We set off in the pouring rain at 8 am. Well, I suppose it had to rain some time on this magnificent trip. As you can see, 11 of us were well illuminated with fluorescent jackets and lights on our bikes and neonight lights on Jo's helmet (very good if you want to be seen in bad viz: if you are interested, checkout: www.neonight.com)
It was difficult to appreciate fully the countryside this morning - the Great Glen, the Caledonian Canal, Fort Augustus, Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness - all passed in a wet blur.
But at least we tested our gear. All of which performed well except for our "Seal Skinz" gloves which were utterly useless. We also managed a quick puncture repair as Jo managed to find a big hole to ride into again. Jo is now known as the "weather witch" (takes off waterproofs and then it rains) and the "hole queen" (due to all the holes she manages to find to puncture her front and rear tyres).
We had to leave the coffee stop until quite late as we had "Heart Break Hill" to climb (18%) just outside Drumnadrochit. We pushed on to Beauly where the coffee and cake in Corner on the Square (the local deli) were lovely and staff really friendly and understanding (as 10 cyclists left the place looking like it had been flooded). And the hand drier in the Ladies was awesome for drying hair and gloves. After lunch at the sports centre in Dingwall, the rain stopped and the last 25 miles of the day's journey was in gently undulating countryside on extremely quiet back roads. Autumn has arrived here and the colours are splendid.
Arrived at our hotel in Tain at 3.30 pm as the sky turned black again. The hotel is warm and comfortable but that did not stop us popping out for a bag of chips (each) from the local (Chinese) chippy! Sure beats recovery bars; after 10 days we are sick of them.
Route today:
Great ride so far - loved the pictures. Hope it stays dry for the rest of the ride.
ReplyDeleteLove J & C