On to this morning. We are rather predictable - firstly - cue a deep Geordie accent - we say "Dee twelve in the 'ouse" and then a bit later we start singing the Madness song - the day outside is cold and grey, so begins another weary day ay ay, so begins another weary day".
We checked and there was a bike shop in Dingwall so we decided to make it there and get it sorted. We set off and after a mile was the famous Commando Monument. I stopped to look while Ian carried on. It really felt atmospheric to me and I could imagine the Commandos training here during the 2nd World War, the snow patches on the mountains behind kind of reinforced this feeling. I sat and looked for a while and then high tailed it after Ian.
I was feeling good so I really pushed on. It was a lovely ride alongside firstly Loch Lochie (I think the ancient Loch namers must have been bored by the time they got around to this one) where we were right at waterside and then Loch Oich. We rode through forested roads and then crossed the Caledonian canal a couple of times.
We had a brief stop at Fort Augustus and had averaged 15.5mph for that 22 mile stretch.
For the last few days we have been overtaken by a convoy of Dutch vehicles, mainly landrovers and similar. We seemed to be leapfrogging them. We stopped at the Urquhart Castle and ended up chatting to a Dutch couple. They said there were 60 of them in 25 vehicles. They were nice people and as seems usual, they spoke great English.
Here we had to come off our route for the last couple of days (A82) and follow the A833. Our book had the following to say "The road is steep, narrow and twisting which provides a gruelling testpiece after the morning's lakeside cruise. As the gradient increases to over 20% only the determined will remain in the saddle". We had steeled ourself for this test but in reality whilst tough, we had climbed worse and both made it comfortably. The picture shows the hill we were about to climb from the cafe.
The wind had begun the day with hardly any power, with the wind turbines hardly moving. It picked up a bit as we passed along Loch Ness and became noticeable and in our face for the final miles into Dingwall.
We found the B&B, the Fairfield, and Ian went straight to the cycle shop. The guy was brilliant and sorted Ian's wheel so it should get us to the end. He also trued his front wheel and mine as well - all for a tenner. What a guy - cheers mate.
Oh today I rode without my helmet for a couple of hours today as I was worried I was beginning to look like a pint of Guinness - the lower part of my face was slowly going very dark whilst my head was staying white. It felt good but I put the helmet back on after a while as the sun had been strong all day.
Off for a curry and watch the second leg of Barcelona vs Real Madrid tonight.
Only 2 days to go :)