Planned mileage: 54.6 miles
Actual mileage: see above (cycle computer still not working)
Cycling time: round about 4 hours – easy!
Accommodation: Osprey Hotel, Kingussie - http://www.ospreyhotel.co.uk/
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| No trains here... Euan South of Culloden |
It's not often that you're served breakfast by a sporting World Champion, but that's what happened today – Ewan MacDonald, Olympic curler and B&B host. And it was an excellent breakfast, with pleasant chats with our American and Canadian fellow guests – two of them presented us with a bag of chocolate & nuts to help us on our way. We have met some very interesting and pleasant people on our route this time. We left Craigside Lodge – well worth booking in there if you happen to be visiting Inverness – Amy MacD even put our cycling kit in the wash for us – at about 10:30, and headed east towards Culloden moor in 'bright cloudy' conditions with a bit of a south westerly breeze. We passed an elderly couple we had met yesterday, who were doing a similar route to us, then turned off the main road shortly after Culloden, to head south again, on a very pleasant twisting narrow road that roughly followed the railway. After passing Daviot we joined the B9154, the old main Inverness to Perth road (constructed by general Wade and remade in 1925 by MacIntosh of MacIntosh & his friends – we read this on a plaque by the road) which was a beautifully quiet wide, twisting road through scenery which was definitely more of the native woodlands of Rothiemurchus than the bleaker tundra we had experienced further north. We paused at Moy to admire the last wooden bridge on a mainline railway in Britain, before joining the cycle path that adjoins the A9 as we climbed up to Sloch summit (405m or so).
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| Lunch at Carrbridge - wish you were here? |
The descent towards Carrbridge made all the effort climbing worth while, with what was by now bright sunshine and a tail wind just adding to the enjoyment. We covered the last 5 miles in almost no time.
We stopped for lunch at the Old Bakery cafe in Carrbridge and enjoyed their excellent home cooking and baking. Carrbridge felt in good form, with a liveliness about it helped by a good dose of sunshine.
On familiar roads now and suitably refreshed, we headed on to Boat of Garten and then picked up the Coylumbridge road. Into the fresh breeze, but lovely Strathspey scenery to keep us happy. Soon we were at the southern edge of Aviemore, where we took the B road southwards to Kincraig, six miles onwards. Here we stopped off to visit Shona, Derek & Niamh (the latter fast asleep so we didn't see her) where we were given a great welcome and a welcome cup of tea. We chatted for about an hour then it was time to head on to Kingussie, making excellent time and arriving at the Osprey Hotel at about 4:45.
This was a characterful place of hospitality, and we were told to bring our bikes right in to the main reception area – not that there really was a reception, as the place seemed to be run more or less single handedly by one woman, and if you wanted to eat dinner in the hotel you had to book in advance (we hadn't). Still, our room was comfortable (if a tad pink for my liking) and we were certainly made to feel very welcome.
Showered and changed, we wandered round Kingussie before selecting the Silver Fijord Hotel, right by the station (it probably less originally used to be called the Railway Hotel) for dinner in what appeared to be their brand-new or at least renovated restaurant. A very good meal with more friendly service, and we later wandered back to The Osprey, without seeing any trains – we've been following the main railway line for two days now and haven't seen anything using it – and settled down to write our blog.
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