July 26- Fort William to Drumnadrochit- 85.1 km
July 26- Fort William to Drumnadrochit- 85.1 km
At the start we had to negotiate this bridge on foot....
A lot of our group is pictured here with wet weather gear on!!!!
What a contrast....
Ben Nevis cannot be seen for cloud....
Glad we made the visit yesterday to see it
One of the weirs on the river between the Lochs...
Morning tea at last!!!!
June with Walt, Steve ( from Tassie) and Steve ( from UK)
Great coffee and scones!!!
The Caledonian canal... with Walt in the foreground
A lock on the Caledonian canal
Very impressive despite the rain!!!!!!
Home for the night
An average hotel
Well what difference a day can make!!!
Yesterday and the day before Scotland turned on the fine and sunny weather...today it was very wet with drizzle and rain for all of the ride. This combined with most of the ride being on main roads made for HARD RIDING.
At briefing in Fort William the weather was OK and I thought we might be in for an OK day....well it seems that the Loch Ness monster had his say as we travelled along the shores of Loch Ness!!!
It was interesting to see the Caledonian canal which was built as a shipping land across Scotland across all of the Lochs that make up the "Great Glen". From what we were told, the canal was started as rail was being used in the UK and by the time it was finished it was almost obsolete as a trade....pity because it is a real marvel. Today it is mainly used to ship pleasure craft ( motor cruisers, barges and sailing boats) from one loch to another.
Getting back to the ride....We organized to have coffee and scones at Invergarry at the local hotel where we were told by Rob ( tour leader) that they had the best to offer in Scotland!
Well after 42 kms of a mixture of climbs and "undulating" riding in the rain we were ready for a stop in the warm...
The Hotel staff were very good in getting us organized to hang our wet gear and get organized for morning tea... the only trouble was we had the thought of doing another 43 kms in the wet mainly on the main road (A82). But doing this with some sustenance was at least a good start!!!
The rest of the trip wads fairly horrible apart from a short period when we travelled along the bike path along the canal.
The only issue here was the path had this paving of loose stones (like Lilydale topping in Melbourne) which when wet splashed up to cover us all in a fine coat of white mud.... more on that later!
The ride after the bike path was along the A 82 which was busy with trucks, buses, campervans and all manner of cars ( mostly tourists) which made for difficult and careful riding. Despite this we were keen to get to the end of the ride to have a warm shower and lunch.
Steve led the ride for most of the day and we had Walt and his wife June with us and we made excellent time to be at Drumnachronit at about 1.30pm!!
I must say that for a "big fella" Walt really impressed me with his riding today.
We lost Chris before morning tea unfortunately and he continued on without the morning tea stop to be first in for the group.....well done Chris!! ( Chris said he quite enjoyed the ride)
On reaching the hotel there were some issues regarding the storage of our bikes so we left them chained to a flower box outside the hotel so we could have a hot shower.
Getting in to my room I looked in the mirror and saw that I was filthy from top to bottom and hopped in the shower fully clothed, complete with Helmet to was everything. The shower was beautiful and I managed to clean my gear....now for the drying!!!
The hotel we are staying at is the Drumnadrochit hotel which is "fairly average".
After the shower Steve and I went to the hotel where others from the group were staying and it was certainly much better. We had a burger and a couple of pints with others to reflect on the day and what we achieved...( It was my first burger of the trip and it tasted good!!!)
Today was a day we needed to "get through" and we did without any mishaps. It was the best day so far as speed was concerned despite the weather ( ave riding speed of 23.1 kph) and we climbed 462 metres...so a flattish day
As a result of the weather I am afraid there are very few photos for you all.....
Todays route up the Great Glen...
At the start we had to negotiate this bridge on foot....
A lot of our group is pictured here with wet weather gear on!!!!
What a contrast....
Ben Nevis cannot be seen for cloud....
Glad we made the visit yesterday to see it
One of the weirs on the river between the Lochs...
Morning tea at last!!!!
June with Walt, Steve ( from Tassie) and Steve ( from UK)
Great coffee and scones!!!
The Caledonian canal... with Walt in the foreground
A lock on the Caledonian canal
Very impressive despite the rain!!!!!!
Home for the night
An average hotel