Quick picture of the Inverness Castleand the buildings along the River Ness, then we were on our way.  The high bridge to cross the Beauty Firth offered spectacular views of Inverness at the mouth of the riverand the little village on the other side.  Shortly after crossing, we came to a fork in the road where we met Rafeal of Switzerland.  He agreed that the steepness and constant up and downs we had all experienced in this country, were worse than biking the Alps.Which way to continue from here, was the question that had stopped us here.  Both directions would take you were you wanted to go, it was just which was the better route.  They enlisted the assistance of a local and he recommended the “more scenic route”, which apparently in Scottish means very hilly. Yes, the views were brilliant (even if we DID have to climb it) but the several mile long steep uphills were buggers, really tough buggers.  In between the climbs we rode the ridge, occasionally dropping down only to climb again.  Most of the road was “single track”, so there was not much room when a bike race went speeding by us.  Jerry was in front, until the lead car yelled at him to pull over.

We had a ferry to catch to cross Cromarty Firth, so we were happy when we saw this drop and the water beyond.Just as we got to the bottom, a hairpin turn sent us back up another 18% grade.We climbed for almost another hour, once again spectacular views (those white dots are sheep).

This time the downhill led us to Cormartyand the dramatic mouth to the North Sea.Twenty seven miles of scenic mileage versus the twenty miles we’d planned, the duckies were happy for a rest.Our terrain on the other side was blissfully flat, but we’d already taken enough photos, so we enjoyed the easy pedaling.  A slight turn in direction and the clouds we had tried to ignore, were too close for comfort.  We picked up the pace to make in to town before the rain hit.  Naturally the town is on a hill and the castle we were staying was 3/4 of a mile above the town. But we made it there with ten minutes to spare before the rain.  To dispel the running commentary that we are wennies with regard to the rain, we suffered the environment and headed to town for dinner.  Not a lot of choice, but what we found was fabulous; wine and taste bud tantalizing Indian food…..don’t you worry that we need to bike uphill after this dinner.