27 July- Drumnadchrochit to Bonar Bridge- 80.8kms

28 Jul

27 July- Drumnadchrochit to Bonar Bridge- 80.8kms

Well another contrast again.....seems that Scotland has this ability to surprise us all!

Compared to yesterday with wet weather....today was virtually without rain and we even had some sunny patches....

I think I might have mentioned that after the ride yesterday I was so wet and muddy that I hopped in to the shower fully clothed with my helmet and bike shoes on to warm up and wash everything!!!

Well today it was simply gorgeous with some wonderful scenery as we made our way north along a lot of the East coast looking at the Firth estuary from "on high" in the moor country.

The start of the ride included a 2.6km climb where some of the gradient was at 15% which was rather challenging but once up in the high country what view we had!!

The descent from the climb was quite thrilling with me topping out at speeds of nearly 60kph and at one stage covering 8kms in 13 minutes.....Fast for me!!!

We passed through some lovely town of Beauly and Muir of Ord , Cannon Bridge ( where we had a coffee after 31kms) and Dingwall where after a short climb we had some wonderful views of the Firth Estuary....

Shortly after this we arrived in Evanton which could be described as a town somewhat "past its prime". After discussing the situation with Rob from the tour group he said it would be best to have lunch at Evanton rather than push on to Bonar Bridge where we had been allocated some "dodgy' accommodation.

We took Rob's advice and had a "sandwich lunch" ( 46 kms in to ride). Steve, Chris and I were joined by Helen , Ian and Lorna for lunch and we had a great conversation together...solving the problems of the world!!!!

After lunch it was on to Bonar Bridge...but we had another climb of about 10kms (initially steep then more gentle) through open moorland and fairly rugged country...but the views were stunning of the coastline and estuaries. The final descent in to Bonar Bridge was good.

As I noted earlier, we were advised our hotel was going to be "average at best"...so when we arrived at about 3.30pm we found the hotel was locked up....Steve and I had been allocated rooms here and we took advantage of alternative accommodation at the Kyle House B&B for 50 pounds......

The lady running the B&B ( Sheila....must have come from Aussie!!) was simply charming and took us in hand for the night.

After sorting out our luggage we made our way to the only "eating house" in the town called the Crannag Bistro and the food was quite outstanding. After finishing a meal of beef followed by strawberries and sorbe, both Steve and I had a "wee dram" to make sure we had a good night of sleep.

We had dinner with Dave and Nigel who had both been allocated to the other hotel in town and I think we all agreed that Steve and I had made the right decision to stay at Kyle House.

In summary today was another great day of riding with some hard climbs but some thrilling descents and scenery.

All in all another wonderful day on the trip.

Now for the photos.....

Today's Route

The river near Beauly...

The view over the Firth Estuary...

Another view looking inland over the Firth estuary

Looking over the moors near the top of the second climb....
The North Sea in the distance.

A bad shot of some Heather!!!

Another view of the coastline....
Looking towards the North Sea.
We saw some oil rigs coming in for repairs as we climbed up the hill...