Anyway, on the first morning we woke to a few clouds & some sunshine but as soon as we stepped out we found the wind was directly against us at about a Force 10!!! As we were getting our photos done at the start we met another group of four lads doing the same journey, they headed off before us & we thought we'd probably not see them again - they were younger & leaner than us. The first 20 miles to Thurso was pretty flat and we took it in turns to do a mile at the front. Those miles seemed to come round pretty quick, front man is not the best place to be! FromThurso we kept westwards to Bettyhill up a few fairly long steep hills but sometimes it was just better going up a steep hill, at least you were in the lee of the wind! As we had lunch the lads rolled in & we found out they'd been held up by a couple of punctures, thankfully we are puncture free so far. Turns out they are doing the journey in 12 days as well so our paths keep crossing as you will read.
We all left Bettyhill together, a short sharp climb and we were soon on the road towards Altnaharra. You may have heard of Altnaharra as its always comes up each winter on weather forecasts, notoriously the coldest place in Britain. Thankfully it wasn't and we rode along the banks of the river Naver and then the Loch Naver all seven of us. The scenery was fantastic........
That shows how windy it was at the start & it didn't get any better until we started to head south!
The group of lads left us just before we met up with Sandra & Ruby to have some photos taken, they were off to Altnaharra as they were staying there...... we had another 10 miles up hill after Altnaharra to stay at The Crask Inn in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a beautiful moor. I have to say those extra 10 miles seemed like a bad idea as the lads waved and jeered from the terrace of their B&B.....!
The Crask Inn was a sight to behold as we rolled down a part of that 10 mile hill towards it, Sandra was there to greet us but we soon found out she wasn't exactly enamoured with the place. We were staying in "the cottage" but you can forget roses and pretty curtains, it was pretty rough & ready. The place slept 12 but we had hired the whole building....... beds & mattresses were everywhere, the toilet was filled with peat water and those cleaning women off the tele would have had kittens. We settled in & trooped over to the pub for dinner and a few pints - its just got to be done! By the way it doesn't get dark up here until after 11pm and the curtains in our "cottage" were about as useful as a chocolate teapot, Sandra didn't get much sleep but as soon as my head hit the pillow..............
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| This calf was born at The Crask on the day we rode in, the Landlord took great pleasure in telling us over dinner that he bought the heffer not knowing, until he stuck his hand up her that she was pregnant, a great 2 for 1 offer. Just what you need to know when he's telling you about the homemade rhubarb crumble you could have for desert...Alan actually said, "Hope you washed your hands after!" |
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