Our planned 69 mile route from Inverness to Crask Inn (which is not so much a place, as just an Inn at the side of the road), was extended to 78 miles, our longest day yet, as there’s no room at the Inn and the nearest B&B is 9 miles further North at Altnaharra on the edge of Loch Naver. Still, it means we’ve got an easier day tomorrow.
Leaving Inverness we crossed Beauly Firth via the Kessock Suspension Bridge and struck out for Dingwall, slightly disappointed at missing the native dolphins that are often seen playing in the swirling currents close to the bridge. After coffee at Dingwall Railway Station, which seems to concentrate more on it’s cafe business than on servicing the odd train that may happen by, we cycled through open countryside and gradually climbed around Beinn Tharsuin to reveal a breathtaking panorama overlooking the waters of Dornoch Firth toward our lunch stop at Bonar Bridge.
Although we’ve known for some time that the finish line is not too far way, it’s only now that people are beginning to whisper about crossing it. Even JB, who has avoided most of the trials and tribulations (Franks suffered a dog attack & associated puncture, Nigel & I have experienced two punctures each, a jumping gear and a broken chain), is beginning to believe he can avoid the fickle finger of fate and finish this thing relatively untouched.
This is Salmon country and we continued our journey up alongside the fast flowing and turbulent, River Shin where the fish can be seen leaping upstream to their spawning grounds in the highlands to the north. Here the Landscape began to change as we left the lush fertile hills, valleys & meadows behind us climbing up into heather covered moorland and rode the forestry trail through Lairg to the remote Crask Inn, where the mountains began to rise around us. Sutherland County is larger than Wales but only has 13,000 inhabitants, so if you want to get away from it all, this is the place. This stretch had seemed never-ending and we were lucky to have had good weather with only a slight headwind to bother us. Lairg to Crask Inn took us under an hour, however it can take two and a half hours when the wind really blows and the rain beats over this open moorland.
After a very quick beer we coaxed our legs back into the old routine and climbed the last 1/2 mile or so before beginning a long, slow downhill ride along Strath Vagastie to Altnaharra. Ben Kilbreck to our east looked stunning as the early evening sunlight brought the landscape around us into sharp relief and took my breath away. It was a memorable end to a long day in the saddle, just over 7 hours, to cover the 78 miles with odd stops here and there, climbing 3500ft in the process. The good news is we’ve burnt around 3,200 calories, so if Sticky Toffee Pudding is on the menu, we may have it served the Frank Di Claudio way, with ice-cream, fresh cream and custard.
