at different times

but you will try to beat them across the line if you can.

It might be totally pointless

because you're half an hour difference in start times

but there's that psychological element also.

Another late starter is Donatos Markevicius.

Originally from Lithuania,

he's lived in Pitlochry for the last five years.

He's also having a tremendous 3 Pistes.

I never knew there was an event like this in Pitlochry.

Once I seen the climbing I really wanted to do that,

something challenging I never did before.

Then I saw on the website, I was actually really kind of scared

to get the climbs like this but there was a few guys from my club

that were actually stronger than me so it just pushed me to the top.

Meanwhile, Siobhan Prise, who set off at 7am,

is almost at the top of the climb up The Lecht

and she's still in the lead for the women.

I did this race last year and it killed me,

but it's just beautiful, it's so nice,

it's just such a beautiful route, isn't it?

And The Lecht is a pretty steep climb, how was that?

Yeah, 20%! 20%!

You have kind of a fast bit down

and then you just have to make sure you get into the right gear

and you're not beside anyone to get up that 20%.

I mean, I found it...

I've been working a lot on my hills recently

but it never gets any easier.

So a little breather before the summit call here.

Just let your legs spin out a bit, get rid of the lactic for a while.

So she's nicely tucked in,

just wanting to spin some of the cramp out of the legs.

A tiny little push up to the summit.

So that was a nice little recovery after that very steep climb,

obviously gaining...efficiency

back into her legs very quickly after that tough climb.

The reward is now in sight -

a long, swooping, steep and fast descent down the other side.

For most, it's a welcome relief.

I love hills, especially going down hills,

it's just the best ever

and you always forget about whatever it is that's bothering you.

I used to be fit in the past, before I had this one,

and I would have been thinking about, you know,

what time I could do

and which boys I could beat

but now, literally, this is the first thing I'll ever have done

where I really, really don't know if I can finish it.

But that's actually quite exciting, just to know if I can complete.

I'm not the world's fastest climber. I'm pretty good on the descent

but I'm going to try not to kill myself in your nice country.

Everybody has their own tolerance and that's what's interesting

is that I always feel that I'm safe

but I'm sometimes faster than other people.

And there's people who I think are crazy

and they probably think they're safe,

so...it's very personal.

It's very personal but...you know, I'm not 21 any more

and I have kids and I want to make sure that I go home from Scotland,

so I think...I'm not going to push it too much.

The cyclists are well into their ride,

with much of the ascent behind them, but there's just that small matter

of the final climb up into Cairngorm.

It really has a fearsome reputation,

but just how tough will it be with over 90 miles on their legs?

We'll find out later in the programme.

Right now, we're returning to the Nepalese village of Phortse,

high up in the Everest National Park.

Cameron McNeish follows Fife man James Lamb

as he comes to terms with the damage

caused by two earthquakes earlier this year.

I think, five months on,

I thought Phortse would be in an awful lot better state than it is.

I mean, Tashi told me that some places were destroyed

so I was ready for that,

but half the buildings...

It's a huge number of people.

It is distressing, it's quite disturbing.

Since the earthquakes, the community of Phortse

has received no outside help,

yet James discovers that in the face of enormous adversity,

the villagers won't be beaten.

Eight people in the family

that would normally be living in the house that we're looking at.

It's obviously been almost completely destroyed

in the earthquake.

There's three tents that are accommodating them

and have done for the last five months.

There's an elderly guy who's living in a tent on his own.

He can barely, barely walk

and the fact that we're in October already...

Winter's not that far away.

When James last came here, he met Ang Shering.

Once he was a high-altitude porter, but after an accident,

now uses his yaks to move goods up and down the valley.

On his earlier visit,

James spoke to him about the dangers of high-altitude work.

They met in the upstairs room of his traditional Sherpa home.

HE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

-TRANSLATOR:

-He thinks it's very dangerous,

but the main income source is climbing Everest.

That's why people keep going back. He does not want to go back again.

Now Ang Shering's house is largely destroyed.

The ground floor is all that's left.

For the last five months, he's slept in an old tent outside.

What's left of the house is in a dangerous condition -

even the makeshift kitchen has had to be dug out of the rubble.

HE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

-TRANSLATOR:

-It was totally blocked downstairs

before he can manage this place

and he cleared all the rocks

and took all the wood and dirt

and he can manage to set up this little kitchen for himself.

If your house was completely destroyed, you received 50,

and if it was partially damaged, you received 30.

When we were chatting, he told me that he'd had builders in

and the estimate is 5,000 to fix the outside of the house

and 4,000 to fix the inside.

I did ask him, "So what are your plans for winter?"

And he just shook his head and he said,

"I'll be living in the tent, I don't have any option."

Earlier this year, James formed a charity,

the Little Sherpa Foundation, with a local monk, Tashi Lama.

Its original aim was to support families of high-altitude Sherpas

who had been killed in the mountains.

Now, it's expanded to assist those villagers caught up in the disaster.

On this trip, James has brought money, clothing, tents and equipment

to help as many people as possible.

After the earthquake,

our house was in a critical state.

If we stayed there, it will be like our life in danger,

so my father and my brother helped

to build this small temporary house here and we are living here.

We feel more safe.

We make a fire here and cook here.

So this is a drum of water

and we have put in all the necessary things for cooking here.

And me and my parents sleep here - these are three beds for we three.

Sonam is a teacher in the village school

and she's witnessed the profound effect

the earthquakes have had on everyone in Phortse, especially the children.

Everyone was frightened and they were shouting.

The houses were, like, collapsing.

We just thought we won't live any more.

All the children, they want to run out of the classroom

and I stopped them and tried to convince them.

Later on, we slowly walked out of the school

and we stayed for an hour on the ground.

James is a former teacher

and he's also been working with schoolchildren

in Freuchie and Falkland.

What's happened to their counterparts in Phortse

has struck a chord with them.

You're just carrying on with your normal life and in Nepal,

you're getting texts from somebody that's experiencing an earthquake.

It was really sad to see that they didn't have a home any more

because they'd all been destroyed in the earthquake.

We thought it would be nice, not only nice, but better for them

if we gave them money so that they could rebuild their homes.

We did a pyjama day and we had to bring a donation.

-So everybody wore their pyjamas. Teachers?

-Yes.

Came in with messy hair and we brought in a teddy bear

and our class sold cakes for the school.

The best bit was probably feeling like you are raising money

for the people out in Nepal.

They need this money

because their houses have been destroyed and everything.

These Fife pupils have not only been raising funds for Phortse,

but also making gifts for the children there.

They wanted to send everybody at the school a present.

There's a friendship bracelet for every single person in here

as well as all the teachers.

Colours of Nepal, colours of Scotland.

Some children still dream of the earthquake.

They are mentally, like, frightened, you know?

Frightened, and even when strong winds blow,

they want to run out of the classroom.

-Has everybody got theirs on?

-CHILDREN: Yes.

-Excellent, good job.

-CHILDREN: Thank you.

CLAPPING

This last year has been a huge learning curve for James Lamb -

a seemingly endless round of talks, fundraising

and collecting much-needed tents, sleeping bags and clothing

to bring out to Nepal.

But this trip has had its own frustrations.

The equipment should have arrived almost two weeks ago,

but got held up by the inevitable bureaucratic delays.

With just one day left of his visit,

the consignment finally makes it to the Khumbu

with Ang Shering in charge of the yak train.

-Ang Shering, a hero. How are you?

-I'm fine, thanks.

-How was your trip?

-Good, thanks.

-Aid boxes?

Next morning, the goods are handed over to the villagers.

It's an emotional event for everyone.

-OK, enjoy.

-Thank you.

Oh, no, you're welcome, you're welcome.

Those most in need are given money to help them survive

the harsh Himalayan winter.

In total, over half the people of Phortse have been helped.

CLAPPING

And no-one is more grateful than Ang Shering.

So I've put up little tents and put up big tents

but I've never put up a tent

with somebody who's climbed Everest three times.

LAUGHTER

-Ang Shering, where do you want the door?

-This side.

Door on that side - right, OK.

HE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

-TRANSLATOR:

-Compared to the other tent where he's sleeping now,

he thinks this tent is much warmer and will keep him warm

so he said it's a big difference.

It feels like home.

A final present for you, Ang Shering.

A sleeping bag. I hope it keeps you warm.

-OK, thank you.

-I think you'll need it in this winter.

James is also very keen to provide longer-term help to the village.

Key to that plan is the building of a tea house and meditation centre

on land that Tashi Lama owns.

And already, they've had some powerful support.

Award-winning Scottish architect Murray Kerr

has agreed to design a building

that will set new standards in the Himalayas

and will be earthquake-resistant.

This whole concept of this building,

I think, is going to be the way to go, not just for tea houses,

but just whole buildings up in this area.

I think this is... Our builders can...

All the bedrooms and...

I think, we hope, we can build this.

Absolutely amazing

because we've never seen this kind of building before.

We're all in agreement that these plans are fantastic.

We want them to happen.

All we need now is a small matter of the money.

During the last year, James has met hundreds of people

who are keen to support the work of the charity.

No-one is more enthusiastic than Pashupati Bhandari.

He's one of the UK's leading Nepalese businessman

and by good luck, he's visiting his family in Kathmandu.

Tashi Lama and James meet him and ask if he can help.

I had a look at it, you know, the business plan and everything.

We need to work out proper costings out.

I've been talking to Tashi

about this total cost and everything.

The cost we still have to get...

-I mean, we are very much happy to invest up to 60% for now.

-Wow.

I'm very happy to build a tea house.

Especially this one.

Yeah, especially this one, because

I'm thinking about the tourism.

Khumbu one of the best

tourism area in Nepal.

I'm very much excited, I mean, definitely -

surely if we work together, we can make this happen quite soon.

-High-five.

-Whoo!

LAUGHTER

It's a fitting ending to James' return trip to Nepal.

And to find out more about this project

and all the other Adventure Show news,

follow us on Facebook.

Welcome back to the action at the 3 Pistes Sportive.

Now, those riders at the front are now preparing

for that last leg-sapping climb up to the Cairngorms,

whilst others still have a bit further to go.

Tired.

It's about 102ks, so we're not doing too bad now, right enough.

Oh, yeah, you've kind of broken the back of it now.

-Well...

-HE LAUGHS

..this is still a bit of a romp up, though, isn't it?

There are many cycle events in Scotland now,

but this has to be one of the most spectacular.

It has some of the steepest climbs,

it certainly has rolling terrain

and with 2,000 metres of ascent,

it means that the cyclists get an absolutely incredible challenge.

Unlike the Bealach na Ba and Applecross,

which is a very famous defined climb,

the accumulated climbing here is far, far greater,

and the terrain, it seems, much, much more remote.

It's a brilliant route. I love the Cairngorms -

fantastic scenery.

I mean, cycling-wise, it's a challenge.

There's plenty climbing and it's just a beautiful area

to be in, really.

There are two lead riders,

if we can call them lead riders, in the sportive,

at 140km complete of the 165,

and they're just trading leads here, swapping it,

doing a bit of drafting, swapping over,

maybe one minute or so in front of each other,

just to ease the last little bit.

This is the time of the race where your brain

really starts to wander.

You've been on the bike now for over five hours.

You are definitely going to be tired now.

You've already cycled, by this stage, about 145km.

But still a fair chunk to go and a vicious last climb up to Cairngorm.

Very hard to focus on what is ahead.

It's not over yet.

You've got to keep something in reserve.

That reserve, at this stage,

is definitely going to be psychological.

The person who actually does best in this event today

will not necessarily have the strongest legs,

but definitely have the strongest mind.

It is a very long way indeed.

-Turn left.

-Turn left.

-Thank you.

-You're welcome.

I have moments when I'm cycling and I think

I don't know why I'm there doing it

because it's so hard, but at the end of it, it makes it worthwhile.

It's nice to see different parts of Scotland too -

the scenery's beautiful if the weather's good enough to see it.

If you're out on a normal ride and you're 40 miles from home

and you've got to get home,

you just have to keep ploughing on.

Even if your speed drops to walking pace,

you have to get home and that's it.

Again, we know we have to get to the finish,

hopefully it will be before the broom wagon sweeps us up.

LAUGHTER

Towards the end, it'll be much better.

So once you've sort of finished the really hard climbs,

except for the last one up round Cairngorm and Nethy Bridge,

it'll be sort of a bit flatter,

so you might put your head up and look, which will be good.

So, yes, so hopefully we'll see plenty, but it's stunning anyway.

I just love it. Just love it to bits.

It's just, you know, once you get on a bike you start singing.

It's fabulous. Can't stop.

I think it's the freedom, it's enjoying the scenery.

Scotland's a great place and it's made even better

when the weather's really nice, but we can't have everything.

So we're now on the last few kilometres

up to the summit of Cairngorm,

where your legs are screaming, "Stop, stop, stop, stop!"

but your mind will not let you. You've just got a little bit to go.

The end is close.

So this is the position that Alan Dobbie has been in

since the very start - in the front, hunched over his handlebars.

We haven't seen him stand up or change position all day.

It's an absolutely epic performance.

He was just joined a little bit

for the last few kilometres through Nethy Bridge.

Even now, though, even though he's leading the group,

we do not know and he doesn't know

whether he's going to win the Sportive.

Alan's had a fantastic ride

and he should make it over the finish line in just over six hours.

But Lindsay McCrae from Inverness may have the edge on him.

He started out later and has been flying round the course.

It could be a close call.

I just like going fast.

I just like to push myself and see how fast I can go.

I tend to go for the longer sportives, the higher ones,

the more climbing, just because it's more difficult and it's...

It's more just down to how good you are.

There's less variables, as in the more sprint ones

can depend on groups and different things,

whereas the longer ones tend to be just a lot of cycling on your own,

but it's just a bit more challenging.

The more difficult, the better.

Donatas Markevicius was also one of the later riders out of Pitlochry.

He's comparatively new to the sport, but that's not apparent today.

This is our second season on the road bike.

I found cycling last year, so I bought my first bike,

road bike last year.

This year I bought a new one, a bit more expensive,

-faster on descents.

-HE LAUGHS

It's really fun to challenge yourself.

Those who started earliest are now beginning that long, arduous climb

to the Cairngorm Ski Centre.

Over eight miles lie ahead,

but most riders are psyched for this last, punishing stretch.

Hi, Mum.

I grew up around here,

so I've cycled round this area quite a lot.

It's just ticking off places I knew along the way,

so breaking it in until it's sort of...

I think it's about five-mile segments.

Though all that you can think about for the last...

From Nethy Bridge all the way along is just the last climb,

so I guess it's good to get started,

but your legs don't half scream at you

for that last whatever, three miles.

Glad to be here. I'm saving my wheelie until the end.

Last year that was my one low bit of the entire day,

I hadn't taken on enough nutrition in the hour leading up to it,

so the tank was nearly empty.

The fuel tank was running empty,

so by the time I got to the steep section

from Glenmore up to the Sugarbowl, I was suffering a little bit there.

It's hard work.

I'm not far now, eh?

I've never cycled up it. I've been up in the bus

and it seems quite easy in a bus,

but I was just saying to Gavin, it doesn't seem that steep.

but I've only ever actually been up it in a bus, so I don't know.

I'm loving it, I'm loving it!

We were in a group, which makes a big difference -

if you're riding in a group, it's a lot easier.

But as soon as you hit the hills, that's when it splits.

But it was just a gentle ride up for me.

I rode with a couple of guys, but it was definitely the hardest bit.

I would have to say the last climb was hard

because you were just exhausted.

I think on any other normal day if that was the only climb,

it wouldn't be, but I was going so slow, I was thinking,

"Oh, what's wrong with me?"

Of course, it has all those switchbacks

where you just keep thinking of the next one.

"Just the next one," and then, no, it's not the next one yet,

but probably this one.

It just keeps going that way until you see the finishing line

and the car park.

And for Alan Dobbie, that's the end in sight.

6 hours, 9 minutes and 15 seconds after setting off from Pitlochry,

he's the first rider to reach the finish line.

Alan, that's an amazing performance,

so did you manage to keep warm throughout the whole thing?

Too warm. I was expecting much worse weather.

There's only two layers here, but it's very warm, so...

Ah, I'm exhausted.

I noticed that you didn't change the position on your bike

the entire day, you were right down on the handlebars the entire time.

There was a lot of wind.

Were you just trying to do that to keep out of the wind?

Yeah, but my back is now crippled.

Yeah, it puts a lot of pressure on your spine,

so my back's really sore now.

Second over the line, just six minutes after Alan,

is Scott Murray in a time of 6 hours, 14 minutes and 20 seconds.

We don't know yet what the final positions will be,

but what a tremendous ride he's had.

You were kind of really close to Alan there for the last

maybe 20-30 kilometres,

and then did you have a wee crack at the bottom of the hill?

I probably cracked about 80 mile,

and the last five mile was just... Oh, it was just brutal.

For the women, Siobhan Prise has kept up a great pace

and is now nearing the end of this final climb.

She's the first woman up this hill and completes the 102 miles

and 2,000 metres of ascent in a fantastic time

of 6 hours, 50 minutes and 38 seconds.

Hi!

Well we've been watching you the full race.

Oh, my God! That's a mental race.

It's so amazing though, it's so beautiful.

Scotland's amazing.

I was really struggling over Glenshee,

cos it was lashing with rain,

but as soon as you get to Coylumbridge

and you see the "eight miles to Cairngorms"

and you know it's a really good surface along there

and you kind of know you're nearly there.

Then you get to the snow gates and it's like, "Oh, goodness me!"

I've done that now twice and it never gets any easier.

And as the cyclists cross over the finish line,

there's a sense of exhaustion, relief and exultation

for a ride well done.

I made it! Yes. There was times I wasn't sure.

It was, eh...

Some headwind after The Lecht, that's what really got me.

It wasn't quite as bad at the start as we thought it was going to be,

but, yeah, the last bit's been windy,

so those guys that are out on their own at the end,

it's absolutely brutal.

So it's now time for the final reckoning.

For the men, the first over the line,

Alan Dobbie's time was 6:09:15

and he came in 11th overall.

In 3rd place, it was Donatas Markevicius

with a time of 6:00:44.

Just ahead in 2nd place was Richard Dowling in 6:00:12,

but out in the lead to take the top spot was Lindsay McCrae

with an amazing time of 5:55:32.

I was very surprised

because my time was almost exactly the same as the previous year.

I knew the weather had affected me a bit, but I wasn't sure

if it was going to be fast enough.

I think the wind probably added...

45 minutes to an hour onto my time,

so I was very surprised, but I was very pleased as well,

because it's a tough distance and the conditions were brutal.

And the women's results look like this.

Carolyn Hunter-Rowe came in 3rd in 7:10:14.

Shana Young was second in 7:08:35

and 18 minutes faster with a time of 6:50:38,

Siobhan Prise was the fastest woman on the course today.

Today, the morning was so wet and my hands were freezing.

I was terrified about The Lecht because I couldn't move my hands

so I couldn't brake and I couldn't really change gears

and then once they're over, then it's just a home straight really.

A great result for Siobhan

and what a fantastic event Shana's had as well.

She certainly didn't expect to come in second.

I nearly didn't do it.

I broke my leg in January,

but then you get past one climb and you think, "OK, that's done,"

and then you tackle The Lecht, which is one of the hardest climbs

I've done in a long time and the sense of achievement

which each little step that you take just brings you on.

Then when you finish it, you just feel like, "Yeah, I've done that."

And in case you were wondering, both the ElliptiGO bike

and the tandem made it all the way.

Congratulations to all who took part in this event

in pretty challenging conditions.

That's almost it for this programme

but we'll be back next year with the Three Peaks Ultra Marathon Hill Race,

but to keep you going over Christmas,

Cameron McNeish will be forging a new route through the Western Highlands.

This year I'm travelling through

some of Scotland's most dramatic scenery.

From the grandeur of Glencoe,

the rugged Sunart peninsula,

the majesty of Kintail

and along some of the best coastline you can find anywhere in the world.

Mind your head.

This is a very special journey because it's much more than a walk.

I want to explore the secret corners of our West Highlands

so my home will be on wheels.

I tell you, you'd be hard-pressed to get a view like this

from a hotel bedroom.

I'll be walking, cycling and packrafting

as I make my way along these roads less travelled.

You know, I really like the notion of following a footpath

and having no idea where it's going.

You get the sense of peering over horizons,

not knowing your destination.

Oh, I'm in heaven.

This is as good as it gets.

Well, that really is it for this programme.

I hope you're able to join Cameron over the festive break.

In the meantime, from all of us here at Cairngorm,

thanks very much for your company. Bye for now.