On reflection I think I woke up on the wrong side of the tent today as I was in a shit mood. The howling wind when and sand blowing into my tent didn’t help matters. Andy was busy cooking his porridge, but I decided I wanted a bit of shelter so headed off into Durness. The local bus stop provided some shelter from the wind so I cooked up breakfast in there.
Andy was at the coffee shop charging his phone so I headed off. On the way out of Durness I stopped at Smoo Caves.
It was whilst I was at Smoo caves that Andy must have cycled past as we didn’t see each other again until Inverness.
The great tailwind I had yesterday soon turned into an awful head wind. I felt like I was going backwards and it was on with the waterproofs. Just before the road took a welcome 180 degree turn I bumped into a cyclist coming the other way. He too was relieved as he had been battling the same headwind, but coming in a different direction.
This is Roy and he is cycling around the UK for Sport Relief. He has a blog too which can be found here. I asked Roy if he had seen a chap with a beard and he told me yes, but he was some distance ahead of me.
Now, my ride detoured off the NC500 as I was told by Brian who was storing my bike box that the road via Loch Hope would be a good alternative. I didn’t want to come down the A9 on the east coast and as I had seen the scenic west coast, coming inland through the heart of the Highlands would be a great contrast. All I can say is I am glad I did. Remote, remote, remote! and with no camper vans. I cycled for probably 20 miles and saw a single car.
My intention was not to do so many miles, but I couldn’t really find anywhere decent to camp so I thought I’d keep pushing on. I have to remember that just because a place has a name on a map does not mean said place has shops!
In the end I found a nice camp spot by Kildonan. This was good as it meant I would not have far to travel in the morning to get supplies. I really enjoyed the remoteness of today and some sections reminded me of cycling across the Great Basin on the Great Divide route.
Exploits of one man and his bike travelling adventures 