At the beginning of July roads in Aberdeenshire suddenly seemed to be inundated with roller skiers.  While drivers in the area have become used to seeing the occasional skier out training, for almost a week there were reports of "dozens of half-naked men skiing on the road".  The reason for these (exaggerated) reports was that Andrew Musgrave had invited five Norwegian skiers over to experience summer training Scottish style.  They were joined by Andrew Young, Alex Standen and Callum Smith from the GB team and spent five days running and hill-bounding on the slopes of Bennachie, and roller-skiing on the smaller roads in the area.  Out for 5 or 6 hours every day and with the weather hot and sunny almost all the time, the local perception of "dozens" and "naked" may have been exaggerated but was understandable.  They finished on the last day with a punishing 4 hours double pole of 75 km, then a quick snack and straight back out for another 2 hours skate skiing.  

 

Asked how they had enjoyed training in Scotland the Norwegians commented on how much better our roads are than theirs, in that we have miles of small, low traffic, tarmac roads - and how polite all the drivers are here.  Which was nice to hear, if surprising!  They also went home under the impression that Scotland is always hot, dry and sunny.......