Day 21 : INVERSHIIN to BETTYHILL : Perfection !!

23 September 2012

Invershin - Lairg - Crask - Altnaharra - Syre - Bettyhill

Miles : 47.12

Average Speed:

Hours:

Feet up : 1906

Feet down : 1736

Our fabulous hostess at Invershin Inn with ten week old Inness Og (Og is the diminutive of Angus, his father's name)

                            This is not a good shot of the Invershin Hotel, but it was a great spot

What an amazing day. I know it sounds obsessive to immediately go to the weather, but when you are cycling, it is the main thing on your mind, along with which route are we taking, and where are we going to sleep of course,

So today the weather was fine and mostly sunny, virtually no wind, and what there was was at our backs. And then there was the scenery. After leaving Invershin about 9.30 am, our route took us up the river Shin, and eventually down into Lairg, a prettily situated village at the foot of Loch Shin. We had read about the isolation of the next 35 miles, so we stocked up on cheese and crackers, and off we went.

                                                                        Lairg

It was a wonderful ride. For the first 15 miles or so we followed a river valley. There is a great and slightly funky Inn at Crask, in the middle of nowhere, where we were able to get a pot of tea. Our hosts were a lovely lady and her husband, ex bikers, who make a habit of providing food and shelter for bikers and hikers going through. Because, believe me, we were so lucky to get the good weather - in a howling northerly with rain, one can only imagine how evil it would be. The son of this family shears and lambs in Scotland, and then in Australia and New Zealand in the Scottish winter.

The Crask Inn

                                                         The hostess at Crask Inn


During this break we had a great chat with a fellow biker, a woman we had first met on our rainy day in Kirkby Lonsdale. She is doing it alone, and it was great fun to share tales. We caught up several times along the way, and it was while talking with her and the hostess at the Crask Inn that we firmed up our change of plans - i.e. to bike to Bettyhill rather than Tongue, thus avoiding some nasty (unnecessary) hills tomorrow. Another case of not taking the scenic route, just because, but rather thinking of our poor old biking selves !!!

Another few miles on we began one of our greatest downhills into Altnaharra. The moors and hills stretched forever, with the river in the valley bottom, and every now and then a loch.

                                                                            Altnaharra

Then we began our ride around Loch Never. All of this on a really single lane road, with little passing places indicated with a tall sign, so that you could judge where to pass if you met a car, although there were very few if them, and they were all very polite.I also noticed the red and white poles that indicate the road during winter snow,,,,,, ugh!!!

 

Finally we found our way into Bettyhill , and suddenly there it was - the north coast of Scotland, and a sign indicating only 55 miles to John o Groats.... We are nearly there.

                                     First glimpses of the North Sea
                     



And to cap it all off, now we are installed in the lovely (being renovated) Bettyhill Hotel, where our room looks right over the aforementioned north coast of Scotland, and the young host Chris is just lovely.

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Day 20 : INVERNESS to INVERSHIN : The Weather Gods Were Smiling Today

22 September 2012

Miles : 58.10

Average Speed:

Hours:  9.30 - 6 pm

Feet up : 2263

Feet down : 2245



                                           The lunch spot photo today tells it all.

The weather was wonderful, the countryside was gorgeous and bikeable, and we had a great time

First thing when we left, we went to the train station to book our tickets backs to London. Yes, we really are at that stage. Good thing we did - it is not that simple with bikes. One must make a reservation for them, and there are limited spaces per train.... As low as 4 per train, which is totally ridiculous, in my opinion.

We had read about people being stuck up here for a week, not able to get their bikes out, and I can believe it. So we did not get our first choice, but we are all set.

Then we visited the tourist info centre to get a detailed map of NCN route # 1 , which takes us the whole way to John o Groats, and I have to say that it is bloody brilliant

Inverness from the bridge

                                             Reflections in the Firth from our lunch spot

We had tried to book ahead for accomodation tonight, it bring Saturday.  We phoned the well reviewed hotel in Invershin, and left a message.

No word from them all day and no phone ability.  

 In addition, we made a rather large miscalculation in terms of how far it was, so the last couple of hours of the day were a little fraught.  Got to Tain, which had plenty of accomodation, but it was too early to quit for the day. We decided to carry on towards Invershin and the hotel . It seemed to get farther and farther away, up the side of the Firth. As time went by, we focused on Ardgay, but in spite of how it looked on the map nothing there - houses or accommodation.  On to Bolnar Bridge - several places there, all full. With the help of a lovely B and B hostess, however, we managed to find out that the Invershin Pub had a room.  So on we cycled the next five miles, to be greeted by the owner and her newborn babe.

Fortunately they had plenty of rooms.. Last Saturday night they were fully booked so we were very lucky.

Warm fire in the bar - and we were so pooped, we just sat there, warmed up, ate our fabulous local steak for dinner, and then picked up our panniers and off to bed.

               

We have three days of biking left, each 40 miles, so we are feeling REALLY good as we turn in tonight

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Day 19 : NEWTONMORE to INVERNESS : More NCN # 7, not so positive

NEWTONMORE to INVERNESS:  More NCN #7, not so positive

21 September 2012

Newtonmore - Aviemore - Invemess

Miles: 52.59

Feet up : 2202

Feet down : 3287

We are in Inverness

We are pooped and happy, and planning the last three or four days iof the trip.

Today was not our favourite biking day. We started out positively, in good weather, if a little nippy, thinking that, because we knew we would drop a thousand feet to sea level in Inverness, it would mostly be downhill

How wrong can you be.

The weather forecast was also very positive, and again, today was a lesson on not believing everything you read. It steadily deteriorated, because the sun never really got ahead. By the end if the day, we were battling wind and freezing cold heavy showers.

The land we biked over was beautiful, starting out with heather on the moors, then farmland, then through a pass, eventually coming down to the Firth of Moray, and Inverness at the top

The NCN route # 7 was mostly brilliant, except for some sign posting glitches , when I was again really grateful for JST's map reading abilities aided by his Garmin.

Inverness is a lovely city in the River Ness, which runs right through it. One can immediately sense a buzz in its life, and then I read where it is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe .

We found a hotel right on the river, with a great view of the castle. We did our usual settling-in routine of beer and shandy, got sorted in our room, and then had a wonderful Italian dinner at a little restaurant next door.

My bike rack completely lost its screws as we came into town, but my wonderful mechanic JST came to the rescue , and mixed and matched screws from our extra bottle holder mounts, and voila, problem solved.  So far this is our worst mechanical problem.

                                      Through heather at the beginning of the day

                                                                 Ancient Carr Bridge

                                                     A different kind of lunch spot

                                Not that high in meters, but it took a lot of climbing to get here

                                                             Waiting out the rain

                                                               First views of Firth of Moray

                                                     Inverness castle from our hotel

                                                                       Inverness

                                   Our Inverness hotel - still going with the 'royal' theme, it seems

At some of the hotels we come across a lot of bus groups. This morning as we were leaving, one of the buses was loading up also. One guy came and watched us setting up, asked us where we were going, how long, etc, and then asked JST how old he is,  then asked how old " the missus" is.  He was totally stunned - he confessed to being 70!!!!! As we rode off we could hear him regaling anyone who would listen with details of the wonder of if all.

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Day 18 : DUNKELD to NEWTONMORE : We LOVE the NCN Routes #83 and #7

DUNKELD to NEWTONMORE : We LOVE the NCN Routes #83 and #7

20 September 2012

Dunkeld - Pitlochry - Blair Atholl - Tilt - Dalwhinnie - Newtonmore

Miles : 55.91

Average Speed:

Hours:

Feet up : 2774

Feet down : 2174

A wonderful day of biking. The weather was overcast and nippy, but great once one got going. We encountered a few manageable showers, but best of all, no wind.

Then, to cap that all off, we followed the National Cycle Network Routes 83 and then 7, which took us along lanes, old roads, and specially created paths through totally bikeable terrain, with superb scenery. All the while avoiding the very busy A9, the main road into northern Scotland.

                                                      We were energized by all this!


We were going through a valley system containing a river, a railroad, our route, and the A9 main road. We followed this valley up, up, up for about 35 miles, through a pass, and then a welcome 20 miles down. The scenery included farming, woods, and eventually wild wild moors covered with heather.

We took time out for lunch in the little town of Tilt, at the entrance to which we saw the sign to "Old Bridge of Tilt" which struck me as very funny at the time. We had tea and a club sandwich, perfect fare, and we especially loved the teacups, provided by the coffee company Illy.

We apparently officially entered the Highlands, even though I thought we had been in them for a couple of days. This was the long view of them from the top of our valley.

We are installed in the Balavil Hotel, have had a bath, dinner, and now are off to bed. We are heading for Inverness tomorrow. We are still at a high altitude, and Inverness is a port at sea level, so with the help of the NCN 7 again, we are looking forward to another great day tomorrow

Watch this space!!!!!!!!

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