Culloden

31/5/15

We left our haunted castle and crossed over to The Black Isle. Very good Sustrans tracks took us to the Cromarty Firth which we were hoping, until a week ago, to be crossing by ferry at Nigg. Problems with the ferry berthing has suspended this service so this has sent us via Dingwall.

The NCN 1 is marked up with the North Sea route- now there is an adventurous tour! We did once meet a man in Shetland who was doing it, he was completely soaked after continuous rain in Norway- maybe we won't!

Great lanes and cycle path over the Black Isle landed at another white knuckle experience for Sue- the Kessock bridge- so a tea shop stop was necessary before the crossing.

Negotiating Inverness was not without difficulty as some works resulted in the NCN 1 being diverted. It was as if Inverness were so happy at their Caledonian Thistle's first ever Scottish football cup win yesterday, that they didn't want to let us get out of the city.

When we were finally reunited with the route it was very pretty and well signed all the way to Culloden.

The short and bloody battle ground of Culloden Moor had a Sue and Nick style visit, the woman in the visitor's centre said, raising her eyes from her watch, go and look at that audio-visual over there, take a walk outside and you will be get the gist.

The coffee and cake were good in the cafe.

The warm afternoon turned to a beautiful evening and the countryside scene as we strolled back to our B&B from the Culloden Inn was a world away from the wilderness we have seem for the last few weeks.

With an optimistic forecast, let's hope June brings some summer weather with it. We are about half distance complete now and need to pick up the daily mileage probably.

Figures:

Distance:- 41.2 km

Cycle Time:-  3 hours 16 minutes

Average speed:- 12.6 kph

Total Distance:- 3151 km

Dingwall

30/5/15

The LEJOGers were in a bit of a panic at how late they were starting- they were eating breakfast at the same time as us. The man driving the back-up vehicle looked on as the four cyclists devoured food, he professed to have given up breakfast since 1990! We quizzed them on their route (of which there are only really 2 options) but none other than the leader seemed to know. His Googlemap image on a phone also had little other than a blue line and major towns so our recommendations of places to stop such as the Crask Inn were challenging. The piled out with strollies instead of panniers (to go on support van) and we watched them set off north for their last 2 days. They were a nice bunch, we had chatted to a man from the Mendips in the bar last night where he recounted tales of their journey. The worst was the night their support vehicle had been stolen from outside their hotel in Bolton. After reports on local radio, someone had soon offered them the loan of a replacement, the fast media response also resulted in the thieves abandoning their mission so the police recovered the van.

We continued breakfast until the sun shone and set off- 15 minutes later waterproofs were on!

The main climb to great views across to the Dornoch Firth, we met a Dutch couple who cowered in the rain until the rain stopped at a view point, they come to Scotland because they don't like hot countries!

Our long decent to the Cromarty Firth brought us to the pleasant suprise of a new Sustrans cycle lane through woods and avoiding, the now much busier, B roads. The only snag is that it crosses asaid road so many times and with a slalom collection of slalom gates that we wondered how many people use it. Then we saw a group of LEJOGers on the main road.

We arrived in Evanton and were at first sad to see the Cornerstone cafe closed (it was Saturday) then to our delight it was opened for a special afternoon tea and bring-and-buy sale for a community fund. The money raised going towards projects such as community woodland and a campaign to re-open the train station among the worthy causes.

We sat excitedly with our tiered treat before us and the room soon filled with chattering, friendly locals.

We made our donation and left just as a group of about 10 young Chinese came in, I am sure they would enjoy the experience too.

The last 10km passed woodland and fields of Rape, we we were out of the wild north and into the fertile lowlands.

Heading up the lane to Tulloch Castle hotel, I noticed a strange white face in a high window, little did I know this was to be explained as a ghostly apparition told to us by the charismatic hotel manager that evening on the Ghost Tour!

The bikes were stored in the haunted Dungeon and we were shown to our grand room complete with castellated wardrobe!

The girl on the left fell to her death after fleeing from the scene of her father in bed with a woman other than her mother. Her father was painted out of the top left of this picture after the scandal. It was the girl's face that I saw at a high window on our approach to the castle!

Figures:

Distance:- 49.3 km

Cycle Time:-  3 hours 21 minutes

Average speed:- 14.6 kph

Total Distance:- 3110 km

Invershin

29/5/15

After an unusually sociable breakfast, with cross table discussions from all parties, we set off in sunshine up Strath Vagastie. The wide glen containing another beautiful river rose for 10km on an easy gradient to The Crask. It wasn't long before the short, sharp showers started but shortly after the summit we arrived at the Crask Inn.

We shared the bar with three motor bikers, another cyclist and two resident Collies. This pub has legendary status but, owing to owner's illness is now up for sale, I hope it is lovingly taken on by someone. The motor cyclists were, on one day, retracing our route over the last couple of weeks so we advised them on good places to eat. Geoff, the cyclist, was on his last few days to John O' Groats. New to cycling at 60, he also had a Thorn bike and was in no hurry.

After soup and coffee, we began the luxurious 30+ kilometre decent to Lairg with the help of a gentle nudge from the wind. The brand new Pier Cafe in Lairg was an opportunity not to miss so tea and cake/ice cream with a warm log burner broke the journey.

A brief stop at the Falls of Shin and a view of Carbisdale once known as Castle of Spite and a very grand youth hostel until a few years ago.

We were upgraded from bunkhouse to proper room in the Invershin Hotel due to a group of LEJOG'ers arriving. The young  couple in their 5th year of running the place seem to have it sorted. They kept a full hotel happy while juggling instructions to new staff, cooking and managing their two under 3 year olds.

Figures:

Distance:- 46.5 km

Cycle Time:-  3 hours 7 minutes

Average speed:- 14.9 kph

Total Distance:- 3061 km

Altnaharra

28/5/15

When the sun came out we left packed with a bacon sandwich that Lesley, our host, had packed for the road.

Within 8km we left the north coast and turned south for the first time in our journey.

We passed a few cyclists riding north on the wind, one looked Germanic and I considered stopping to ask him how many chains he was carrying.

Sue was again the pace setter today and at various times I managed to slip stream her. This is something she dosn't seem keen to try, probably due to the frequency of my nose clearance!

The B871 from Bettyhill to Altnaharra is a lovely road and we can thank a man we met in Torridon for his advice. It slowly climbs up the River Naver. We paused in the sunshine and watched two fisherman, one standing mid-stream casting into the pools, the other lying on the bank chatting. I considered changing my sport but later discovered that a fishing permit would set you back £3000, if you could get one. This river seemed so clean and tranquil and I wondered if the river access campaign from the canoe sports in England is entirely a good thing. Two camouflaged fishermen seemed to fit the environment but I questioned whether a fleet of bright plastic boats containing noisy kayakers would be right.

The last 10km along Loch Naver were a battle against the wind with the whitewashed glimpses of Altnaharra at the finish of a naver ending road. Sorry!

With 3000km now complete, we checked into our special cabins that the Altnaharra Hotel provide for cyclists and headed to the bar for food.

Chatting to a fisherman and his wife from Prestwick revealed that he too had been having a few bad days, it seems that the fish don't like the cold either. A young teenage girl behind the bar suggested that, with no eyelids, fish prefer an overcast day to surface for flies so don't bother fishing on a sunny day. I tried to imagine her life in this remote corner of Scotland. She had all the hair and appearance of any other person of her age but days out with a rod or a gun following her dad who's a ghillie has left it's mark. She recounted tails of the first time she shot a stag and how, although she drew the line at de-gutting the animal, she did help in the larder so certainly knows where her food has come from. Just as we were leaving she gazed out the window from the bar in awe at the light through the rain. I hope I can muster some of her joy and optimism in the next few days, the forcast isn't great.

We gave the fisherman a tip-off about the fishing possibilities in a little known loch we had passed back on the Rhins of Galloway and retired to our comfortable cabins.

Figures:

Distance:- 42.7 km

Cycle Time:-  3 hours 29 minutes

Average speed:- 12.2 kph

Total Distance:- 3015 km

Bettyhill

27/5/15

We said farewell to Viv and Ashe and promised to visit their tea room in St Minver in North Cornwall towards the end of our journey.

It is my fault that we went back to Bettyhill in one day. The concept of spending several days unwinding our clockwise progress did not appeal so I just thought it seemed a good idea at the time.

The day was appalling, winds were lighter than yesterday but against us of course. The rain came at 2pm and continued until we arrived at, the appropriately named, Farr B&B at about 5:30pm. I was more exhausted than I can ever remember being, similar to the end of day one of a mountain marathon having not done sufficient training.

Our first stop was back in Thurso where I decided to buy another chain. I got the bike shop man to check our chains, he was appalled at how dirty they were, rubbing his fingers together, he said sand. This brought back memories of Crosby beach and the horizontal sand blasting we received. It appears that I have not been carrying nearly enough chains. He went on to tell us that the Germans, with Rohloff bikes like ours, carry three. One on, one being cleaned and one spare! I agree on this system for underpants, but chains?

We gave ourselves another radiation dose passing Dounreay and stopped at a familiar bench to eat cheese and oatcakes. We had used the same spot a few days ago, it was outside Reay cemetery.

As we sat there a procession of under 10's passed by clutching their bikes, high viz jackets and helmets tightly fastened. We must have seemed somewhat scary with our monster cycles loaded up with far too much stuff and stuffing our faces in full view of their ancestors.

The children were followed by 2 teachers with clipboards who quickly moved them on. As we cycled into town we saw the adults in the middle of the road beckoning each petrified youngster to boldly exit a side road onto the truck thundering A836. Necessary skill acquisition I am sure but scary for the little ones I imagine.

The entertainment for the day was over and now we just had 4 Big Hills to climb which Sue had abbrieviated to BH and one additional BBH. We stopped at the Hallidale Inn for soup and tea and chatted to the landlord from Essex. The rest is just a blur and, as you can see, the camera did not come out much/at all.

Lesley greeted us with tea and sympathy and cooked us a feast.

Figures:

Distance:- 65.3 km

Cycle Time:-  5 hours 2 minutes

Average speed:- 12.9 kph

Total Distance:- 2972 km

Duncansby Head and John O' Groats

26/5/15

We free wheeled 25km to the lighthouse at Duncansby, riding on what the Shipping Forcast would call a fresh breeze. As any cyclist knows this can be a desperate battle if you are bucking the trend so our return journey to Dunnet Head B&B was less than pleasant. For some reason Sue has not taken comfort in the theory that going slow is good in a head wind since the power is proportional to velocity cubed. The solution is just go slow or eat more cakes!

Our route out was punctuated by a visit to the Castle of Mey (well actually just to the tea shop) this was rescued by the late Queen Mother in 1952 and restored to something resembling former glory. It got us musing over Royal Projects that we have encountered in Thailand which act to help local people. Surely a regular royal appearance at the Castle of Mey for the public and tourists would help to boost the local economy or perhaps a Corgi owners conventions! As I tucked into my Queen Mother cake it the occurred to me that they could do something along the lines of the Cream O' Galloway farm we visited last month. They had cuddle a lamb session for a few quid, surely the Castle of Mey could have hug a royal baby time to increase tourism in the area. There would be security issues but I am sure G4S could sort it!

I proceeded to complete a customer satisfaction form in which I explained at great length that cyclists needed reassurance that they could go the wrong way on their one way system and more signage was needed. I think I have been away too long!

We popped in to the Storehouse Cafe for lunch at John O'Groats where Sue made the profound comment that this has been more of a good food trip than a cycle tour.

We took the essential John O'Groats pictures before completing our north coast experience at Duncansby lighthouse.

On our windy return we paused back in Mey because Tuesday is market day in the village hall and they were serving tea and cake! Sue then made her final and more serious suggestion that they should put all the hand produced crafts (produced locally) we saw in the village hall up for sale in the Castle shop as well as the expensive products more usual in this type of gift shop - this would be an excellent Royal Project.

We returned to the warm welcome from Vivian and Ashe at the B&B and tucked into a fisherman's pie before bed - tomorrow is a big day.

Figures:

Distance:- 47.4 km

Cycle Time:-  3 hours 23 minutes

Average speed:- 13.9 kph

Total Distance:- 2906 km

Brough (Dunnet Head)

25/5/15

A short ride took us to Castletown which is the birthplace of the Caithness flagstone industry.

We cycled through the old industrial buildings that saw the processing of stone before it was shipped all over the World. The heyday for this industry was between 1814 and 1914 and it declined due to the rise in use of concrete. Although the industry once employed over 500 people it now only has 30 but there is optimism in the air as more architects are looking to return to natural materials for building.

We paused at the visitor's centre which was closed and a couple of volunteers opened up especially for us, not to show us Caithness stone but the Primula scotica, commonly known as Scottish primrose. This is a species of primrose that is endemic to the north coast of Scotland, including Caithness and Orkney. 

We arrived in Brough at our B&B/cafe, had some soup and tea then continued without baggage to Dunnet head which is the most Northerly point on the UK mainland. We have now completed the most westerly and the most northerly points in mainland Britain.

Figures:

Distance:- 28.8 km

Cycle Time:-  2 hours 6 minutes

Average speed:- 13.6 kph

Total Distance:- 2859 km

Thurso

24/5/15

The view from our breakfast table in Patsy's conservatory was very nice, the Hoy hills on Orkney and the steep Caithness coastline were all set out ahead of us.

It was one of those days where it is chill to stand still but warm when you move with the wind. Gentle climbs took us to the border between Sutherland and Caithness. The landscape gradually converted to lush green fields divided by the Caithness flagstone boundaries. These appear to be too low for the modern farm animal so are topped with barbed wire.

The first ray of sun for the day shone eerily on the decommissioning Dounreay power station, perhaps the superior fusion reaction of our star is sending a message. Now 15 years into the lengthy process of decontaminating and deconstruction, the once great Dounreay site remains under a cloud of controversy with a recent fire, leak and worker's concerns for their safety. The promise of electricity too cheap to meter back in the 1950's, when Dounreay was being constructed, seems to have been lost and replaced with questions about the cost of decommissioning. A big issue is how employment will be in the area when work is finally complete. One source suggests it will be 2366 before the site can be released for alternative use, in this myopic political climate that is quite worrying.

Thurso is our first big town for nearly a month so it was with great excitement that we unloaded in Sandra's Backpacker hostel and strolled into town. Sunday opening hasn't hit Thurso but the Caithness Horizon gallery, museum and cafe provided us with some Pictish stones, an exhibition about Dounreay and nice coffee. 

As we walked along the sea front, the wind rattled the railings as if to remind us, the only way to cycle is east, let's hope for a wind reversal in a few days when we head back to Bettyhill!

More cyclists are about now, this group were in hot pursuit of a couple on a tandem marked just married. I wonder if they had cycled from Gretna it seems so far away now.

Up to now I have never eaten scallops with black pudding in spite of it's appearance on every TV cooking programme. I had it as a starter in Red Pepper restaurant next to the hostel and it was, not surprisingly, a good combination!

Figures:

Distance:- 36.5 km

Cycle Time:-  2 hours 8 minutes

Average speed:- 17 kph

Total Distance:- 2830 km

Strathy

23/5/15

We had breakfast with fine views of the most northerly Munro and promise of fine weather.

The wind had dropped to barely a flag wave and a pretty road along the lock took us up a wooded hillside. It was as though we had been transported south overnight or even a different planet, lush deciduous trees and broad green leaves. Such a contrast to the wind-scoured landscape of brown heather and tree-less landscape of the north west. I stopped in a lay-by to completely re-think my clothing for the day it had reached a tropical 14 degrees so I stripped off- not something I would normally consider on a main road but there was little more than a woman walking her dog and a delivery truck in the first hour of the A836 this morning.

Long slow climbs over ever flattening landscape gave great views back to the complex summit of Ben Loyal behind us and Caithness to the east ahead of us. We had joined the NCN 1 at Tongue, a route we would see a lot of in the coming weeks as it runs from the top of Shetland down to Dover. This is now a popular route for Land's End to John O'Groats (LEJOG) cyclists so as we near the last 50 miles to JOG I wondered how many of the smiling, waving motorists thought we were near our finish when we are yet to reach half way!

Our long decent to the small town of Bettyhill took as past the B871 which we will return and take in a few days, we stopped in the Bettyhill Cafe and reaffirmed the sensibility of this backtrack with the man running the tea room. Basically the Caithness coast from the top to Inverness only has one route, the A9, which is described as death road so we will come back down through the mountains instead.

We had lunch at Bettyhill and visited the Pictish Far stone before continuing to a warm welcome from Patsy at Sharvedda B&B on Strathy Point. We accepted the kind offer of a lift to Strathy Inn for a meal where we had good food and discussed the rights and wrongs of wind farms with The landlord and a Polish man who was here working on the new wind turbines.

Figures:

Distance:- 38.7 km

Cycle Time:-  3 hours 10 minutes

Average speed:- 12.1 kph

Total Distance:- 2794 km