The day started with a hearty breakfast and swapping stories of training regimes with our hostess, Jo Norris, who is a keen marathon runner. Many thanks to Jo and Bradley for their extremely generous contribution to our sponsorship fund.
I set out straight onto the A82 where the B&B was situated, soon joining the A9, crossing the Moray Firth via Kessock Bridge to the Black Isle. From there I utilised NCN1 to avoid the busier section of A9, taking me to Tore. From there I used A835/A862 to take me to Dingwall, where I again picked up the NCN1 for the delightful ride along the Cromarty Firth, through Evanton and Alness.
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| Looking South across Cromarty Firth |
Today's lunch rendevous was at Tain. From Tain I had no choice but to pick up the A9, crossing the Dornoch Firth. At this point I saw my first distance marker for John O'Groats (85 miles). It was a huge fillip to realise that the distance left to travel was less than 100 miles. By the end of the day's cycling this had been reduced to 55.
George had a short visit to the Glenmorangie distillery near Tain and although liked the look of the whiskies on sale, decided to make a quick exit to avoid 3 coach loads of tourists. She stopped by the beach at Dornoch and took some photos instead.
From Tain I then passed through Evelix and on to Loch Fleet, the road offered a superb view of the Loch as it descended towards the coast. Then it was a gradual climb to Golspie and again meeting up with George for a quick cup of hot chocolate at the Coffee Bothy before completing the last 17 miles along the A9 to Helmsdale. The route afforded great views of the coast and the moderate (15mph) ENE wind meant that I could smell the sea as I made my approach to the penultimate destination.
George managed a quick visit to Donrobin Castle, but although shut at 5.30pm when passing, looked very impressive, and then she stopped by Brora harbour and it's award winning beach with a golf course running alongside.
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| Donrobin Castle |
We checked in at the The Bridge Hotel at Helmsdale http://www.bridgehotel.net/ at around 6.30pm. The hotel was built in 1816 and is situated at the head of the old Helmsdale river bridge. The hotel bar offers a selection of over 200 whiskies covering all the regions of Scotland.
We limited ourselves to trying just 2 each! Bearing in mind I had earlier sampled a couple of their Black Isle real ales. The whiskies we tried were:-
Glenmorangie Astar
Longrow 7 yr old from Camplertown region
Talisker 57 degrees north
Old Poulteney liqueur
The menu for dinner at the hotel was impressive, with locally sourced deer, beef, lamb, fish and shellfish. I opted for a whole lobster which was fantastic, and George had a fillet of Caithness beef. We finished it off with some Scottish cheeses.
Duration: 5 hours 20 minutes cycling
Calories burned: 4355
Max speed: 29.52 mph
Average speed: 13.51 mph
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/93779388
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