Day 13. Inverness to Altnaharra

Miles cycled - 73
Total ascent - 3300ft
Terrain - some long, slow hills
Weather - cold and windy with squally showers. Heavy drizzle late afternoon
Best bit - having a landlady at the b&b who takes away all your wet kit to dry it for you!
Worst bit - the weather

Another tough and long day. We left Inverness in biting cold wind and headed north over the Kessock bridge, mostly following cycle paths to Dingwall then a mixture of main roads and quiet back lanes to Bonar Bridge.  There was quite a climb before lunch, but the gradient wasn't so bad and although it was long, it didn't sap your strength.

The view fom the top of the climb

We all layered up at lunch, as the morning had been so cold, and the clouds looked threatening. Up to then, we'd only had a few short showers. We headed to Lairg for the last brew stop and then had a 14 mile  long hill to climb to The Crask Hotel. When I say hill, it was just one endless incline - no steep bits, just steadily uphill all the way, with a fierce headwind and persistent heavy drizzle. We were heading up exposed rolling moorland, with absolutely no shelter from the wind, along a single track road which was surprisingly busy. It wasn't a day to look up - just keep your head down and get the miles done in full waterproofs. 

The endless last hill to The Crask

The Crask was the official finish today, but us 'slowies' (me, John and Phil and the 2 Welsh lads) were staying  7 miles further on at Altnaharra, so we had to press on in the rain to our b&b. However, this means we get a 7 mile head start on the others tomorrow, and the plan is for us all to arrive at the finish together. A long day - began cycling at 8.30am and got in at 6.35pm - but not quite so drained as last night, and the end is in sight!!