Day 13. Inverness to The Crask.

67 miles, total 924. One day left and 82 miles. Which means we will have passed the 1000 mile mark shortly before we arrive at John O'Groats....

A WET morning!  But as has been happening a lot on our trip the sun came out in the afternoon and the wet weather gear got put away (to keep it on or take it off was a question we asked ourselves frequently on this trip). An 'easy' day in cycling terms... The hills weren't painful (or we are much fitter) and the mileage was low. The rain chilled us all and we were pretty miserable by the time we arrived at Bonar Bridge Hotel. A roaring fire greeted us and soon the room was full of steam.

Cycling up to the Crask this afternoon was almost desolate but stunning at the same time. Miles of nothing but pine trees, interspersed with empty spaces where the trees had been felled for logs, not to mention the logging lorries lumbering by drowning us as they drove through puddles and almost knocking us off our bikes with the wall of wind they created...

Arrived at the Crask in glorious sunshine. This is a stunning location. We're really privileged to stay in such an unspoiled location. A place to visit again and marvel at the fact that we cycled here from Land's End.. The millennium cycle post outside tells us we are only 90 miles from our goal. Not that we wanted to stand outside for long because of the midges!

Had an amazing meal (I've used that adjective a lot on this blog haven't I?) here at the Crask inn and such a good laugh too. The group has gelled together so well that it's going to be really hard to say goodbye on Sunday.

Many thanks to all of you who have posted comments to our blog. We have been inspired and moved to tears by words of encouragement and praise. Many thanks also to our recent sponsors Ian Fletcher and Taryn Carthy, your donations are really appreciated!

The Crask

Arrived at the Crask. One day and 86 miles to go.... more later although signal is poor..

Day 12. Glencoe to Inverness.

A spectacular day's cycling of 87 miles. 859 down, and 148 to go over the next two days. Which means our grand total will be 1007 miles in 14 days. Amazing. And all under our own steam... already it feels like a fantastic achievement and we're not there yet. This has been an amazing holiday. Great laughs, loads of new friends, and lots of our country seen in a new way and at a new pace. Enough of that romantic drivel... Back to today....

Left Glencoe in the drizzle and being eaten alive by midges. Yes midges. Heard a lot about scottish midges but never experienced them.. till today... have lots of itchy little bites all over us, despite wearing insect repellant. Think they must like the stuff...

Those lovely boys worked us hard today. We almost didn't get a brew stop this morning as Nigel thought he'd missed us and had moved on. Eventually found him after about 37 miles... Not long after that I came off my bike when I clipped Sharon's back wheel as we were going uphill in a tight line. Nothing to worry about but I've a nice wound on my knee. A mere flesh wound but another dent in my pride... second time in a week. Fell off the other side of the bike so I'm all square now.  Lunch stop was at 50 miles so like I said the boys worked us hard today. And threw in a competitive challenge after lunch. More about that shortly...

The morning's cycling was superb through Fort William, and then more or less flat alongside the Caledonian canal. Some large luxury vessels and lots of yachts in Neptune's staircase of locks. Lunch at Fort Augustus followed immediately by an uphill challenge... a climb of 5 miles and a time to beat. Fastest lady record was 38 minutes. Our queen of the mountain was Rachel who beat that by a couple of minutes to claim the crown. I did it in a respectable 43 minutes. By now the sun was shining and the scenery getting better and better with every metre of climb. A fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable climb; I almost wanted to go back down and do it again!

Euphoria at the top, think we were all high on endorphins, followed by a lovely descent to Loch Ness. Then into Inverness for the night via a pub for a swift pint. B&B luxury tonight. No more YHA's this trip - think the 'girls' will miss that! Does it sound like we're enjoying ourselves too much and that this really is a holiday?  True.....

We've set a task for Steve tomorrow. 13 pairs of marigolds and some yellow nail varnish to buy.. on the last day of the trip we're supporting chicken....