Day 13

Fort William - Inverness

Total distance: 68.59 miles; total ascent 2552 feet; Ave Speed 10.2mph; Maximum speed 28.2mph; total time in saddle 6 hours 44 minutes.

I didn't sleep at all well. A disturbed night tossing and turning with mad dreams. Not I should add about our biking, but about some friends of mine who both appear to be closely involved with a couple of my favorite rock bands (!)

I was also conscious that my stomach felt distinctly unfit. As you do when half asleep, I began to assume the worst - that I had a fit of uncontrollable food poisoning and the challenge would be over. But I eventually managed to grab a tenuous hold of reality and recognise that after a substantial chinese meal, three pints of lager and a healthy slug of pure malt, perhaps it was purely a matter of over indulgence the previous evening that accounted for my rather tender state.

Breakfast was both wonderful and a struggle. Our delightful proprietor Anne, had not only washed and dried all our clothes (both biking and casual), but presented us with a table of fresh fruit and yoghurts, something I have yearned for since leaving home nearly two weeks ago. However the struggle was served to us after completion of the fruit, in the form of toasted bagel topped with cream cheese, smoked salmon and an egg, poached to perfection. I remember we had both ordered this 'specialty' when we had arrived and it seemed like a tremendous way to start the day, however, with a delicate tummy, such indulgence was a little tricky to eat with gusto!

Anne is a keen cyclist herself, having completed JoGLE last year (what we are doing but the other way round if that makes sense). She asked if she could join us for a few miles and we readily agreed.

After a trip to Tesco Metro for the usual stock up explosion of carbs and crap, I also made a quick call to Blacks to purchase a thermal base layer as the cold has been getting to me quite badly over the past couple of days.

All this diversion meant that we didn't really get going until 10am, but it was great to have Anne setting an early expansive road pace as she took the lead and navigated us towards the path that runs along side the River Lochy for the first 10 miles of our planned day's riding.

As with Rob over Exmoor, it was great to have a companion rider and Anne was full of great information and anecdotes. We eventually said our farewells at Gairlochy, just before the river path changed complexion into a full blown forest track complete with sharp flints and rubble to fill the many potholes. Much more suited to Mountain Bikes really, nevertheless we persevered as the route swooped upwards and downwards as it tracked the banks of Loch Lochy for a good 12 or so miles. So far our pace was barely 8mph.

At the end of this section the track met with the dreaded A82. Russ and I had debated long and hard whether to use this route effectively all the way to Inverness, or to switch off right at the head of Loch Ness and take the B862, which would have involved an initial 800 feet or so climb.

We we got to the A82 it was totally deserted and Russ said something to the effect of "it's a no-brainer, I thought it was supposed to be busy, e'll take this rather than the big climb"...the die was cast.

We made Fort Augustus and stopped for lunch and then commenced the 30 odd miles push to Inverness using the A82.

Russ was forced into the verge twice and I had two very narrow misses with a coach and truck. The road is thick with tourist traffic, particularly coaches, continental ones at that. Russ and I both concluded that these bastards are potential killing machines, driven by foreigners who, not only confused by the need to drive on the left, have never seen a cyclist before and are probably smoking a Gauloise whilst using a tannoy system to announce that Nessie has bobbed her head up above the water-level, oh and by the way Urquart Castle is coming up on the right....

In seriousness the riding was tough. The ascents and decents themselves as the road ducks and dives along the great Loch's shoreline are not particularly taxing, but one has to have a much greater mental concentration to ensure avoidance of coming-together with traffic. Ensuring the bikes are stable means not even re-adjusting grip on the handle bars or making unforced gear changes all things which are taken for granted along a peaceful cycle path.

To make matters worse, the traffic is not constant. It comes in waves. There can be a lull of 30 seconds perhaps even a minute, when all you can hear is the gentle whistling of the wind (very light/non existent today), or some songbird overhead, or just the bike's tyres treading the ever changing road surfaces. Then you become aware of the noise of approaching traffic, the worst type being the truck or bus. The low hum becoming louder and louder until it's more of a announcement of intent, finally becoming a roar that will either pass by without braking, or change in tone as the brakes are applied, hissing and squealing right behind you. You know at this point the driver is cursing under his breath as he has lost revs and starts looking for the smallest of gap to get by, which is usually when things can get dramatic...

We stopped at the Loch midway point, Drumnadrochit, for tea and to try and regain our composures. In fairness, after this point the tourists don't seem interested in going much further onwards towards Inverness so the road wasn't as bad. Nevertheless we didn't really relax until about 4 miles before Inverness when we spotted the canal path and entered the city to complete our day in much the same way as it had started and with our heart rates down!

Inverness itself is a very elegant town, full of interesting architecture and shrouded by mountains and hills in the distance. It has a warm, friendly feel to it. The locals are hardy types, the climate (and for some no doubt booze) etched into their wind swept and weather beaten faces. We ate at a very agreeable Italian restaurant and toasted our health and success at having safely completed day 13..