{"id":13607,"date":"2014-07-18T15:28:23","date_gmt":"2014-07-18T19:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=13607"},"modified":"2014-07-18T15:45:59","modified_gmt":"2014-07-18T19:45:59","slug":"day-21-friday-july-18-calvine-to-aviemore-scotland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=13607","title":{"rendered":"Day 21. Friday, July 18 – Calvine to Aviemore, Scotland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overcast skies and swirling wind in the valley our B & B was nestled in, as we instantly began our climb from the rivers bottom.\"DSCN9347\"<\/a> \u00a0Protected by a tunnel of trees, \"DSCN9357\"<\/a>the sound of the stream we followed \"DSCN9350\"<\/a>entwined with the rustling of the wind in the trees. \u00a0Two miles later when we emerged, we were happy to know the wind was at our back. \"DSCN9364\"<\/a>\u00a0The temperature was struggling to stay at 60\u00b0, but we were plenty warm with our continuous climbing high along the ridge.\"photo\"<\/a>Even without the sun, the scenery was amazing, \"DSCN9379\"<\/a>clouds hugged the tallest ridges of the hills barren of trees.\"DSCN9359\"<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0It took us two hours to climb 15 miles and that is with a wind assist; cannot imagine how unfun the opposite direction would be. \u00a0As we reached our 1400 foot pass, we could see sun in the distance.\"DSCN9384\"<\/a> \u00a0We\u00a0flew down the next six miles in 20 minutes and dropped into a coffee shop to warm up: note the snow patches.\"DSCN9404\"<\/a> In the time in took for a hot cappuccino, the sun was out and the wind had kicked up. \u00a0The gusts that hit us, challenged our upright mobility. \u00a0But the path and road we traveled had only the occasional car or biker, \"DSCN9410\"<\/a>giving us plenty of opportunity to enjoy the scenery. \u00a0On one such path, we met Rod, Matt, Mitch and Mike from Indiana.\"DSCN9419\"<\/a> \u00a0They had just arrived from the states today for a golf holiday. \u00a0Unfortunatley for them, they had a flat tire, so they were happy to chat while they awaited a repair. At 1:30 and 35 miles completed,\u00a0we took our turn to lead us to our stop for the night. \u00a0We “thought” we had less than six miles to travel and with our last 20 being flat or downhill we thought it would be a piece of cake. \u00a0Instantly we started climbing away from the river,\"DSCN9429\"<\/a>but the climbing was not without it’s rewards.\"DSCN9438\"<\/a>And as beautiful \"DSCN9434\"<\/a>and peaceful as it was, it continued well past six miles, some climbs very aggressive. \u00a0Though we enjoyed the vistas,\"DSCN9445\"<\/a> we were high in the middle of nowhere and ready\u00a0to stop. \u00a0After 53 miles and over five hours in the saddle, we finally reached our town and hotel. \u00a0With no lunch, we were drained. \u00a0Nothing that some beer, wine, dinner and dessert can not fix.\"DSCN9455\"<\/a>Tomorrow night, Inverness….if all goes well!<\/p>\n\n\t\t