What? Cycling to Redpoint / An Rubha Dearg, Gairloch, Rossshire, Scottish Highlands.
Why? As an hommage to Boards of Canada’s album Geogaddi (which opened my mind so much to what music could be), for its twentieth anniversary. Well, now twenty-first, but I had the idea last year.
Whence? Nice. I’d guess somewhere with flights from Madrid. So, probably Edinburgh.
How long? About 600 km. Say 6-7 days.
Is there a clearer way to visualize the route? Convenient question! Yes, there is.
You went to the trouble of researching and drawing all that just for a whimsical idea that may well just not happen? You know what they say, researching and coming up with a detailed plan to do something renders the idea more real and makes it more likely that you’ll go through with it. Or it serves as a psychic ersatz version of actually doing it thereby making it less likely. You really can’t tell.
Hadn’t you sworn off cycle touring back in ’17? I’d expect things to be less unpleasant this time: the Scottish Highlands seem prettier than La Mancha, and following a National Cycle Network route should allow me to avoid traffic. Maybe a toss-up between wet feet and midges vs. severe dehydration.
Would it be expensive? Probably? Looks to be about 250€ for the flights incl. luggage and bicycle, and I have a checkout basket at the Decathlon website worth 280€ (I can probably get back at least half of that selling it later). Stays should cost me less than 100€ if I can camp, then add about 50€ for the train trip back to Edinburgh. So, add a contingency and estimate about 600€ net?
That’s a lot. Objectively, it is. It is also less than I save each month, so I’ll still be net positive in that month (not to mention all I have and will accumulate during those months in which I don’t go on trips based on titles of electronic music tracks).
Still, feels pointless. I suppose it feels somewhat like doing the Camino de Santiago, and people fly to Spain to do that without second-guessing the validity of it. And — so then what? I still need to do something in the vaguely fun/interesting/memorable space with my free time and spare money.
City breaks? Flying to Vienna or whatever for a weekend to have brunch and visit museums? Vacuous, meaningless, superficial. People go on city breaks, without any sense of self-doubt, to freaking Brussels! For one pretty square and a tiny statue of a peeing toddler! People go to Dubai for “fun”, which anyone with the least amount of self-awareness should give up on life after doing.
Concerts? I did that last year for Ganso and Karate, and tried it for Pavement but all the shows were sold out. Who’s touring this year — Ganso around Portugal on January weekends, and Karate playing Primavera Sound in June? Sounds like rapidly plummeting marginal utility.
Hiking? Fully open to suggestions not immediately near Madrid that are accesible via public transportation.
Golf or sailing or all the other rich old idiot hobbies? I’m not yet at level of wealth, decay, or twattishness.
The only vaguely valid ideas I have at this point are walking foot tunnels and running metro lines — and I could actually do both in Glasgow.
You could learn to play all of Some Boots on guitar, the same way you did for WPSIATWIN ten years or so ago. Actually, I think I never quite managed the solo on Dancing Shoes. Maybe I could, even if In Hundreds feels wholly unfeasible.
You could go to Prainha, near Alvor, where your grandparents have their holiday home, and recreate the shots from the music video for Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode. Uh. That’s… uh. I may do that.
Confissões de um gajo possuído 
What now?
Get my bicycle fixed. It’s functional, but not at its best — most critically, the front derailleur isn’t shifting so I’m currently limited to the 39 plate. Take it to the shop I trust near me (Villa Bikes) so they can fix it.
Decide on shoes and on tyres.
For shoes, my three concerns are waterproofness, cycling comfort, and walkability. I don’t have clipless pedals and am not interested in getting them, so I’m considering going with a non-obvious choice, the Quechua NH150 hiking shoes, contingent on them fitting and feeling alright on the pedals (which I can test on the rollers at home).
For tyres, I’m not so sure. Some of the touring tyres I’ve seen online seem excessive (35+mm width, fully treaded) but I do want more puncture resistance than on my Michelin Lithions — multiple punctures could ruin the trip, and some riding on unsealed road surfaces appears to be involved. Maybe the Vittoria Randonneurs, as an intermediate option?
Buy gear. Namely: shoes and tyres, a pannier-compatible rack, panniers, a bike bag for the flights, tent, sleeping bag, and lights.
Actually cycle. For the past year or so, cycling on a roller has been my main form of exercise, so my 1-hour FTP is probably close to its best, but that isn’t super helpful for a multiple-day cycle tour. When on the roller, I rarely ride on the drops, which I’ll want to do a lot of on the tour (especially in the presumably windy conditions of the Scottish Highlands) and which requires much more effort from one’s triceps and neck muscles. I’ll also be riding on irregular terrain, which leads to lower back pain if your lumbar muscles aren’t as strong as they should. I’ve started to do this already (my first actual bike ride in over a year, 56k down to, around, and up from Casa de Campo) but I should start to go on 100k+ rides soon and regularly (say, every weekend): on the cycle path to Soto del Real (or Miraflores de la Sierra) and back and then, when temperatures slightly rise, to the actual sierra for some climbier routes.
Map locations along the route. Beer breweries and bars; vegan-friendly pubs and restaurants; camping sites where I’ll be sleeping; tourist attractions (castles, ruins, local museums); bicycle shops. Sustrans appears to publish a comprehensive paper guide of the route, which may be worth buying.
And, finally, hope to have some more visibility on my work situation — what my next project is going to be, when it will start, when it will end.