Day 3:
Lairg to Inverness – 63.3 miles
Planned mileage: 63.3 miles
Actual mileage: approx 65 miles (B&B location measurement inaccuracy)
Cycling time: guestimate of 5 hours (lots of messing around stopping to take pictures etc...)
Accommodation: Craigside Lodge Guesthouse - http://www.craigsideguesthouse.co.uk/
Oddly enough, we slept pretty well last night. Can't think why...
Very reluctant to wake up and get ourselves down to breakfast. Unusually, we were all sharing one big table. Fortunately, the other guests (two cyclists – one from Burnley and one from Kent, plus a teacher from Adelaide) were very friendly and interesting, so many stories were swapped and enjoyed over a very relaxed and tasty meal.
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| Falls of Shin |
Of course, having woken to sunshine, by the time we eventually (rather slow to get going today) were ready to leave it was raining (again)... So we started out with wet weather gear this time and pedalled off along the other side of the River Shin, all the time appreciating the shelter from the wind. By the time we reached the visitor centre at the falls it had dried up, warmed up and we were pleased to pause, wander down to view the Falls of Shin (plenty of water whooshing through), pay a micro visit to the shop to top up on whisky and remove layers in preparation for some steadier cycling.
Brilliant, brilliant morning's pedalling. First, alongside the railway having carried our bikes up steps and across a footbridge at Invershin Station. Gently undulating, with stunning views over the Kyle of Sutherland. Then, with a tail wind all the way to Tain. Over the previous two days, many of the main A roads were single track with passing places and the occasional cattle grid. Today only the unmarked roads fell into that 'far north, middle of nowhere' category. But they were still pretty quiet and we were able to really relax and enjoy the ride without too much in the way of physical effort.
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| Bridge at Invershin Station |
Resisting the temptations of the Glenmorangie visitors centre, we stopped for lunch in Tain at the Sunflower Cafe. Quite disappointed not to spot any sign of Caboc cheese anywhere, so we consoled ourselves with macaroni complete with nice stretchy cheddar instead. Terrible chore, but someone had to do it!
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| At last - coffe and cake in Dingwall |
Heading south-eastwards out of Tain, we undulated gently into a headwind (thankfully SO much calmer than yesterday) through a succession of small towns up above the Cromarty Firth before diving down into Dingwall. Not just because it looked like it was going to rain, but more because we hadn't done it so far this holiday, we found a nice (brand new) cafe and made ourselves comfortable. By the time our cappuccino and massive slices of Victoria sponge arrived, it was chucking it down outside – poor bikes!
Fortunately, the bikes hadn't dissolved and were still patiently waiting by the time we went back out and put on waterproof layers before cycling onwards. Glad to say that the rain didn't last much longer, but at this point we did find ourselves back onto busier roads. Knowing it was only 12 or 13 miles to Inverness helped us on our way along our first sections of very smoothly surfaced cycle path alongside the A835. Particularly enjoyable was a section near some roadworks where it went silent as all the cars had to stop and we continued zooming along.
The approach to Inverness through North Kessock and Kessock Bridge was very impressive. The power of the tidal waters of the Beauly Firth was evident in the speed of movement and mixing of different wedges of current. Scary stuff, we were glad we didn't have to swim across! By far the steepest climb of the day was up to the bridge – I accidentally took the inside line on a tight corner and very, very nearly stalled.
Crossing the bridge on the cycle path a mere 50cm from two lanes of approaching traffic (the cycle path is on the right) travelling at 70+ mph was somewhat intimidating, but we survived and dropped down onto a low level road through the northern industrial end of Inverness where we came across a renovated clock tower from the time of Oliver Cromwell. Rather innocuous in a busy industrial estate.
The only trauma of the day was managing to lose each other shortly afterwards when I spotted the cycle path and despite attempting to stop Euan, he went on at a roundabout into the busy traffic and ended up at the railway station. After a couple of false starts at getting hold of each other, we managed to meet up alongside the river and find our way up the hill to our B&B. We had deliberately picked our accommodation from a previous stay in October 2008 for the Loch Ness Marathon where we'd been looked after after amazingly well. So we weren't surprised to get a really warm welcome and shown to our comfy room with an amazing view out over the castle and the river. The right choice I think. And we even got our stuff washed for us – much needed after three days!
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| Restorative curry |
Tonight we had curry for dinner in the highly recommended Rajah restaurant. Very tasty, modern setting and pleasantly lively atmosphere. Euan was facing out and had good fun people watching and telling me what was going on. Bit chilly and breezy out, so our stroll along the riverfront was rather speedy and we're now settled back into our room and looking forward to another good night's sleep and a shorter cycle tomorrow.
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