Post 16, Day 10: East

Like Hadrian before us, today we would bisect Scotland, travelling from the far west to the furthest east, in preparation for the final leg up to John O Groats.

We're close now, close enough to begin to feel success and and at the same time close enough for the danger of complacency to creep in.

There have been one or two daft things happening within the group today, things that would never have been done a week ago, when there was so much to do but now, with the finish line on the horizon the group is beginning to let its guard down here and there.

To me, its vital to remain on my game, to keep it business as usual. I don't want to take any risks or cut any corners. There will doubtless be plenty of opportunity for high jinks and celebrations in Inverness....after the finish line, and I plan to enjoy those with abandon then.

For now though, its all about the rain. Leaving the relative shelter of the Hostel in Loch Lochy and stepping out into stair rods of rain, was a shock to the system.

 So far on this tour we have enjoyed unseasonably clement weather, almost perfect in fact ....if it weren't for those meddling head winds!, as Scooby might say.

Oddly though, something inside me relished the opportunity to ride in filthy weather, I kind of want to be able to say I did this in "all sorts" and that it wasn't just a fair weather ride. Whether I truly wanted this or not, my ambition was achieved today...in spades

Whilst foolishly wishing for rain, at the same time, I would have liked to be able to enjoy the area that we rode today a little more. The Inverness region, along with the Cairngorm, occupies a privileged  place in my heart and to have to blast through it all, head down and concentrating on nothing but the 8 feet of road in front of you, was a small disappointment.

Our route this morning was to take us through the beautiful and tiny town of Fort Augustus and along the stunning northern shore of loch Ness. 

Whilst Nessy herself didn't make an appearance we did enjoy watching a TV crew attempt to make a "lottery Nessy", complete with huge lottery ball inflatable humps, float past Urquhart castle...in the pouring rain.

We approached the halfway mark along the shore at about 30 miles (..30 miles...HALFWAY! .....Loch Ness is enormous!) and turned to face our nemesis for the day.

Drumnadrochit is an immense steep and fearsome hill, at 1000 feet tall and boasting a 15% incline, its prowess was the topic of conversation all morning, even beating the now awful weather into relegation.

Everything we had heard was true, the switch back bends, the gradient, the height...oh the height! But despite all this, the hill surprisingly passed without any major issues. It amazes me how much more stamina we all now have. Hills that would have deserved a long detour before we began this challenge, are now everyday occurrences, taken in our stride and cycled over whilst in full chat. This isn't an exaggeration, I would literally never have taken on a number of the hills that we now climb, on a day to day basis.

Ascending the "Drum" reminded me of this huge group accomplishment, of my own improvement and, most of all...how far we had come.

The top of this hill is a lost world, flat and quiet, with huge calm lakes and clouds hanging in the trees. A brief respite from the rain, accompanied with these breathtaking surroundings, served as the perfect reward and for the second time today Drumnadrochit took our breath away. However, as the rain crept in again and we realised we had over 50 miles more to ride.

Atop the Drum'

Angus, with some one else's helmet on.

We rode on, as we have had to do so many times, passing this magnificent place with a promise to return another time when we had less to accomplish and more time to spend.

The rain kept loyal company, refusing to leave us for even a moment.

By the lunch stop in Dingwall, we were well and truly soaked...through to the skin. I could wring a cup of water from each glove and my shirt...underneath my "waterproof" coat...was stuck firmly to my skin. My strategy to load a spare set of dry clothes on the lunch van proved a master stroke and I left the lunch stop, dry and warm.

Philip, Grinning like a fool

Just in time, for the rain to stop...

We climbed up away from Dingwall onto a ridge that followed the busier A9. The road was high, long, straight and mostly abandoned by cars and pretty soon we were stopping to strip of various layers of clothing.

Funny this Scottish weather.

The last section of road to our hotel, took us along single track estate roads, Lined by ferns and forests, twisting and winding their way through the terrain, occasionally throwing up long, uninterrupted straights along which we purred, contentedly.

Craig, riding whilst sleep-riding

The rain tried to join us once more but its persistence couldn't match ours and we finally rocked up at the Royal Hotel in the town of Tain, dry and happy.

The "Royal" Tain

It had been a soaking wet ride, starting dark and cold and ending dry and beautiful. Tomorrow is our final "full" days riding, we will by then have covered over 970 miles and will be 30 miles from our target.

Nobody knows what the weather wants to do tomorrow, it seems so changeable that its impossible to call it, other than to call it, simply... "Scottish".

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