Day 11, 12 & 13
Day 11 to Newtonmore, near Aviemore Tuesday 20/6/6
Probably the best day of the trip by some way. From Drum we traveled through the Glen of Devon to Dunning. A quiet road with stunning views to end with a breathtaking sight of the Grampian mountains which we were then aiming for.
On the way across the valley we picked up route 77 of the National Cycle Network. This effectively followed the river Tay all the way to Pitlochery (the most expensive place in Britain for jacket potatoe at £5.50). The route to Newtonmore was then on NCN7 which is broadly the old A9 road. A brilliant surface to ride on and loads of space. The only snag was that it started to rain at the beginning of the climb where we read a sign that said even in Summer conditions at the summit could beappallingg! Brave (or is that stupid) souls that we are we carried on. By the time we got to the top we were drenched, but what we were looking forward too was a very long descent down the hill. It was brilliant for 10 miles or so we hardly peddled. We finished at 7:30 having travelled around 95 miles and straight in to the hotel which was able to offer a great drying room.
That evening was spent in the local Italian and then on to the pub which was a Camra award winner - I wonder if we would suffer the next day?
785 miles gone - we are starting to think of the finish
Day 12 to Evanton, north of Inverness Wednesday 21/6/6
A miserable day from start to finish. It was a bit drizzly but the main problem was the wind, or as Breakfast news said, gales - we were cycling straight into them, and it was hard work. We went through Aviemore, which has got tackier, if you ever come up here stay in one of the nearby villages they are much nicer and better value (Aviemore: most expensive flapjack in Britain at £2.50, and not very good).
The wind was so strong at one point it blew me from one side of the road top the other. This was unfortunate as by now we were on a public highway and there was a river on the other side. I bounced of the side of the wall and just about kept on the bike. Not good so from then on, I in particular was very cautious not wanting to go too fast in case the wind caught us again.
We then went onto the A9 as a short cut to Inverness and the bridge over the river. I am sure we would have been more comfortable riding along the M4, it was terrifying. The cars were flying past, we were going down hill at a rate of knots and the gale was blowing. As for the bridge I ended up scootering across as the side fence was quite low and between the lorries and the wind you kept being pushed into the fence.
The good news was that we made our original destination target, Evanton. The day was appropriatelyly ended as the pub then had a power cut, so we were all asleep by 10pm.
Day 13 to Bettyhill, on the Northern coast Thursday 22/6/6
At least today was dry and wind dropped a little, but it was still straight into us. We were traveling through the remote Highlands, vast areas surrounded by mountains and not even any sheep! When we did see houses they often had in the driveway tractors with caterpillarer tracks.
The Lochs we we saw were huge and scenery was just brilliant. The last 20 miles was through and area that that had suffered with the clearances of around 1812. It was very sad to see the places where whole villages had been thrown off the land. Bettyhill is on the Northern coast of Scotland and it has a magnificent beach: mountains down to the water and sand dunes. The sunset and the sea view was well worth the £20 a night B&B we were paying at the local hotel. The King of Denmark for some reason used to frequent this place during WW2.
926 miles gone - And now the end is near ---
Ed
Day 11 to Newtonmore, near Aviemore Tuesday 20/6/6
Probably the best day of the trip by some way. From Drum we traveled through the Glen of Devon to Dunning. A quiet road with stunning views to end with a breathtaking sight of the Grampian mountains which we were then aiming for.
On the way across the valley we picked up route 77 of the National Cycle Network. This effectively followed the river Tay all the way to Pitlochery (the most expensive place in Britain for jacket potatoe at £5.50). The route to Newtonmore was then on NCN7 which is broadly the old A9 road. A brilliant surface to ride on and loads of space. The only snag was that it started to rain at the beginning of the climb where we read a sign that said even in Summer conditions at the summit could beappallingg! Brave (or is that stupid) souls that we are we carried on. By the time we got to the top we were drenched, but what we were looking forward too was a very long descent down the hill. It was brilliant for 10 miles or so we hardly peddled. We finished at 7:30 having travelled around 95 miles and straight in to the hotel which was able to offer a great drying room.
That evening was spent in the local Italian and then on to the pub which was a Camra award winner - I wonder if we would suffer the next day?
785 miles gone - we are starting to think of the finish
Day 12 to Evanton, north of Inverness Wednesday 21/6/6
A miserable day from start to finish. It was a bit drizzly but the main problem was the wind, or as Breakfast news said, gales - we were cycling straight into them, and it was hard work. We went through Aviemore, which has got tackier, if you ever come up here stay in one of the nearby villages they are much nicer and better value (Aviemore: most expensive flapjack in Britain at £2.50, and not very good).
The wind was so strong at one point it blew me from one side of the road top the other. This was unfortunate as by now we were on a public highway and there was a river on the other side. I bounced of the side of the wall and just about kept on the bike. Not good so from then on, I in particular was very cautious not wanting to go too fast in case the wind caught us again.
We then went onto the A9 as a short cut to Inverness and the bridge over the river. I am sure we would have been more comfortable riding along the M4, it was terrifying. The cars were flying past, we were going down hill at a rate of knots and the gale was blowing. As for the bridge I ended up scootering across as the side fence was quite low and between the lorries and the wind you kept being pushed into the fence.
The good news was that we made our original destination target, Evanton. The day was appropriatelyly ended as the pub then had a power cut, so we were all asleep by 10pm.
Day 13 to Bettyhill, on the Northern coast Thursday 22/6/6
At least today was dry and wind dropped a little, but it was still straight into us. We were traveling through the remote Highlands, vast areas surrounded by mountains and not even any sheep! When we did see houses they often had in the driveway tractors with caterpillarer tracks.
The Lochs we we saw were huge and scenery was just brilliant. The last 20 miles was through and area that that had suffered with the clearances of around 1812. It was very sad to see the places where whole villages had been thrown off the land. Bettyhill is on the Northern coast of Scotland and it has a magnificent beach: mountains down to the water and sand dunes. The sunset and the sea view was well worth the £20 a night B&B we were paying at the local hotel. The King of Denmark for some reason used to frequent this place during WW2.
926 miles gone - And now the end is near ---
Ed
posted by Ed, Richard & Ray at 2:20 PM
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