Sorry our tracker did not record us today, not sure if it’s a battery issue but will change as soon as we get back into civilization.

Low sixties in the sunshine is amazingly warm; a refreshing change from the past couple of days. Our departure from Inverness was again along the Beauty Firth,but this time we followed the south edge. For twenty miles we enjoyed a relatively flat course, retracing the route our train had taken yesterday; seeing the prettier side of the train stops.It was not until about mile 25 that we started climbing and the legs got into the rhythm of climbing and dropping; finally if felt good to be in the saddle again. The crystal blue skies accentuated the colors of the fields and the horses had lost their shaggy manes. At 11:00 a.m. with 28 miles completed, we stopped at the last outpost before we reached our destination. Though much too early for lunch, we opted to eat for the sake of the energy we would need. These little roadside canteens have become a ducky favorite; amazing food always served by a friendly proprietor.  The climbing continued after lunch, but not too steep and the small downhills were enough for a break without giving back all we had just climbed.

We traveled from one beautiful loch to another, connected by streams that wove through the river valley.  Hills starting at the water’s edge and reached to the sky. Ripples in the water spoke of the breeze that had been riding along with us.  Took a rest along the water, peaceful in the middle of nowhere; unit two F-16 flew by so close we could see the colors of the pilot’s eyes; never have we been so close and we’ve had many fly-bys back at home.  Another short break at 50 miles, before we started our toughest climb; be it because it was at the end of the day, or because it was just darn tough.  As we rounded mile two of our uphill trek, the wind turned in our face.   The wind coming up the other side from the narrow cut was cooling and we knew that meant we were close to the crest.  As we turned the corner down, the sight was amazing.  The photograph does not convey what we saw as we took the photo on the way down, not willing to stop; one of THE prettiest sights we have seen.  At 2:00, we came to a stop at the foot of our hotel (note the flower pots)k,57 miles completed.

Today’s ride did a lot to raise the spirits.  So what if we are traveling to a tourist spot, on a Saturday, with NO reservation, Everything booked and having to pitch a tent with the midges in the rain.  Tonight we enjoy with steak stew and a bottle of red!

What Goes Down, Must Go Up!

Hazy, warm and humid when we left this morning, just before 8:00 a.m.  Note that we are saying 68° is warm.  One block of flat, a turn and then climbing; the “looks flat, but is not” type of climbing.The captivating 3000 foot mountains  had us surrounded in our peaceful valley.

The sun was trying to break through  briefly lighting the hills,  the stream beside us  adding music to our pedal up and out of the valley.  Once again, the scenery was more spectacular than our photographs can convey.

Many of the locals equate this mountain ridge to the USA’s Mt. Rushmore, without the faces.  The surrounding hills  kept us mesmerized, some starting from our road edge and heading straight up   The lochs were equally impressive  as we snaked our way up  and (hopefully) out of this valley.  Within an hour the sky greyed totally, so we missed the play the sun would have had on the hills, but it was still an incredible site.  Though the climbing remained moderate the headwind that hit us at 11:00 made the hills feel much more aggressive.

Somewhere in the morning we seem to remember a downhill, but we are sure it did not last long.  Around noon the sky began to spit, then lightly shower.  Overheated from our climbing, the rain was cooling, so the raincoats remained tucked away.  An hour later, however, during our quick stop at the first village  we had seen in 25 miles, it started to pour.  Inside, we were enjoying our first flapjacks of the trip, wondering why we had not tried them earlier.  Re-fortiefied with sugar and raincoats we began our trek around three-quarters of the picturesque loch (about 10 miles); the ferry that made the direct route no longer ran.  Within a mile of our loop we experienced the first of three very tough 18% + grades, two of them a mile and a half long.  It took us several stops resting and equally difficult restarts to make it up each one; our legs and lungs were screaming, our heart beating hard against our chests.  The view back to the loch, was gorgeous,  even as we watched the waves of rain going by.  We waited for the wonderful downhill that would take us to our stop for the evening and put an end to this day of continuous climbing.   Miles longer than expected, we finally had a one mile downhill that led us to the small village where we had thankfully found a room for the evening.  Not sure how either of us made it, our entire bodies were spent from the continuous onslaught of today’s climbing, on top of the several tough days we’d already done.

The village was a wonderful surprise; taking the only room within a 60 mile radius leaves one to wonder what you are getting into.  Thankfully, the adorable village  was about two blocks long and extremely picturesque with palm trees, it was a treat.  This trek we pedaled today is a magnificent part of the country, but it was an extremely tough one on already very tired legs.  Maybe we should have tried these 54 miles in something other than a bicycle.As we were tucking ourselves away for the evening, the sun was kissing the hills goodnight and sending us a rainbow.

Inverness to Plockton, Scotland

310 Miles

1 Day with Rain

The sun and clouds were having a merry game of tug of war, the wind committed to be in our face as we loaded our bikes in the cool 55°.  We knew we would have a climb as we left this morning, but a seven mile uphill without having warmed up the legs, was just not funny.  After our seven mile leg assault the road changed to climbs and drops, allowing a rest after each climb.  We had a ferry to catch, so what the topography did to make our ride today easier, the deadline erased; it was a two hour wait if we missed it. Crossed the very tall bridge,over the Inner Sound,that leads to the Atlantic Ocean  The drop off the brigde landed us on the Isle of Skye, where the scenery continued to impress. With deadline in mind, we pedaled hard into the wind up and down the hills, past fields, lochs and little villages.

The clouds were threatening, bands of rain would pass, touching us only with a sprinkle.  A couple little climbs at the end to make it interesting, but we finally reached the ferry stopwith an hour to spare, perfect time for lunch.  The lunch was good and the rest refreshing, as we enjoyed watching the rain in the distance.The ferry ride gave us just enough time to realize how tall the hills on this side of the water were,the ones we would have to climb.  All forgotten, as we reached the town nestled in the cove where the boat landed. We had four miles of blissfully flat road in beautiful sunshine without wind; it was as if we had been taken to a different land rather than just a 20 minute ferry ride; a land complete with a coal powered train.  The mid-day rest had helped and we would need it as the hills became longer, but equally matched with fly-downs.  We missed photographing several of the most incredible sights, that invariably appear on the downhill, just as the speed is picking up.  Another shower caught us before we made it to our hotel.There is nothing around for miles, but our hotel had a restaurant and a place to plan the next day’s course.We dined to live bagpipe music that the entire community showed up to listen to.  A little nightcap, then bed.

The area we have biked in the last three days is just spectacular; if you are looking for a great place to hike, bike, sightsee, relax – this is your spot!

Forget the nonsense about weather and climbing conditions…..THIS was our morning;

the first half an hour, anyway.  It was a captivating morning with the clouds holding tight to the mountains, while the crisp morning air kept us cool in the sunshine.  The waterfalls were running strong; only wish we could capture the sound in the pictures.  The morning was incredible, surrounded by huge mountains and the only sound was that of the streams refreshed from last night’s rain.  Many, many more pictures are below.

Then the climbing began, but it was not without it’s rewards,incredible hills reflecting in the still loch.After climbing for over an hour, we had a wonderful drop.  Somewhere along that drop we flew by the Glenfinnan Church, Unfortunately, we had to take this photo off the web; what we saw with the clouds and hills in the distance was far more incredible…..could not brake fast enough.  The scenery was just as incredible at the bottom of our drop.  For miles we were captivated by the tremendous mountain in front of us.Apparently we were fortunate to see the top of Ben Nevis, Great Britan’s tallest mountain (4409 feet); many travel to see it shrouded in clouds.  As we approached Fort William at the base of the mountain, we were treated to a canal pathalong the locks.With a shorter ride today, we had time for a real lunch,once again serenaded by bagpipes.During our leisurely lunch, the wind (in our face) had time to gather as we biked the three miles out of town past numerous bed and breakfasts along the water.  Our last 20 miles was along a very busy and narrow dual carriageway.  An occasional photo along the way proved worthwhile.

Our Inn was another nice surprise, surrounded by beautiful gardens

and positioned along the shore of Loch Linnhe that leads to the Atlantic.  Within a couple of hours, our beautiful sunny skies had started to turn.“According to the forecast”, this was the last sunny day we will have in a week….and we thoroughly enjoyed it AND celebrated it with dinner and wine!After all, it’s a long ride tomorrow in the cold and rain.

Wind was howling and the bands of rain covered the hills and that it just what we saw through our bedroom window.  We managed to load our bikes and pedal a couple of miles to the bridgebefore the first wave of rain hit.  It was a quick shower, made cold by the driving wind.  As we traveled along the Loch Linnhe, we watched the sun and rain rush by on the other shore. After seven miles, we connected with a bike path, getting off the busy road, plus shielding us from the wind.  Rolled up and down minimal hills, our tired legs feeling every pedal push.  Rainbows were making sno-cones out of the top of the rounded hills.  Though the temperatures remained in the mid-50’s, we had very little rain, so it was a much more enjoyable ride than expected.  We passed many coves, filled with sailboats and a castle dating back to 1320.The ride this morning was beautiful, even in the overcast skies.Our route had us on the edge of the Loch and over narrow bridges.

Three miles before lunch, tired and hungry having already put four hours in the saddle, we came to this sign.

 This sign was not kidding; our legs screamed their displeasure but got us up the (at least) 20% grades and into the city of Oban.Lunch was delicious and a good break.  After lunch, we only had 15 miles left, little did we know it would be by far, our toughest.  Just getting out of town was a climb, which did not stop for a couple of miles, taking us into the countryside.Up and down hills, none of them shorter than two miles and most of them longer, the incredible scenery did little to comfort the fatigue.  Even after the fortifying lunch, we were spent.  Just before four, we dropped down a wonderful hill to our hamlet for the evening.It was not long before we found ourselves “refreshed”refortified
and properly stuffed.Amazing what 56 miles and six hours in the saddle will do to your appetite.  We had expected a miserable and tough ride, today, but without the rain and wind in our face, it was just Tough!

The rustle of the wind was deafening this morning as we walked out to load our bikes.  We were comforted to quickly realize it was the stream that had grown with the continuous showers last night, though the wind was swaying the treetops.  There is a peaceful allurement to the freshly watered fields in the morning, especially viewed in our current dry conditions.  We had been warned of the very steep climb   at about five miles, so we were feeling rather strong at seven miles when we descended to a pretty cove.  A turn in the road revealed the we had yet to begin to climb;the mountain was just ahead.  It was a spectacularly marvelous and equally tenacious three mile climb with a slight push over the top from the wind.A great vantage point of the cove below.The climb was matched by an awesome 3 mile flydown and a quick up to the Kilmartin Castle and cafe.  It was not as if we needed any sweets after just a three mile climband only completing 14 miles, but we had some anyway.  A quick downhill from the small village and then miles of blissfully flat road along Loch Fyne Inlet.As threatening as the sky was, we only experienced a sprinkle or two.  Entranced by each little cove,the remarkable low tides and ecstatic with the flat road.  Once again enjoying ourselves and taking frivolous photos.One more little climb before dropping into the historic seaside town of Tarbert. The town borders Scotland’s oldest natural harbor and climbs from there, topped by 13th century Tarbert Castle (built by Robert the Bruce) on one hill and the Tarbert Church of Scotland on the other end of town.This close to the ocean, requires seafood for dinner; Seafood Pie and Penne with Prawns.Perfect to replenish and prepare for our ride tomorrow.