Day 10
Loch lochy to Tain

Had the best nights sleep last night and am thinking bunk beds and home cooked food must be the way forward on this trip . As we were staying in a hostel last night the food was cooked by some volunteers amongst us and fair play it was a good effort .
Breakfast was cooked by the crew from discover adventure and they did a good job of porridge and bacon sandwiches. So a good start to the day .

The weather was pretty darn good today as we flew towards Lake Ness ( sorry Glenn) and we really hit some cracking speeds . Spurred on by some riders from our group in the distance we decided to not only catch them but to go flying past them . And boy did we do that . Only to be overtaken again when we saw a good photo opportunity . Always been a sucker for a nice castle pic 🙂

We made it to the water stop and found a cafe for a coffee and our new habit which has become double caking .
This was a mistake today as we were less than a mile away from HEART BREAK HILL . A beast of a hill with sections at 18% I can honestly say it was a killer , a monster , a beast .it was reasonably short at less than a mile but from the side we approached there was no momentum to be carried up.
Well what can I say about the other side. WOW we were flying an awesome descent . We approached a tractor gave each other a little look and went for it the three of us overtaking a tractor at 47 mph . Moments like that make every ache every knee twinge every sore worthwhile . Brilliant stuff !!!!

A few miles further on The Cleminator was waiting for us an we rode on to lunch at the sports centre in Dingwall .

After lunch it was time for a detour to meet a friend of Glenn’s who was gonna make us a brew and give us a quick tour of a private estate . What an amazing place am thinking about making an offer and relocating to Scotland …. We shall see . Maybe if Liam’s fledgling empire biscuit business takes off he may help me out ?

After popping into the estate it was now time to head to Tain and find our hotel which wasn’t as easy as I hoped as we
wound our way back towards Tain on some back roads / lanes .
Bikes deposited in hotel basement and recovery shake etc done it was time for a little wander before dinner and a quick pint of strongbow.

Today’s stats

75.9 miles 5hrs16 3642ft 14.4mph

Ps

Tractor drivers scared to death – 1