Day 9

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After the head wind heroics of yesterday, Day 9 was due to be a relatively short day, with reasonaby flat terrain loch side up the Great Glen and with a light tail wind. All went well initially as we hugged the edge of Loch Lochy for the first 30 miles, but things started to go a little awry at Fort Augustus at the head of Loch Ness.

We stopped for a cup of tea at the local sheep dog trials, watched a few rounds of the event and bought some raffle tickets in aid of the local hospice**. We were somehow persuaded to take the "High Road" on the southern side of the loch and found ourselevs enduring another massive and gruelling climb. The views were spectacular and the descent back down to Loch Ness was almost worth the pain. However, we paid the price in increasingly aching limbs and getting behind on our timetable for the day.

Nevertheless, we found time to stop for a quick (and very cold) dip in the loch and then bombed up to Inverness. The "Green Train" was in full effect as we drafted the next 20 miles in record time - 2 lots of 2 miles each to keep fresh. We arrived in Inverness around 3pm, wolfed down a quick plate of pasta, failed to find a useable PC and then realsied that the last ferry off the Balck Isle left at 6pm and we still had 30 odd miles to go.

Once again we got into full race formation and sped across the Black Isle at full speed, greeting everyone with a resounding "Buongiorno" as we imagined we were part of the Scuderia Italia racing team. With about 20 minutes to spare we arrived in Cromarty and as we looked for the ferry slipway we heard the unmistakeble sound of Van Morrison blaring out of the Royal Hotel. We opened the bar door to find it packed to bursting with drunken locals, from 17 to 70, tatooed, toothless and singing at the tops of their voices. They (perhaps suprisingly) welcomed with open arms 5 sweaty cyclists in lycra.

After a swift pint of heavy, we got the last ferry to Nigg and watched a Norweigan cruise liner accompanied out of the Cromarty Firth by a fire tender spraying water 100 feet in the air.

We finally arrived in our destination as the sun was thinking about setting and settled down to a huge Indian meal at the Tain Tandoori. After a chat with the local Under 17 football team, we got some (as it turned out) good advice about routes for the final push and went to our B&B. After the usual application of increasingly ineffective ointments on various aching limbs and chaffed skin, we crashed out in the knowledge that the end was just one large mountain range away....

xxxx









** 2 days later we got a call from the organiser to say we'd won 3rd prize - a kilt pin which is to be sent to Simon and mounted in perspex

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Photos

Hairy cyclist
Descent somewhere near Loch Ness